Legal
Privacy Policy
What information we collect, why we collect it, who sees it, and the choices you have.
1. Who we are
Zemba Marketplace is run by AZTECH Innovations (business registration in progress). We are responsible for the personal information described in this policy (the "data controller" under Zambia's Data Protection Act, 2021). You can reach us about privacy at albertozemba11@gmail.com.
2. What we collect
- Your account: full name, phone number, email address, and your password (kept only in scrambled form that we cannot read), and whether you want news and offers.
- If you sell: business name, NRC number, location, and the mobile money provider and number for payouts.
- If you apply for the Verified badge: a member of our team checks your NRC and your face on a short video call. We do not keep photos or recordings. We keep only the result (verified or not), the date and a short note about how we checked you. If we ever offer photo checks instead, we will tell you first and delete the photos as soon as we have decided.
- Reports: if you report a listing or a person, we keep your report and who made it so our team can review it. The person you report is not told who reported them.
- Delivery details: the name, phone number, town and pickup note you give at checkout. The seller sees them and passes them on to the bus company or courier that carries your item.
- Your choices: whether you want news and offers by email.
- Your orders: what you bought or sold, amounts, order status, delivery code, proof-of-dispatch photos, dispute messages and notifications.
- Your messages and reviews: anything you send through our contact form or suggestion box, and reviews you write.
- When you accepted our terms: the date and time you created your account and agreed to our policies.
- Technical information: our hosting provider records basic technical data, such as IP address and browser type, to deliver and protect the website.
3. Why we use it
- To create and run your account and to confirm your email address.
- To process orders, hold payments in escrow, deliver payouts and refunds, and settle disputes.
- To check sellers and prevent fraud, abuse and unsafe listings.
- To send you service messages, for example order updates and password reset links, by email.
- To answer your questions and improve the website.
- To send you important messages about the website, such as changes to our rules or your account. These go to every active user.
- To send news and offers, only if you chose to receive them. Each one has an unsubscribe link, and you can change your choice in My account at any time.
- To meet our legal duties, such as keeping records or answering lawful requests from authorities.
4. Who we share it with
We never sell your personal information. We share it only as needed with:
- The other person in your order. For example, sellers see the details needed to complete a sale, and buyers see the seller's business name.
- Bus companies and couriers, through the seller, so that your item can be carried to you and you can be called when it arrives.
- Payment providers such as MTN and Airtel mobile money and any payment gateway we use, to take payments, send payouts and refunds.
- Service providers that help us run the website: Supabase (database and photo storage), Vercel (website hosting), and Brevo (email). They may only use the information to provide their service to us.
- Authorities when the law requires it, or to protect people from fraud or harm.
Some of these providers keep information on servers outside Zambia. We choose providers with security safeguards and share only what is needed.
5. Cookies and browser storage
We use one essential cookie that keeps you logged in. We also save your name and your saved products in your own browser so the website can show them. We do not use advertising cookies. If we add analytics tools in future, we will update this page.
6. How long we keep it
We keep your information while your account is open and for as long as needed afterwards for orders, disputes, fraud prevention, and the records the law requires, for example for tax and accounting. After that we delete it or make it anonymous.
7. How we protect it
The website uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, passwords are stored in scrambled form, and access to the database is limited. No system is perfectly secure. If a security breach affects your personal information, we will act quickly and notify the Data Protection Commissioner and affected people as the law requires.
8. Your rights
You can ask us to show you the information we hold about you, correct it, delete it, or stop using it for marketing, and you can withdraw consent you gave earlier. Contact us and we will respond within a reasonable time. Some information must be kept for legal or fraud-prevention reasons, and we will tell you if that applies. If you are not happy with how we handle your information, you may complain to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in Zambia.
9. Children
Zemba is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you think a child has given us information, please contact us and we will delete it.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. The date at the top shows when it last changed. For big changes we will tell you on the website or by email.
11. Contact us
Questions about your information? Use our contact page or email albertozemba11@gmail.com.