Lived (“Lived,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) operates the website at livedhq.com, a platform that collects and publishes verified tenant reviews of residential properties in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
For the purposes of applicable data protection law, Lived is the data controller — the entity that determines the purposes and means of processing personal data submitted through this platform.
This Privacy Policy applies to all personal data collected when you visit the Site, create an account, submit a review, upload documents, or otherwise interact with our services. It should be read alongside our Terms of Service.
By using our services, you confirm that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please discontinue use of the Site.
We collect data in the following categories. We do not collect data beyond what is listed here without updating this policy and, where required, obtaining your consent.
2.1 Account and identity data
When you submit a review or create an account, we collect your email address. This is the only personal identifier we require. We do not collect your legal name, phone number, national ID, or passport number.
Your email is used solely to authenticate you when you wish to view, edit, or delete your own reviews. It is never displayed publicly, never shared with landlords or property managers, and never used for marketing without your explicit opt-in.
“Your review is always published anonymously. No one reading it can identify you from what we display.”
2.2 Review content
When you submit a review, we collect the content you provide: ratings, written comments, optional photographs of the property, and your selected unit type and tenancy period. This content is associated with your account internally but displayed to the public without any information that identifies you.
2.3 Tenancy verification documents
To maintain the integrity of reviews, we may ask you to upload documentation confirming you were a resident at the property you are reviewing (such as a tenancy agreement or Ejari certificate). These documents:
- Are stored in an encrypted, access-controlled private storage bucket in the EU.
- Are reviewed only by Lived editorial staff for the purpose of verifying the review.
- Are never made public and are never shared with the landlord, the property developer, or any third party.
- Are deleted from our storage systems within 12 months of the review going live, or upon your request, whichever comes first.
2.4 Technical and device data
When you use the Site, we automatically receive standard technical data sent by your browser or device. This includes your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, screen resolution, referring URL, and the pages you visit. This data is used for security, fraud prevention, and service improvement. It is processed in anonymised or aggregated form wherever possible.
2.5 Usage and analytics data
We use third-party analytics services (described in Section 6) to understand how visitors use the Site — which pages are viewed, how long sessions last, and which features are used. This data is collected in a form that does not directly identify individual users and is used solely to improve the platform.
2.6 Cookies and similar technologies
We use cookies and similar browser-based technologies to keep you signed in, remember your preferences, and collect analytics data. Full details are in Section 7.
Under the UAE Personal Data Protection Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021, “PDPL”), we must have a lawful basis for each type of processing we carry out. The table below sets out the basis we rely on for each category.
| Processing activity | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Managing your account and authenticating you | Performance of a contract — necessary to provide the service you requested |
| Publishing your review (anonymously) | Performance of a contract — the core service you signed up for |
| Verifying your tenancy via uploaded documents | Legitimate interest — maintaining the integrity and accuracy of published reviews |
| AI-assisted review moderation (OpenAI) | Legitimate interest — preventing publication of harmful, fraudulent, or illegal content |
| Product analytics (Mixpanel, Google Analytics) | Legitimate interest — understanding how the platform is used so we can improve it |
| Security and fraud prevention | Legitimate interest — protecting the integrity of the platform and its users |
| Sending you transactional emails (review status, magic-link sign-in) | Performance of a contract — you requested a service that requires email communication |
| Sending you marketing or promotional emails | Consent — we will only send these if you have explicitly opted in |
| Complying with legal obligations (e.g. court orders, regulatory requests) | Legal obligation — we must comply with lawful requests from UAE authorities |
Where we rely on legitimate interest, you have the right to object. See Section 10 for how to exercise that right.
We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:
- Providing the service. Creating and managing your account, authenticating you when you return, publishing your review, and sending you transactional communications related to the review process.
- Review verification and moderation. Reviewing tenancy documents to confirm you were a resident at the property, and using automated tools (see Section 6) to assess whether submitted reviews meet our content standards before they go live.
- Platform improvement. Analysing aggregated and anonymised usage data to understand how people use the Site, which features work well, and where the experience can be improved.
- Security and integrity. Detecting and preventing fraud, abuse, fake reviews, and other activity that violates our Terms of Service.
- Legal compliance. Retaining records as required by UAE law and responding to lawful requests from courts or regulatory bodies.
- Marketing (only with consent).If you opt in to receive updates from us, we may send occasional product news or editorial updates. You can withdraw consent at any time by clicking “unsubscribe” in any such email or by contacting us directly.
We do not use your data to build advertising profiles, sell to third-party marketers, share with landlords, or make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you without human review.
We engage the following third-party service providers (“data processors”) who process personal data on our behalf. Each is bound by a data processing agreement and may only process data in accordance with our instructions.
Database hosting and user authentication. Stores your email address, review content, and account metadata.
Privacy policy →Encrypted file storage for review photographs, tenancy verification documents, and property images.
Privacy policy →Product analytics. Tracks page views, feature usage, and anonymised user behaviour to help us improve the platform.
Privacy policy →Web analytics. Collects anonymised session data including pages visited, device type, and approximate geographic region.
Privacy policy →AI-assisted review moderation. Review text is sent to OpenAI's API to assess compliance with our content policy before publication. OpenAI does not use API-submitted data to train its models.
Privacy policy →We do not share personal data with real estate agencies, property developers, landlords, or any commercial third party for marketing or profiling purposes.
Before a submitted review goes live, its text content is passed to an AI moderation system (powered by OpenAI) to check whether it contains: harassment or personal attacks, hate speech, content unrelated to the property or tenancy experience, or material that violates our Terms of Service.
This is an automated step, but no review is automatically rejected or published solely based on the AI output. A member of the Lived editorial team reviews the AI flag and makes the final decision on whether to publish, request changes, or decline a review.
The review text submitted to OpenAI does not include your email address or any other direct identifier. OpenAI processes this data under its API data processing agreement and does not use API-submitted content to train its foundation models.
If you have concerns about your review content being processed in this way, you may contact us to request that it be reviewed by a human only. See Section 11 for contact details.
We use cookies — small text files stored in your browser — and similar tracking technologies. The table below lists the cookies we set and why.
| Cookie / technology | Type | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| sb-* (Supabase auth) | Strictly necessary | Maintains your authenticated session so you remain signed in across pages. | Browser session / up to 7 days |
| mp_* (Mixpanel) | Analytics | Tracks page views and user events in anonymised form to help us understand platform usage. | Up to 12 months |
| _ga, _ga_* (Google Analytics) | Analytics | Distinguishes unique visitors and sessions for aggregate traffic analysis. IP anonymisation is enabled. | Up to 13 months |
Strictly necessary cookies cannot be disabled as the service will not function without them. Analytics cookiescan be blocked using your browser’s settings or a browser extension. We do not use cookies for advertising or cross-site tracking.
We do not display a cookie consent banner for analytics cookies because we rely on legitimate interest and because IP anonymisation is enabled on all analytics tools. If you object to analytics tracking, you may opt out by using your browser’s “Do Not Track” setting, by installing a browser-level blocker, or by contacting us to request that your data be deleted from third-party analytics systems.
We keep your data for only as long as is necessary for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by UAE law. The following periods apply:
| Data category | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Your email address and account | Until you request deletion, or 3 years of account inactivity, whichever comes first |
| Published review content | Until you request deletion or your account is deleted |
| Tenancy verification documents | 12 months after the review goes live, then permanently deleted — or upon request, whichever is sooner |
| Review photographs | Until the review is deleted or you request removal |
| Server logs (IP address, request data) | 90 days, then automatically purged |
| Analytics data (Mixpanel, Google Analytics) | Per each provider's retention settings: 12 months (Mixpanel), 14 months (Google Analytics 4) |
When a retention period expires, data is either permanently deleted or irreversibly anonymised. We do not archive inactive accounts with personal data attached indefinitely.
Your core account and review data is stored in the European Union (Supabase and Contabo infrastructure). The EU provides an equivalent level of data protection to the UAE under the PDPL.
Some of our analytics and moderation tools (Mixpanel, Google Analytics, OpenAI) are operated by US-based companies. We ensure these transfers are governed by appropriate safeguards including:
- Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission, where applicable.
- Data Processing Agreements with each processor that restrict the use of your data to the purposes described in this policy.
- Anonymisation and pseudonymisation before data is sent to analytics providers where possible.
We do not transfer data to countries that we consider to have inadequate data protection frameworks without implementing additional technical or contractual safeguards.
Under the UAE PDPL and applicable data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data. To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 12. We will respond within 30 days and will not charge a fee for reasonable requests.
Right to access
You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, including your account information, review content, and any records of how your data has been processed.
Right to correction
If any personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you can ask us to correct it.
Right to deletion (erasure)
You can ask us to delete your personal data. Once we receive a verified deletion request, we will remove your account, your published reviews, and all associated personal data within 72 hours. Note: some data may be retained for a limited period if required by UAE law (e.g. financial records). Anonymised review content — where no personal data remains — may be retained as it no longer constitutes personal data.
Right to restrict processing
You can ask us to pause processing of your data while a dispute about its accuracy or our legal basis for processing is resolved. During a restriction, we will store your data but not actively process it.
Right to data portability
You can request your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format (JSON). This applies to data you provided to us directly (your account data and review content).
Right to object
Where we process your data on the basis of legitimate interest (analytics, verification, moderation), you have the right to object. If you object and we cannot demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, we will stop processing.
Right to withdraw consent
Where processing is based on your consent (e.g. marketing emails), you can withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
Right to complain
If you believe we have handled your personal data unlawfully, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UAE data protection authority or with a data protection authority in your country of residence.
The Lived platform is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 18. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has submitted personal data to us, please contact us immediately at the address in Section 12 and we will delete it promptly.
We implement technical and organisational measures designed to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include:
- Encryption of data in transit using TLS 1.2 or higher across all connections.
- Encryption of data at rest for all stored files including tenancy verification documents.
- Access control: tenancy documents are stored in private, non-public buckets and are accessible only to authorised Lived staff.
- Database access restricted to authenticated services via row-level security policies.
- Regular review of third-party processor security practices.
No method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, and will notify affected users without undue delay where required by law.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Where the changes significantly affect how we use your personal data, we will provide notice via email (to users with active accounts) or via a prominent notice on the Site at least 30 days before the change takes effect.
Your continued use of the Site after the effective date of any change constitutes acceptance of the revised policy. If you do not agree with any changes, you should stop using the Site and request deletion of your account before the effective date.
This Privacy Policy governs personal data. Content ownership — who owns what on this platform, what you may and may not do with Lived content, and the prohibition on scraping or reproducing reviews on third-party sites — is governed by our Terms of Service, specifically Sections 5 and 6.
The short version: you retain copyright in the individual review text you write. Lived owns the compiled database of reviews, all editorial content, and all derived data. No one may reproduce, scrape, or redistribute Lived content — including individual reviews — on any third-party platform without our written permission. Linking to Lived pages is always permitted and encouraged.
For content licensing enquiries, contact hello@lived.ae.
For any questions about this Privacy Policy, to exercise your rights under Section 10, or to report a concern about how we handle personal data, contact us at:
Please include “Privacy Request” in the subject line and confirm the email address associated with your Lived account. We will verify your identity before processing any request that involves accessing or deleting personal data. Response time: within 30 days of receipt.
The integrity of every review on Lived depends on tenants trusting us with their data. We hold that trust seriously. We collect only what we need, keep it only as long as we must, and give you real control over what you have shared with us.