This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, the lawful bases we rely on, who we share it with, and the rights you have over your data.
01 About us and this policy
Odessia Real Estate is a trading name of Odessia Holdings Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 16198632, whose registered office is at 8 High Street, Morcott, Oakham, England, LE15 9DN (“Odessia”, “we”, “us” or “our”). We are the controller of the personal information described in this policy.
This policy explains what personal information we collect about our clients, website visitors and people who contact us, why we collect it, the lawful bases we rely on, who we share it with, and the rights you have. It applies to our website at www.odessia.co.uk and to our dealings with you by email, phone, in person or otherwise.
If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, you can contact us at contact@odessia.co.uk or by writing to us at the address above.
02 The information we collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:
- Identity and contact details — your name, email address, postal address and phone number.
- Property and transaction information — details of properties you are interested in, buying, selling or letting, and information relevant to a transaction or instruction.
- Communications — the content of enquiries, messages and correspondence between us.
- Verification information — where we are required to confirm your identity or carry out anti-money-laundering (“AML”) checks, identity documents and related information.
- Technical and usage information — your IP address, device and browser information, and information about how you use our website, collected through cookies and similar technologies.
03 How we collect it
We collect information directly from you when you enquire about a property, ask us to value or market a property, ask us to act on your behalf, sign up to our newsletter, take part in a survey, or contact us by phone, email, our website or social media.
We also collect technical information automatically when you visit our website, and we may receive information about you from third parties and public sources, for example: property portals and listing services (such as Rightmove and Zoopla); analytics and advertising providers; public registers (such as Companies House, HM Land Registry and the Electoral Register); and, where we are verifying identity or meeting AML obligations, identity-verification and credit reference agencies.
04 Why we use your information, and our lawful bases
We use your personal information for the following purposes, relying on the lawful bases set out alongside each:
- To respond to your enquiries and provide our services (for example, valuing, marketing, buying, selling or letting property) — on the basis that it is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into one, and/or our legitimate interests in running our business.
- To verify identity and comply with legal and regulatory obligations (including AML, accounting and tax requirements) — on the basis that it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations.
- To send you service-related messages about your property or transaction — on the basis of our legitimate interests in keeping you informed.
- To send you marketing, such as newsletters and updates — on the basis of your consent, or our legitimate interests where the law allows us to contact existing clients about similar services. You can opt out at any time (see below).
- To improve our website and services, including through aggregated statistics — on the basis of our legitimate interests, and your consent for non-essential cookies.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered that those interests are not overridden by your rights, and you can ask us for more detail about this assessment.
05 Marketing
We will only send you electronic marketing where we are permitted to do so. You can withdraw your consent or opt out of marketing at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by emailing contact@odessia.co.uk.
06 How we share your information
We do not sell your personal information. We may share it with:
- Our website platform provider, Wix, which hosts www.odessia.co.uk and processes data on our behalf, together with its sub-processors (such as hosting, content delivery, analytics and email-delivery providers).
- Property portals and service providers where you have asked us to market a property or where it is needed to provide our services.
- Professional advisers, such as our legal, financial and IT advisers, who are bound by duties of confidentiality.
- Authorities, regulators and other third parties where we are required to do so by law, to comply with our AML obligations, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
We require those who process data on our behalf to keep it secure and to use it only for the purposes we specify.
07 International transfers
Some of our providers (for example, Wix and its sub-processors, or analytics and advertising providers) may process your information outside the United Kingdom. Where they do, we take steps to ensure an appropriate level of protection, such as transferring to a country covered by UK adequacy regulations or putting in place approved safeguards (for example, the ICO’s International Data Transfer Agreement or standard contractual clauses). You can contact us for more information about these safeguards.
08 How long we keep your information
We keep your personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes set out in this policy, after which we securely delete or anonymise it. The period depends on the type of information and why we hold it. For example, we generally keep general enquiry correspondence for a limited period; records relating to a client relationship for the duration of that relationship and afterwards to meet our legal, accounting and tax obligations (typically at least six years); and AML and identity-verification records for the period required by law (generally five years after the end of the business relationship). Marketing preferences are kept until you withdraw your consent.
09 How we keep your information secure
We have appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to protect your personal information, and our website platform provides security measures including encrypted (HTTPS/TLS) connections. However, no method of transmission over the internet or of electronic storage is completely secure, so while we do our best to protect your information we cannot guarantee its absolute security. Please avoid sending us sensitive information by email where you can.
10 Cookies
Like most websites, ours uses cookies — small files placed on your device that help the website function and that collect information about how it is used. We use cookies that are necessary for the site to work and, with your consent, cookies for analytics and similar purposes. You can manage non-essential cookies through the cookie controls on our website and through your browser settings. For more detail, see our Cookies Policy.
11 Your rights
Under data protection law you have the right to:
- access the personal information we hold about you;
- ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
- ask us to erase your information in certain circumstances;
- ask us to restrict or object to our processing in certain circumstances;
- request the portability of information you have provided to us;
- withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent; and
- not be subject to decisions producing legal effects based solely on automated processing (we do not make such decisions).
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@odessia.co.uk. We will respond within the timescales required by law.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns first, so please do contact us. You can reach the ICO at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF · Helpline: 0303 123 1113 · ico.org.uk.
12 Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the updated version on this page and change the “last updated” date above. Where the changes are material, we will take reasonable steps to bring them to your attention.
13 How to contact us
If you would like to access, correct or delete your information, exercise any of your rights, raise a concern or simply find out more, please contact us at contact@odessia.co.uk or write to us at 8 High Street, Morcott, Oakham, England, LE15 9DN.