Keynetic Data Protection & Platform Terms

Version: 1.0 Effective date: [INSERT DATE]

These Data Protection & Platform Terms ("Terms") explain the respective roles and responsibilities of Keynetic, estate agents and other participants when using the Keynetic platform.

They form part of the Keynetic Terms of Service and should be read together with the Keynetic Privacy Policy and Cookies & Similar Technologies Policy.

1\. About Keynetic

Keynetic is an independent property-chain coordination platform.

The platform allows people involved in property transactions to create, connect and manage shared property chains without requiring an estate agent to operate or maintain the chain.

An estate agent may subscribe to Keynetic and participate in one or more chains, but an estate agent subscription is not required for a chain to continue operating.

A chain may therefore continue to operate if an estate agent stops using Keynetic, provided authorised participants remain able to access it.

2\. Data protection roles

The parties may have different responsibilities depending on the processing activity involved.

2.1 Keynetic as Controller

Keynetic determines the purposes and means of processing necessary to operate the Keynetic platform.

This includes processing associated with:

creating and maintaining Keynetic accounts;
authentication and account security;
creating and maintaining property chains;
determining the information required to operate a chain;
establishing chain relationships and positions;
determining access and visibility within the platform;
operating property-chain workflows;
maintaining the lifecycle of chains and associated information;
responding to deletion and other data protection requests;
preventing fraud, abuse and unauthorised access;
operating and securing the platform;
service administration and support;
billing and subscription administration;
complying with legal and regulatory obligations; and
analysing and improving the Keynetic platform.

For the processing activities described in this section, Keynetic acts as an independent Controller. Keynetic's role is determined by the purposes and means of the relevant processing activity and may differ where Keynetic processes Personal Data on behalf of another organisation for a separate purpose.

3\. Estate agents as independent Controllers

An estate agent using Keynetic may independently process Personal Data for its own estate agency business.

This may include information collected or used:

before a person joins Keynetic;
in connection with an estate agency relationship;
for property marketing;
for communication with clients;
for regulatory or legal obligations; and
for other purposes determined by the estate agent.

The estate agent remains responsible for its own processing activities and must comply with Applicable Data Protection Law in relation to those activities.

Providing information to Keynetic as part of an authorised property-chain workflow does not transfer ownership of the estate agent's wider customer records to Keynetic.

4\. Property-chain information

Keynetic is designed around a shared property-chain model.

Information entered into a Keynetic chain may be made available to other authorised participants according to the platform's access and visibility rules.

Those participants may include:

buyers;
sellers;
property owners;
estate agents;
other authorised transaction participants; and
professionals who facilitate access to a chain where the relevant workflow permits it.

Keynetic determines the technical framework governing what information is required and how authorised participants can access relevant chain information.

The fact that information may have been originally supplied by an estate agent or another participant does not by itself determine Keynetic's data protection role.

5\. Creating and joining chains

A property chain may be created or extended by different authorised users.

Depending on the circumstances:

an estate agent may create a chain;
a participant may provide their own information;
a participant may add information relating to a property they are purchasing or selling;
a participant may connect another property to a chain; or
an authorised access code may be passed through a solicitor, estate agent or another appropriate intermediary.

Keynetic provides the framework through which these actions occur.

Keynetic does not require an estate agent to remain involved for a chain to continue operating.

6\. Information required by Keynetic

Keynetic determines the information required to operate its core property-chain workflows.

The core service is designed to minimise the amount of personal information required.

Depending on the workflow, this may include:

name or contact name;
email address;
property address;
account and role information; and
structured property-chain information.

Users and estate agents may provide information through the interfaces made available by Keynetic.

Users should not provide information that is unnecessary for the relevant Keynetic workflow.

7\. Chain visibility

A fundamental purpose of Keynetic is to provide relevant visibility across a connected property chain.

Keynetic determines the platform's technical access-control framework, including:

which properties form part of a chain;
how positions within a chain are represented;
which participants are connected;
what information can be displayed to a particular participant; and
which information should be restricted or privacy-redacted.

Access is intended to be limited to authorised participants.

Users must not attempt to access information outside the permissions associated with their account or chain participation.

8\. Continuing operation of chains

A chain does not automatically terminate because an estate agent stops using Keynetic or cancels its subscription.

Where appropriate, the chain may continue to be used by its remaining authorised participants.

Keynetic will continue to process the relevant information in accordance with:

its Privacy Policy;
its data lifecycle and retention arrangements;
applicable security requirements; and
Applicable Data Protection Law.

This reflects the fact that Keynetic provides an independent shared coordination platform rather than an estate agent-owned database.

9\. Platform analytics

Keynetic may analyse information generated through the platform to understand and improve property-chain coordination.

This may include analysis of:

time spent at particular transaction stages;
common points at which chains experience delays;
points at which chains fail or collapse;
patterns across regions, towns or other geographic areas;
patterns across participating estate-agent branches;
national or regional trends;
expected transaction timelines; and
other measures that help Keynetic understand and improve property-chain coordination and platform performance.

Where analytics can be performed using aggregated, anonymised or otherwise minimised information, Keynetic will seek to use the least identifying form of information reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

10\. Future data modelling and data warehouse

Keynetic may develop analytical systems or a data warehouse to support more sophisticated analysis of property-chain information.

Potential uses may include:

chain confidence modelling;
expected timeline modelling;
identifying patterns associated with transaction delays;
improving estimates of transaction progression;
improving Keynetic's platform functionality; and
producing aggregated insights.

Before introducing material new uses of identifiable Personal Data, Keynetic will assess the applicable data protection requirements and update its privacy information where required.

Keynetic will seek to apply appropriate data minimisation, access controls, retention controls and, where appropriate, pseudonymisation or anonymisation to analytical datasets.

11\. Commercial and affiliate opportunities

Keynetic may in future provide users with information about products or services that may be relevant to their position within a property transaction.

For example, Keynetic may identify that a user has reached a particular transaction stage and present information about a potentially relevant service.

Where such functionality is introduced, Keynetic will:

provide appropriate transparency about the purpose;
comply with applicable direct-marketing and privacy requirements;
provide any consent or preference mechanisms required by law;
avoid sharing a user's underlying transaction information with an affiliate merely because an offer is displayed; and
assess any third-party tracking or attribution technology before introducing it.

Keynetic does not currently share users' underlying transaction information with affiliate organisations for this purpose.

Any future material change to this approach will be assessed before implementation and reflected in the applicable privacy information where required.

12\. Data minimisation

Keynetic is designed to minimise the Personal Data required to operate a property chain.

Users and estate agents should only provide information that is relevant and necessary to the relevant workflow.

Keynetic does not require routine submission of special-category Personal Data for ordinary property-chain coordination.

Users and estate agents should not intentionally enter sensitive or special-category Personal Data unless the relevant processing is specifically supported and there is an appropriate lawful basis.

13\. Accuracy

The person or organisation entering information into Keynetic is responsible for ensuring that the information they provide is accurate to the best of their knowledge and appropriate for the relevant purpose.

Keynetic does not independently verify every item of information entered by users or estate agents.

Where you identify inaccurate information, you should use the available Keynetic functionality to correct it or contact the relevant participant or Keynetic where appropriate.

14\. Retention and lifecycle

Keynetic determines the lifecycle and retention framework applicable to information held within the platform.

This may include stages such as:

active;
completed;
archived;
released; and
anonymised.

Retention periods vary according to the type of information and the purpose for which it is held.

Keynetic's Privacy Policy describes the principal retention approach.

Keynetic may retain information where necessary for:

legal obligations;
security;
fraud prevention;
disputes;
legal claims;
regulatory requirements; or
other legitimate and documented purposes.

Where information is no longer required in an identifiable form, Keynetic will apply its applicable retention, minimisation or anonymisation processes.

15\. Data subject requests

Individuals may have rights under Applicable Data Protection Law, including rights relating to:

access;
rectification;
erasure;
restriction;
objection;
portability; and
withdrawal of consent where processing is based on consent.

Requests concerning processing undertaken by Keynetic as Controller should be directed to Keynetic.

Email: privacy@keynetic.co.uk

Where a request concerns an estate agent's separate processing activities, Keynetic may direct the individual to the relevant estate agent.

Nothing in these Terms limits an individual's statutory rights.

16\. Security

Keynetic applies technical and organisational measures intended to protect Personal Data.

These include measures such as:

authentication controls;
role-based access;
database access controls;
row-level security;
encryption in transit;
controlled privileged access;
rate limiting;
abuse prevention;
security monitoring;
retention controls; and
operational security procedures.

Security measures may evolve as the Service develops.

17\. Third-party service providers

Keynetic uses third-party providers to operate parts of its platform.

These may include providers supporting:

cloud infrastructure;
database services;
authentication;
application hosting;
email delivery;
payments;
address lookup;
caching; and
security or operational services.

Where a provider processes Personal Data on Keynetic's behalf, Keynetic will impose appropriate contractual and data protection requirements in accordance with Applicable Data Protection Law. Keynetic will assess the data protection role of relevant providers according to the nature and purpose of their processing and will manage processors and subprocessors appropriately where they act on Keynetic's behalf.

18\. International transfers

Where Keynetic or one of its service providers transfers Personal Data outside the United Kingdom, the transfer will be subject to an appropriate lawful transfer mechanism where required by Applicable Data Protection Law.

This may include:

an adequacy decision;
the UK International Data Transfer Agreement;
the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses; or
another lawful transfer mechanism.

Further information about relevant providers and international transfers is provided in the Keynetic Privacy Policy where applicable.

19\. Estate agent responsibilities

Estate agents using Keynetic are responsible for their own compliance with Applicable Data Protection Law.

This includes ensuring that they have an appropriate legal basis for collecting and using Personal Data for their own purposes and for providing information to Keynetic where necessary to use the Service.

Estate agents must not:

provide information they are not authorised to provide;
use Keynetic to circumvent their own legal or regulatory obligations;
intentionally provide unnecessary sensitive Personal Data; or
instruct or use Keynetic in a way that is unlawful.

20\. Participants' responsibilities

All Keynetic participants must:

provide accurate information;
only provide information they are authorised to provide;
use information obtained through Keynetic only for legitimate purposes;
respect the privacy of other participants;
maintain the security of their account;
not attempt to circumvent access controls; and
report suspected unauthorised access or misuse.

21\. Changes to processing

Keynetic may develop and improve its platform over time.

Where a new processing activity represents a material change to the purposes for which Personal Data is processed, Keynetic will assess the applicable legal and transparency requirements before introducing that processing.

Where required, Keynetic will update its Privacy Policy and other relevant documentation.

22\. Relationship with the Privacy Policy

The Keynetic Privacy Policy provides further information about:

categories of Personal Data;
purposes of processing;
lawful bases;
recipients;
retention;
Data Subject rights;
international transfers;
third-party providers; and
other privacy matters.

The Privacy Policy should be read alongside these Terms.

Where a conflict exists between these Terms and the Privacy Policy concerning a legal data protection obligation, the parties will interpret them consistently with Applicable Data Protection Law.

23\. No transfer of ownership

Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of a person's Personal Data or an estate agent's wider business records to Keynetic.

Keynetic's rights to process information arise from the purposes and legal relationships described in these Terms, the Privacy Policy and the applicable use of the Service.

24\. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

The courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction in relation to these Terms, subject to any mandatory rights or jurisdiction applicable under law.

25\. Contact

For questions concerning data protection or privacy:

Keynetic Email: privacy@keynetic.co.uk

For general service support:

Email: [INSERT SUPPORT EMAIL]