Privacy Policy
Your privacy matters to us. This policy explains what personal information ErizonTerra collects, why, who sees it, how long we keep it, and what choices you have. It is written to follow the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA).
1. What we collect
- Account details: name, email, school, phone number, WhatsApp number (agents), date of birth (if you add it), profile photo and your password (stored only in scrambled, one-way form).
- Agent verification: the type of government ID, a photo of the ID, a selfie holding it, and the ID number if you give it. We also keep a private, scrambled fingerprint of the ID number and image so that one ID cannot be used on several accounts.
- What you post: listings, photos, requests, roommate posts, reviews, saved listings and saved searches.
- Messages: chats you send through the Platform, including photos.
- Security and device information: your sign-in times, IP address and device type, and the devices currently signed in to your account.
- Device notifications: if you allow push notifications in the app, we store a notification token for your device so we can send you alerts (for example about your inspection or messages). You can switch them off in your phone settings.
- Usage: searches you make and how listings are used (for example views and taps on contact buttons). School searches are also counted anonymously to understand demand.
- Job assignment records and concerns: when a staff member assigns a job by hand we record who did it, to which Inspector, when, and the reason. If you tell us privately that you are worried about an Inspector, we keep what you wrote and show it only to the super administrator.
- Suggestions and staff messages: what you send in the Suggestion box (with your account name), and messages between staff members.
- Reports: reports you make, or that are made about you.
- ErizonTerra Inspection: the houses you book, your school, the payment reference and amount (never your card details, which stay with Paystack), when you accepted the warnings, your answers about your report, rent and move-in, any pickup request (date, place), your rating of an Inspector, late-resume fee payments, times when your Inspector paused the clock because you did not respond, and refunds. For rent invoices: the house you chose, the invoice amount and payment reference. For the Payment and Handover Agreement: the payee's name, phone, WhatsApp number and role (agent, landlord or other), and the confirmations or denials with their times. For the signed handover form: the names, phone numbers, typed names and finger signatures of the people who sign it, the key holder's name and phone, the dates and times written on it, and a photo of the signed paper (kept in private storage that only the Inspector and ErizonTerra staff can open). For Inspectors: name as on ID, gender, date of birth, address, phone, WhatsApp, a photo of an ID and a selfie (private; only our super admin can open them), a backup contact's name, phone and relationship, schools, jobs done and ratings.
- Payout accounts: agents (optionally) and Inspectors may save bank name, account number and account name so we can pay them. They are private, are never shown to other users, and are visible only to the owner and ErizonTerra staff who make payments.
2. Why we use it
- To run your account, show listings and connect seekers, agents and roommates (to perform our agreement with you).
- To verify agents, prevent fraud and fake accounts, and keep users safe (our legitimate interest and, for IDs, your consent).
- To send you emails you need: verification codes, security alerts, account notices, and alerts you ask for such as new listings that match a saved search.
- To run E.I.S (houses outside ErizonTerra and in-app inspections): store the house address, viewing time, the agent's name and phone, your WhatsApp number, and the report; pay Inspectors weekly.
- To run ErizonTerra Inspection: assign and manage Inspectors, take and refund payments, deliver your report and pickup, handle disputes and pay Inspectors, invoice your rent and pay agents, and check Inspector identity (to perform our agreement with you and for safety).
- To investigate reports and respond to the police, courts or other authorities where the law requires it (legal obligation).
- To improve the Platform.
We do not sell your personal information.
3. Who can see it
- Other users: your name, profile photo, school, listings and posts, and contact buttons (phone or WhatsApp) where you have chosen to show them. For agents, the verified badge and business name are shown. Your ID documents and selfie are never shown to other users.
- Inspection Inspectors and agents: if you book ErizonTerra Inspection, your name, phone and WhatsApp number are shown to the Inspector assigned to you (and, for a pickup, the Inspector who gets it), and he can see the houses you booked. The Inspector's name, phone and WhatsApp number are shown to you. The agent's phone and WhatsApp number are shown to the Inspector. The payee's name and contact details (given by the agent for the Payment and Handover Agreement) are shown only to ErizonTerra staff and your Inspector. If you pay a rent invoice, we forward the money to the agent and tell him the house, not your payment details. A rented house's full address is shown to the Inspector only for the pickup and not after it is done. Your Inspector rating is private and only our team sees it. If you choose to chat with an Inspector on WhatsApp, WhatsApp's own privacy policy applies to that chat.
- Our team: verification documents are visible only to our senior administrators. Private chats can be opened only by the super administrator, for a stated reason, and each opening is logged (see our Terms, section 6).
- Service providers who help us run the Platform: cloud hosting, image and video storage, email delivery, payments (Paystack), maps (Google Maps or OpenStreetMap) and similar tools. They may only use your information to provide their service to us.
- Authorities where the law requires it or to protect people from harm.
4. How long we keep it
- Chats: deleted 90 days after the last message, unless connected to a report, dispute or legal request, in which case they are kept until it is closed.
- Inspection bookings, reports and ratings: about 12 months after the booking is complete. Payment and refund records are kept for as long as the law requires for financial records.
- Staff activity logs: kept permanently and cannot be edited or deleted, so we can show who did what. Job assignment records: about one year.
- Signed handover forms (receipts): kept permanently and locked once signed, as proof of the handover. Inspection photos and videos are deleted from storage after the job is approved and the student has received his report (or sooner when you ask us to delete them).
- Listings, roommate posts and requests you "Delete all": hidden at once and removed for good after 7 days.
- Suggestions: kept until our team has read and dealt with them, then for a reasonable time.
- Anonymous search statistics: about 90 days.
- Account details and listings: while your account exists. Suspended or deactivated accounts are kept for a limited period before they may be removed.
- Verification documents and fraud-prevention fingerprints: while your agent account is active and for a reasonable time after, to prevent repeat fraud.
5. How we protect it
We use encrypted connections, scrambled passwords, emailed codes for sensitive changes, automatic sign-out after inactivity, limits on repeated attempts, role-based access for staff and records of staff actions. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong password and keep it private.
6. Your rights
Under the NDPA you can ask to see the information we hold about you, correct it, delete it, limit or object to how we use it, withdraw consent (for example for ID processing), and receive a copy. Many of these you can do yourself in your account. For the rest, contact us. We may need to keep some information where the law requires it or for an open report. You also have the right to complain to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.
7. Children
The Platform is meant for adults. If you are under 18 you should use it only with a parent or guardian's knowledge and consent. If you believe a child has given us information without permission, contact us and we will deal with it.
8. Storage on your device
We store small items in your browser (for example, to keep you signed in and remember settings such as text size or theme). We do not use them to track you across other websites.
9. Transfers outside Nigeria
Some of our service providers store data on servers outside Nigeria. We choose providers that protect information and we share only what is needed.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy and will tell you about important changes on the Platform or by email.