Privacy Policy

1. General Provisions

This Privacy Policy describes how DGS Holiday Homes L.L.C (Trade License No. 1608923, Dubai) collects, uses, stores, and protects personal information when you use our website, make a booking, or interact with our services.

DGS Holiday Homes operates under the regulations of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and complies with UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data (PDPL) and applicable Dubai data protection standards.

By using our website or services, you consent to the practices described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

1.1 Information you provide directly

When booking a property:

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number (including WhatsApp)
• Passport copy or Emirates ID (required by Dubai Tourism regulations for guest registration)
• Nationality
• Special requests or preferences

When applying as a property owner:

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Property details (location, area, number of bedrooms, furnishing status)

When contacting us:

• Name, email, phone number, and message content submitted through contact forms, email, or WhatsApp

1.2 Information collected automatically

• IP address, browser type, and device information
• Pages visited, time spent, and navigation patterns on our website
• Referring website or search engine
• Language and location preferences

1.3 Payment information

Credit and debit card details are processed directly by Network International, our PCI-DSS compliant payment gateway. DGS Holiday Homes does not collect, store, or have access to your full card details at any time.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use collected information for the following purposes:

• Processing bookings, payments, and refunds
• Sending booking confirmations, check-in instructions, and stay-related communications
• Registering guest details with the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) through the Holiday Homes check-in system — this is a mandatory legal requirement; all guest check-ins and check-outs must be reported to DET on the same day they occur
• Collecting and remitting Tourism Dirham fees to DET on behalf of guests
• Responding to inquiries and providing customer support via email, phone, and WhatsApp
• Preparing revenue estimates and management proposals for property owners
• Generating Owner Portal reports (income, bookings, occupancy data)
• Improving our website, services, and user experience through analytics
• Complying with legal obligations under UAE law, including tax and regulatory reporting

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal grounds:

• Contractual necessity: Processing required to fulfill your booking or property management agreement
• Legal obligation: Guest registration with DET, Tourism Dirham collection, and data retention as required by Dubai tourism regulations
• Legitimate interest: Improving our services, preventing fraud, and ensuring property safety
• Consent: Where you have explicitly consented to specific processing, such as receiving marketing communications

5. Mandatory Guest Registration (DET Requirement)

Under Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism regulations, all licensed holiday home operators are required to:

• Register guest identification details (passport or Emirates ID) in the DET Holiday Homes system on the day of check-in
• Report check-out dates on the day of departure
• Maintain guest records for inspection by DET authorities

This registration is a legal obligation, not optional. By booking with DGS Holiday Homes, you acknowledge and consent to the submission of your identification information to Dubai government authorities as required by law.

Failure to provide valid identification will result in the inability to complete check-in.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

• Essential cookies: Required for the website to function properly (session management, security tokens, language preferences). These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand website usage patterns (pages visited, traffic sources, time on site). We use Google Analytics with IP anonymization enabled where possible.
• Preference cookies: Remember your settings such as language selection, search filters, and currency preferences.

You can manage your cookie preferences through the cookie consent banner displayed on your first visit, or at any time through the "Cookie Settings" link in the website footer. You may also configure cookies through your browser settings.

Disabling essential cookies may prevent certain website features from functioning correctly.

7. Third-Party Services

We share the minimum necessary personal data with the following third-party services to operate our platform:

• Network International (Payment processing) — Processes card payments. PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant. DGS Holiday Homes does not access or store card details.
• Booking.com (Calendar synchronization) — Booking data is shared to synchronize property availability across platforms and prevent double bookings.
• Airbnb (Calendar synchronization) — Same purpose as above, where applicable.
• Google Maps (Location services) — Displays property locations and neighborhood information. Subject to Google's privacy policy.
• Google Analytics (Website analytics) — Collects anonymous website usage data. IP anonymization is enabled.
• Google Reviews (Review display) — Displays publicly available Google Reviews on our website.
• Memberstack (Authentication) — Manages login credentials for the Owner Portal. Passwords are encrypted and not accessible to DGS Holiday Homes.
• WhatsApp / Meta (Communication) — Used for guest and owner communication. Subject to Meta's privacy policy.
• Webflow (Website hosting) — Hosts the DGS Holiday Homes website. Subject to Webflow's privacy policy and data processing terms.

We do not share personal data with third parties for advertising, profiling, or purposes unrelated to our services.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal data for the following periods:

• Guest booking data and identification records: minimum 5 years from the date of checkout, as required by Dubai DET regulations for audit and inspection purposes
• Property owner data: for the duration of the management contract plus 3 years after termination, for legal and accounting purposes
• Payment transaction records: 7 years as required by UAE commercial law
• Website analytics data: 26 months (Google Analytics default retention period)
• Communication records (email, WhatsApp): 2 years for service quality and dispute resolution
• Contact form submissions: 1 year from the date of submission

After the applicable retention period, personal data is securely deleted or permanently anonymized. Data required by law may be retained longer if mandated by UAE authorities.

9. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data:

• SSL/TLS encryption for all website traffic and data transmission
• Payment processing through PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant gateway (Network International)
• Access to personal data restricted to authorized DGS Holiday Homes personnel on a need-to-know basis
• Owner Portal protected by encrypted password-based authentication (Memberstack)
• Regular security reviews and access audits
• Guest identification documents stored securely with restricted access

While we implement commercially reasonable security measures, no method of electronic storage or internet transmission is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data but will notify affected parties promptly in the event of a data breach.

10. Your Rights

Under UAE data protection law (Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021), you have the following rights:

• Right of access — Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to correction — Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data
• Right to deletion — Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements
• Right to restrict processing — Request limitation of how we process your data in certain circumstances
• Right to object — Object to processing of your data for specific purposes
• Right to data portability — Request your data in a structured, commonly used format

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 13. We will respond within 30 days of receiving your request.

Important: Certain data cannot be deleted during mandatory retention periods. Guest registration data submitted to DET as required by Dubai tourism regulations is subject to government retention requirements and cannot be modified or deleted by DGS Holiday Homes.

11. Children

Our website and services are not directed at children under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that personal data has been collected from a child without parental consent, we will take steps to delete it promptly.

Children may stay at DGS Holiday Homes properties as part of a family booking, but the booking and all associated data processing is conducted by an adult guest.

12. International Data Transfers

Our website is hosted on Webflow servers, and some third-party services we use (Google, Meta, Memberstack) may process data outside the UAE.

By using our website and services, you consent to the transfer of your data to jurisdictions that may have different data protection standards than the UAE. We ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place for any international data transfers, including reliance on standard contractual clauses or equivalent mechanisms where applicable.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices, services, technology, or legal requirements. The updated policy will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date.

For material changes that significantly affect how we process your data, we will make reasonable efforts to notify users (e.g., via website notice or email for active bookings).

Continued use of our website after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

14. Contact and Data Protection Inquiries

For questions about this Privacy Policy, data protection practices, or to exercise your rights:

• Company: DGS Holiday Homes L.L.C
• Trade License: No. 1608923 (DED-Dubai)
• Phone / WhatsApp: +971 54 407 9413
• Email: info@dgsdubai.com
• Office: The Exchange Tower, G06-52, Business Bay, Dubai, UAE

We aim to resolve all inquiries within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant UAE data protection authority.