Privacy Policy
Wathiq Platform LLC (“Wathiq”, “we”, “us”) operates the Wathiq rental platform in the Sultanate of Oman: the Wathiq mobile apps, the Wathiq web app and the wathiq.om website (together, the “Service”). This policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. We process personal data in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Law issued by Royal Decree No. 6/2022 and its Executive Regulations.
1. Who is responsible for your data
Wathiq Platform LLC, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, is responsible as the controller for the personal data processed through the Service. You can contact us at info@wathiq.om or on WhatsApp at +968 9824 7666.
2. The information we collect
We collect the information you give us, the information created when you use the Service, and information from the other parties to your rental.
Account and contact details
Your mobile number, preferred language and, if you add one, your password. You sign up with your mobile number, which we verify with a one-time code sent by SMS; a password is optional and can be added later in the app. You log in with your mobile number and either a one-time code we send by SMS or your password. We do not ask for an email address; one you gave in an earlier version of the app stays on your account until you ask us to remove it. Passwords are stored only in a form that cannot be reversed; we cannot read them.
Your identity
When you sign up, you give your name, nationality, date of birth and gender. Before you can list a property or sign a tenancy contract, you verify your identity in the app by scanning your Omani Civil ID or resident card. We keep images of the front and back of the card and the details read from its machine-readable zone: your name, civil ID number, card expiry date, date of birth, gender and nationality. These replace the details you gave when you signed up, and once they are set from your card you cannot change them yourself, except your name. You may also add your name in Arabic. If you sign in with Oman’s national authentication service, we receive the identity details that service provides instead.
Renter details
Your employment status (such as employed, self-employed, a student or retired), employer and job title, which you give the first time you ask to view a property, and any proof of income you added in an earlier version of the app.
Listings
If you list a property: its details and address; the municipality information needed to register a tenancy, such as the plot, block and building numbers, the kroki number and utility account numbers; the ownership documents (mulkiya and kroki); photos and videos and, for those taken in the app, the date they were taken; the property’s location on the map; and any welcome book you write for tenants.
Services you order
If you order a “for rent” banner or a photo shoot for a listing: what you ordered and its price, any note you write for us, the date and time of our visit, and the payment record. A banner carries your listing’s QR code and Wathiq’s name, never your phone number: people who scan it reach you through the app. You pay for services by card on our card machine at the visit; the card details go to the bank that runs the machine, not to Wathiq, and we keep the receipt number.
Applications, viewings and contracts
Your applications (preferred move-in date, number of occupants and reason for moving); the viewing times you arrange; the tenancy contract, including the parties’ names, civil ID or Commercial Registration numbers, contact details and addresses, the rent, deposit and dates; your electronic signature and when you signed; and any request to change or end a registered tenancy.
Companies and delegations
If you act for a company: its name, Commercial Registration (C.R.) number and certificate, and the people you invite by civil ID. If you ask someone to manage your listings, the civil ID you invite them with.
Payments
Fees are paid through our payment provider in Oman. We receive the payment’s amount, status and reference. We do not receive or store your full card details.
Messages and other content
Chat messages and the photos and files you send in them, maintenance tasks, the move-in condition report a tenant records — the problems found and their photos, which the landlord reads once it is sent — ratings and reviews (a tenant’s rating is seen only by that tenant), the searches you save, reports you submit, and messages you send to our support team.
Device and usage information
A push notification token for your device; technical information such as your device type, app version, IP address and logs; and records of listing views, which we use to count them — landlords see totals, never who viewed. If you allow it, the app uses your device’s location while you use the map to show properties near you; we do not keep a history of your location.
We do not use advertising or third-party tracking tools. On the web, we use your browser’s storage to keep you signed in and to remember your preferences.
3. How we use your information
- To create and secure your account and verify your contact details.
- To verify identities and ownership, prevent fraud and keep the platform trustworthy.
- To publish listings and let renters find, save and apply for homes.
- To run applications, viewings and tenancy contracts, including registering contracts with the municipality.
- To process payments and fees.
- To send you codes, notifications, text messages and emails about your account and rentals.
- To send you messages from Wathiq about our services, such as offers and news.
- To contact you and answer your messages, by phone or WhatsApp, and by email only when we cannot reach you that way.
- To review reports. When a conversation is reported, our Trust & Safety team may read it while the report is being handled.
- To operate, secure and improve the Service, including statistics in aggregated form that do not identify you.
- To comply with the law and with lawful requests from the authorities.
We process your personal data with your consent where the law requires it, to provide the Service you asked for, and to meet our legal obligations. We do not sell your personal data and do not use it for advertising.
4. Who can see your information
Other users
Listing details are public. Your name and verification badge appear on your listings and profile; your phone number is shared only if you choose to share it. When you apply for a property, the landlord, and anyone managing the listing for them, can see your profile details, your Civil ID if you have verified your identity, and any proof of income you added. The parties to a tenancy contract can see its details, and members of a company can see what they need to act for it.
Government authorities
We submit tenancy contracts, with the details and documents required, to Muscat Municipality or the competent municipality to register them. We may also disclose information to the authorities where the law requires it.
Service providers
We use carefully selected providers that process data on our behalf and on our instructions, for example for hosting and storage, text message delivery, email delivery, messaging, push notifications, maps, payments and, where you use it, Oman’s national authentication service.
Others
Where needed to protect the rights, property or safety of Wathiq, our users or the public; and, in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, the other party, under this policy.
5. Transfers outside Oman
We store and process your personal data in the Sultanate of Oman. The Service runs on our servers in Oman, reading your Civil ID card included, and text messages and payments are handled by providers in Oman. Only the following is processed outside Oman:
- Maps: the map service receives the part of the map you view and the places marked on it, such as a property’s location.
- Standard files that the web app and the website load, such as fonts: the services that deliver them receive technical information such as your IP address.
- Push notifications: they reach your device through its notification service and carry the notification’s text, such as a message preview and the sender’s name.
We transfer only the data the service concerned needs, and only in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Law and its Executive Regulations.
6. How long we keep your information
We keep personal data only for as long as we need it for the purposes in this policy. Account details are kept while your account is open. Tenancy contracts, payment records and the documents behind them are kept for the periods required by law and as needed to establish or defend legal claims. When data is no longer needed, we delete it or anonymize it.
7. Your rights
Subject to the Personal Data Protection Law, you have the right to:
- withdraw your consent at any time — this does not affect processing already carried out, and some features may no longer be available;
- access the personal data we hold about you and receive a copy of it;
- ask us to correct or update it;
- ask us to delete it, unless we are required by law to keep it;
- be told if a breach affects your personal data;
- complain to the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology.
To delete your account, use Delete my account on your profile in the app, or sign in at wathiq.om/delete-account; that page lists what we delete and what we keep. To exercise your other rights, contact us on WhatsApp at +968 9824 7666 or at info@wathiq.om, from the mobile number on your account. We may ask you to verify your identity, and we will respond within the time the law requires. Apart from your name, the details read from your Civil ID can only be changed by scanning your card again in the app.
8. Security
We protect personal data with technical and organizational measures, including encryption in transit, access controls that limit staff to what their role requires, records of staff decisions, and private storage for identity and ownership documents. No system is completely secure; if a breach affects your personal data, we will notify you and the competent authority as the law requires.
9. Age
The Service is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.
10. Notifications
We send the messages needed to run your account and rentals. We also send messages from Wathiq about our services, such as offers and news, as notifications in the app — to everyone, to landlords, or to you alone — and we note whether you opened each one, which is how we count how many people did. You can turn off push notifications in your device settings; the messages then stay in the app’s notifications list without appearing on your screen. We do not send marketing by text message or email, and we never share your details with others for their marketing.
11. Links to other services
The Service may link to websites and services we do not operate, such as links a landlord adds to a welcome book. Their own privacy policies apply to them.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. We will publish the new version on this page with its effective date and, for significant changes, let you know in the app.
13. Contact us
Wathiq Platform LLC, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
WhatsApp: +968 9824 7666
Email: info@wathiq.om