Privacy policy
Last updated: 8 October 2026
Who we are
Costa Rica Realtor (costaricarealtor.com) decides how the personal data collected on this site is used and is responsible for it.
Privacy questions and requests: [email protected].
What we collect and when
When you send an enquiry. The contact, sell, list-a-property and listing enquiry forms ask for your name (required) and, if you choose to give them, your email, phone number, how you want us to reply (WhatsApp, email or callback), your message, your timeframe and the property you are asking about. We also record which page you wrote from and the date and time.
When you tap a WhatsApp button. We first record your details and the time of the tap, then open your own WhatsApp app with a pre-filled message that includes a reference number. We do not send anything to WhatsApp or Meta ourselves. Our server log notes only whether you were on a phone or a computer and the domain of the site that sent you here.
When you message us on WhatsApp. The conversation is stored in our customer system and matched to your enquiry by the reference number or your phone number.
If you message us on WhatsApp, we keep the conversation in our customer system so we can answer you. Our staff get a short alert with the first part of each message and an automatic English translation. Messages you forward to us are kept with the conversation. You can ask us to delete your WhatsApp history by emailing [email protected].
When you create an account. Email address and password. You must confirm your email before the account works. Properties you save as favourites are linked to your account.
When you save a search or a price alert. Your email, the search you saved, the area and your language. We send one confirmation email and only activate the alert after you click it. Every alert email has an unsubscribe link.
Automatically. Your IP address, browser type, the pages you view and the time of each visit, through Cloudflare (our proxy and anti-bot service) and Google Analytics. A first-visit cookie stores the page you landed on, the site that referred you and any campaign tags in the link. Your browser also sends page-speed measurements to Google Analytics.
How we use it
- To answer your enquiry. Our staff read it and pass your details to partner real estate agencies, including the agency or agent that represents the property, so they can contact you about it and about similar properties. By sending an enquiry you agree that they may contact you by phone, WhatsApp or email.
- To send the alerts you asked for and keep a record of what we discussed.
- To research listings that match what you asked for (see AI below).
- To know which campaigns and referring sites bring visitors.
- To run the site, block bots and spam, and fix errors.
We do not sell personal data. We do not publish agent or agency contact details on the site.
Who we share it with
| Service | What it does for us | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Contabo | Hosts our servers and database | Germany |
| Cloudflare | Proxy, security, Turnstile anti-bot check on forms | United States |
| Google (Analytics 4 via Google Tag Manager, Search Console, Maps) | Visitor statistics, search performance, maps | United States |
| Mapbox | Maps on listing pages | United States |
| Sentry | Error monitoring. Configured so personal data and form contents are not sent | United States |
| Resend | Sends our automatic emails (confirmations, alerts) | United States |
| Nylas | Sends replies from our staff mailbox | United States |
| Telegram | Our staff receive alerts of new enquiries there (name, contact details, listing, message) | Dubai, UAE |
| Anthropic, OpenAI | Listing research from your preferences only (see AI) | United States |
| YouTube, Amazon S3, unpkg, cdnjs | Videos, images and code libraries your browser loads | United States |
| Listing agencies and agents | Receive your enquiry to answer it | Mostly Costa Rica |
Services that load in your browser (Google, Mapbox, YouTube, Cloudflare, the code libraries) receive your IP address as part of that request.
AI
When our staff research listings for you, we may send part of your enquiry to Anthropic (Claude), or to OpenAI as a fallback. We send your name, property type, area, bedrooms, sale or rent, your language, the domain of your email address (the part after the @) and your phone number's country code. Your full email address, your phone number and your message are never sent to them.
A separate endpoint at /mcp lets AI assistants read listing information. It contains no personal data.
If we switch on a chat assistant on the site, its messages will be handled like enquiries.
How long we keep it
- Enquiries and WhatsApp conversations: until you ask us to delete them. We keep them so we can follow up and keep a record. There is no automatic deletion today.
- Accounts and favourites: until you ask us to delete the account.
- Saved searches and price alerts: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them.
- Server logs and database backups: a limited time, overwritten on a rolling basis.
- Google Analytics: Google keeps event-level data for 2 months and user-level data for 14 months, as set in our account. We keep only daily totals from it, with no personal data.
Your rights
Under Costa Rica's Ley 8968 (Protección de la Persona frente al Tratamiento de sus Datos Personales) you can ask what we hold about you, correct it, have it deleted, or object to how we use it. People in the EU, the UK and some US states have similar rights under their own laws. We apply the same process to everyone.
Email [email protected] from the address you used with us, or give the phone number or enquiry reference, and say what you want (a copy, a correction, a deletion, or to stop a use). We may ask you to confirm your identity. There is no self-service account deletion yet. Email us and we will delete the account for you. We reply within the time Costa Rican law allows.
You can also complain to Costa Rica's data protection agency, PRODHAB (prodhab.go.cr).
Cookies
We do not show a cookie banner. The site sets these cookies:
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
| sessionid | Us | Keeps you logged in | Two weeks |
| csrftoken | Us | Protects forms against forgery | One year |
| cur | Us | Remembers your currency (USD or CRC) | One year |
| crr_first / crr_last | Us | First-party cookies store the source of the first visit and the visit that produced an enquiry, without personal data. | 30 days |
| crr_ft / encasa_ft | Us | First visit: landing page, referrer, campaign tags | 30 days |
| _ga, _ga_* | Google Analytics | Tells visits apart for statistics | Up to 13 months, set by Google |
| __cf_bm, cf_clearance | Cloudflare | Bot protection | Short, set by Cloudflare |
One further cookie stores the interface language of our staff's internal system. It is not set for visitors. Your language comes from the page address (/en/ or /es/), not from a cookie.
To block or delete cookies, use your browser's privacy settings (Chrome: Settings, Privacy and security, Cookies. Safari: Settings, Privacy. Firefox: Settings, Privacy and Security). With cookies blocked the site still works, but you will need to log in on each visit. To opt out of Google Analytics on every site, install Google's opt-out browser add-on.
Children
This site is for adults. It is not directed at anyone under 18 and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you think a minor has sent us details, email us and we will delete them.
Listing data and removal requests
Listings come from public sources and from agencies that work with us. If you own or represent a property and want it taken down, use the form at costaricarealtor.com/remove-on-request. We reply to the address you give there.
AI assistants and the ChatGPT plugin
Costa Rica Realtor has a ChatGPT plugin that searches listings, court auctions and bank-owned properties, and estimates closing costs. It works from public data on this site, needs no account or login, and does not receive your name, email, phone number or the text of your conversation. For each request we store only what we need to measure use: the tool used, the search filters (area, property type, price band), how many results came back and the date. Those records carry nothing that identifies you. Every link the plugin gives you goes to a costaricarealtor.com page and carries the tags utm_source=chatgpt, utm_medium=plugin and utm_campaign set to the tool name. If you submit a form on the site after following one of those links, the tags are saved with your enquiry like any other source and handled as described in this policy. The plugin does not send messages or forms for you.
Changes
We update this page when our practices change and change the date at the top. Significant changes will be noted here.
Contact
Costa Rica Realtor
[email protected]