Privacy Policy | Akeyo Africa

Akeyo Uganda Limited (trading as Akeyo Africa) is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who use our website, platform, and services. This Privacy Policy is prepared in accordance with the Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019 (DPPA) of the Republic of Uganda and explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information.

1. Who We Are

Akeyo Uganda Limited (registration number: 80034087531681) is a company registered in the Republic of Uganda under the Companies Act, 2012. We operate under the trading name Akeyo Africa and provide agricultural risk intelligence, farmer verification, and data services through our Auxo Connect platform.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect the following types of personal data as defined under the Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019:

Personal Identification Information: Name, email address, phone number, and organizational affiliation provided through our contact forms, account registration, or subscription requests.
Financial Information: Payment details processed through third-party payment processors (PawaPay). We do not store credit card or mobile money credentials on our servers.
Usage Data: Information about how you interact with our website, including pages visited, time spent, and referring URLs, collected through essential cookies and analytics.
Agricultural Data: De-identified farmer information submitted through our platforms for credit scoring and risk assessment purposes.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the DPPA, we process personal data on the following lawful bases:

Consent: Where you have given us explicit consent to process your data for a specific purpose.
Contractual Necessity: Where processing is necessary to fulfill a contract with you (e.g., processing a subscription payment).
Legal Obligation: Where we are required to process data to comply with Ugandan law.
Legitimate Interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights do not override those interests.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for the following purposes:

To provide, operate, and maintain our services
To process subscription payments and manage accounts
To communicate with you about our services, updates, and support
To generate agricultural risk assessments and credit scores
To improve our platform and user experience
To comply with legal obligations and regulatory requirements under Ugandan law

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information with:

Service Providers: Third-party vendors who assist us with payment processing (PawaPay), analytics, and infrastructure (Google Cloud / Firebase). These providers are contractually bound to protect your data in compliance with the DPPA.
Financial Institutions: Aggregated and anonymized credit risk data to enable agricultural lending decisions.
Regulatory Authorities: When required by law, including disclosures to the National Information Technology Authority - Uganda (NITA-U) or courts of competent jurisdiction.

6. Cross-Border Data Transfers

Your data may be processed on servers located outside Uganda (including Google Cloud and Firebase infrastructure). We ensure that any cross-border data transfer complies with the requirements of the Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019, including the requirement that the recipient country maintains adequate data protection standards.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including encryption in transit (TLS) and at rest, access controls, and regular security audits. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy, or as required by applicable Ugandan law. When no longer needed, we securely delete or anonymize the data.

9. Your Rights Under the DPPA

Under the Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019, you have the following rights:

Right to be informed about the collection and use of your data
Right of access to the personal data we hold about you
Right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data
Right to erasure (right to be forgotten) in certain circumstances
Right to restriction of processing
Right to data portability
Right to object to processing of your data
Right to withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal

To exercise these rights, please contact us.

10. Cookies

We use essential cookies required for the proper functioning of our website. We may also use analytics cookies to understand usage patterns. You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings.

11. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party sites (e.g., Instagram, Facebook, YouTube). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies.

12. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If we become aware that a minor has provided us with personal data, we will take steps to delete it in accordance with the DPPA.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. Continued use of our services after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data protection practices, please contact us.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the National Information Technology Authority - Uganda (NITA-U), the supervisory authority under the Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019.