Privacy Policy

Effective date: [EFFECTIVE DATE]

Georgia Estate (georgia-estate.com) is operated in association with [BROKERAGE REGISTERED NAME], a licensed Georgia real estate brokerage. Broker phone: [BROKER PHONE].

Georgia Estate is a real estate media and marketing platform covering north Georgia and metro Atlanta. We feature homes for sale, publish local guides and a monthly Top 10, and connect buyers, sellers and agents. This policy explains, in plain terms, what information we collect through georgia-estate.com and our related channels, how we use and share it, and the choices you have. In this policy, "Georgia Estate," "we," "us" and "our" mean Georgia Estate and [BROKERAGE REGISTERED NAME].

By using our site or contacting us, you acknowledge this policy. Please also read our Terms of Use.

Contents

1. Information we collect
2. How we use your information
3. How we share your information
4. SMS messaging terms
5. Email
6. Listing search (IDX Broker and FMLS data)
7. Cookies, analytics and similar technologies
8. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control
9. Maps, embedded content, social media and sponsors
10. Your choices
11. Your privacy rights and how to make a request
12. State privacy notices, including California
13. How long we keep information
14. Data security and breach notification
15. Children's privacy
16. Links to other sites
17. International visitors
18. Accessibility
19. Equal housing opportunity
20. Changes to this policy
21. Contact us

1. Information we collect

Information you give us

We collect the information you choose to give us, including:

• Request info and city page inquiries: your name, email address, phone number and message.
• Seller form (/selling): your contact details and information about the home you may sell.
• Home value request (/home-value): the property address, home details (such as size, condition and updates), and your contact details.
• Newsletter and subscribe pop-up sign-ups: your email address and, if you choose, your name or phone number.
• Get Featured inquiry: your contact details and information about the property or business you'd like featured.
• Instagram messages (including automated replies through ManyChat): your Instagram username and profile name, the messages you send us, and any email address, phone number or other details you share in the conversation.
• Home search accounts (IDX Broker): when you register, save a search or save favorites, your name, email address, phone number (if provided), saved searches, favorite listings and alert preferences.
• Texting consent: when you check the SMS consent box, we keep a record of your phone number, the consent language you agreed to, and the date and time.
• Communications with us: the content of emails, texts, calls and messages you exchange with us.

Please don't send sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers or financial account numbers, through our forms or messages.

Information collected automatically

When you visit, we and our service providers automatically collect basic technical information. This includes your browser and device type, IP address and approximate location based on it, the pages and listings you view, the site you came from, and how you use our site. We collect it through cookies and similar technologies (see Section 7).

Information from other sources

We may receive information about you from IDX Broker (for example, your saved searches and listing views if you have a home search account), from Instagram/Meta and ManyChat when you message us, from a licensed agent who refers you to us, and from public records and listing data related to a property you ask us about.

2. How we use your information

We use your information to:

• Respond to your inquiry and follow up by email, phone or text, as you requested or agreed.
• Prepare a home value estimate or discuss selling or buying a home.
• Provide home search features, saved searches and listing alerts.
• Send our newsletter and market updates, if you subscribed.
• Connect you with a licensed real estate agent when you ask for help buying or selling.
• Keep records of our communications and of your consent and opt-out choices.
• Understand how the site is used so we can improve it.
• Keep the site and our systems secure, prevent fraud and abuse, and meet our legal, licensing and record-keeping obligations.

We do not use your information for automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.

3. How we share your information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral (targeted) advertising. When you ask us to connect you with a licensed agent or another provider, we disclose your information at your direction. That is not a sale. We share information only as described here.

• Service providers. These companies help us run the site and respond to you. Our website and forms are hosted by Wix. Inquiries and contact records are stored in our customer relationship manager, Follow Up Boss. Text messages are sent through Twilio. Instagram conversations may be handled through ManyChat. Home search is provided by IDX Broker. Email is sent through our email service provider. We allow these providers to use your information only to provide services to us.
• Licensed real estate professionals, at your request. If you ask for help buying or selling, we may share your contact details and request with a licensed agent affiliated with [BROKERAGE REGISTERED NAME], or with another licensed agent who can help, so they can respond to you. Real estate brokers may pay each other referral fees. Licensees disclose those fees as Georgia law requires. An agent we connect you with will not text you based on the consent you gave Georgia Estate.
• Other providers you ask us to connect you with. We will share your information with a lender, inspector, attorney or other provider only if you ask us to or give us permission.
• Legal reasons. We may disclose information if required by law, subpoena or court order, or to protect our rights, our users or the public.
• Business changes. If Georgia Estate is involved in a merger, sale or transfer of assets, information may transfer as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.

Text messaging data is handled differently. The sharing described above never includes your mobile phone number, text messaging opt-in data or consent for anyone's marketing or promotional purposes. See Section 4.

4. SMS messaging terms

If you give us your phone number and check the consent box, we may text you through Follow Up Boss and Twilio about your inquiry and related real estate topics. We text you only with your consent. Consent is not a condition of any purchase. You can still contact us and use our site without agreeing to texts.

Privacy of mobile information:

Mobile information will not be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Text messaging opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third parties, excluding service providers that help us deliver our messages.

SMS terms:

Georgia Estate sends texts about real estate listings, market updates, and follow-up on your inquiry. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe or HELP for help. Contact: (678) 981-9110, info@georgia-estate.com.

More about our texting program:

• Opting out. You can also opt out by replying QUIT, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, REVOKE or OPT OUT, by telling us during a call, or by emailing info@georgia-estate.com. Any reasonable way of telling us you don't want texts works. We'll confirm your opt-out with one final text and honor it promptly, and always within the time the law requires. Reply START to resubscribe.
• Conversations. If you reply to us or ask questions, we may send additional messages to answer you as part of that conversation.
• Carriers. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
• Your number. Tell us if you change or give up the mobile number you gave us, so we don't text someone else.
• Service providers. Twilio and Follow Up Boss process your number and messages only to deliver our texts and keep our records. They do not use them for their own marketing.

Our Terms of Use also cover the texting program and refer back to this section.

5. Email

If you subscribe or send us an inquiry, we may email you about your request, listings, market updates and our newsletter. Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link and our valid physical postal address. We honor unsubscribe requests within 10 business days. Even after you unsubscribe from marketing email, we may still send messages directly related to a request you've made or a transaction you're involved in.

IDX Broker may send listing alert emails you set up in your home search account. You can change or stop them in that account or through the link in each alert.

6. Listing search (IDX Broker and FMLS data)

Our home search is powered by IDX Broker, a third-party service, using listing data from FMLS (First Multiple Listing Service). When you use the search, IDX Broker may collect information about your searches and the listings you view, and it may set its own cookies. If you create an account or save a search there, IDX Broker handles that information under its own terms and privacy policy, and it may share it with us. That information can then be stored in Follow Up Boss so we can follow up with you.

Listing information is provided by FMLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Listing disclaimers and copyright notices are in our Terms of Use and on listing pages.

7. Cookies, analytics and similar technologies

Cookies are small files your browser stores. We and our service providers use cookies and similar technologies (such as pixels and local storage) to:

• Keep the site working. Examples include security, forms and remembering your preferences. Wix sets cookies needed to run the site.
• Understand site traffic. We may use analytics tools, such as Wix Analytics and Google Analytics, to see how visitors use the site in aggregate. You can opt out of Google Analytics with Google's browser add-on: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
• Credit partner referrals. If you reach our site through a partner agent's page, we may set a cookie that lasts 30 days. It lets us credit that agent if you later send an inquiry, and it doesn't collect anything beyond that referral.
• Power home search, maps and embedded content. IDX Broker, CARTO, Instagram and YouTube may set their own cookies (see Sections 6 and 9).

We do not use advertising cookies to show you personalized ads on our site.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Some features may not work properly without them.

8. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Do Not Track. Some browsers send a "Do Not Track" signal. Because there is no common industry standard for these signals, our site does not respond to them. Third parties whose content or tools appear on our site may collect information about your online activity over time and across different websites. These include analytics providers, IDX Broker, Instagram/Meta and YouTube/Google.

Global Privacy Control (GPC). If your browser sends a GPC signal, we treat it as a request to opt out of any sale of your personal information or sharing for targeted advertising for that browser. We don't do either today.

9. Maps, embedded content, social media and sponsors

Maps. Our maps use tiles from CARTO, built on OpenStreetMap data. When a map loads, your browser requests those tiles from CARTO's servers, which receive standard technical information such as your IP address.

Embedded content. Some pages include Instagram posts or YouTube videos. Embedded content behaves as if you visited that site directly. Instagram (Meta) and YouTube (Google) may collect data, set cookies and track your interaction with the content, especially if you are logged in to their services.

Instagram and ManyChat. When you message us on Instagram, Meta processes your messages under its own policies. If our account uses ManyChat for automated replies, ManyChat processes the conversation on our behalf.

Sponsors. Some pages show sponsor or partner placements, labeled "Paid Advertisement." If you click one, you leave our site, and that business's own privacy policy applies. We don't give sponsors your contact information unless you ask us to.

10. Your choices

• Text messages: Reply STOP (or any opt-out word listed in Section 4) to any text. Reply HELP for help.
• Email: Use the "unsubscribe" link in any of our emails, or email info@georgia-estate.com.
• Phone calls: Tell us during a call, or contact us, and we'll add you to our internal do-not-call list.
• Home search alerts: Change them in your IDX Broker account or use the link in any alert.
• Cookies and analytics: Adjust your browser settings, use the Google Analytics opt-out add-on, or turn on Global Privacy Control.
• Your information: Ask to see, correct or delete it (see Section 11).

Opting out of marketing won't stop messages directly related to a request you've made, unless you ask us to stop those too.

11. Your privacy rights and how to make a request

Wherever you live, you may ask us to:

• tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy;
• correct inaccurate information;
• delete your information;
• stop using your information for marketing; and
• opt out of any sale of your information or sharing for targeted advertising (we don't do either today).

How to ask. Email info@georgia-estate.com with the subject "Privacy Request," or call (678) 981-9110. To protect you, we'll verify your identity before acting, usually by confirming details we already have. You may use an authorized agent; we may ask for proof of the agent's authority. We aim to respond within 45 days and will tell you if we need more time.

Limits. We may keep some information when the law allows or requires it. Examples include real estate licensing and transaction records, records of your texting consent and opt-out, and information needed for security or legal claims. If we can't fully meet your request, we'll explain why.

Appeals. If we decline your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision or emailing info@georgia-estate.com with the subject "Privacy Appeal." We'll respond in writing.

No discrimination. We won't treat you differently for exercising your privacy rights.

12. State privacy notices, including California

Georgia does not currently have a comprehensive consumer privacy law. Several other states have consumer privacy laws that apply to businesses meeting certain size or data-volume thresholds. We offer the rights in Section 11 to everyone, whether or not a particular state law applies to us.

California residents. In the past 12 months we have collected these categories of personal information:

• identifiers (name, email, phone, IP address, social media username);
• customer records (contact details and property information);
• commercial information (homes you're interested in buying or selling);
• internet activity (pages viewed, searches, site interactions);
• approximate geolocation from IP address; and
• inferences about your home preferences.

We collect them from the sources and for the purposes described in Sections 1 and 2, and we disclose them to the categories of recipients in Section 3. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act. Disclosures you direct us to make, such as connecting you with an agent, are not sales. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you. We keep information for the periods described in Section 13. You may make requests as described in Section 11.

13. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes in this policy:

• Inquiries and contact records: while we're actively communicating with you, and for a reasonable period afterward in case you return. Then we delete them or keep them in a form that no longer identifies you, unless the law requires otherwise.
• Texting consent and opt-out records: as long as we may text you and for at least five years after, so we can prove consent and honor opt-outs.
• Transaction-related records: as long as Georgia real estate law requires brokers to keep them (at least three years under O.C.G.A. § 43-40-25(b)(27)).
• Analytics data: according to the retention settings of the analytics tool.

14. Data security and breach notification

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards and reputable service providers to protect your information. Examples include encrypted (HTTPS) connections, access limited to people who need it, and account security controls. No website or method of transmission is completely secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security.

If a security breach involving your personal information occurs, we will notify you and any required authorities as applicable law requires, including Georgia's breach notification law (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-912) where it applies.

15. Children's privacy

Our site is meant for adults and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.

16. Links to other sites

Our site links to other websites, including listing pages, IDX Broker, partners, sponsors and social media. We aren't responsible for their content or privacy practices, so please review their policies.

17. International visitors

Georgia Estate serves people interested in real estate in Georgia, and our site is intended for users in the United States. We process and store information in the United States. If you visit from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in your country.

18. Accessibility

We want everyone to be able to use our site and this policy. If you have trouble accessing any part of it, or need this policy in another format, email info@georgia-estate.com or call (678) 981-9110. See the accessibility statement in our Terms of Use.

19. Equal housing opportunity

Georgia Estate and [BROKERAGE REGISTERED NAME] are committed to equal housing opportunity. We comply with the federal Fair Housing Act and the Georgia Fair Housing Act. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin, or any other characteristic protected by law.

20. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we'll post the new version on this page and update the effective date above. If a change is material, we'll post a notice on our site's home page before it takes effect. We'll also email you if the change affects how we use information we already have about you. We will not use your mobile number or texting consent in a new way without your consent.

21. Contact us

Questions, requests or concerns about this policy or your information:

Georgia Estate, in association with [BROKERAGE REGISTERED NAME]
Website: georgia-estate.com
Email: info@georgia-estate.com
Phone: (678) 981-9110
Broker phone: [BROKER PHONE]

Equal Housing Opportunity