Privacy Policy
Wathiq 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 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, password and preferred language and, once you add it, your email address. We verify your mobile number with a one-time code when you sign up, and your email address with another when you add it during identity verification. You sign in with your mobile number and either a one-time code we send by SMS or your password. We ask for an email address because the municipality requires one on every registered tenancy contract. 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: you add your email address and scan 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 (employed, self-employed or student), employer and job title, 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.
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 Thawani, a 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, ratings and reviews, 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 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 (WhatsApp, when we contact you there), push notifications (Google Firebase Cloud Messaging), maps (Google Maps), reading Civil ID cards, payments (Thawani) 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
Some of our service providers process data outside the Sultanate of Oman, for example for email delivery, WhatsApp messages, push notifications, maps and reading Civil ID cards. 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 or email address 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 (HTTPS), 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 do not send marketing messages without your consent. You can turn off push notifications in your device settings.
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 LLC, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
WhatsApp: +968 9824 7666
Email: info@wathiq.om