Privacy Policy real estate

Real Estate  

Keller Williams Realty, Inc. and its affiliates, which include but are not limited to, KW  Worldwide, Ltd., KW Accelerator Studios, LLC, KW Property Management,  Ltd., KW Insurance, Ltd., Keller Offers, Ltd, Keller Mortgage, LLC, and  Business MAPS, Ltd. all of which are based in the United States (collectively, “Keller Williams,” “we,” or “us”),  want you to be familiar with how we collect, use and disclose  information.  This Privacy Policy describes our practices in connection  with information that we collect about consumers (“you”) through:

• our website at https://www.kw.com and other websites and Keller Williams-branded web-based applications  we operate from which you are accessing this Privacy Policy  (collectively, the “KW Websites”),
• the  Keller Williams Real Estate mobile application and other Keller  Williams-branded mobile applications made available by us on or through  mobile devices (collectively, the “KW Apps”),
• HTML-formatted email messages that we send to you that link to this Privacy Policy, and
• offline interactions you have with us.

Collectively, we refer to the KW Websites, the KW Apps, our emails, and offline interactions as the “Services.”  

“Personal Information” is information that  identifies you as an individual or relates to an identifiable  individual.  We collect Personal Information including:

• Name
• Postal and email address
• Telephone number
• IP address (we may also derive your approximate location from your IP address)
• Your real estate buying/selling interests, when you choose to share them with us
• Your mobile device’s contacts, photos, and location, when you choose to share them with us
• Photos

We and our service providers collect Personal Information in a variety of ways, including: 

• Through the Services 
  • We collect  Personal Information through the Services, for example, when you fill  out a user profile when using our Services, register an account to  access the Services, request a market analysis of your home, or contact  us by telephone.
• From Other Sources 
  • We receive your Personal Information from other sources, for example:
    • publicly available databases;
    • joint marketing partners, when they share the information with us.

We need to collect Personal Information in order to provide the  requested Services to you.  If you do not provide the information  requested, we may not be able to provide the Services.  If you disclose  any Personal Information relating to other people, such as your friends  or family, to us or to our service providers in connection with the  Services, you represent that you have the authority to do so and to  permit us to use the information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We and our service providers use Personal Information for legitimate business purposes including:

• Providing the functionality of the Services and fulfilling your requests.
  • To  provide the Services’ functionality to you, such as arranging access to  your registered account and providing you with related user support  services.
  • To respond to your inquiries and fulfill your  requests, when you contact us via one of our online contact forms or  otherwise, for example, when you send us questions or comments, or when  you request other information about our Services.
  • To send administrative information to you, such as changes to our terms, conditions and policies.
  • To allow you to send messages to another person through the Services if you choose to do so.

We will engage in these activities to manage our contractual relationship with you and/or to comply with a legal obligation.

• Providing you with marketing materials and facilitating social sharing
  • To send you marketing related emails with information about our services, new products, and other news about our company.
  • To facilitate social sharing functionality that you choose to use.

We will engage in this activity with your consent or where we have a legitimate interest.

• Analysis of Personal Information for business reporting and providing personalized services.
  • To analyze or predict our users’ preferences in order to prepare aggregated trend reports, so we can improve our Services.
  • To  better understand your interests and preferences, so that we can  personalize our interactions with you and provide you with information  and/or offers tailored to your interests.
  • To better understand  your preferences so that we can deliver content via our Services that we  believe will be relevant and interesting to you.

We will provide personalized services based on our legitimate  interests, and with your consent to the extent required by applicable  law.

• Allowing you to participate in sweepstakes, contests or other promotions.
  • We may offer you the opportunity to participate in a sweepstakes, contest or other promotion.
  • Some  of these promotions have additional rules containing information about  how we will use and disclose your Personal Information.  Please read  those additional rules before choosing to participate.

We use this information to manage our contractual relationship with you.

• Aggregating and/or anonymizing Personal Information.
  • We  may aggregate and/or anonymize Personal Information so that it will no  longer be considered Personal Information. We do so to generate other  data for our use, which we may use and disclose for any purpose, as it  no longer identifies you or any other individual.
• Accomplishing our business purposes.
  • For data analysis, for example, to improve the efficiency of our Services;
  • For  audits, to verify that our internal processes function as intended and  to address legal, regulatory or contractual requirements;
  • For  fraud and security monitoring purposes, for example, to detect and  prevent cyberattacks or attempts to commit identity theft;
  • For developing new products and services;
  • For enhancing, improving, or modifying our current products and services;
  • For identifying usage trends, for example, understanding which parts of our Services are of most interest to users;
  • For  determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns, so that we  can adapt our campaigns to the needs and interests of our users; and
  • For  operating and expanding our business activities, for example,  understanding which parts of our Services are of most interest to our  users so we can focus our energies on meeting our users’ interests.

We engage in these activities to manage our contractual relationship  with you, to comply with a legal obligation, and/or based on our  legitimate interests.

We disclose Personal Information:

• To our affiliates for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
• To our third-party service providers, to facilitate services they provide to us.
  • These  can include providers of services such as data analysis, payment  processing, order fulfillment, information technology and related  infrastructure provision, user support service, email delivery,  auditing, and other services.
• To our Keller Williams agents, brokers, and market centers where you have requested such sharing or inquired about a property.
• To third party sponsors of sweepstakes, contests, and similar promotions.
• To our third-party business partners.
  • We  may share your Personal Information with selected third-party business  partners for our partners’ own business purposes, including to enable  them to send information about products and services that may be of  interest to you, consistent with your choices.  Please refer to “Choices  and Access” below, for information about the choices we offer  concerning such sharing. 
• By using the Services, you may elect to disclose Personal Information.
  • On  message boards, chat, blogs, and other services to which you are able  to post information and content.  Please note that any information you  post or disclose through these services will become public and may be  available to other users and the general public.

We also use and disclose your Personal Information as necessary or  appropriate, in particular when we have a legal obligation or legitimate  interest to do so:

• To comply with applicable law and regulations.
  • This may include laws outside your country of residence.
• To cooperate with public and government authorities.
  • To respond to a request or to provide information we believe is important.
  • These can include authorities outside your country of residence.
• To cooperate with law enforcement.
  • For  example, when we respond to law enforcement requests and orders or  provide information we believe is necessary or appropriate.
• For other legal reasons.
  • To enforce our terms and conditions; and
  • To protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of our affiliates, you or others.
• In connection with a sale or business transaction.
  • We  have a legitimate interest in disclosing or transferring your Personal  Information to a third party in the event of any reorganization, merger,  sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all  or any portion of our business, assets or stock (including in connection  with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings).

“Other Information” is any information that does not  reveal your specific identity or does not directly relate to an  identifiable individual.  The Services collect Other Information such  as:

• Browser and device information
• App usage data
• Information collected through cookies, pixel tags and other technologies
• Demographic information and other information provided by you that does not reveal your specific identity
• Information that has been aggregated in a manner such that it no longer reveals your specific identity

We and our service providers may collect Other Information in a variety of ways, including: 

• Through your browser or device 
  • Certain  information is collected by most browsers or automatically through your  device, such as your Media Access Control (MAC) address, computer type  (Windows or Mac), screen resolution, operating system name and version,  device manufacturer and model, language, Internet browser type and  version and the name and version of the Services (such as the App) you  are using.  We use this information to ensure that the Services function  properly. 
• Through your use of KW Apps 
  • When  you download and use KW Apps, we and our service providers may track  and collect App usage data, such as the date and time the App on your  device accesses our servers and what information and files have been  downloaded to the App based on your device number.
• Using cookies
  • Cookies  are pieces of information stored directly on the computer that you are  using.  Cookies allow us to collect information such as browser type,  time spent on the Services, pages visited, language preferences, and  other traffic data.  We and our service providers use the information  for security purposes, to facilitate navigation, to display information  more effectively, and to personalize your experience.  We also gather  statistical information about use of the Services in order to  continually improve their design and functionality, understand how they  are used and assist us with resolving questions regarding them.  Cookies  further allow us to select which of our advertisements or offers are  most likely to appeal to you and display them while you are on the  Services.  We may also use cookies or other technologies in online  advertising to track responses to our ads.  We do not currently respond  to browser do-not-track signals.  If you do not want information  collected through the use of cookies, most browsers allow you to  automatically decline cookies or be given the choice of declining or  accepting a particular cookie (or cookies) from a particular website.   You may also wish to refer to http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/index.html.  If, however, you do not accept cookies, you may experience some  inconvenience in your use of the Services.  You also may not receive  advertising or other offers from us that are relevant to your interests  and needs. You can learn more about our cookie policy here:  http://www.kw.com/kw/cookie-policy.html
• Using pixel tags and other similar technologies 
• Pixel tags. Pixel tags (also known as web beacons and clear GIFs) may be used to,  among other things, track the actions of users of the Services  (including email recipients), measure the success of our marketing  campaigns, and compile statistics about usage of the Services and  response rates. 
• Analytics. We use Google  Analytics, which uses cookies and similar technologies to collect and  analyze information about use of the Services and report on activities  and trends.  This service may also collect information regarding the use  of other websites, apps and online resources.  You can learn about  Google’s practices by going to www.google.com/policies/privacy/‌partners/, and exercise the opt-out provided by Google by downloading the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
•  Physical Location
  • We  may collect the physical location of your device by, for example, using  satellite, cell phone tower or WiFi signals.  We may use your device’s  physical location to provide you with personalized location-based  services and content.  We may also share your device’s physical  location, combined with information about what advertisements you viewed  and other information we collect, with our marketing partners to enable  them to provide you with more personalized content and to study the  effectiveness of advertising campaigns.  In some instances, you may be  permitted to allow or deny such uses and/or sharing of your device’s  location, but if you do, we and/or our marketing partners may not be  able to provide you with the applicable personalized services and  content.

We may use and disclose Other Information for any purpose, except  where we are required to do otherwise under applicable law.  If we are  required to treat Other Information as Personal Information under  applicable law, then we may use and disclose it for the purposes for  which we use and disclose Personal Information as detailed in this  Policy.  In some instances, we may combine Other Information with  Personal Information.  If we do, we will treat the combined information  as Personal Information as long as it is combined.

We seek to use reasonable organizational, technical and  administrative measures to protect Personal Information within our  organization.  Unfortunately, no data transmission or storage system can  be guaranteed to be 100% secure.  If you have reason to believe that  your interaction with us is no longer secure, please immediately notify  us in accordance with the “Contacting Us” section below.

Your choices regarding our use and disclosure of your Personal Information

We give you choices regarding our use and disclosure of your Personal  Information for marketing purposes.  You may opt-out from: 

• Receiving marketing-related emails from us: If you no longer want to receive marketing-related emails from us on a going-forward basis, you may opt out
• Our sharing of your Personal Information with our affiliates for their direct marketing purposes:   If you would prefer that we discontinue sharing your Personal  Information on a going-forward basis with our affiliates for their  direct marketing purposes, you may opt out.
• Our sharing of your Personal Information with our third-party business partners for their direct marketing purposes:   If you would prefer that we discontinue sharing your Personal  Information on a going-forward basis with our business partners for  their direct marketing purposes, you may opt out.

TO OPT OUT – Please contact us at  support@kw.com for assistance with the above.  We will try to comply with your  request(s) as soon as reasonably practicable.  Please note that if you  opt-out of receiving marketing-related emails from us, we may still send  you important administrative messages, from which you cannot opt-out. 

If you would like to request to review, correct, update, suppress,  restrict or delete Personal Information, object to the processing of  Personal Information, or if you would like to request to receive an  electronic copy of your Personal Information for purposes of  transmitting it to another company (to the extent this right to data  portability is provided to you by applicable law), you may update your  information by emailing us at DSAR-KW@kw.com We will respond to your request consistent with applicable law.  If you  are a California resident, please refer to the “California Consumer  Privacy Notice” at the end of this Policy for more information about the  requests you may make under California law.

In your request, please make clear what Personal Information you  would like to have changed, whether you would like to have your Personal  Information suppressed from our database.  For your protection, we may  only implement requests with respect to the Personal Information  associated with the particular email address that you use to send us  your request, and we may need to verify your identity before  implementing your request.  We will try to comply with your request as  soon as reasonably practicable. 

Please note that we may need to retain certain information for  recordkeeping purposes and/or to complete any transactions that you  began prior to requesting a change or deletion (e.g., when you make a  purchase, you may not be able to change or delete the Personal  Information provided until after the completion of such purchase). 

If you are a resident of California, under 18 and a registered user  of the Services, you may ask us to remove content or information that  you have posted to the Services by contacting us in accordance with the  “Contact Us” section below.  Please note that your request does not  ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information,  as, for example, some of your content may have been reposted by another  user.

We retain Personal Information for as long as needed or permitted in  light of the purpose(s) for which it was obtained and consistent with  applicable law. 

The criteria used to determine our retention periods include: 

• The length of time we have an ongoing relationship with you and  provide the Services to you (for example, for as long as you have an  account with us or keep using the Services);
• Whether there is a  legal obligation to which we are subject (for example, certain laws  require us to keep records of your transactions for a certain period of  time before we can delete them); or
• Whether retention is  advisable in light of our legal position (such as in regard to  applicable statutes of limitations, litigation or regulatory  investigations). 

This Privacy Policy does not address, and we are not responsible for,  the privacy, information or other practices of any third parties,  including any third party operating any website or service to which the  Services link.  The inclusion of a link on the Services does not imply  endorsement of the linked site or service by us or by our affiliates.

In addition, we are not responsible for the information collection,  use, disclosure or security policies or practices of other  organizations, such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, RIM or any other app  developer, app provider, operating system provider, wireless service  provider or device manufacturer, including with respect to any Personal  Information you disclose to other organizations through or in connection  with the Services.

The Services are not directed to individuals under the age of sixteen  (16), and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from  individuals under 16. 

Your Personal Information may be stored and processed in any country  where we have facilities or in which we engage service providers, and by  using the Services you understand that your information will be  transferred to countries outside of your country of residence, including  the United States, which may have data protection rules that are  different from those of your country.  In certain circumstances, courts,  law enforcement agencies, regulatory agencies or security authorities  in those other countries may be entitled to access your Personal  Information.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE EUROPEAN ECONONIC AREA (EEA):  Some of the non-EEA countries are recognized by the European Commission  as providing an adequate level of data protection according to EEA  standards (the full list of these countries is available here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/data-transfers-outside-eu/adequacy-protection-personal-data-non-eu-countries_en.  For transfers from the EEA to countries not considered adequate by the  European Commission, we have put in place adequate measures, such as  certification to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, to protect your  Personal Information (please see our EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Statement at  the end of this policy). You may obtain a copy of these measures by  contacting us in accordance with the “Contact Us” section below.

Unless we request it, we ask that you not send us, and you not disclose, any sensitive Personal Information (e.g.,  social security numbers, payment card or account information,  information related to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions,  religion or other beliefs, health, biometrics or genetic  characteristics, criminal background or trade union membership) on or  through the Services or otherwise to us.

The “Last Updated” legend at the top of this Privacy Policy  indicates when this Privacy Policy was last revised.  Any changes will  become effective when we post the revised Privacy Policy on the  Services.  Your use of the Services following these changes means that  you accept the revised Privacy Policy. 

Keller Williams Realty, Inc., located at 1221 S MoPac Expressway,  Suite 100, Austin TX 78746 USA , is the company responsible for  collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information under this  Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at legal@kw.com or:

1221 S MoPac Expressway, Suite 100
Austin TX 78746 USA

Because email communications are not always secure, please do not  include credit card or other sensitive information in your emails to us.

You may lodge a complaint with an EU/EEA data protection authority  for your country or region or where an alleged infringement of  applicable data protection law occurs.  A list of data protection  authorities is available at: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/members_en

Keller Williams Realty, Inc. and KW Worldwide, Ltd. comply with the  EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of  Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal  information from European Union member countries. Keller Williams  Realty, Inc. and KW Worldwide, Ltd. have certified that they adhere to  the Privacy Shield Principles of Notice, Choice, Accountability for  Onward Transfer, Security, Data Integrity and Purpose Limitation,  Access, and Recourse, Enforcement and Liability.  If there is any  conflict between the policies in this privacy policy and the Privacy  Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. To learn  more about the Privacy Shield program, and to view our certification  pages, please visit: https://www.privacyshield.gov/.

In compliance with the Privacy Shield Principles, Keller Williams  Realty, Inc. and KW Worldwide, Ltd. commit to resolve complaints about  our collection or use of your personal information.  European Union and  Swiss individuals with inquiries or complaints regarding our Privacy  Shield policy should first contact legal@kw.com. 

Keller Williams Realty, Inc. and KW Worldwide, Ltd. have further  committed to refer unresolved Privacy Shield complaints to BBB EU  PRIVACY SHIELD, an alternative dispute resolution provider located in  the United States.  If you do not receive timely acknowledgment of your  complaint from us, or if we have not addressed your complaint to your  satisfaction, please visit www.bbb.org/EU-privacy-shield/for-eu-consumers/ for more information or to file a complaint.  The services of BBB EU PRIVACY SHIELD are provided at no cost to you.

Keller Williams Realty, Inc. and KW Worldwide, Ltd. are subject to  the investigatory and enforcement powers of The Federal Trade Commission  (FTC). It is possible, under certain conditions, for individuals to  invoke binding arbitration.

Pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), Keller Williams Realty, Inc. and its affiliates (”Keller Williams,” “we” or “us”)  are providing the following details regarding the categories of  Personal Information that we collect, use, and disclose about California  residents.  This CCPA Notice does not apply to our job applicants,  employees, contractors, owners, directors, or officers where the  Personal Information we collect about those individuals relates to their  current, former, or potential role at Keller Williams.  Under the CCPA,  “Personal Information” is information that identifies, relates to, or could reasonably be linked with a particular California resident or household. 

We collect Personal Information from:

• Our interactions with you, such as when you use our websites or  applications, contact us online or on the phone, sign up for a  newsletter, register an account, purchase a product or service, or  attend one of our events; and
• Our affiliates, third-party  providers of software applications made available on the KW Marketplace,  and publicly available online sources. 

We may collect, and may have collected within the preceding 12  months, the following categories of Personal Information as listed in  the CCPA:

• Category A. Identifiers, such as name, contact information, IP address and other online identifiers;
• Category B. Personal information, as defined in the California customer records  law, such as name, contact information, payment card number, financial  information, employment information, insurance information, and  government-issued ID numbers;
• Category C. Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law, such as marital status;
• Category D. Commercial information, such as transaction information and purchase history;
• Category F. Internet or network activity information, such as browsing history and interactions with our website;
• Category H. Geolocation data, such as device location;
• Category G. Professional or employment-related information; and
• Category K. Inferences  drawn from any of the Personal Information listed above to create a  profile about, for example, an individual’s preferences and  characteristics.

We use these categories of Personal Information for the purposes of  operating, managing, and maintaining our business, providing our  products and services, and accomplishing our business purposes and  objectives, including using Personal Information to:

• Fulfill your requests, respond to your inquiries, and process your transactions; 
• Provide, develop, improve, repair, and maintain our products and services;
• Provide tools and services to our franchisees and agents;
• Personalize, advertise, and market our products and services;
• Conduct research, analytics, and data analysis;
• Maintain our property and our records, and undertake quality and safety assurance measures;
• Conduct risk and security control and monitoring, and detect and prevent fraud;
• Perform  identity verification, accounting, audit, and other internal functions,  such as internal investigations and record-keeping;
• Carry out corporate transactions, such as mergers, joint ventures or acquisitions; and
• Comply with law, legal process, and internal policies, and exercise and defend legal claims.

We have disclosed the following categories of Personal Information as  listed in the CCPA to third parties for our operational business  purposes within the preceding 12 months: 

• Category A. Identifiers, such as name, contact information, IP address and other online identifiers;
• Category B. Personal  information, as defined in the California customer records law, such as  name, contact information, payment card number, financial information,  employment information,
• Category C. Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law, such as marital status;
• Category D. Commercial information, such as transaction information and purchase history;
• Category F. Internet or network activity information, such as browsing history and interactions with our website;
• Category G. Geolocation data, such as device location;
• Category I. Professional or employment-related information; and
• Category K. Inferences  drawn from any of the Personal Information listed above to create a  profile about, for example, an individual’s preferences and  characteristics.

We have disclosed these categories of Personal Information to our  affiliated entities, trusted third-party service providers, licensed  franchisees, and business partners, as well as to our agents, brokers,  and market centers where you have requested such sharing.

We have not sold Personal Information, as “sale” is defined in the CCPA.

If you are a California resident, you may request that we:

• Disclose to you the following information covering the 12 months preceding your request:
  • The  categories of Personal Information we collected about you and the  categories of sources from which we collected such Personal Information;
  • The specific pieces of Personal Information we collected about you;
  • The business or commercial purpose for collecting (if applicable)Personal Information about you; and
  • The  categories of Personal Information about you that we otherwise shared  or disclosed, and the categories of third parties with whom we shared or  to whom we disclosed such Personal Information (if applicable).
• Delete Personal Information we collected from you.

To make a request for the disclosures or deletion described above, please contact us at DSAR-KW@kw.com  or (877) 507-0072 We will respond to your request consistent with applicable law. 

You have the right to be free from unlawful discrimination for exercising your rights under the CCPA.

We may change or update this CCPA Notice from time to time.  When we  do, we will post the revised CCPA Notice on this page with a new “Last  Updated” date.