Privacy Policy

Who we are

WohnWacht — listed in English as FlatWatch — (“the app”) is a property-aggregation and rental-scam-alert application operated by RinGuard, Berlin, Germany. This policy explains what data we process and why.

Who can use the app

The app is free and open to the public. You can browse listings and create alarms as a guest, without an account and without giving us any personal details. Creating an account is optional and only needed if you want your alarms to follow you to another device. There is no trial, no subscription and no in-app purchase.

Data we process

As a guest, we process only the device identifier below. The account fields apply only if you choose to register.

• Account data — your name and email address, used to authenticate you and manage your account. Only collected if you create an account.
• Saved searches (“alarms”) — the search criteria you create, used to find listings that match them.
• Device fingerprint — a random per-install identifier, used to secure your session (device binding).
• Push token — an identifier issued by Apple or Google for your installation, stored against your account so alarm alerts reach your device. Only if you allow notifications. See “Push notifications” below.
• Verification documents — only if you are offering a place and choose to get verified. See “Verifying that you own a place” below.

We do not collect your location, contacts, or browsing history. We do not read your photo library — the app can only see a photo you pick yourself, or one you take with the camera, for your own listing or for verification. We take no payment of any kind, so we hold no payment-method, card or purchase data.

Verifying that you own a place

This section applies only if you offer a place in the app and choose to verify it. Verification is entirely optional: you can browse, set alarms and post a listing without ever using it, and nothing here applies to people who are just looking for a flat.

Rental fraud is the reason this app exists, so landlords can prove who they are. To do that we ask you to send:

• An identity document — a photo of your ID card, passport or residence permit, or a trade licence if you are a business. Used once, to confirm your name.
• An ownership document — for example a Grundbuchauszug, an Eigentümerbescheinigung, a Grundsteuerbescheid, or your own lease if you are subletting. Used to check that the name we confirmed is connected to the specific place you are offering.
• A postal address — only for the optional last step, where we post a one-time code to the place and you send it back. We take the address from the ownership document, we use it for nothing else, and we delete it as soon as the step finishes.

We ask for your explicit agreement before you send anything, and you can stop at any point.

How it is handled. Documents are encrypted and stored separately from everything else, outside the public part of our servers. They are never published, never shown to other members, never used for advertising, and never sold or shared with data brokers. The only people who can open them are RinGuard staff reviewing your request, and every single time one is opened we record who opened it and when. An automated check may read the document first to help the reviewer — it runs on our own servers, never a third-party AI service, and it never makes the decision.

How long we keep them. We delete the documents themselves about 30 days after we decide (about 14 days if we could not approve the request, so you have time to appeal). What we keep afterwards is the outcome — that you were verified, on what date, and the name we confirmed — not the document.

The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). You can withdraw it at any time by contacting us, which removes your verification and anything still held for it. Withdrawing costs you nothing else: your account, your listings and your alarms are unaffected.

What a verified badge does and does not mean

A verified badge means we checked the documents described above on the date shown. It is not a guarantee. We have not visited the property, we hold no keys, and we are not a party to any agreement you make with the person offering it. Always view a place in person and never pay before you have seen it.

How we use it

Your data is used only to operate the app: authentication, session security, and saving your alarms so we can show you the listings that match them. We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties, and we do not use it for advertising or tracking.

Property listings

Listings shown in the app are aggregated from public third-party community groups and are processed to remove personal contact information. They are informational content; always verify a listing independently before making any payment. Risk badges are advisory only.

Data transmission and storage

All communication with our servers uses encrypted HTTPS/TLS. Data is stored on servers operated for RinGuard within the EU.

Push notifications

When one of your saved searches matches a new listing, the app can alert you with a push notification. To deliver it we store a push token — an identifier issued by Apple or Google for your installation of the app — against your account, so the alert reaches your device and no one else’s.

The token is used only to send you these alerts. It is not used for advertising, analytics or tracking, and it is never sold or shared with data brokers. Delivery goes through Apple Push Notification service and Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google), who handle the message in transit.

Notifications are opt-in: iOS and Android ask your permission before the first one, and you can withdraw it at any time in your device settings. Declining costs you nothing else — alarms still match on our servers and the results stay visible in the app. We delete the token when you sign out, delete your account, or the platform tells us it is no longer valid.

Data deletion

If you created an account, you can delete it and its associated data from within the app, or via ringuard.de/radar/delete-account. Guests leave no account behind — clearing the app removes the local session. Deleting your account also removes any verification documents still held for you, and the verification itself.

Children

The app is intended for users aged 18 and over and is not directed at children.

Changes

We may update this policy; material changes will be reflected by the “Last updated” date above.

Contact

For privacy questions or data requests, contact RinGuard at privacy@ringuard.de.