Welcome to Cikamo’s Privacy Policy. We are Cikamo Limited, a company registered in Nigeria, operating the platform at https://cikamo.com (the “Platform”). We are committed to protecting your personal information and being fully transparent about how we collect, use, store, and share it.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect from you when you use the Platform, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and what rights you have over it. It applies to all users and visitors of the Platform, including registered account holders, marketplace buyers and sellers, and creators.

By creating an account or using the Platform, you confirm that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and consent to the data practices described. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform. This Policy should be read alongside our Terms and Conditions and Community Guidelines.

1. Information We Collect

We collect personal information that is necessary to operate and continuously improve the Cikamo Platform. The types of information we may collect include:

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

• Account information: Your username, display name, email address, and password when you register.
• Profile information: Profile photo, bio, educational background, and any other information you choose to share publicly on your profile.
• Identity verification data: For creators applying for monetisation and premium users applying for badge verification, we may collect a government-issued ID (such as a NIN, BVN, or Driver’s Licence) and, where applicable, a selfie for facial recognition comparison. This data is used solely for the purpose of verifying your identity and is handled with the highest level of security.
• Transaction and payment information: Payment agent details, bank account information for withdrawals, transaction history, withdrawal records, and any tax-related information required by law.
• Content you post: Posts, uploaded files (including PDFs, images, and videos), comments, forum contributions, marketplace listings, and any other content you publish on the Platform.
• Communications: Messages you send to our support team, feedback you submit, survey responses, and any other direct correspondence with Cikamo.
• Job applications: Where you apply for a position at Cikamo, we collect your CV, cover letter, application form responses, and, where applicable, interview notes.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type and identifiers, and screen resolution.
• Usage data: Pages visited, content viewed, features used, search queries made, time spent on the Platform, and the referring URL from which you arrived.
• Transaction metadata: Timestamps of purchases, types of products bought or sold, and interaction logs related to marketplace activity.
• Cookie and tracking data: Information collected via cookies, web beacons, pixels, and similar technologies (see Section 8 for full details).

1.3 Information from Third Parties

• Social login providers: If you register or sign in via Google, Facebook, or another third-party provider, we receive your basic registration and profile information from that service as authorised by your privacy settings with them.
• Payment processors: We receive transaction confirmation and fraud-prevention data from our payment processors located in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Referral data: If another user refers you to Cikamo, we may receive limited information about that referral for the purpose of crediting the referring user.

2. How We Collect Information

We collect information through the following means:

• Directly from you — when you register an account, complete forms, post content, make or receive payments, contact our support team, or apply for employment at Cikamo.
• Automatically — through cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies as you interact with the Platform. This happens in the background as you browse and does not require any specific action from you beyond visiting the Platform.
• From third-party services — when you connect a third-party account (such as Google or Facebook) to your Cikamo login, or when our payment processors provide transaction-related data to us.

We will always inform you of the reason we are collecting your personal information at or before the point of collection, and we will only collect data that is necessary, relevant, and proportionate to that stated purpose.

3. Legal Basis for Processing

Cikamo processes your personal data in compliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023 and, where applicable, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the EU GDPR for users in those jurisdictions. We process your personal data on the following legal bases:

Where we rely on your consent as the legal basis for processing, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. How We Use Your Information

4.1 Platform Operation

• To create and manage your account and profile;
• To process marketplace transactions and payments;
• To deliver digital content you purchase and facilitate physical goods transactions;
• To operate the creator monetisation programme, including calculating and disbursing earnings;
• To provide customer support and respond to your enquiries and complaints.

4.2 Security and Trust

• To verify your identity during account creation, verification badge applications, and monetisation onboarding;
• To detect, prevent, and investigate fraud, abuse, and other security incidents;
• To enforce our Terms and Conditions and Community Guidelines;
• To protect the rights, property, and safety of Cikamo, our users, and the public.

4.3 Platform Improvement

• To analyse how users interact with the Platform so we can improve features, design, and performance;
• To conduct internal research and development;
• To personalise your experience, including recommending content and users you may find relevant.

4.4 Communications

• To send you transactional emails (account confirmations, withdrawal notifications, purchase receipts);
• To notify you of important changes to the Platform, these policies, or your account;
• To send you marketing communications about Cikamo features, promotions, and updates — only with your prior consent and with a clear, easy opt-out option in every message.

4.5 Legal and Regulatory Compliance

• To comply with applicable Nigerian laws, tax obligations, and regulatory requirements;
• To respond to lawful requests from courts, law enforcement, or government authorities;
• To exercise or defend legal claims involving Cikamo.

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We share your data only in the limited circumstances described below:

5.1 Service Providers

We engage trusted third-party companies to help us operate the Platform — including payment processors, cloud hosting providers, data analytics services, customer support tools, and identity verification providers. These service providers access your personal information only to the extent necessary to perform their specific services, are bound by confidentiality obligations, and may not use your data for any other purpose.

5.2 Marketplace Transactions

When you complete a transaction on the Cikamo Marketplace, relevant information (such as your username, transaction amount, and delivery details for physical goods) is shared with the other party to enable the transaction to proceed. We do not share your financial account details with other users.

5.3 Advertising Partners

We may share limited, aggregated, or pseudonymised data with third-party advertising partners (including Google AdSense) for the purpose of delivering and measuring the performance of advertisements on the Platform. This data does not directly identify you. For more information, see Section 9 (Advertising).

5.4 Business Transfers

If Cikamo is acquired by, merges with, or transfers its assets to another business, your personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email and/or a prominent notice on the Platform at least 30 days before any such transfer takes place, and you will have the opportunity to close your account or object if you wish.

5.5 Legal Compliance and Safety

We may disclose your personal information where required or permitted to do so by law, or where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to: comply with a legal obligation; protect and defend the rights or property of Cikamo; prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing on the Platform; protect the personal safety of our users or the public; or respond to a lawful request from a court or government authority.

5.6 With Your Consent

In all other cases, we will ask for your explicit consent before sharing your personal information with any third party, and you are free to decline.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

• Account data: Retained for the duration of your account and for up to 2 years after account deletion, to allow for dispute resolution and legal compliance.
• Transaction records: Retained for a minimum of 7 years in accordance with Nigerian financial record-keeping requirements.
• Identity verification documents: Retained only for as long as necessary to complete the verification process, then securely deleted, unless we are required by law to retain them longer.
• Content you post: Removed upon account deletion, unless it has been shared by other users or is subject to a legal hold.
• Support communications: Retained for up to 3 years for quality assurance and dispute resolution purposes.

When personal data is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymise it in accordance with our internal data retention procedures.

7. How We Protect Your Information

Cikamo implements a combination of technical, physical, and organisational safeguards designed to protect your data against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

7.1 Technical Safeguards

• Encryption of data in transit using industry-standard TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocols;
• Encryption of sensitive data at rest, including payment credentials and identity documents;
• Compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) for all payment data;
• Regular security assessments and vulnerability testing of our systems.

7.2 Access Controls

• Strict access controls limiting which Cikamo staff can access personal data, on a need-to-know basis only;
• Identity verification required before any sensitive account information is disclosed;
• Multi-factor authentication options available to users to protect their accounts.

7.3 Incident Response

In the event of a data breach that affects your personal information, Cikamo will notify you and, where required, the relevant regulatory authorities in accordance with our obligations under the NDPA 2023. We will provide details of the breach, the data affected, and the steps we are taking to address it.

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Cikamo uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to operate the Platform, remember your preferences, keep you signed in, understand how visitors use the Platform, and deliver relevant advertising.

8.1 What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by websites you visit. They help websites work efficiently and provide information to website operators. Cookies do not contain information that directly identifies you by name, but data we store about you may be linked to information obtained from cookies.

8.2 Types of Cookies We Use

• Essential cookies: Required for the Platform to function, including session cookies that keep you logged in and security cookies that help protect against fraud. You cannot opt out of essential cookies.
• Preference cookies: Remember your settings and preferences, such as language selection and display options.
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with the Platform, including which pages are visited most and where users encounter errors. We use this to improve the Platform.
• Advertising cookies: Placed by our advertising partners (including Google AdSense) to deliver ads relevant to your interests and to measure ad campaign effectiveness. See Section 9 for full details.

8.3 Managing Cookies

You can control and manage cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect Platform functionality. You can also opt out of interest-based advertising cookies through the Your Online Choices tool or Google’s Ad Settings.

9. Advertising

Cikamo is supported in part by advertising revenue. We display advertisements served by third-party ad networks, including Google AdSense, on the Platform.

9.1 How Advertising Works

Third-party ad networks use cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies to collect information about your browsing behaviour across websites — including Cikamo — in order to show you advertisements relevant to your interests. This is known as interest-based or behavioural advertising. The information used for this purpose does not directly identify you by name, but may be linked to a pseudonymous identifier associated with your browser or device.

9.2 Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense to serve advertisements on the Platform. Google may use data from your visits to Cikamo and other websites to show you personalised ads. Google’s use of advertising data is governed by Google’s Privacy Policy. You can review and manage your Google ad personalisation settings at adssettings.google.com.

9.3 Opting Out of Personalised Advertising

You can opt out of personalised advertising at any time through the following methods:

• Adjusting your Google Ad Settings;
• Using the Your Online Choices opt-out tool (UK/EU users);
• Enabling the “Do Not Track” setting in your browser;
• Blocking advertising cookies through your browser or a cookie management tool.

Opting out of personalised advertising does not mean you will stop seeing ads on Cikamo. You will still see the same number of advertisements, but they will be less tailored to your interests.

10. Your Rights and Choices

You have the following rights with respect to your personal information under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023 and, where applicable, other data protection laws:

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected] with the subject line “Data Rights Request — [your username].” We will respond within 30 days in accordance with our obligations under applicable data protection law. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

If you are located in the EEA or United Kingdom, you may have additional rights under the GDPR or UK GDPR, and you have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your country. For Nigerian users, complaints may be directed to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).

Cikamo acts as the data controller for your account data. Payment processing may involve third parties such as PayPal (Braintree), which act as independent data controllers — please see Braintree’s Privacy Policy for details of how they handle your payment data.

11. Children’s Privacy

Cikamo does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 14. The Platform requires all users to be at least 14 years old to register, and by creating an account, you confirm that you meet this requirement.

If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 14, we will take immediate steps to delete that information from our records. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has created a Cikamo account or provided personal information on the Platform without your consent, please contact us immediately at [email protected] and we will act promptly.

We encourage parents and guardians to discuss online safety and privacy with their children and to monitor their online activity.

12. International Data Transfers

Cikamo is based in Nigeria, and your personal data is primarily stored and processed in Nigeria. However, because we use third-party service providers located in other countries — including the United Kingdom and the United States — your personal data may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in countries outside Nigeria.

Where we transfer personal data internationally, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with the NDPA 2023 and other applicable laws. These safeguards may include contractual clauses, data processing agreements, or transfers to countries deemed to provide an adequate level of data protection.

By using the Platform, you consent to your personal data being transferred internationally as described in this section.

13. Third-Party Services

This Privacy Policy applies only to Cikamo’s own Platform and services. The Platform may contain links to third-party websites, embedded content from other services, or advertisements from third-party networks. When you interact with third-party content or click a link to a third-party site, you leave the Cikamo Platform and your activity is governed by that third party’s privacy policy.

Cikamo is not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or data handling of any third-party service. Third-party services we currently use that may process your data include:

• Google AdSense — advertising personalisation and delivery (see Section 9);
• Payment processors — including processors located in Nigeria, the UK, and the US;
• Analytics providers — for understanding Platform usage and performance;
• Social login providers — Google and Facebook, if you use social sign-in.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you interact with through the Platform.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data practices, applicable law, or the services we provide. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and, where changes are significant, notify you directly by email or through a notice on the Platform.

We encourage you to review this Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information. Your continued use of the Platform after changes are published constitutes your acceptance of the updated Policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy, your personal data, or the way Cikamo handles your information, please contact our Privacy Team. We are committed to addressing all privacy-related enquiries promptly and transparently.