Privacy Policy

1. About Akuba

Akuba is a marketplace directory for discovering African products and sellers in Canada.

Akuba helps visitors browse products, discover sellers, view seller profiles, save favorite products, read reviews, and contact sellers outside the platform.

Akuba does not process payments, orders, shipping, delivery, pickup, refunds, returns, or internal buyer-seller messages. If a buyer contacts or buys from a seller, that communication or transaction happens directly between the buyer and seller outside Akuba.

2. What this Privacy Policy covers

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information collected through Akuba, including information collected when you:

• visit the website;
• create or use an account;
• save favorite products;
• apply to become a seller;
• create or manage a seller profile;
• create or manage product listings;
• upload images;
• leave seller reviews;
• submit moderation reports;
• contact Akuba;
• use account, seller, review, or reporting features.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to external websites, apps, social media pages, messaging services, payment methods, or other third-party services used by buyers and sellers outside Akuba.

3. Personal information we collect

The personal information we collect depends on how you use Akuba.

3.1 When you visit Akuba

When you visit Akuba, we and our service providers may process basic technical information needed to load, secure, operate, debug, and improve the website.

This may include:

• device and browser information;
• pages viewed;
• referring page or website;
• approximate location derived from technical information;
• dates and times of visits;
• security, diagnostic, and log information;
• IP address or similar network information, where processed by our hosting, security, or infrastructure providers.

We use this information to operate the website, understand general usage, detect technical issues, prevent abuse, and protect the platform.

3.2 When you create or use an account

If you create or use an Akuba account, we collect information needed to create, authenticate, and manage your account.

This may include:

• your email address;
• your display name, if provided;
• your profile image or avatar, if provided;
• login and session information;
• account settings or profile updates;
• information needed to know whether your account has access to buyer, seller, or admin features.

We use this information to let you sign in, manage your account, save favorites, submit reviews or reports, apply as a seller, access seller tools, and protect account security.

3.3 When you save favorite products

If you save or favorite products, we collect the information needed to remember those favorites for your account.

Favorites are an account feature. They are not intended to be publicly displayed as part of your public profile.

We use this information to show your saved products when you are signed in.

3.4 When you apply to become a seller

If you apply to become a seller, we collect the information needed to review your application and decide whether your seller profile should be approved.

This may include:

• your name;
• business name;
• phone number;
• email address;
• city and province;
• preferred language;
• information about your products or services;
• your main product category;
• business type;
• how long you have been operating;
• product descriptions;
• product source information;
• food safety or compliance-related answers, where applicable;
• confirmations related to product photos, rules, and quality standards;
• sample product images;
• social media page or website link, if provided;
• notes or decisions related to the application review.

Seller applications are review records. We may keep application information to review the application, maintain a record of seller approval decisions, prevent abuse, protect marketplace trust, and comply with legal or operational requirements.

Submitting a seller application does not make the submitted information public by itself.

3.5 When you create or manage a seller profile

If you are a seller, we collect the information needed to create, review, manage, and display your seller profile.

This may include:

• business or display name;
• seller description;
• general business location, such as city, province, and country;
• seller logo or profile image;
• public contact methods you choose to provide;
• information needed to determine whether your seller profile may be publicly displayed.

If your seller profile is approved, parts of your seller profile may be publicly visible on Akuba.

Do not provide seller profile information that you do not want visitors and buyers to see publicly.

3.6 When you provide seller contact methods

Sellers may provide public contact methods so buyers can contact them outside Akuba.

This may include:

• email address;
• phone number;
• WhatsApp contact;
• website;
• Instagram;
• Facebook;
• other external links or contact details.

If your seller profile is approved and public, your seller contact methods may be displayed publicly.

You are responsible for making sure any seller contact information you provide is accurate and appropriate for public display.

3.7 When you create or manage product listings

If you are a seller, we collect the information needed to create, manage, display, search, filter, and moderate your product listings.

This may include:

• product titles;
• product descriptions;
• product images;
• product categories;
• price or contact-for-price information;
• product availability information;
• product size, if provided;
• product origin information, if provided;
• information needed to determine whether a listing may be publicly displayed.

Product listings from approved sellers may be publicly visible when they meet Akuba's visibility and moderation requirements.

Do not include personal information in product listings unless you are comfortable with that information being publicly visible.

3.8 When you leave reviews

If you leave a seller review, we collect the information needed to create, display, manage, and moderate the review.

This may include:

• the seller being reviewed;
• your account information as the reviewer;
• rating;
• review text, if provided;
• review images, if provided;
• optional product context, if provided;
• information needed to moderate the review.

Reviews may be publicly visible if they meet Akuba's visibility and moderation requirements.

Depending on how reviews are displayed, your display name, profile image, review text, rating, and review images may appear publicly with your review.

Do not include personal information in a review unless you are comfortable with that information being publicly visible.

3.9 When you submit a report

If you report a product, seller, or review, we collect the information needed to receive, review, and manage the report.

This may include:

• your account information as the reporter;
• the product, seller, or review being reported;
• the reason for the report;
• any details you choose to provide;
• information related to Akuba's review or handling of the report.

Reports are used for moderation, safety, abuse prevention, and marketplace integrity. Reports are not intended to be publicly displayed.

3.10 When you contact Akuba

If you contact Akuba directly, we may collect:

• your name;
• email address;
• message content;
• any information you choose to include;
• our response and related correspondence.

We use this information to respond to your request, provide support, handle complaints, manage privacy requests, investigate issues, and improve the platform.

4. Public information

Some information submitted to Akuba may become public.

This may include:

• approved seller profiles;
• seller business names;
• seller descriptions;
• seller general locations;
• seller logos or images;
• seller contact methods;
• product listings;
• product images;
• product prices or contact-for-price labels;
• product origin and availability information;
• public seller reviews;
• review images;
• reviewer display information, depending on how reviews are shown.

Seller application information is not made public simply because an application is submitted. However, some information from a seller application may later be used by the seller or Akuba to create or update a public seller profile.

Do not submit information in seller profiles, seller contact methods, product listings, reviews, or review images if you do not want that information to be publicly visible.

5. How we use personal information

We use personal information to:

• operate Akuba;
• create, authenticate, and manage accounts;
• provide buyer account features, including favorites;
• review seller applications;
• create, manage, and display seller profiles;
• allow sellers to provide public contact methods;
• create, manage, search, filter, display, and moderate product listings;
• allow users to submit reviews and review images;
• allow users to submit reports;
• provide admin tools and marketplace curation;
• communicate with users about accounts, seller applications, seller profiles, reports, moderation, security, support, policy updates, or platform-related matters;
• prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to fraud, spam, abuse, security incidents, policy violations, and illegal activity;
• enforce our Terms of Use, Seller Policy, and Community Guidelines;
• maintain, debug, secure, analyze, and improve Akuba;
• comply with legal obligations.

We do not sell personal information.

We do not use personal information for third-party behavioral advertising.

We do not currently send marketing emails.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

Akuba uses cookies and similar technologies for essential platform functions.

6.1 Essential authentication cookies

Akuba uses Supabase for authentication.

Authentication cookies may be used to keep you signed in, maintain your session, make your account available to the website, protect account access, and support account-based features.

These cookies are necessary for features such as:

• signing in;
• account management;
• favorites;
• seller tools;
• reviews;
• reports;
• admin tools, where applicable.

If you block or delete essential authentication cookies, some parts of Akuba may not work properly.

6.2 Analytics

Akuba uses Vercel Web Analytics to understand general website usage.

We use analytics to understand things like page views, traffic sources, device types, browser types, general location trends, and overall site performance.

We do not use Vercel Web Analytics to identify individual visitors, track users across unrelated websites, or show behavioral advertising.

6.3 No advertising cookies

Akuba does not currently use advertising cookies, marketing pixels, retargeting pixels, or behavioral advertising tools.

If this changes, we will update this Privacy Policy and, where required, provide additional notice or choices.

7. How we share personal information

We may share personal information in the following circumstances.

7.1 Public display on Akuba

We display public marketplace content as needed to operate Akuba.

This may include approved seller profiles, seller contact methods, product listings, product images, public reviews, and review images.

7.2 Service providers

We may share personal information with service providers that help us operate Akuba.

These may include providers for:

• authentication;
• hosting;
• database services;
• file storage;
• analytics;
• email or platform communications;
• security;
• logging, debugging, and infrastructure.

Service providers may process personal information on our behalf so they can provide their services to Akuba.

7.3 Legal, safety, and enforcement reasons

We may disclose personal information if we believe it is reasonably necessary to:

• comply with applicable law;
• respond to lawful requests, court orders, or legal processes;
• protect the rights, safety, and property of Akuba, users, sellers, or others;
• investigate fraud, abuse, spam, security incidents, or policy violations;
• enforce our Terms of Use, Seller Policy, or Community Guidelines;
• prevent harm or illegal activity.

7.4 Business transfers

If Akuba is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, sale of assets, or similar transaction, personal information may be disclosed or transferred as part of that transaction, subject to applicable law.

8. External buyer-seller communications

Akuba does not currently provide internal buyer-seller messaging.

If a buyer contacts a seller through email, phone, WhatsApp, social media, website, or another external method, that communication happens outside Akuba.

Akuba does not control the privacy, security, terms, or practices of external communication tools, social media platforms, websites, payment methods, pickup arrangements, delivery arrangements, or other third-party services.

Buyers and sellers should use caution when communicating or transacting outside Akuba.

9. Service providers and storage outside Quebec or Canada

Akuba may use service providers located in Canada, the United States, or other jurisdictions.

Your personal information may be stored, processed, or accessed outside Quebec or outside Canada. When information is processed outside your jurisdiction, it may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction where it is processed.

We take reasonable steps to use service providers that support appropriate privacy and security safeguards.

10. Retention

We keep personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and why it was collected.

For example:

• account information may be kept while your account exists;
• favorites may be kept while your account exists or until you remove them;
• seller application information may be kept for application review, approval history, fraud prevention, legal compliance, and marketplace integrity;
• seller profile and product listing information may be kept while the seller account or listings exist;
• public reviews may remain visible unless deleted, moderated, or removed according to Akuba's policies;
• reports may be kept for moderation history, safety, audit, abuse prevention, and administrative purposes;
• technical logs may be kept for security, debugging, and operational purposes;
• deleted or removed content may remain in backups for a limited period.

When personal information is no longer needed, we will delete it, anonymize it, or otherwise handle it according to our retention practices and applicable law.

You may contact us to ask for more information about retention of your personal information.

11. Security

We use reasonable technical, organizational, and administrative safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, loss, theft, or modification.

However, no website, database, network, storage system, or internet transmission is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials secure and notifying us if you believe your account has been compromised.

12. Confidentiality incidents

If we become aware of a confidentiality incident or security incident involving personal information, we will take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of harm and prevent similar incidents.

Where required by law, we will notify affected individuals, regulators, or other appropriate parties.

13. Your rights and choices

Depending on applicable law, you may have the right to:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you;
• request access to personal information we hold about you;
• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information;
• withdraw consent to certain uses or disclosures, subject to legal or contractual limits;
• request deletion of certain personal information;
• ask questions about our privacy practices;
• make a privacy complaint.

To make a request, contact us at:

info@akuba.ca

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

Some information may not be deleted immediately or completely if we need to keep it for legal, security, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, backup, marketplace integrity, or legitimate business reasons.

14. Account deletion

If you want to delete your account, contact us at:

info@akuba.ca

Deleting an account may delete, anonymize, or restrict certain account-related information, subject to legal, technical, and operational limits.

Some content or records may remain where reasonably necessary, such as:

• seller application review history;
• moderation records;
• legal or security records;
• backup copies;
• public content that must be retained for marketplace integrity or legal reasons, unless removal is required by law.

If a reviewer account is deleted, associated reviews may be deleted according to Akuba's account deletion practices.

If a seller account is deleted or restricted, Akuba may need to retain certain seller application, listing, moderation, or administrative records where reasonably necessary.

15. Children

Akuba is not intended for children under the age of 14.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 14 without appropriate consent.

If you believe a child under 14 has provided personal information to Akuba, contact us at:

info@akuba.ca

16. Marketing communications

Akuba does not currently send marketing emails.

We may send non-marketing messages related to your account, seller application, seller profile, security, moderation, policy updates, privacy requests, or platform operation.

If Akuba introduces marketing emails in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy and provide any consent or unsubscribe options required by law.

17. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above.

If changes are material, we may provide additional notice, such as through the website or by email where appropriate.

Your continued use of Akuba after an updated Privacy Policy becomes effective means you acknowledge the updated Privacy Policy.

18. Contact

For privacy questions, requests, or complaints, contact us at info@akuba.ca. The person responsible for personal information protection is the owner of The WordGeeks Translation Inc.