Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Ékié is operated by EKIE LTD, a company registered in Yaoundé, Cameroon (D-U-N-S Number 369982596). EKIE LTD is the data controller for personal information collected through all Ékié surfaces: the Ékié mobile app, the website at myekie.com, the vendor portal, and the school portal.

Contact for privacy matters: hello@myekie.com. For security concerns: security@myekie.com.

2. What we collect

When you create an account

• Name, and either a phone number or an email address as your primary identifier (whichever you sign up with); the other may be added later as a secondary contact
• Profile photo (optional)
• Mobile money number used for transactions
• Location data when you grant permission
• Your PIN, stored only as a bcrypt hash — never in plain text
• A biometric indicator when you enable fingerprint or face unlock; the biometric itself never leaves your device
• Push notification tokens for transaction and account alerts

When you add beneficiaries (children for school fees, family members for Care Circles, students you support)

• The beneficiary's name, your relationship to them, and the information needed for the transaction (for example, a child's school, grade, and student ID). You are responsible for ensuring you have the right to share that information.

When you apply as a vendor or service provider, or request higher KYC tiers for Akao

• A government-issued ID (passport, national ID, or driver's licence)
• A selfie for identity verification
• Business registration documents (for vendors)
• Source-of-funds documentation (for Akao Tier 3)

If you are a vendor or school administrator using our portals

• Business name, registration documents, tax ID
• Admin name, email address, and phone number
• Portal login credentials (email + password hash)
• Bank account or MoMo number for vendor payouts
• Business operating details (location, hours, service categories, student roster for schools)
• Messages you send through the portal to customers or to Ékié

Collected automatically

• Device type, operating system, app version
• IP address and approximate network location
• Usage events for product improvement and fraud prevention
• Your transaction history on Ékié

3. How we use your information

• To provide the Ékié service: processing payments, running Care Circles, confirming Akao contributions, verifying vendors
• To secure your account: fraud detection, suspicious-activity monitoring, authentication
• To communicate with you: transaction confirmations, security alerts, service updates
• To comply with legal and regulatory obligations under Cameroonian law and the laws of countries where you access the service
• To improve the product through anonymised usage analytics

4. Who we share with

We do not sell your personal data. We share with:

• Payment processors: CinetPay (for mobile money in Cameroon — MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money), dLocal, and Kora (for international card payments and cross-border payouts). They collect, process and settle your transactions on our behalf.
• Service providers and vendors you transact with: limited to what they need to fulfil your request. For example, a school receives your child's student ID when you pay school fees; a vendor sees your pickup code.
• Care Circle members: when you join a Circle, other members can see what you contribute to that Circle.
• Infrastructure providers: Amazon Web Services (eu-west-1, Europe) hosts our servers; your data stays in the EU region.
• Legal and regulatory authorities: when required by Cameroonian law, by a court order, or to protect the rights, safety and property of our users or the public.

5. Data storage and security

Your data is stored on AWS infrastructure in Europe (eu-west-1). We use:

• TLS 1.2 or higher for data in transit
• AES-256 encryption at rest for our databases (AWS RDS encryption)
• Bcrypt hashing for PINs
• Platform secure storage (iOS Secure Enclave, Android Keystore) for sensitive values on your device
• Biometric data never leaves your device

No system is completely secure. If we discover a breach that affects you, we will notify you promptly and in line with applicable law.

6. How long we keep your data

• Active account data: for as long as your account is open
• Transaction records: at least 10 years, as required by Cameroonian financial-services record-keeping rules
• Closed accounts: retained in archived form for the period required by law, then permanently deleted
• Beneficiary data: deleted along with the account that added it, except where regulations require longer retention

7. Your rights

Under Cameroonian law (Law No. 2010/012 on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime), the EU GDPR where applicable, and comparable frameworks, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete
• Request deletion of your account and associated data, subject to the legal retention periods above
• Withdraw consent for non-essential processing
• Receive your data in a portable format
• Object to processing you believe is unlawful
• Lodge a complaint with Cameroon's ANTIC (Agence Nationale des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication) or your local data protection authority

Exercise any of these rights by emailing hello@myekie.com.

8. Beneficiaries and children

Ékié is intended for users aged 18 and over. However, our service is designed to help you support others, including minors (your children, your siblings' children, students you sponsor). When you add a child as a beneficiary:

• You confirm you have the right to share their information for the purpose stated
• We collect only what is needed to complete the transaction
• The child's data is used solely for that transaction; we do not profile minors and we do not market to them
• You are responsible for the lawful basis under which you share a minor's data with us

We do not knowingly let anyone under 18 create their own Ékié account.

9. International transfers

Your data is stored and processed in the EU (via AWS eu-west-1). If you access Ékié from the US, UK, EU or elsewhere, we transfer your data to the EU under appropriate safeguards and only for the purposes described in this policy.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the product evolves. Material changes will be communicated in-app and by email at least 30 days before taking effect, where feasible.

11. Contact us

Privacy questions: hello@myekie.com. Security questions or vulnerability disclosure: security@myekie.com.