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Privacy Policy

Effective date: [EFFECTIVE DATE]

This policy explains what personal information Ayika collects, why, who sees it, and what you can do about it. We have tried to keep it plain.

[COMPANY LEGAL NAME] (RC [RC NUMBER]), of [REGISTERED ADDRESS], is the data controller. That means we decide how and why your information is used. We follow the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA). You can reach us about privacy at [PRIVACY EMAIL].

What we collect

When you sign in. Your phone number and the one-time codes we send you. If you use Telegram, we get your Telegram account details and chat identity instead of a phone number. You can also add an email address and a profile photo. These are optional.

When you ask for a job. What you write, say or send: your request, photos and voice notes, and the address or place you give us. We also keep places you save, such as “home”, and where you last asked for something, so we can offer it next time. If you share your location, we keep it.

When you chat with us. Your messages in the Ayika web chat, and your conversations with our WhatsApp and Telegram accounts. This includes what we send back.

When you use a job. The job’s details, offers, payments, cancellations, your ratings and any reports you file.

Payments. Paystack handles your card details. We don’t see or store your full card number. We keep a record of the payments and refunds: the amounts, times and references.

If you are a provider. On top of the above: your business name and description, the services you offer, the areas you cover, your working hours, your earnings and balances, and your payout bank details. If you send an ID document for verification, we keep it too.

From your device. We use cookies and similar tools that keep you signed in and the site working.

Why we use it

  • To sign you in and keep your account secure.
  • To understand your request and match you with providers.
  • To share what the provider needs with the provider you’re matched with.
  • To take payments, pay providers and handle refunds.
  • To send you messages about your jobs and account.
  • To review reports, stop fraud and keep people safe.
  • To check providers’ identity.
  • To meet legal duties.

Under the NDPA we need a lawful basis for each of these. Mostly it is that we need your information to give you the service you asked for. In other cases it is our legitimate interest in keeping the service safe, or a legal duty, or your consent. Where we rely on consent, you can take it back.

Who sees your information

Providers and customers. If you are matched with a provider, they see what they need to do the job: what you asked for, any photos or notes, and where the work is. You talk to each other through the job’s chat. We don’t give a provider your phone number ourselves, but what you type in a chat is visible to the person you are chatting with. A provider’s profile shows their business name, description, services and ratings.

People you share with. If you share a link to your request, anyone with the link can see a short public view: the job’s title, the general area, its status and progress. It doesn’t include your name, phone number, exact address, photos, notes, prices or chat.

Ayika staff. A small number of staff can see accounts, requests and reports to give support and handle problems. Staff can only open ID documents through short-lived secure links. We record what staff do.

Companies that help us run Ayika. They only get what they need, and only to work for us.

  • Messaging: Meta (WhatsApp Business), Telegram, and an SMS provider (Termii or Vonage) to deliver your messages and codes.
  • Email: SendGrid.
  • Payments: Paystack.
  • Maps: Google, to find and suggest addresses.
  • AI: we use AI model providers to read and answer your chat messages, to read photos and voice notes, and to help match requests to providers. Your messages, photos and voice notes are sent to them for that. We don’t send them your payment details.
  • Hosting and storage: our servers run on Hetzner, and files such as photos and ID documents are kept in cloud storage.

The law. We may share information if the law, a court or a regulator requires it, or to protect someone’s safety, or to deal with fraud.

We don’t sell your personal information.

Where your information goes

Some of these companies are outside Nigeria. Our servers are hosted by Hetzner in Germany, and the AI, messaging, payment and mapping companies may handle data in other countries too. When your information leaves Nigeria, we do it only in line with the NDPA. That means we choose providers that protect personal data to a comparable standard, put contracts in place, and limit what we send to what’s needed.

How long we keep it

We keep your information while you have an account, and for as long as we need it for the job’s records, for refunds and disputes, and to meet legal duties such as financial record keeping.

When you delete your account, there is a 30-day cooling-off period. After that, we remove or anonymise your personal details: your name, email, photo, location, saved places and sign-in details are cleared, and your phone number is replaced. Requests, chats and ratings stay so that the other people involved keep their records. They show “Deleted user” and are no longer tied to you. We may keep payment and safety records longer where the law requires or where we need them to deal with a dispute or a safety issue.

Provider business details and ID documents are removed or anonymised in the same way, unless we are required to keep them.

How we protect it

We use encrypted connections, restrict who can get at the data, store ID documents so that only staff can open them through temporary links, and sign people out of everywhere when they ask to delete their account. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach puts your rights at risk, we will tell you and the NDPC as the law requires.

Your rights

Under the NDPA you have the right to:

  • ask what personal information we hold about you and get a copy;
  • have wrong information corrected;
  • ask us to delete your information (you can start this yourself with Delete account in Settings);
  • object to us using your information in some ways, and withdraw your consent where we rely on it;
  • ask for your information in a format you can carry to another service;
  • not be subject only to automated decisions that seriously affect you. Matching is automated, and staff can step in when you ask.

To use any of these, email [PRIVACY EMAIL] from the contact details on your account. We may need to confirm it’s you. We will reply within a reasonable time, and at most within the time the law allows.

If you’re not happy with our answer, you can complain to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).

Children

Ayika is for people aged 18 and over. We don’t knowingly collect information from children. If you think a child has given us information, tell us at [PRIVACY EMAIL] and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. We will change the date above and, for changes that matter, tell you in the app or by message.

Contact

[COMPANY LEGAL NAME], [REGISTERED ADDRESS] Privacy: [PRIVACY EMAIL] General: [CONTACT EMAIL]