Privacy Policy

Voeq ("we," "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect information when you use voeq.ng.

1. What We Collect

We collect the following types of information:

• Account information: Name, email address, campus affiliation, and password (for students and vendors who create accounts). If you sign up with Google, we receive your name, email address, and Google account identifier.
• Vendor listing details: Business name, category, description, campus location, hours, social links, and listing content
• Photos: Profile photos and listing photos you upload
• Usage data: Pages visited, listings viewed, search queries, and basic technical information such as IP address (stored in hashed form for security logs) and browser type
• Messages: Messages you send through in-app messaging
• Engagement: Likes, saves, follows, reviews, and comments you create

2. How We Use Your Information

We use collected information to:

• Create and manage your account
• Display vendor listings to students on the relevant campus
• Facilitate connection and messaging between students and vendors
• Improve the platform and understand usage patterns
• Communicate updates via email or through community channels if you choose to join
• Prevent fraud, abuse, and violations of our Terms of Service
• Comply with legal obligations

3. Photos: Storage and Moderation

Photos you upload (profile and listing photos) are stored on Cloudinary, our third-party media hosting provider, and delivered from there to the app. Every uploaded photo is automatically screened by Sightengine, a third-party content moderation service, before it can appear publicly. This screening exists to keep prohibited imagery (for example, nudity) off the platform.

For the purpose of this screening, the photo is processed by Sightengine at upload time. Voeq staff do not review your photos unless they are reported by other users.

4. Messages and Moderation

Messages you send through in-app messaging are stored so that you and your conversation partner can see your conversation, and so that reported messages can be reviewed by staff. A conversation is only visible to its participants, plus staff reviewing reports about it. Messages can be reported, but not edited after sending.

5. What We Don't Collect

Voeq does not process payments and does not collect or store payment card information, bank account details, or financial account numbers.

Any financial transactions between students and vendors occur entirely outside the platform and are not visible to or tracked by Voeq.

6. Sharing of Information

We do not sell your personal data. We may share information in the following circumstances:

• Public listings: Vendor storefront content, listing photos, and the contact routes vendors choose to display are public so students can reach them
• Service providers: We share limited data with third-party service providers who help operate the platform — hosting and database (Vercel, Neon, Render), media hosting and moderation (Cloudinary, Sightengine), email delivery (Resend), bot prevention (Cloudflare Turnstile), and sign-in (Google) — bound by confidentiality obligations
• Legal compliance: We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or government request
• Business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, user data may be transferred to the acquiring entity

7. Vendor Presence Disclaimer

Vendor claims about their campus presence, business details, and contact information are self-reported and not independently verified by Voeq. This Privacy Policy does not constitute a guarantee of any vendor's identity, legitimacy, or accuracy of information provided.

8. Security and Access

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or alteration. Passwords are stored only as cryptographic hashes. Sessions are protected with secure, httpOnly cookies. Access to staff tools is restricted by role, and every sensitive staff action is logged in an internal audit trail. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure.

We record security-related events — such as logins and enforcement actions — for fraud prevention. These records are restricted to staff with the appropriate role.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account password and for any activity under your account.

9. Data Retention

We retain account and listing data for as long as your account is active. If your account is suspended or banned, we retain the information needed to enforce that decision and to handle your appeal. After account deletion, we retain certain data for a reasonable period for legal, operational, and fraud prevention purposes. Security records are retained for up to 12 months.

Anonymized usage data may be retained indefinitely for analytics and platform improvement.

10. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
• Request deletion of your personal data
• Object to or restrict certain processing activities
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@voeq.ng. You can also export your data from Settings, or delete your account from Settings at any time.

11. Cookies and Tracking

Voeq uses cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember your preferences, and understand usage patterns. We use Cloudflare Turnstile to distinguish humans from bots on sign-up and login. You can control cookie settings through your browser, but disabling cookies may affect platform functionality.

12. Third-Party Links

The platform may contain links to third-party websites or services (e.g., vendor social media profiles, WhatsApp channels). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties. We encourage you to review their privacy policies.

13. Children's Privacy

Voeq is intended for students and adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected personal information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately.

14. Changes to This Policy

This Privacy Policy is versioned. When we make changes — including material ones — we publish a new version and update the "Last updated" date above. At your next login after a new version is published, you will be asked to review and accept the updated policy before continuing to use Voeq. The version you accepted, and when, is stored on your account.

Continued use of Voeq after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).

16. Contact

Questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy: privacy@voeq.ng