1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how AgroBridge Agricultural Technologies (“AgroBridge”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects your personal information when you use the AgroBridge mobile application, website, and related services (together, the “Platform”).
It should be read together with our Terms of Service. By using the Platform you agree to the handling of your information described here. If you do not agree, you must not use the Platform.
2. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Your mobile phone number, which is used to create and verify your account.
- Profile details such as your name, farm or business name, and profile photo.
- Listings you create, including item names, categories, quantities, units, prices, condition, photos, and the pickup location you set.
- Offers, counter-offers, and the messages attached to them, and the Orders that result.
- Ratings you give to a Seller after an Order is completed.
- Support conversations you have with our team through in-app support.
- Anything else you send us directly, such as a report about another user.
Information we collect automatically
- Device and app information such as device model, operating system, app version, and language.
- A device notification token, so we can send you push notifications. This is stored against your account and is never shown to other users.
- Usage information such as the screens you open, searches you run, and listings you view.
- Log and diagnostic data, including IP address, crash reports, and approximate time of access.
Location information
With your permission, we collect your device location so we can show you listings sorted by distance and let you set a pickup or delivery area. You can refuse or withdraw this permission in your device settings and instead set your area manually — the Platform will still work, but distance-based results will be less accurate.
Points and payment information
Sellers spend points to publish and maintain listings, and can buy more points with Airtel Money, MTN Mobile Money, or Zamtel Money. We record your points balance and a history of every points movement — what was bought or spent, when, and on which listing.
Mobile-money payments are processed by the provider, not by us. We send them the amount and the phone number to charge, and they prompt you on your handset. We never see, receive, or store your wallet PIN or any card details. What we keep is a record of the transaction: our reference, the provider’s reference, the amount, the phone number used, and whether it succeeded.
3. How we use your information
- To create, verify, and secure your account.
- To review, publish, and expire your listings, and to show you produce and equipment from sellers near you.
- To deliver offers, counter-offers, and orders between you and other users, and to let the two sides of an order contact each other.
- To send service notifications such as verification codes, offer updates, order confirmations, and reminders that a listing is about to expire.
- To operate the points system, take payment for points, and keep an accurate record of your balance.
- To detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, and activity that breaches our Terms.
- To provide support, and to understand how the Platform is used so we can improve it.
- To comply with our legal obligations in Zambia.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use your messages with other users for advertising.
4. What other users can see
Some information is public by design. Your profile name and photo, your listings, their photos and prices, your general area, and your rating are visible to other users of the Platform.
Listing photos are stored so they can be shown to buyers, and may be reachable by anyone holding the image link. Please don’t upload images of documents, identification, or anything else you would not want seen publicly.
Phone numbers on an order
Your phone number is not shown on your public profile, on your listings, or to people browsing the marketplace.
When you place or receive an order, the Buyer and the Seller on that order are shown each other’s phone number, so that collection, delivery, and payment can be arranged. This is automatic and is a necessary part of completing an order — if you would rather not share your number, do not place or accept the order.
The app can start a phone call, an SMS, or a WhatsApp conversation using that number. Anything you go on to say over those services happens outside AgroBridge: it is covered by that service’s own privacy policy, we cannot see it, and we hold no record of it.
Our Terms of Service forbid using a number obtained through an order for marketing or any purpose other than arranging that order. Tell us if someone misuses your number and we may restrict their account.
5. Sharing your information
We share personal information only in these situations:
- With other users, as described in the section above, so that trades can be arranged and completed.
- With service providers who help us run the Platform — for example hosting, SMS and phone-number verification, push notifications, image storage, mapping, and analytics providers — under agreements that limit them to acting on our instructions.
- With mobile-money providers, being Airtel, MTN, and Zamtel, who receive the phone number and amount needed to take a payment for points and report back whether it succeeded. Only the provider you choose for a payment receives anything.
- For legal reasons, where we are required to disclose information by law, by a court, or by a competent authority, or where disclosure is necessary to protect the rights or safety of our users.
- In a business transfer, if AgroBridge is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, in which case we will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different policy.
6. Storage, transfers & retention
Your information is stored on servers operated by us and our providers, which may be located outside Zambia. Where information is transferred abroad, we take steps to ensure it remains protected to a standard consistent with Zambian data protection law.
We keep personal information for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account we remove or anonymise your profile and listings, but we may retain limited records of completed transactions, points and payment history, reports of abuse, and anything we are required to keep by law, for as long as necessary for those purposes.
7. Security
We use technical and organisational measures — including encryption in transit, access controls, and phone-number verification — to protect your information. No system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Never share your verification code or your mobile-money PIN with anyone, including someone claiming to be from AgroBridge. We will never ask you for either.
8. Your rights
Subject to the Data Protection Act of Zambia, you have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you.
- Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Ask us to delete your account and personal information.
- Object to or ask us to restrict certain uses of your information.
- Withdraw a consent you have given, such as location or notification permissions, at any time.
You can exercise most of these rights in the app, or by contacting us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.
9. Young people
The Platform is for adults. You must be at least 16 years old to create an account or use AgroBridge, and our Terms of Service say the same. Farming in Zambia is often a family activity, but buying and selling here creates binding commitments and exchanges contact details between strangers, so the account itself must belong to an adult.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 16, we will close it and delete the information held on it.
If you are a parent or guardian and believe someone under 16 has given us their information, contact us using the details below and we will delete it.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date above and, where the change is significant, give notice in the app before it takes effect.
11. Contact us
For questions about this policy, or to make a request about your personal information, contact us through in-app support or at support@agrobridgezambia.com. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commissioner in Zambia.