Privacy Policy

We collect different types of information depending on how you use Ahiver.

1.1 Information you provide directly

When you sign up and use Ahiver, we collect:

• Your full name
• Email address
• Phone number (if you choose to provide it)
• Password (stored securely as an encrypted hash — we never store your raw password)
• Your state and city
• Profile photo and bio (if you upload them)

If you become a seller, we additionally collect:

• Business name and description
• Business email
• Business type (sole, partnership, etc.)
• Store category, location, and contact information
• Product photos, descriptions, prices, and inventory

1.2 Information collected automatically

When you use Ahiver, we automatically collect:

• Your approximate location (with your permission) — used to show you businesses near you
• Device information (device model, operating system, browser type, screen size)
• Usage data (pages you visit, features you use, time spent on the app, search queries)
• Log data (IP address, access times, referring URLs)
• Cookies and similar technologies (see our Cookie Policy)

1.3 Information from other sources

If you sign up using a third-party service (for example, Google), we receive basic profile information from that service — usually your name, email, and profile photo.

We use your information to:

Provide the Service:

• Show you businesses near your location
• Power the discovery feed, search, and recommendations
• Enable messaging between buyers and sellers
• Process and verify your seller account
• Display your store and products to nearby buyers

Improve the Service:

• Understand how people use Ahiver so we can make it better
• Fix bugs and improve performance
• Develop new features

Communicate with you:

• Send transactional emails (account verification, password resets, important account updates)
• Send notifications you've opted into (new messages, store activity, board replies)
• Respond to your support requests

Keep Ahiver safe:

• Detect and prevent fraud, spam, and abuse
• Enforce our Terms of Service
• Protect users, sellers, and the platform

Comply with legal obligations:

• Respond to lawful requests from authorities
• Comply with applicable Nigerian and international laws

We do not sell your personal data to third parties for advertising purposes.

We share information only in the following situations:

3.1 With other Ahiver users

• Your profile information (name, photo, bio) is visible to other users when you interact on the platform
• If you're a seller, your store name, products, location area, and reviews are public to buyers
• Messages you send to other users are visible to them

3.2 With service providers

We use trusted third-party providers to operate Ahiver, including:

• Hosting providers (Railway, Vercel, MongoDB Atlas)
• Image storage (ImageKit)
• Email delivery providers
• Payment processors (Paystack, Flutterwave) — when subscription payments are processed
• Push notification services (web push providers)
• Analytics tools (used to understand product usage)

These providers have access to your information only to perform tasks for us and are obligated to protect it.

3.3 Legal disclosures

We may disclose your information if required by Nigerian law, court order, or government authority — or if we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

3.4 Business transfers

If Ahiver is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Ahiver is a location-based service. We need your location to show you businesses near you. Here's how we handle it:

• We request your location permission through your device. You can decline and still use Ahiver — we'll default to showing businesses in a city of your choice.
• We store your approximate location (latitude and longitude), not your exact home address.
• Your specific location is never shown to other users. Sellers only see general distance ranges (for example, “0.5km away”) — not your precise coordinates.
• You can disable location access at any time through your device settings.

We keep your information for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account:

• We delete your profile information within 30 days
• We may retain certain data (transaction records, account history, security logs) for up to 7 years where required by Nigerian law or for legitimate business purposes (tax records, dispute resolution)
• Messages you sent to other users may remain in their inbox unless they also delete them
• Anonymized, aggregated data (with no personal identifiers) may be retained indefinitely for analytics

To delete your account, go to Settings → Account → Delete Account in the app, or email privacy@ahiver.com.

Under the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Correct — ask us to fix inaccurate or incomplete data
• Delete — request deletion of your information (subject to legal retention requirements)
• Object — object to certain uses of your data
• Withdraw consent — withdraw consent for processing where consent is the legal basis
• Data portability — request your data in a machine-readable format
• Lodge a complaint — file a complaint with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) if you believe your rights have been violated

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@ahiver.com. We'll respond within 30 days.

We take security seriously and use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including:

• HTTPS encryption for all data transmitted to and from our servers
• Encrypted password storage (bcrypt)
• Secure JWT-based authentication with refresh tokens
• Access controls limiting who on our team can see user data
• Regular security reviews

No system is 100% secure. If we discover a data breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission as required by law.

Ahiver is not intended for users under 18 years old. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with information, please email privacy@ahiver.com and we will delete it promptly.

Some of our service providers (hosting, email, analytics) are located outside Nigeria. When we transfer your data outside Nigeria, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place — including using providers that comply with recognized international data protection standards.

Ahiver may contain links to other websites or services (for example, when a seller links to their Instagram or WhatsApp). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties. Please review their privacy policies before sharing information with them.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we'll change the “Last updated” date at the top and, for significant changes, notify you through the app or by email.

Your continued use of Ahiver after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, contact us at:

Ahiver Technologies
Email: privacy@ahiver.com
Support: hello@ahiver.com
Address: [Your registered business address]

You can also contact the Nigeria Data Protection Commission at info@ndpc.gov.ng if you have unresolved concerns.