Privacy policy

1. Who we are

Balkoun is an online real-estate listings platform for the Arab world, opening country by country, operated by the Balkoun platform (the operator). The company is being incorporated in the Syrian Arab Republic; this page will be updated with its details once registered. Address: Damascus, Syria. Data enquiries: info@balkoun.com.

2. What we collect

Account: name, phone number (verified with a code), email if you provide it, country and city, preferred language and currency.

Listings: property details, photos and videos, the contact number shown on the listing, and the map location if you set one. A listing is public by nature and is visible to every visitor.

Usage: saved listings and searches, messages and reports you send, and "wanted" requests.

Technical data: device and browser type, pages visited and an approximate internet address, for security and statistics only. We do not use third-party advertising trackers.

3. Why we use it

To create your account and verify your number, publish your listings and show them to searchers, and let interested people contact you the way you chose.

To protect the platform against fraud, fake listings and duplicate accounts, and to handle reports.

To improve the service using aggregated usage that does not identify you.

To send the notifications and messages described below.

4. Messages and notifications

Service messages (verification code, the status of your listing, a reply to your report) are sent because the account needs them.

Alerts and offers (new listings matching your search, newsletters, promotions) are sent only with your explicit consent, through the channel you chose: WhatsApp from the official Balkoun number, Telegram via the Balkoun bot, or email.

You can stop them at any time from your account page, by sending the word "stop" on WhatsApp or Telegram, or via the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email.

5. AI processing

When you send property details by message or use the smart search, the text is processed by an artificial-intelligence service to extract the listing details or understand your search. Your data is not used to train these models, and no decision affecting your rights is made automatically; publishing remains subject to your approval and our team's review.

6. Who we share it with

What you publish in a listing (details, photos, displayed name and contact number) is public to all visitors.

Service providers working on our behalf: hosting and databases, email delivery, messaging gateways and the AI service. They process data only to provide the service and under confidentiality obligations. The list of providers is available on request at info@balkoun.com.

Competent authorities when a binding legal request is made under applicable law.

We never sell or rent your data.

7. Storage outside Syria

Balkoun data is stored on cloud hosting providers' servers outside the Syrian Arab Republic, encrypted in transit and at rest. By using the platform you agree to this transfer and storage; we will update this section in line with the decisions of the data-protection authority.

8. Retention

Account data: for as long as the account exists, deleted within 30 days of a deletion request.

Expired listings: kept in your account archive and deleted with their photos 24 months after expiry unless republished.

Security and sign-in logs: 12 months.

Data we are legally required to keep: for the period set by law.

9. Your rights

Access your data and get a copy, correct it (directly from your account), delete your account and data, object to marketing use, and withdraw consent at any time without affecting what was done before.

Send requests to info@balkoun.com from the email or phone number registered on your account; we answer within 30 days. If your issue is not resolved you may contact the personal-data protection authority.

10. Security

Connections are encrypted, passwords are stored hashed and cannot be read by anyone, and access to data is limited to those who need it to provide the service. In the event of an incident affecting your data we notify you and the authorities as required by law.

11. Cookies and local storage

We use your browser's local storage only for your preferences (language, country, currency, sign-in session, saved listings). We set no third-party advertising cookies.

12. Children

Balkoun is for people aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect data from minors and delete any account found to belong to one.

13. Changes

We may update this policy. Important changes are announced on the site or by message, and the last-updated date appears at the top of this page. Last updated: 2026-09-26.

14. Contact

Any question about your privacy: info@balkoun.com.