Privacy Policy

KasuMarketplace ("we," "us," "our") operates kasumarketplace.com.ng, an online marketplace connecting Kaduna State University (KASU) students as buyers and student vendors. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how it's used, and the rights you have over it.

This policy applies to everyone who uses KasuMarketplace — buyers, vendors, and visitors.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Account Information (All Users)

When you create an account, we collect:

• Full name, email address, phone number
• Password (stored as a secure hash — we never see or store your actual password)
• Account type (buyer or vendor)

If you sign up using Google, Facebook, or Apple, we receive your name and email from that provider instead of a password.

1.2 Buyer Information

• Delivery address, city, and state
• Phone number for delivery coordination
• Location (latitude/longitude), if you choose to share it, to help calculate distance to vendors and improve delivery estimates
• Order history, wishlist items, and reviews you leave

1.3 Vendor Information

Vendors go through an identity verification process before they can sell on the platform. As part of this, we collect:

• Full legal name, date of birth, gender (confirmed via Bank Verification Number lookup)
• A live selfie, used to confirm you match the identity linked to your BVN
• Student verification details: matriculation number, department, level, and a photo of your student ID
• Bank account details (account number, bank name) — used only to pay out your earnings
• Store details: store name, address, phone number, WhatsApp number, logo, and banner image

About your BVN specifically: We use your Bank Verification Number (BVN) solely to verify your identity through Dojah, our identity verification provider, before you're approved to sell. We do not store your raw BVN. Once verification completes, the number itself is discarded from our systems — we retain only the verification result (verified/not verified), your verified name, date of birth, and gender as confirmed by that process. Submitting your BVN requires your explicit consent, which we record with a timestamp.

1.4 Payment Information

When you make a payment, you enter your card or bank details directly into Paystack's secure checkout — KasuMarketplace's servers never receive, process, or store your card number, CVV, or banking PIN. We only receive and store:

• A transaction reference and status (successful, failed, pending)
• The amount paid
• Paystack's confirmation response for that transaction

Vendor payouts work the same way in reverse: we store the bank account details you provide for receiving payments, and use Paystack's transfer system to send your earnings — we do not touch or store any card data in this process either.

1.5 Technical Information

• IP address (recorded at registration and during identity verification, for security and fraud prevention)
• Browser/device information (user agent)
• Session cookies, used to keep you logged in and remember your cart

1.6 Communications

If you contact us — including through our Contact Us form — we collect your name, email, the subject you select, and your message, so we can respond and route it appropriately.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Create and manage your account
• Verify vendor identity and eligibility to sell (via Dojah)
• Process payments and payouts (via Paystack)
• Facilitate orders between buyers and vendors, including delivery coordination
• Send order updates, verification status, and account-related emails and SMS
• Resolve disputes between buyers and vendors
• Detect and prevent fraud, duplicate accounts, or platform abuse
• Respond to support requests submitted through our Contact Us page
• Comply with legal obligations under Nigerian law

We do not sell your personal data to third parties, and we do not use your data for third-party advertising.

3. Who We Share Your Information With

We share limited data with the following third-party services, only as needed to run the platform:

Each of these providers has its own privacy policy governing how they handle the data we share with them. We only share what's necessary for them to perform their specific function.

We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect the rights and safety of our users, or to investigate fraud.

4. Cookies

KasuMarketplace uses cookies that are essential to running the site — for example, keeping you logged in and remembering the contents of your cart. We do not use advertising or analytics cookies to track you across other websites.

We do use Google reCAPTCHA to protect signup and verification forms from bots and abuse. reCAPTCHA may set its own cookies and share some browser/interaction data with Google as part of that check — this is a security measure, not advertising or tracking for marketing purposes. See our Cookie Policy for more detail.

5. Data Retention

• BVN: Not retained after verification completes (see Section 1.3).
• Account and order data: Retained for as long as your account is active, and for a reasonable period afterward to comply with financial recordkeeping obligations and resolve any outstanding disputes.
• Verification records: We keep a log of verification attempts (status, timestamp) for security and audit purposes, with sensitive fields like your BVN excluded.

6. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate information on your profile
• Request deletion of your account and associated data

To request account deletion: Use the "Request Account Deletion" option in your profile (buyer) or store settings (vendor). This submits a request to our team, who will process it manually — we currently handle deletion requests individually rather than through full automatic erasure, particularly where order history or financial records must be retained for legal or dispute-resolution purposes. We'll confirm with you once your request has been actioned.

If you have questions about your data or want to exercise any of these rights directly, contact us at [insert privacy contact email].

7. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including:

• Password hashing (we never store passwords in plain text)
• Not retaining raw BVN data after identity verification
• Restricting payment card data entirely to Paystack's secure infrastructure
• Access controls limiting who on our team can view sensitive verification data

No system is perfectly secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security, but we work to minimize what sensitive data we hold in the first place.

8. Age Restrictions

KasuMarketplace vendor accounts require you to be 18 or older, verified through your BVN-linked date of birth during vendor onboarding. Accounts identified as belonging to someone under 18 are restricted from selling on the platform.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example as we add new features or data protections. We'll update the "Last updated" date above when we do. Continued use of KasuMarketplace after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.

10. Contact Us

Questions about this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled? Reach us through:

• Our Contact Us page
• Email: info@kasumarketplace.com.ng