Privacy Policy
Your privacy is the foundation of the trust we build. Learn how we handle your information with the highest security standards in Nigeria.
This Privacy Policy explains how SheltEase ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects your information in compliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023. We are committed to ensuring that your "High-Trust" experience on our platform is backed by secure data practices.
1. Information We Collect
To provide a secure real estate marketplace, we collect the following categories of data:
- Identity Data: Full name, date of birth, and gender.
- Government Identifiers: National Identification Number (NIN) or Bank Verification Number (BVN). Note: We use these for one-time verification and do not store the full digits on our public servers.
- Contact Data: Email address, phone number, and residential address.
- Financial Data: Bank account details (provided by Landlords/Agents for rent collection or by Tenants for refunds).
- Technical Data: IP address, browser type, and usage patterns on sheltease.com.
2. How We Use Your Data
We process your information for the following "Legal Bases":
Verification
To confirm you are a real person and prevent rental scams.
Communication
To facilitate the chat between Tenants and Landlords.
Platform Safety
To monitor for fraudulent listings or suspicious behavior.
Manual Transactions
To coordinate the transfer of funds through our Trustee system.
3. Data Sharing and Disclosure
We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We only share information when:
- User Consent: When a Tenant requests to view a property, their verified status (but not their NIN/BVN) is shared with the Landlord.
- Service Providers: We share data with identity verification partners (e.g., Paystack/Mono) solely for the purpose of verifying your identity.
- Legal Necessity: If required by Nigerian law enforcement (e.g., EFCC, Police) in cases of suspected fraud.
4. Data Retention and Security
Storage: We use industry-standard encryption (SSL/TLS) to protect data transmitted to sheltease.com.
Retention: We retain your identity data only as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we scrub your personal identifiers from our database within 30 days, except where law requires us to keep records.
5. Your Data Rights
Under the NDPA 2023, you have the right to:
6. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy as SheltEase grows. We will notify you of any significant changes via the email address associated with your account.