Effective Date: February 21, 2026 | Last Updated: February 21, 2026
BestCRE.com is an independent editorial platform. We are committed to protecting the privacy, security, and rights of every individual who interacts with our website, publications, tools, and services. This Privacy Policy explains in plain language what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what rights you have over your own data.
We have written this policy to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA), and the growing body of comprehensive state privacy laws now in effect across more than twenty U.S. states — including but not limited to Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Texas (TDPSA), Florida (FDBR), Oregon (OCPA), Montana (MCDPA), Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee, Minnesota, Maryland, and Indiana. Where state laws conflict, we apply the highest standard of protection.
If you have questions or concerns about this policy, please contact us directly at the address listed in Section 13 below.
1. Who We Are and What We Do
BestCRE.com is an independent editorial and intelligence platform covering commercial real estate AI, investment strategy, market analysis, and sector trends. Our content is produced for institutional investors, operators, family offices, brokers, developers, syndicators, and CRE professionals. We may link to affiliated specialty platforms covering specific CRE asset classes. Each affiliated site operates under its own terms and privacy practices. Where BestCRE.com links to any affiliated platform, you are subject to that platformu2019s privacy policy upon navigating to it. BestCRE does not share your personal data across affiliated sites without your knowledge or consent.
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For the purposes of GDPR and applicable state privacy laws, BestCRE.com is the data controller for personal information collected via this website.
2. Information We Collect
We collect personal information in several ways, depending on how you interact with our site. We collect only what is necessary for the purposes described in this policy.
2a. Information You Provide Directly
Contact and inquiry forms. When you submit a contact form, consultation request, or deal inquiry, we collect your name, email address, phone number (if provided), company name, and the content of your message. This information is used solely to respond to your inquiry and, with your consent, to communicate relevant updates.
Newsletter and email subscriptions. When you subscribe to the BestCRE newsletter or any affiliated publication, we collect your email address and, if provided, your name and professional role. Subscription is always opt-in. We will never add you to a mailing list without your affirmative consent. Each email we send includes a clear, one-click unsubscribe mechanism. We honor all unsubscribe requests within 72 hours.
Comments. If you leave a comment on an article, we collect your name, email address, website URL (if provided), IP address, and browser user agent string. Email addresses submitted with comments are used for Gravatar profile matching and spam detection, not for marketing. Approved comments and associated display names are published publicly on the site.
Account registration. If you create an account on BestCRE.com, we collect your username, email address, and password (stored in encrypted form). Account holders may update or delete their profile information at any time from their account settings.
Event registrations and webinar sign-ups. If you register for a BestCRE-hosted event or webinar, we collect your name, email address, company, and professional title. This information is used to administer the event and, with consent, to send follow-up materials.
2b. Information Collected Automatically
Analytics data. We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors navigate our site. GA4 collects data including page views, session duration, traffic sources, device type, operating system, approximate geographic location (country and city level), and behavioral engagement metrics. We have configured GA4 with IP anonymization enabled. This data is aggregated and used to improve content quality and user experience. It is not used to identify you personally.
Cookies and similar technologies. Our site uses cookies — small text files stored in your browser — for essential functionality, analytics, and, where applicable, marketing purposes. A full breakdown of the cookies we use appears in Section 5 of this policy. You may manage your cookie preferences at any time through our cookie consent banner or your browser settings.
Log data. Our web hosting infrastructure automatically records standard server log information, including IP addresses, browser type and version, referring URLs, pages viewed, and timestamps. Log data is retained for up to 90 days for security and diagnostic purposes and is not used for marketing or profiling.
Device and browser information. When you visit BestCRE.com, we may automatically collect information about your device, including operating system, screen resolution, browser type, and language preferences, to optimize site rendering and performance.
2c. Information From Third Parties
We may receive limited information about you from third-party sources, including email service providers (to validate deliverability), analytics aggregators, and content distribution platforms. We do not purchase contact lists. We do not acquire personal data from data brokers.
3. How We Use Your Information
We process personal information only for specific, documented purposes. The legal basis for each processing activity is noted where applicable.
To respond to inquiries and service requests. When you contact us, we use the information you provide to respond to your question, inquiry, or consultation request. Legal basis: performance of a contract or legitimate interest.
To deliver newsletters and editorial content. For subscribers, we use your email address to deliver the BestCRE newsletter and related publications. Legal basis: consent. You may withdraw consent at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email.
To improve site content and performance. Aggregated analytics data is used to understand which content performs well, identify user experience issues, and prioritize editorial coverage. Legal basis: legitimate interest.
To manage comments and community engagement. We use comment data to moderate submissions, prevent spam, and maintain the integrity of our publication. Legal basis: legitimate interest.
To administer user accounts. Account data is used to authenticate users and provide account functionality. Legal basis: performance of a contract.
To comply with legal obligations. We may process and retain certain information to meet tax, regulatory, anti-fraud, or other legal requirements. Legal basis: legal obligation.
To protect the security of our platform. Server log data and security monitoring tools are used to detect and prevent unauthorized access, fraud, and technical abuse. Legal basis: legitimate interest.
AI-powered features. BestCRE is developing AI-assisted research tools, content analysis features, and CRE workflow automation capabilities through our 9AI.co platform. Where AI tools process user-submitted data (such as uploaded documents or search queries), that processing is governed by the specific terms presented at the time of use. We do not use personally identifiable information to train third-party AI models without explicit consent.
4. How We Share Your Information
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes. We do not engage in cross-context behavioral advertising using your personal data. We share information only in the following limited circumstances:
Service providers. We work with trusted third-party vendors who process data on our behalf under contractual data processing agreements. These include our web hosting provider, email delivery service (such as Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, or equivalent), analytics platform (Google Analytics), spam filtering service (Akismet), and customer support tools. These vendors are prohibited from using your data for any purpose beyond delivering the services they provide to us.
Google Analytics. Data collected through GA4 is processed by Google LLC under Google’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. We have enabled IP anonymization and data minimization settings. Users located in the EU and EEA may be subject to Google’s standard contractual clauses for international data transfers.
Gravatar. If you submit a comment, your email address may be passed in anonymized (hashed) form to Automattic’s Gravatar service to retrieve a profile image. Automattic’s privacy policy governs that processing.
Legal requirements. We may disclose personal information if required to do so by law, court order, regulatory subpoena, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of BestCRE, our users, or the public.
Business transfers. In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or substantially all of BestCRE’s assets, personal information may be transferred to the successor entity. We will notify affected users via email or prominent site notice prior to any such transfer.
Affiliate platforms. We do not automatically share your personal data with our affiliated sites. If you navigate from BestCRE.com to an affiliated platform and submit information directly on that site, your data is governed by that platform’s own privacy policy.
5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your browser when you visit a website. We use the following categories of cookies:
Strictly necessary cookies. These cookies are required for the basic operation of our website. They include session cookies that maintain your browsing state, security cookies that prevent cross-site request forgery attacks, and login cookies if you are an authenticated user. These cookies cannot be disabled without impairing site functionality.
Analytics cookies. We use Google Analytics 4 cookies (_ga, _gid, _gat, and related variants) to collect aggregated, anonymized information about how visitors use our site. These cookies persist for up to 24 months. You may opt out of analytics cookies by declining them in our cookie consent banner, by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser extension available at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout, or by enabling the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal in your browser.
Functional cookies. If you comment on an article or log into an account, we set cookies to remember your preferences and authentication state. Comment cookies persist for one year. Login cookies persist for two days unless you select “Remember Me,” in which case they persist for two weeks.
Third-party embedded content. Articles on BestCRE.com may include embedded content from third-party platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter/X, or LinkedIn. Embedded content behaves as if you had visited the originating platform directly, and those platforms may set their own cookies and collect interaction data under their own privacy policies. We recommend reviewing the privacy policies of any third-party platform whose content appears on our site.
Managing cookies. You may manage your cookie preferences at any time through our cookie consent banner. You may also configure your browser to block or delete cookies. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect site functionality. For California residents exercising CCPA opt-out rights, our analytics setup does not constitute a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. No advertising network cookies are deployed on BestCRE.com without your explicit prior consent.
6. Data Retention
We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, subject to the following specific retention periods:
Contact form submissions: Retained for up to 24 months from the date of submission, or until you request deletion, whichever is earlier.
Newsletter subscriber data: Retained for the duration of your subscription plus 12 months following unsubscription, to honor suppression list requirements and prevent inadvertent re-subscription. Upon your written deletion request, we will purge your data within 30 days.
Comment data: Retained indefinitely to maintain comment thread integrity and moderation history. You may request deletion of your comments and associated personal data at any time.
Account data: Retained for the duration of your account, plus 90 days following account deletion to allow for account recovery. Upon confirmed deletion request, we purge personal data within 30 days, except data we are legally required to retain.
Analytics data: GA4 data is retained for 14 months within Google’s platform per our configuration settings. Server log data is retained for 90 days.
Legal and financial records: Records subject to tax, accounting, or regulatory retention obligations are kept for the minimum period required by applicable law, typically 7 years.
7. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you have some or all of the following rights regarding your personal information. We honor these rights for all users regardless of location.
Rights Under GDPR (EU and EEA Residents)
Right of access. You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you, along with information about how we process it.
Right to rectification. You may request that inaccurate or incomplete personal information be corrected.
Right to erasure (right to be forgotten). You may request deletion of your personal information where it is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, where you have withdrawn consent, or where we have no legitimate basis to retain it.
Right to restriction of processing. You may request that we restrict processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example while the accuracy of the data is under dispute.
Right to data portability. Where processing is based on consent or contract, you may request a structured, machine-readable export of the personal data you have provided to us.
Right to object. You may object to processing based on legitimate interest, including profiling. We will cease processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests.
Right to withdraw consent. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.
Rights Under CCPA/CPRA (California Residents)
Right to know. You have the right to know what categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the sources of that information, the business purposes for which we collected it, and the categories of third parties with whom we have shared it.
Right to delete. You have the right to request deletion of personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions for legal compliance, security, and legitimate operational needs.
Right to correct. You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
Right to opt out of sale or sharing. BestCRE does not sell personal information. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. California residents may submit a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” request using the contact information in Section 13, though no such sale or sharing is currently occurring.
Right to limit use of sensitive personal information. If we collect sensitive personal information (as defined under CPRA), you have the right to limit its use to that which is necessary to perform the services you requested.
Right to non-discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. You will receive the same quality of service and access to content regardless of whether you submit a privacy rights request.
Authorized agents. California residents may designate an authorized agent to submit requests on their behalf. We may require verification of the agent’s authorization before processing the request.
Rights Under Other U.S. State Laws
Residents of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Oregon, Montana, and other states with comprehensive privacy laws have rights substantially similar to those listed above, including rights to access, delete, correct, and opt out of targeted advertising and certain automated decision-making. We honor these rights for residents of all states with applicable privacy legislation. To exercise any state-level privacy right, please use the contact information in Section 13.
How to Submit a Privacy Rights Request
To exercise any of the rights described above, submit a written request to privacy@bestcre.com or via the contact form at bestcre.com/contact. We will verify your identity before processing the request and respond within the timeframe required by applicable law — 30 days for CCPA requests (extendable to 60 days with notice), 30 days for GDPR requests (extendable to 90 days for complex requests), and equivalent timelines for other applicable state laws.
We will not charge a fee for reasonable privacy rights requests. If a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, we may charge a reasonable fee or decline to act, and we will explain our reasoning in writing.
8. International Data Transfers
BestCRE.com is operated from the United States. If you are accessing our site from the European Union, European Economic Area, or United Kingdom, your personal data may be transferred to and processed in the United States, which does not have the same data protection laws as the EU. Where such transfers occur, we rely on appropriate safeguards including the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (where applicable), Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission, and contractual data processing agreements with our service providers that include transfer impact assessments.
For users in the United Kingdom post-Brexit, we rely on the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or equivalent mechanisms.
9. Security
We implement reasonable technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include SSL/TLS encryption for all data in transit, encrypted password storage, access controls limiting staff access to personal data on a need-to-know basis, regular software updates and vulnerability patching, and periodic security reviews of our hosting infrastructure.
No method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially reasonable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach that creates a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify affected users and applicable regulatory authorities in accordance with GDPR’s 72-hour notification requirement and equivalent state law obligations.
10. Children’s Privacy
BestCRE.com is intended for professional and institutional audiences. Our content and services are not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately and we will delete that information as soon as reasonably practicable.
For users between the ages of 13 and 16 in California, we comply with CCPA provisions restricting the sale and sharing of personal information without opt-in consent.
11. Email Communications and Marketing
BestCRE sends editorial newsletters and, with consent, informational updates about new content, research, events, and affiliated platform services. All marketing communications are sent on an opt-in basis only.
Every marketing email we send includes an unsubscribe link. You may also manage your email preferences at any time by emailing privacy@bestcre.com. We process unsubscribe requests within 72 hours. Following unsubscription, we retain your email address on a suppression list to prevent inadvertent re-enrollment — this is a protective measure, not continued marketing.
We do not use deceptive subject lines or misleading sender information. We comply with the CAN-SPAM Act for U.S. recipients and CASL for Canadian recipients. For EU and EEA recipients, we comply with GDPR email consent requirements, which require explicit opt-in consent prior to any marketing communication.
12. Investment Content Disclaimer
BestCRE.com publishes editorial content covering commercial real estate markets, investment trends, AI tools, and asset class analysis. This content is produced for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing on BestCRE.com constitutes financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. BestCRE is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, or licensed financial planner.
References on BestCRE.com to affiliated platforms including HealthcareRealEstateFund.com, InvestmentGradeSTR.com, and WorkforceHousingFund.com are editorial in nature. These platforms offer investment access only to accredited investors as defined under SEC Regulation D. Nothing in BestCRE’s coverage of these platforms constitutes a solicitation or offer to sell securities. All investment decisions involve risk, including loss of principal, and should be made in consultation with qualified financial and legal advisers.
13. Contact Information and Data Controller Details
For all privacy inquiries, data rights requests, complaints, or questions about this policy, please contact us at:
BestCRE.com
Email: privacy@bestcre.com
Website contact form: https://bestcre.com/contact/
Mailing address: Available upon request for verified legal and regulatory inquiries.
For EU and EEA residents exercising GDPR rights, we will respond within 30 days of receiving a verified request. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your EU member state or, for UK residents, with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
14. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We review and update this Privacy Policy at least annually, and immediately following any material change to our data practices, service providers, or applicable legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page and, where the changes are significant, notify newsletter subscribers by email.
Continued use of BestCRE.com following notice of a material change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. If you do not agree with the updated policy, please discontinue use of the site and contact us to request deletion of your personal information.
Prior versions of this Privacy Policy are available upon request.
15. Definitions
Personal information / personal data means any information that identifies, relates to, describes, or could reasonably be linked to a specific individual, including name, email address, IP address, and browsing behavior tied to a user identifier.
Processing means any operation performed on personal data, including collection, storage, use, disclosure, and deletion.
Data controller means the entity that determines the purposes and means of processing personal information. For BestCRE.com, the data controller is BestCRE.com.
Data processor means a third party that processes personal data on behalf of a data controller, such as our email service provider or analytics platform.
Sensitive personal information under CPRA includes data such as Social Security numbers, financial account information, health information, racial or ethnic origin, and precise geolocation. BestCRE does not intentionally collect sensitive personal information through our standard site operations.
Consent means a freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous indication of agreement to the processing of personal data for a stated purpose. Pre-ticked boxes and implied consent do not meet our consent standard.