Privacy Policy

MARA Property is operated by Alpine Swiss Marketplace GmbH, Freiburgstrasse 443, 3018 Bern, Switzerland. Here we explain which data we process on [maraproperty.ch] and in our services, what we need it for and what you can control yourself. This policy is based on the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP).

MARA is intended for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from minors.

What we collect

Account data — For your account we need your email address and a password. We never store your password in plain text, only as a secure hash. If you wish, you can add a display name and a profile picture. Before you can sign in, you confirm your email address.

Sign-in with Google or Facebook — If you sign in this way, we receive the information you release from the respective provider, usually your name, email address and profile picture. We never see your Google or Facebook password.

Search preferences and search profile — During onboarding and in your settings you tell us what you are looking for: buying or renting, location, budget, property type, number of rooms, living space and features, each with your own weighting. This also includes saved searches and favourites. We use this to calculate your Match Score.

Applicant profile — You can add information that providers typically want to see, such as household size, occupation, income, equity and financing status. This information is voluntary and stays private. A provider only sees it if you send them a request and sharing is switched on in your profile settings.

Usage data — We record which listings you view, save or enquire about. We use this to improve suggestions and your Match Score.

Requests to providers — When you contact a broker, property manager or owner, we store your name, contact details and message and forward them to the provider so they can reply to you. We protect requests sent without an account against misuse using Google reCAPTCHA.

Calculators — The values in the affordability calculator stay in your browser. They are not sent to us or to third parties and are not stored. For the tax calculator and the tax and commute heatmap, we forward your input (e.g. municipality, canton, income, household and deductions) via our server to the tax calculator of the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA). We do not store these values in our database and do not link them to your account. To speed up responses, input and result remain in our server's cache for a maximum of 7 days. For travel times in the heatmap, we send start and destination coordinates to routing services (see Third-party providers).

Location — If you allow it in your browser, we use your location to suggest a suitable canton. The selected canton and place are stored only in your browser.

Notifications — If you allow push notifications, we store an identifier for your browser so we can notify you about new matching listings or replies. You can turn them off in your browser at any time.

Your own listings — If you list a property yourself, we store the property details as well as uploaded photos, floor plans and documents. We may have photos analysed by AI (see Artificial intelligence).

Listing data from providers — We receive property data directly from providers or via interfaces to brokerage and property management software (e.g. CASASOFT). It may contain names and contact details of the responsible contact persons.

Business contacts — We manage data of brokers, property managers and other business partners we work with or are in contact with in our CRM.

Technical data — Standard server logs: IP address, browser, operating system, referrer and time of access. To protect against misuse, we briefly count requests per IP address or email address.

Contact form — Name, email address and the content of your message. The form is protected by Google reCAPTCHA.

What we don't do

We do not sell your data or pass it on to data brokers. We do not obtain credit or debt-collection information about you. Providers only see your applicant profile with your permission. We do not use any analytics or advertising tools, so no Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, Google Ads, TikTok or LinkedIn tracking, and we do not send text messages.

Cookies and local storage

We only use cookies and browser storage that are needed to run the platform and to remember your settings. We do not set advertising or tracking cookies.

Cookies set by MARA

Our internal admin panel uses its own session and security cookies, which only concern our team.

Storage in your browser — In your browser's local storage we remember the display mode, the selected canton and place, whether we have already asked for your location, and drafts of onboarding and listings until you complete them. This data does not leave your browser, and you can delete it at any time in your browser settings.

Storage by third parties

• Google reCAPTCHA sets a cookie (_GRECAPTCHA) on the contact form and on requests without an account to detect bots.

• OneSignal stores in your browser whether you have allowed push notifications, but only if you agree to them.

• YouTube and Matterport may set cookies or store data when you load an embedded video or 3D tour on a listing page.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser at any time. Without the necessary cookies, however, sign-in and settings will not work.

What we use your data for

To operate the platform, manage your account, suggest suitable listings and calculate the Match Score, calculate taxes and travel times, enrich listings with information about the surroundings, forward requests to providers, support you via MARA Chat, send you emails and (with your consent) push notifications and newsletters, improve the platform, prevent misuse and comply with legal obligations.

Legal bases

Performance of a contract — Account, search profile, requests, calculators and communication, because otherwise we cannot provide the platform to you.

Consent — Sharing your applicant profile with providers, push notifications, location requests in the browser, sign-in with Google or Facebook, and the newsletter and waiting list. You can withdraw any consent at any time.

Legitimate interest — Usage data for recommendations, technical logs, reCAPTCHA and request limits for security and protection against misuse, and the management of our business contacts.

Legal obligation — for example, statutory accounting retention requirements.

Match Score and profiling

The Match Score shows you how well a listing suits you. It is based on your search preferences from onboarding (buying or renting, location, budget, property type, rooms, living space and features), on the weighting you set for them (e.g. "flexible" or "essential", "important" or "very important"), and on your behaviour on the platform, such as which listings you view or save. Because this involves drawing automated conclusions about your preferences, it is considered profiling under the FADP.

The Match Score only sorts what you see. It is not a decision about you, it is not passed on to providers, and we do not assess your creditworthiness or your suitability as a tenant or buyer.

You can adjust your preferences and weightings at any time. If you do not want us to use your behaviour for recommendations, write to us.

Artificial intelligence

We prefer to say exactly where we use AI:

MARA Chat — Your messages are sent to the AI model so that it can answer you. If you are signed in, we store the conversation in your account so you can find it again later. Without an account, we do not store any conversation history. In both cases we store technical logs of the request (e.g. time and model). Please do not enter unnecessary sensitive information in the chat.

Search — If you describe your search in your own words, AI turns the text into search filters and suggestions. The search is only saved if you save it yourself.

Photo search — If you search with an image, AI analyses the image. We do not store the image itself. For a maximum of 24 hours, we keep a checksum of the image and the recognised keywords in our server's cache.

For listings — When you create a listing, AI can analyse photos (e.g. room type and keywords), write and translate descriptions and suggest improvements. Whatever you accept becomes part of the listing. Photos from imported listings are also labelled automatically.

Translations — We use AI to translate guide articles, FAQs and website texts. No user data is involved.

All AI requests are routed through OpenRouter, Inc. (USA), which forwards them to the respective model, currently models from OpenAI.

No training with your data — MARA does not train any AI models with your data. OpenRouter also does not use your input for training and does not store it.

No decisions with legal or similarly significant effects are made automatically. AI answers may contain errors and do not replace financial, tax or legal advice.

Third-party providers

We work with the following service providers to operate the platform:

For maps, routing, videos and 3D tours, your browser loads the content directly from the respective service. The service receives your IP address and the requested map sections or content, but not your name or account details. To tax, geo and routing services we only send places, coordinates or the values needed for the calculation.

Some providers are located in countries without an adequate level of data protection, in particular the USA and India, or do not specify a location. Where we have a contract with them, we safeguard the transfer with standard contractual clauses or, for US providers, the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

Newsletter

You only receive the newsletter and the pre-launch waiting list if you sign up. We send them via Brevo. Our emails may contain tracking pixels so we can see whether they are opened. Every email contains an unsubscribe link. Emails relating to your account (e.g. confirmation, password reset, new matching listings) are sent to you regardless.

Retention

We keep data for as long as we need it for the purposes described or as required by law.

You can request the deletion of your account by email to hello@maraproperty.ch. Our team reviews the request and deletes your account. We remove your profile, saved searches, favourites, your own listings, requests, notifications, chat histories and your access. Requests already forwarded to providers are also held by those providers; their privacy policy applies there.

What we deliberately keep: we retain your deletion request and a record that we carried it out. We keep accounting-relevant documents for as long as the law requires. [Uploaded images and files are currently not deleted automatically. Until this is changed: "We delete uploaded images and files separately on request; please mention this in your deletion request."]

Other periods: tax calculations remain in our server's cache for a maximum of 7 days, photo search data for a maximum of 24 hours. We delete technical logs after [ask the development team for the period]. We do not delete accounts automatically due to inactivity.

Security

All data traffic is encrypted via HTTPS. The database, backups and uploaded files are also encrypted when stored. We do not store passwords in plain text, only as a hash (scrypt). Before you can sign in, you confirm your email address, and when you reset your password we end all active sessions. Sign-in, password reset and forms are protected against too many requests. Uploads use links that expire after 15 minutes. Access keys to our services are stored encrypted on the server and never in your browser. Our admin area has its own sign-in with graduated roles, and only our development and operations team has access to the production environment.

Your rights

Under Swiss law, you can request information about your data, have incorrect data corrected, request deletion, receive a copy in a common format, object to processing (in particular for marketing purposes) and withdraw your consent.

You can change your information directly in your account, where you also control the sharing of your applicant profile. You request the deletion of your account by email to hello@maraproperty.ch. For anything else, such as a copy of your data, write to us at info@maraproperty.ch. Before we process a request, we may need to verify your identity.

You can also lodge a complaint with the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

Changes

As MARA evolves, we will update this policy. The version on this page is authoritative. We will inform you of material changes by email or on the platform.

This is a translation. In the event of discrepancies, the German version prevails.

Contact

Alpine Swiss Marketplace GmbH, Freiburgstrasse 443, 3018 Bern, Switzerland, info@maraproperty.ch