Privacy Policy — All Business Africa
1. Who we are
All Business Africa (“ABA”, “the platform”, “we”, “us”) is operated at allbusiness.africa by PoliWatch Africa [full legal entity name, registration number, registered address], which is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy — meaning it decides why and how that information is processed.
PANEOTECH [full legal entity name, registered address], the platform’s technology partner, acts as a data processor: it builds and operates the platform’s infrastructure and processes personal information only on PoliWatch Africa’s instructions, under a written data processing agreement.
For any privacy question, request, or complaint, contact: [privacy@allbusiness.africa] — [postal address] — Data protection contact: [name/role, if appointed].
2. Scope — and the two kinds of personal data we handle
This policy covers two distinct categories of personal information, and it is important to understand the difference:
(a) Member data — information about you when you create an account and use the platform: your registration details, the content you submit, the documents you upload to our AI tools, and technical data about your use of the service.
(b) Directory data — information published on the platform about the African business ecosystem, which includes personal information about identifiable business people (founders, executives, investors, board members, public officials in their professional capacity). This data is compiled from public sources, official filings, partner datasets, and direct submissions, and is published as part of the platform’s open-reference mission.
Sections 3–7 deal mainly with member data; Section 8 deals specifically with directory data and the rights of people who appear in it.
3. Member data we collect
Information you give us:
- Account and profile data: name, email address, password (stored hashed), organization, role, country, language preference, and any profile details you choose to add.
- Organization submissions: company or investor profiles you create or claim, including logos, descriptions, contact details, and supporting documentation for verification.
- Content and communications: corrections you submit, listings you post to the marketplace, event registrations, messages sent through the platform, and correspondence with our team.
- AI tool inputs: documents, files, and text you submit to ABA’AI features (Assessment, Document Analysis, Data Extraction, Smart Pre-fill). See Section 5.
- Payment data (only if paid plans are introduced): the platform is currently free. If we introduce paid plans, payments will be handled by a specialist payment processor; we will not store full card numbers, and this policy will be updated before any payment collection begins.
Information collected automatically:
- Log and device data: IP address, browser and device type, operating system, language, referring pages, pages viewed, and timestamps.
- Usage data: searches performed, features used (including AI tool usage volumes for quota management), and interaction events.
- Cookies and similar technologies: see Section 12.
We do not knowingly collect special-category (sensitive) personal data and ask that you do not submit it.
4. How we use member data, and on what legal basis
We use member data to:
- Provide the service — create and secure your account, publish the profiles you submit, deliver search results, run AI features you invoke, process event registrations and marketplace listings, and provide support (legal basis: performance of a contract).
- Send service communications — account verification, password resets, security alerts, and important changes to the service (contract / legal obligation). Marketing or newsletter emails are sent only with your consent and always with an unsubscribe option (consent).
- Keep the platform safe and honest — detect and prevent fraud, abuse, scraping and bulk extraction, account compromise, and violations of our Terms of Service; enforce rate limits (legitimate interests).
- Improve the platform — analyze aggregated usage patterns to understand which features are useful and where the service fails (legitimate interests).
- Comply with law — respond to lawful requests from competent authorities and meet record-keeping obligations (legal obligation).
We do not sell personal information, and we do not use member data for third-party advertising.
5. AI features (ABA’AI) — how your inputs are handled
When you use ABA’AI features, the text and documents you submit are processed by our systems and by third-party AI infrastructure providers acting as our processors, solely to generate the output you requested (an assessment, an analysis, an extraction, or a pre-filled form).
- Retention: AI inputs and outputs are retained [for X days / only for the duration of the session — confirm] to deliver the feature, investigate abuse, and maintain service quality, after which they are deleted or anonymized.
- Model training: your uploaded documents and inputs are not used to train AI models [confirm with your AI provider agreements before publishing].
- Your responsibility: do not upload documents containing personal or confidential information about other people unless you have the authority to do so. You remain responsible for the content you submit.
- Nature of outputs: AI outputs are generated automatically and may be inaccurate or incomplete; they are informational only (see the Terms of Service).
7. International transfers
We operate across Africa, and our service providers may store or process data in other countries [state hosting location(s)]. Where personal data is transferred across borders, we use safeguards recognized under applicable law — including contractual data protection clauses with our processors — and we transfer only what is necessary to run the service.
8. Directory data — information about people we publish
The platform publishes profiles of organizations and of identifiable business people in their professional capacity: founders, executives, investors, board members, and officials, linked to the companies, deals, and institutions they are publicly associated with.
- Sources: public records, official filings and gazettes, reputable media, partner datasets, and direct submissions by the organizations concerned. Where information comes from a specific source, we aim to cite it.
- Legal basis: we publish this information in pursuit of our and the public’s legitimate interest in an open, accurate reference for African economic life — the civic-transparency mission of PoliWatch Africa. We publish professional information, not private life.
- Your rights if you are listed: you may ask us to (i) correct inaccurate or outdated information — corrections are our preferred remedy and are handled through the platform’s correction workflow; (ii) access the information we hold about you; (iii) object to the processing or request removal, which we will weigh against the public interest in the record, applicable law, and the accuracy and provenance of the data. We respond to such requests within [30] days.
- Verified submissions: where your organization claims its profile, you control the submitted fields and may update them at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, contact [privacy@allbusiness.africa] or use the correction tools on the relevant profile.
9. Retention
We keep member data for as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements. Indicative periods: account data — life of the account plus [12] months; server logs — [90] days; AI inputs — per Section 5; correction and moderation records — [24] months. Directory data is retained for as long as it remains part of the open reference, subject to Section 8.
10. Security
We apply technical and organizational measures appropriate to the risk: encryption in transit (HTTPS), hashed passwords, access controls and least-privilege administration, network-level rate limiting and abuse detection, environment separation between production and testing, and regular backups. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach affecting your personal data, we will notify you and the competent authority where required by law.
11. Your rights
Depending on the law that applies to you — including the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019, South Africa’s POPIA, other African data protection laws, and the GDPR where it applies — you may have the right to: access your data; have it corrected; have it deleted; restrict or object to processing; receive a portable copy; withdraw consent at any time (without affecting prior processing); and complain to your supervisory authority (for example, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in Kenya or the Information Regulator in South Africa).
To exercise any right, contact [privacy@allbusiness.africa]. We may need to verify your identity, and we respond within the timelines required by applicable law.
13. Children
The platform is a professional service intended for users aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18; if you believe a minor has provided us data, contact us and we will delete it.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the platform evolves. Material changes will be announced on the platform and, for account holders, by email, with the new effective date shown above. Continued use after the effective date means the updated policy applies.
15. Contact
PoliWatch Africa — [registered address]
Email: [privacy@allbusiness.africa]
Data protection contact: [name/role]
Technology partner (processor): PANEOTECH, [address].