In short
- We collect as little as we can: your email address when you ask for the guide or your search links, your message when you contact us, and statistics only if you accept cookies.
- We never sell your data and never pass it to an estate agent unless you tick that box yourself.
- If you accept marketing cookies, we tell Meta (and Google, if we advertise there) that a click on our advert led to a request, using a hashed version of your email address. Nothing else is shared.
- You can unsubscribe, see or delete your data at any time by emailing info@frenchhousehunt.com.
Who is responsible
French House Hunt (frenchhousehunt.com) is run by Marc Roelofs, who is the data controller. Contact: info@frenchhousehunt.com. Postal address and registration details are in the legal notice.
This policy is written to meet both the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK GDPR with the Data Protection Act 2018, because the site is run from the European Union and is aimed at readers in the United Kingdom, Ireland and elsewhere.
What we collect, why, and on what legal basis
| What | Why | Legal basis | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email address (buying guide) | To send you the guide and, if you signed up for it, occasional emails with guides and tools | Consent | Until you unsubscribe |
| Email address and search profile (Search Helper) | To email you your search links and, if you ticked that box, tips | Consent | Until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it |
| Email address and shortlist (“Email my shortlist to myself”) | To send you a copy of your own shortlist. Only if you tick that box do we add you to our email list for tips | Consent: you ask us to send it | A record of the request (email address, date, number of houses) for up to 12 months; on the email list only if you ticked the box, until you unsubscribe |
| Search profile and email passed to a partner agent | Only if you tick the separate box: a local agent can email you suitable houses | Consent, which you can withdraw at any time | We keep proof of consent for as long as the consent applies, and for 24 months after you withdraw it |
| Name, email and message (contact form) | To answer your message | Legitimate interest (replying to you); consent for the optional newsletter box | Up to 2 years after our last contact |
| Your requests in our own customer system | Which form you used, when, from which page and source, and which consents you gave, with date and time. To handle your request, avoid duplicate emails and prove what you consented to | Performance of your request; legal obligation to demonstrate consent | 24 months after your last request, then deleted automatically |
| Advert measurement (only if you accept marketing cookies) | The click ID of the advert that brought you here (fbclid or gclid), Meta’s cookie IDs (fbc and fbp), your browser and, if you then make a request, a hashed version of your email address. To tell Meta or Google that a click on our advert led to a request (see below) | Consent through the cookie banner | Our own record of what was sent, without your email address: 24 months |
| Statistics (Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity, via Google Tag Manager) | To see which pages and tools are used, so we can improve them | Consent through the cookie banner | 14 months in Google Analytics; Clarity as set by Microsoft |
| Server logs (hosting) | Security and keeping the site running | Legitimate interest | As set by our host, normally a short period |
The Shortlist, the checklist, the costs calculator and the region finder run entirely in your own browser. What you type there is not sent to us, unless you use the button to email your shortlist to yourself: then your email address and the houses on your list (not the ones you ruled out) go to us, only to send you that email.
Advert measurement (Meta, and Google if we advertise there)
Facebook, Instagram and Google can show us how many people click on an advert, but not whether those people go on to request the guide. For that, we send a signal back ourselves. We only do this if you accepted marketing cookies in the banner.
What we then pass on when you request the guide, use the Search Helper or tick the partner-agent box:
- that a request was made, with date and time and which form it was;
- the click ID of the advert (fbclid or gclid) and, for Meta, the cookie IDs fbc and fbp;
- your email address in hashed form (SHA-256): a string of characters from which the address itself cannot be recovered. Meta or Google can only match it to an account of theirs with the same address;
- for Meta, your browser (user agent).
Not passed on: your name, your message, your search profile or your budget.
Meta receives this through its Conversions API, Google Ads through a conversion import. Both use it to show us which adverts lead to requests and to target their adverts better. We only get numbers back, never who.
With the same consent we may ask Meta to build an audience of people who resemble our readers. Meta uses the hashed email address for that. The list stays within our own advertising account and is not shared with other advertisers.
If you withdraw your consent for marketing cookies on the cookie policy page, we stop sending anything from that moment. If you want to be removed from the Meta audience, email us and we will take your address off the list.
Who processes data for us
- OVHcloud (France): website hosting.
- MailerLite (UAB MailerLite, Lithuania): email list and sending the guide.
- Brevo (Sendinblue SAS, France): sending emails from the site and the Search Helper.
- Our own server in the Netherlands, running n8n, Twenty CRM and Postgres: passing form submissions to MailerLite and to us (including a notification of new contact messages on our own phone), storing your requests and consents, and reporting without personal data.
- Google (Google Ireland Ltd): Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, only after you accept statistics cookies; Google Ads receives the conversions described under “Advert measurement” if we advertise there.
- Meta (Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd): the Meta pixel and the Conversions API for measuring and targeting adverts, only after you accept marketing cookies.
- HubSpot (HubSpot Ireland Ltd, EU data centre, US company): our record of business contacts and partners; after you accept marketing cookies, its tracking code can also see which pages you visit and, if you browse from a company network, which company that IP address belongs to. We use that to see which professionals read our partner pages, not to follow private visitors.
- Microsoft Clarity (Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd): insight into how visitors use the pages, only after you accept statistics cookies.
- Partner estate agents: only with your explicit consent via the Search Helper. Our partners are registered French estate agents (holding a carte professionnelle). The agent becomes responsible for how they use your data from then on. We will tell you which agents are partners on request.
Data stays in the EU and UK where possible. Google, Meta and Microsoft may process data in the United States under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the UK extension to it. Transfers between the EU and the UK rely on adequacy decisions in both directions.
Your rights
Under the GDPR and the UK GDPR you have the right to access, correct and delete your data, to restrict or object to processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time without affecting what happened before. Every email has an unsubscribe link. For anything else, email info@frenchhousehunt.com and we will respond within one month.
You can also complain to a supervisory authority: in the UK the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), in Ireland the Data Protection Commission, in the Netherlands the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens or in France the CNIL. We would appreciate the chance to sort it out with you first.
Cookies
We only place statistics and marketing cookies after you accept them in the banner. Statistics cookies cover Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity; marketing cookies cover the Meta pixel and the HubSpot tracking code. Details and your current choice are on the cookie policy page, where you can change your mind at any time.
Changes
If we change how we handle data, we update this page and the date at the top. For significant changes we let subscribers know by email.