Privacy policy

Dear users,

Please read the Privacy Policy carefully before you start using our online platform. By using www.hommex.co you agree to the Privacy Policy and confirm that you have read and understood the terms under which we process your personal data and that you accept this Privacy Policy.

VORTEK INOVATIONS D.O.O. Skopje, a trade and services company, with its registered office at Njudehliska 6/1-13, Karposh, Skopje, North Macedonia, e-mail address: hello@vortec.io, entered in the Trade Register and the register of other legal entities under EMBS 7757832, TAX ID MK4057024570335 (hereinafter: "VORTEK INOVATIONS, the Company, the platform, or We"), respects and protects the privacy of every person whose personal data it collects and processes.

VORTEK INOVATIONS collects, processes and stores personal data in accordance with the Law on Personal Data Protection ("Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia") (hereinafter: "the Law"), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where applicable, and other applicable regulations in force in the Republic of North Macedonia.

We advise you to check this Policy periodically for the latest information regarding the protection of your privacy. The Privacy Policy covers the privacy practices of our online platform and the data collected when communicating with our team. We always strive to process personal data with maximum respect for privacy.

The Privacy Policy covers the following topics:

  • Personal data controller
  • What is personal data?
  • Which types of data do we collect and process?
  • What your personal data is used for and the legal basis for processing
  • Sharing data with third parties and data processors
  • Automated decision-making and artificial intelligence
  • International data transfers
  • Data retention period
  • Data security
  • What are your rights regarding personal data?
  • Direct marketing and newsletter
  • Cookies
  • Age limit
  • Cooperation with competent authorities
  • Changes to the Privacy Policy
  • Contact information
1. Personal data controller

The personal data controller is VORTEK INOVATIONS D.O.O. Skopje, a trade and services company, with its registered office at Njudehliska 6/1-13, Karposh, Skopje, EMBS 7757832, TAX ID MK4057024570335. For questions regarding the processing of personal data, you may contact our data protection officer at the following e-mail address: hello@hommex.co.

2. What is personal data?

In accordance with the Law on Personal Data Protection of the Republic of North Macedonia, "personal data" means any information relating to an identified natural person or a natural person who can be identified (data subject). An identifiable natural person is a person whose identity can be determined directly or indirectly, in particular on the basis of an identifier such as a name, surname, personal identification number, location data, an online identifier, or on the basis of one or more features specific to that person's physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity.

Processing of personal data is any operation or set of operations performed on personal data, whether automated or not, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation, alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, publication or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.

3. Which types of data do we collect and process?
3.1. Visitors browsing listings (without registration)

When you visit our online platform without creating a user account, your privacy is fully respected. We do not collect personal data that directly identifies you. The platform only has insight into technical data that cannot directly identify an end user, such as: device type, operating system, internet browser, IP address and approximate device location. This data may be processed via analytics cookies if you give consent for them.

3.2. Registered users — creating a user account

When creating a user account via e-mail registration, the following data must be entered:

  • First and last name — This data is entered by you as the user and you are responsible for the accuracy of the entered data.
  • E-mail address — Your e-mail address is verified upon registration. You will receive a verification message on it from hello@hommex.co. The validity of the confirmation link is 24 hours. When publishing a listing, your e-mail address becomes public and third parties will be able to contact you at that address.
  • Date of birth (day, month, year) — This data is entered by you and you are responsible for its accuracy.
  • Phone number — Your contact phone number. When posting a listing, the phone number is displayed on the listing and will be publicly visible.
  • Language preference (preferred_language) — The selected language in which you want the platform to be displayed. It can be changed at any time via your profile settings.
  • Automatic listing translation preference (auto_translate_listings) — A setting that determines whether listings are automatically displayed translated into your selected language. It is enabled by default and you can disable it at any time.
3.3. Registration via social networks (OAuth)

Our online platform gives users the option to create a user account by connecting through the following providers:

  • Google — When registering via Google, we receive from your Google account: first name, last name, e-mail address and profile picture.
  • Facebook — When registering via Facebook, we receive from your Facebook account: first name, last name, e-mail address and profile picture.
  • Apple — When registering via Apple Sign In, we receive from your Apple account: name and e-mail address (Apple may offer you the option of a hidden e-mail address).

Data obtained during OAuth registration is linked to your user account on the platform. You can change this data at any time via your user account settings. We do not have access to your passwords or other sensitive data from these accounts.

3.4. Listing data

When publishing a listing on the platform, all information you enter in the listing is collected and processed, including the text description, property features, price, location and images/video clips. The images you upload are stored on our CDN servers and are marked with the Hommex watermark.

3.5. Payment and subscription data

When making payments, we do not collect or store the full data of your payment card (the full card number, the CVV/CVC security code, or your account balance). All sensitive card data is processed and stored exclusively by Halk Bank AD Skopje, through their NESTPAY payment system, in accordance with PCI DSS standards.

In order to enable repeat payments without re-entering the data on each transaction (for example, for automatic subscription renewal), when you add a payment card to your account we receive from Halk Bank and store on our servers a limited set of data relating to the card, namely:

  • A token identifying the card with Halk Bank (cannot be used for payments outside their system)
  • Card type/brand (e.g. VISA or MasterCard)
  • The last four digits of the card (for visual identification)
  • Month and year of expiry
  • An indicator of whether the card is set as the default for future automatic charges

This data is not sufficient for unlawful use of your card. You may add multiple cards and manage them (delete, change the default) at any time through the settings of your account on the payments page.

In addition to the card data, we have insight into transaction data: date and amount charged, transaction status and transaction identifier.

For more information on the processing of data related to subscriptions, we recommend that you read our Subscription Policy.

3.5.1. Billing address

When adding a payment card or making a payment, you are required to enter a billing address. This data is used for issuing invoices in accordance with the tax legislation of the Republic of North Macedonia and for identifying the user in case of refund, complaint or transaction audit.

The billing address includes:

  • First and last name
  • Email address (for invoice delivery)
  • Legal entity name and tax number (optional, if the payment is made on behalf of a company)
  • Address (street and number, additional address line, city, region, postal code, country)

You may have multiple billing addresses and update them at any time through the settings of your account.

3.6. Communication data

When you use the platform's messaging system to communicate with advertisers or buyers, the content of messages is stored on our servers for the duration of your account and is deleted together with it. Our platform uses real-time communication technology for message delivery.

Messages may be reviewed by our team exclusively for purposes of platform security, customer support and service improvement.

The messaging system is intended exclusively for communication related to real estate listings on the platform. It is forbidden to use the messaging system to send unsolicited commercial communication, harassment or content that violates our Terms of Use.

3.7. Creating a business user account

When creating a business user account, the following must be entered: name of the legal entity, phone number and tax number. The stated tax number is not publicly displayed in the published listing.

3.8. Push notification data

If you give consent to receive push notifications (via the browser, iOS or Android app), we collect and store a technical device identification token (FCM token) and platform information (web, ios or android). This data is used exclusively for delivering notifications to your device.

The token is automatically deactivated if the device is no longer active or if you withdraw your consent for notifications. You can manage notifications via your account settings on the notifications page.

3.9. Saved search data

The platform allows you to save property search criteria. When saving a search, we store the filters you have set (property type, location, price, area, etc.) and periodically (every 30 minutes) automatically check whether new listings matching your criteria have appeared.

If new listings are found and you have enabled notifications for saved searches, you will be notified via push notification, e-mail and/or in-app notification. The history of sent notifications is retained for internal purposes and is periodically deleted.

3.10. Notification preferences

We store your preferences regarding which types of notifications you wish to receive. You may change these preferences at any time through your account settings.

The available notification categories and their default settings are as follows:

  • messages (default on) — notifications for new messages in the chat system.
  • saved_searches (default on) — notifications for new listings that strictly match your saved searches.
  • saved_search_similar (default on) — fallback notifications with similar listings when no strict match is found for a saved search.
  • search_suggestions (default off, explicit opt-in) — passive suggestions based on the user's search history.
  • favorites (default on) — notifications about price drops on listings you have marked as favorites.
  • statistics (default on) — weekly statistics reports for sellers.
  • re_engagement (default on) — onboarding notifications, account milestones, stalled-favorites reminders and weekly digests of recently viewed listings.
  • marketing (default off) — promotional content (linked to newsletter consent).

The search_suggestions category constitutes passive profiling based on your search history and, in accordance with the GDPR and the Law on Personal Data Protection of the Republic of North Macedonia, this processing is carried out solely on the basis of your explicit consent. You may withdraw your consent at any time through the notification settings of your account.

3.11. Favourite listings

The platform allows you to save listings as favourites for later viewing. Saved favourite listings are stored in your account and you can remove them at any time. When the account is deleted, all favourite listings are automatically deleted.

3.12. AI content generation and translation (Hommex AI)

Content generation: Subscribed users have the ability to use functionality for automatic generation of title and description for their listings with the help of artificial intelligence. When using this functionality, details about your property (features, location, price) are sent to the external AI provider Anthropic (Anthropic PBC, USA), via the Claude model, for processing and text generation. The generated text is a suggestion — you have full control and responsibility for reviewing and publishing the content. The history of generated content is retained in your account.

Automatic listing translation: In order to enable access to listings for users who speak different languages, the platform automatically translates the titles and descriptions of published listings into our active languages (Macedonian, English, Serbian, Albanian). The translation is performed through the AI provider Anthropic (Anthropic PBC, USA), via the Claude model. The original content of the listing (title and description) is sent to Anthropic for processing, and the translated versions are stored on our servers and displayed to visitors according to their language preference.

The original content of the listing always remains stored and visible. Translated versions are marked with a "Translated by Hommex AI" indicator so that users know they are reading a translation.

As an advertiser, you have the right to object to the automatic translation of your listing by contacting our data protection officer.

3.13. Watermark data

Subscribed users may upload their own watermark image that is automatically added to all photos from their listings. The uploaded image is stored on our CDN servers and is deleted upon deactivation of the functionality or deletion of the account.

3.14. Data from user and listing reports

Users have the option to report listings or user accounts that violate the platform's rules. When a report is made, we store: the identifier of the user who is reporting, the identifier of the reported user or listing, the reason for the report and the optional message with additional details.

This data is processed exclusively for purposes of moderation and platform security and is deleted after the report has been reviewed.

3.15. Newsletter subscription

The platform allows registered users and unauthenticated visitors to subscribe to our newsletter to receive information about new listings, tips and content from the platform. When subscribing, the following data is collected: e-mail address, language preference (locale), region and platform through which you subscribed, and subscription date.

Every notification includes an unsubscribe link. You may unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time via that link or by contacting our team at hello@hommex.co. After unsubscribing, your e-mail address is marked as inactive and we stop sending you the newsletter.

3.16. Platform activity data

For purposes of internal analytics and improvement of user experience, the platform records in aggregated form activities such as listing views, user profile views, clicks on advertising banners (promotions), shares and interactions with blog content. This data is linked to the visitor's session and is used for statistics and service improvement. In aggregate form, certain engagement counters of an individual listing (the number of views, contacts and favourites) are also shown to subscribed users via the Competitor Analysis feature described in section 3.23.

In addition, with each interaction we record three technical dimensions for statistical purposes: display language (locale), region of access (region), and platform from which access is made (web, iOS or Android). These dimensions do not identify individual users; they enable us to understand how different groups of users use the platform.

For registered users, the user profile additionally stores:

  • The last recorded region and platform of access (without history) — used to tailor the user experience (for example, displaying the appropriate domain/language)
  • A history of platforms on which the user has been active (with first and last observed dates) — used exclusively for internal statistics and not shared with third parties
  • The date of the last activity on the platform — used for the "re-engagement" functionality described in section 4
3.17. Recently viewed listings

The platform offers a "Recently viewed" feature that lets you easily return to listings you have previously viewed. The way data is stored differs depending on your status:

  • Registered users: When you visit a listing, the listing ID and the time of viewing are stored on our servers, linked to your account. The history is limited to a maximum of 50 most recent records — older entries are removed automatically.
  • Unauthenticated visitors: The same data (listing ID and time of viewing, up to 50 records) is stored locally on your device using the browser's "localStorage" technology. This data is not transferred to our servers while you are unauthenticated — it remains only on your device.
  • Upon login: If you have a local history from anonymous browsing and then sign in, the local records are migrated to your account (preserving the most recent view date per listing) and then removed from your device. This is technically necessary so that you can continue your history across all of your devices.

You may at any time remove an individual listing from the history or delete the entire history through the "Recently viewed" page. Upon deletion of the account, all server-side records are permanently removed together with it.

The legal basis for processing is performance of the contract (for registered users) and legitimate interest in improving the user experience (for anonymous local history).

3.18. Ratings of automatic translations

For listings that are automatically translated using artificial intelligence (described in section 3.12), registered users can rate whether the translation is useful or not, by means of a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" button on the listing page.

When you leave a rating, we store: the listing ID, the language code of the translation being rated, your user ID, and the rating value (1 for positive, -1 for negative). You may have a maximum of one rating per listing+language combination, and you may change or withdraw it at any time by clicking again.

Ratings are not displayed publicly to other users — they are used exclusively internally to monitor the quality of automatic translations and to identify translations that should be re-generated. The advertiser does not see who rated the translations of their listing, nor the individual ratings.

The legal basis for processing is legitimate interest — improvement of the quality of the service.

3.19. Active session data and account security

For each authenticated session on your account, we record the following technical data:

  • IP address
  • Device label derived from the User-Agent (for example: "Chrome on macOS")
  • Platform (web / iOS / Android)
  • Device fingerprint — SHA-256 hash of the User-Agent (this is not biometric data)
  • Session creation time
  • Time of last use of the session
  • IP address at last use

The approximate location (city, country) is computed locally on our servers from the IP address using the IP-to-City Lite database by DB-IP (licensed under CC-BY 4.0). No data is sent to DB-IP or to any other third party.

You may view all active sessions and sign out of any session from the account security page.

When the system detects a sign-in from a device fingerprint not previously seen for your account, a security notification email is sent to your verified email address, containing the device label, IP address, platform and sign-in time.

A password-change confirmation email is sent whenever your account password is updated.

Legal basis: legitimate interest (account security).

3.20. Search data

Each search performed on the platform is recorded together with the following data: applied filters, result count, locale, country, platform and (for signed-in users) user identifier.

This data is used for: (a) internal product analytics and (b) sending search-suggestion notifications, exclusively to users who have explicitly opted in to this feature.

After the retention window expires, the user identifier (user_id) is automatically nulled out (anonymized) — older search records survive only as aggregate analytics, without the possibility of identifying a specific user.

Legal basis: legitimate interest (analytics, anonymized after the retention window) and consent (for the search-suggestion notifications).

3.21. Listing price history

Every change to the prices of a published listing (sale price, deposit, monthly expenses, bills-included flag, pricing type) is recorded with the timestamp and the identifier of the user who made the change.

When a listing has two or more price entries in its history, the price history is publicly displayed on the listing detail page, so that prospective buyers can see how the price has changed over time.

Legal basis: legitimate interest (transparency for buyers) and contract performance (for sellers).

3.22. Activity history and re-engagement

We record the user's last activity time (last_active, rate-limited) and the user's last visited domain (last_visited_domain) in order to: (a) pick the correct domain for the links in transactional email messages and (b) trigger the re-engagement campaigns described in section 4.

For iOS users who grant Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt, the device's advertising identifier (IDFA) is captured and forwarded to advertising partners (Google Ads, Meta) for ad personalization. Users who deny or skip the ATT prompt do not share the IDFA with advertising partners.

3.23. Listing performance insights (Competitor Analysis)

The platform offers subscribed users a Premium feature called Competitor Analysis, which displays a summary of the engagement of any published listing. For the listing being viewed, the following aggregate counters are shown: the number of views and the number of contacts in the last 30 days, the current total number of users who have saved the listing as a favourite, and the number of days the listing has been published (calculated from its publication date).

This means that the aggregate engagement metrics of your listings are visible not only to you, but also to other users who hold this feature, as well as to administrators. The metrics are aggregate counters only — they do not reveal the identity of the visitors who viewed or contacted the listing, nor of the users who saved it as a favourite. The owner of a listing always has access to the performance of their own listings, regardless of subscription.

Legal basis: legitimate interest (market transparency and benchmarking for advertisers) and performance of contract (for the listing owner). If you object to the aggregate metrics of your listings being shown to other subscribed users, you may contact our data protection officer at hello@hommex.co.

4. What your personal data is used for and the legal basis for processing

We process your personal data exclusively for the purposes for which it was collected, on the basis of an appropriate legal basis:

  • Publishing listings and enabling contact — Your personal data (in the form and content you have chosen) is used to publish the listing and to enable interested buyers to contact you. Legal basis: performance of a contract.
  • Automatic translation of listings — The content of your listing (title and description) is processed via an AI service (Anthropic) for the purpose of automatic translation into other languages and increasing the visibility of the listing. Legal basis: legitimate interest and performance of a contract.
  • System notifications — Your data is used to send functional e-mail messages (notification of published listing, completed payment, e-mail verification, etc.). These messages are not of a promotional nature. Legal basis: performance of a contract.
  • Customer support — Your data is used for communication with our customer support team. Legal basis: legitimate interest.
  • Content moderation — Images uploaded to listings are automatically analysed to check content safety (detection of inappropriate, violent or prohibited material). Legal basis: legitimate interest and performance of the terms of use.
  • Payments and subscriptions — The processing of transaction data is necessary for executing payment operations and for fulfilling tax and accounting obligations. Legal basis: performance of a contract and legal obligation.
  • Direct marketing — Your personal data will be used for digital marketing purposes (personalised tips, offers and news from Hommex) only if you have given permission to do so when creating a user account, by ticking the box "I agree to receive personalised tips, offers and news from www.hommex.co". Legal basis: consent.
  • Newsletter — If you have subscribed to the newsletter (as a registered user or as a visitor), you will receive notifications about new listings, tips and content. Legal basis: consent.
  • Platform analytics — We collect anonymous statistical data on how the platform is used, in order to improve its structure and functionality. Legal basis: consent (via cookies) or legitimate interest (internal aggregated statistics).
  • Push notifications — Your device data (FCM token and platform) is used to deliver notifications about new messages, new listings matching saved searches and weekly statistics reports. Legal basis: consent.
  • Saved searches — Your saved criteria are used for automatic search and notification of new listings matching your preferences. Legal basis: performance of a contract.
  • AI content generation — Details of your property are processed to automatically generate text with the help of artificial intelligence. Legal basis: performance of a contract.
  • Moderation and security — Data from user and listing reports is processed for the purpose of reviewing the report and taking appropriate measures. Legal basis: legitimate interest and legal obligation.
  • Re-engagement — If you have not visited the platform for a longer period (more than 30 days), you may receive a notification (e-mail and/or push) with information about new listings on the platform. These messages are not of a promotional nature and are sent for the purpose of improving your experience. Legal basis: legitimate interest. If you do not wish to receive such notifications, you may contact us at hello@hommex.co.
  • Storing and managing payment cards — The limited set of data about your card (token, type, last 4 digits, expiry) is used for executing repeat charges without re-entering the data. Legal basis: performance of contract and consent (saving the card is at your choice).
  • Billing address — Used for issuing invoices in accordance with tax legislation and for identification in case of refund or complaint. Legal basis: legal obligation and performance of contract.
  • Recently viewed listings — Used for displaying a history of viewed listings and continuing the user experience across different devices (for registered users). Legal basis: performance of contract and legitimate interest.
  • Ratings of automatic translations — Used to monitor the quality of AI translations and improve the service. Legal basis: legitimate interest.
  • Region and platform — Used to tailor the user experience (displaying the relevant domain/language) and for internal analytics. Legal basis: legitimate interest and performance of contract.
  • Notifications about unanswered messages and unfinished listings — If you have unanswered messages in the chat system or a listing left in "draft" status, you may receive emails or push notifications reminding you. These notifications can be turned off through the notification settings. Legal basis: performance of contract and legitimate interest.
  • Account security — Active-session data, new-device sign-in alerts and password-change confirmations are used to protect your account. Legal basis: legitimate interest.
  • Price-drop notifications for favorite listings — Daily digest containing listings from your favorites whose price has been reduced. Legal basis: contract performance and legitimate interest (favorites are an explicit signal of interest).
  • Stalled-favorites notifications — Weekly digest sent to users who have not been active for 14 or more days, with updates on their favorite listings. Legal basis: legitimate interest.
  • Recently-viewed-listings notifications — Weekly digest covering changes to listings the user has previously viewed. Legal basis: legitimate interest.
  • Onboarding notifications (Day 3, 7 and 14 after registration) — Notifications guiding the user to key platform features. Legal basis: legitimate interest. Can be turned off via the re_engagement category in the notification settings.
  • Account anniversary and birthday greetings — Annual notifications of a non-promotional nature. Legal basis: legitimate interest. The birthday notification uses the date_of_birth value from your profile.
  • Search-suggestion notifications (Search suggestions) — Optional feature activated on the basis of your explicit consent that suggests listings similar to your search history. Legal basis: consent.
  • Newsletter campaigns — Administratively created messages sent to newsletter subscribers, localized and segmented by country, with a per-recipient unsubscribe link in every message. Legal basis: consent.
  • Listing performance insights (Competitor Analysis) — Aggregate engagement counters of a listing (30-day views and contacts, current favourites, days published) are shown to subscribed users who hold this feature, for the purpose of market transparency and benchmarking. Legal basis: legitimate interest (and performance of contract for the listing owner).
5. Sharing data with third parties and data processors

In order for our services to be delivered with top quality and security, we cooperate with the following external providers (data processors) who process data on our behalf and exclusively for the purpose for which it is intended:

  • DigitalOcean (DigitalOcean LLC, USA) — Storage of user files, listing images and profile pictures on their CDN/Spaces infrastructure. Your personal data is stored with the highest security standards.
  • Google Cloud Vision API (Google LLC, USA) — Automated safety analysis of the content of images uploaded to listings. This service is used exclusively for content moderation — detection of inappropriate, violent or prohibited material. No identification of persons is performed.
  • Anthropic (Anthropic PBC, USA) — Processing of textual content via the Claude model, for two purposes: (a) automatic generation of listing titles and descriptions for subscribed users (Hommex AI), and (b) automatic translation of listings (title and description) into the active languages of the platform. Only the content of the listing is transferred to Anthropic — no user identification data is transferred.
  • Google Analytics (Google LLC, USA) — Collection of anonymous analytics data on the use of the platform. Activated only if you give consent for analytics cookies.
  • Google Ads (Google LLC, USA) — Tracking of conversions and effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Activated only if you give consent for marketing cookies.
  • Meta/Facebook Pixel (Meta Platforms Inc., USA) — Tracking of conversions and targeted advertising. Activated only if you give consent for marketing cookies.
  • Google, Facebook and Apple (OAuth providers) — Authentication during registration/login via social networks. We receive only basic profile information (name, e-mail, profile picture) — we have no access to passwords or other sensitive data.
  • Halk Bank AD Skopje — Processing of payments with payment cards through their NESTPAY system. The bank is certified by VISA and MasterCard and operates in accordance with PCI DSS standards. We have no insight into your payment card data.
  • Contentsquare — Analysis of user behaviour on the platform via session recording and heatmap technology, with the aim of improving the user experience. Data is processed exclusively if the user has given consent for analytics cookies.
  • Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google LLC, USA) — Delivery of push notifications to devices of users who have given consent to receive notifications.
  • DB-IP (Lite, local) — The IP-to-City Lite database is used locally on our servers to display the approximate location of active sessions. License: CC-BY 4.0. No data leaves our infrastructure and nothing is transmitted to DB-IP.
  • Apple Inc. — For users on iOS devices, access to the advertising identifier (IDFA) is governed by Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework.

Our platform does not sell personal data to third parties. Data is shared with the above providers exclusively to the extent necessary to provide the service.

6. Automated decision-making and artificial intelligence

Our platform uses automated processing in the following cases:

  • Image moderation — Via the Google Cloud Vision API, images are automatically analysed for detection of inappropriate, violent or prohibited material (including adult content, violence, weapons and blood). If the system determines that an image violates our policy, it will be automatically rejected. This analysis is performed exclusively on the content of the image and does not include identification of persons.
  • AI text generation and translation (Hommex AI / Anthropic Claude) — For subscribed users, the platform automatically generates or improves listing titles and descriptions. For all published listings, the platform automatically translates the title and description into the supported languages of the platform. These operations do not constitute a decision with legal effects on you and are not used for profiling. Nevertheless, you as the user have the right at any time to review, change or remove the result.

If you believe that your image has been unjustifiably rejected, or if you have objections regarding AI-generated content, you have the right to contact our customer support team at hello@hommex.co for manual review.

7. International data transfers

Some of our data processors (DigitalOcean, Google, Meta/Facebook, Apple, Anthropic, Contentsquare) are based in the United States of America. The transfer of data outside the Republic of North Macedonia is carried out in accordance with applicable legislation, including the application of Standard Contractual Clauses and other appropriate safeguards provided for by the Law on Personal Data Protection and the GDPR.

These providers apply technical and organisational measures to protect data in accordance with industry standards and applicable regulations.

8. Data retention period

Personal data is retained no longer than necessary for the purposes for which it is processed:

  • User account data (including first name, last name, e-mail, phone, language preference and translation preferences) — Retained for the duration of your account. After deletion of the account, the data is deleted within 30 days, unless there is a legal obligation to retain it longer.
  • Listing data (including original content and automatically translated versions) — Retained for the duration of the listing and for a reasonable additional period after its deactivation.
  • Transaction and financial data — Retained in accordance with applicable tax and accounting legislation of the Republic of North Macedonia.
  • Communication data — Retained for the duration of your account and deleted together with it.
  • Image moderation data — The results of the analysis are not retained beyond the upload process.
  • Direct marketing data — After withdrawal of consent, the data is deleted from the marketing database within 30 days.
  • Newsletter data — Retained while you are subscribed. After unsubscribing, your e-mail address is marked as inactive and removed from the marketing database within 30 days.
  • Push notification data (FCM token) — Retained while the device is active. The token is automatically deactivated when the device no longer responds or when the user has disabled notifications.
  • Saved search data — Retained for the duration of your account. The history of sent notifications is periodically deleted.
  • Favourite listings data — Retained for the duration of your account and deleted upon account deletion.
  • Watermark data — The uploaded watermark image is retained while the functionality is active and deleted upon deactivation or deletion of the account.
  • AI-generated data — The history of generated titles and descriptions is retained for the duration of your account. Translated versions of listings are retained while the listing is active.
  • Report data — Retained for as long as necessary to review and take appropriate measures, and then deleted, unless there is a legal obligation to retain it longer.
  • Payment card data (token, brand, last 4 digits, expiry) — Retained until you delete the card from your account, or at the latest until the card expires. After expiry, the card is automatically marked as inactive and is not used for new charges.
  • Billing addresses — Retained in accordance with the tax and accounting legislation of the Republic of North Macedonia (typically 10 years from the issuance of the last invoice associated with the address).
  • Recently viewed listings data — For registered users, retained for the duration of the account (with an automatic cap of 50 most recent records). You may delete the history at any time through the settings. For unauthenticated visitors, the data remains only on your device until you clear the browser history or the application data.
  • Ratings of automatic translations — Retained while the listing is active. Upon deletion of the listing, all ratings for that listing are removed together with it. You may withdraw your rating at any time by clicking the same button again.
  • History of sent system and marketing emails — An internal record is kept of when certain types of messages were sent (for example, for re-engagement) in order to avoid unnecessary repetition. These records are retained for up to 12 months and then automatically deleted.
  • Active sessions (personal_access_tokens) — Web-client sessions are auto-deleted after 60 days of inactivity, and mobile-app sessions after 365 days of inactivity.
  • Search logs — After the retention window, the user identifier (user_id) in search records is nulled out (anonymized); aggregate analytics survive without the possibility of identification.
  • Listing price history — Kept for the lifetime of the listing and deleted together with the listing.
  • User email log (user_email_log) — Kept for at least 12 months as an internal deduplication record, so that the same digest is not sent more than once.
9. Data security

We take security seriously and undertake numerous measures to protect the personal data of our users. During processing and transfer of data, the HTTPS security protocol and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology are used to encrypt data in transit. Your password is encrypted and we recommend that you do not share it with third parties. Your personal data is stored on protected servers, accessible only to authorised personnel.

When paying by payment card, all transactions take place through the NESTPAY system of Halk Bank AD Skopje, which uses the latest version of SSL technology for protection. We have no insight whatsoever into your payment card data (card number, security code or account balance).

Despite maximum protection measures, we cannot fully guarantee that security measures will prevent third parties from illegally collecting personal data. Any possible security breach will be reported to the competent authorities and affected users in accordance with the statutory deadlines.

10. What are your rights regarding personal data?

In accordance with the Law on Personal Data Protection and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the following rights:

  • Right to information and access — You have the right to be informed about the processing of your personal data and to request access to it, including information on the purposes of processing, the categories of data and the envisaged retention period.
  • Right to rectification — You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal data. You can change the data in your user account on your own via your account settings.
  • Right to erasure — You have the right to request permanent deletion of personal data from our database. The request will be fulfilled within 30 days, if the conditions under the law are met and there is no legal obligation to retain the data.
  • Right to restriction of processing — You have the right to request restriction of the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances provided for by law.
  • Right to data portability — You have the right to receive the personal data you have provided in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
  • Right to object — You have the right to object to the processing of personal data, including processing for direct marketing purposes and processing based on legitimate interest (for example, automatic translation of listings).
  • Right to withdraw consent — If processing is carried out on the basis of your consent (for example, direct marketing, newsletter or cookies), you have the right at any time, free of charge and using simple means, to withdraw consent. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.
  • Right to file a request with a supervisory authority — You have the right to file a request with the Agency for Personal Data Protection of the Republic of North Macedonia if you believe that the processing of your personal data violates applicable regulations.

To exercise the above-mentioned rights, you may contact our data protection officer by e-mail at: hello@hommex.co, stating: first and last name, phone number and e-mail address, the e-mail address at which you wish to receive a reply, and the reason for your request.

11. Direct marketing and newsletter

In accordance with Article 11 of the Law on Personal Data Protection, the processing of personal data for the purposes of direct marketing and newsletter is carried out exclusively after prior consent has been obtained.

Direct marketing for registered users: Consent is given by ticking the box "I agree to receive personalised tips, offers and news from www.hommex.co" during registration.

Newsletter for visitors: Our platform also allows unauthenticated visitors to subscribe to the newsletter by entering an e-mail address. The subscription is entirely voluntary and may be cancelled at any time via the unsubscribe link in each notification or by contacting the data protection officer.

Marketing messages may be in the form of e-mail, SMS, desktop notifications, Viber messages, telephone messages or banner ads. We limit direct marketing to a reasonable and proportionate level and send relevant notifications exclusively in line with users' interests and previous searches on the platform.

If you do not give consent, you will not receive marketing messages, but you will receive system messages regarding the basic functions of the platform (notification of published/deleted listing, etc.). These messages are not related to direct marketing.

At any time you can withdraw consent for direct marketing or the newsletter by sending a request to the data protection officer at: hello@hommex.co. After withdrawal, your data will be removed from the marketing database within 30 days.

12. Cookies

Our online platform uses cookies and similar tracking technologies. For detailed information on the types of cookies we use, their purpose, retention period and the way to manage them, we refer you to our Cookie Policy.

13. Age limit

The use of the online platform is not allowed for persons under 18 years of age. The platform is intended exclusively for adults (over 18 years of age). By accepting this Privacy Policy and the General Terms of Use, you confirm that you are of legal age.

14. Cooperation with competent authorities

VORTEK INOVATIONS cooperates with the police and other competent authorities by reporting illegal activities related to listings. The identity of the advertiser or the person making the payment will be disclosed (based on IP address or phone number) only at the request of a competent authority, in accordance with applicable legislation.

15. Changes to the Privacy Policy

VORTEK INOVATIONS reserves the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time. Continued use of the platform after the publication of the changes constitutes acceptance of the amended Policy.

The changes take effect upon their publication on the online platform, unless otherwise specified.

16. Contact information

For questions, requests or complaints regarding the protection of personal data or this Policy, you may contact us at:

  • Data protection officer — E-mail: hello@hommex.co
  • VORTEK INOVATIONS D.O.O. Skopje, Njudehliska 6/1-13, Karposh, Skopje, North Macedonia
  • EMBS: 7757832 | TAX ID: MK4057024570335