Who can see my documents when I apply for an apartment online?

PDFs by email vs a dossier link

A rental dossier holds your ID, your salary certificate, your debt extract (Betreibungsauszug) and references. Sent as attachments, those copies stay with every advertiser you ever wrote to.

The rules of the link

1. A work email comes before the documents. The advertiser confirms it with a 6-digit code.
2. You choose how far it opens: for every checked agency, or for agencies that shortlist you.
3. A private address such as Gmail always needs your approval.
4. You see each opening. Every page carries the viewer's email and the time as a watermark.
5. It ends by itself after 30 days, earlier when the listing goes offline.

What aptari itself does with your documents

• The document check. aptari reads each document once at upload, with AI, and shows what is missing. aptari is no authority: the check does not confirm that a document is genuine.
• Storage. Your data is stored in the EU (Frankfurt). Some processing is done by providers in the USA, as the privacy policy sets out.
• Deletion. Deleting your account deletes everything it holds, at once and with no restore. Payment records stay, because Art. 958f OR requires business records to be kept for ten years.

The honest limits

• Someone who was allowed to open a document has seen it. No system can undo that. The watermark makes passing it on traceable, not impossible.
• The link covers what you send through aptari. Whatever you upload into another portal's or an agency's own form follows their rules.
• The message you paste on a portal is handled by that portal.

This is general information, not legal advice.