Foodie ("Foodie", "we", "us", "our") provides a marketplace that connects people who wish to order authentic, home-cooked meals ("Consumers") with verified home chefs ("Chefs"), and in some cities with delivery partners or agents ("Delivery Agents"). This Privacy Policy explains, in detail, how we collect, use, disclose, transfer, store, and protect your personal data when you access our website, mobile applications, and related services (collectively, the "Services"). By using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Policy and that you agree to its terms.

1) Who We Are and How to Contact Us

Foodie is operated by [Foodie Nigeria Ltd.], a company incorporated in Nigeria under RC number [RC Number], with its registered office at [Registered Address]. For the purposes of applicable data protection laws, Foodie is the data controller of personal data processed in connection with the Services. You may contact our Data Protection Officer by emailing privacy@foodie.ng or by writing to Data Protection Officer, [Foodie Nigeria Ltd.], [Postal Address], Nigeria. If you reside in Nigeria and believe your data protection rights have been infringed, you also have the right to contact or lodge a complaint with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC). We encourage you to contact us first so we can attempt to resolve your concern directly and promptly.

2) Scope of this Policy

This Policy applies to all individuals who access or use the Services, including Consumers who order meals, Chefs who list and sell meals, Delivery Agents who fulfill deliveries where applicable, business partners who interact with Foodie in a professional capacity, and visitors who browse our website or app without creating an account. It applies regardless of how you access the Services, whether via web browser, mobile operating system, or integrated messaging channels that we support. This Policy does not apply to third-party services that have their own privacy notices, even when those services are accessed through the Services. When you follow a link or use an integration that leads you to a third party, your use of that third party's service is governed by its own terms and privacy notice.

3) Data We Collect

Foodie collects personal data in three principal ways: information you choose to provide directly; information we collect automatically as you use the Services; and information we receive from third parties who support the Services or who you authorize to share information with us.

When you create or update an account as a Consumer, you typically provide your full name, an email address, a mobile telephone number, a password, and an optional profile photograph. When you place an order, you provide delivery addresses, delivery instructions, and any notes to the Chef. When you contact customer support, respond to surveys, participate in promotions, or otherwise communicate with us, we collect the content of that communication and any information you provide to help us resolve your request.

If you are a Chef or a Delivery Agent, we will request additional information to verify identity and to enable payouts, which may include government-issued identification, a recent photograph for verification, proof of address, evidence of right to work or eligibility to provide food services where required, bank account details for settlements, and documents that demonstrate hygiene practices or other professional credentials. This information enables platform safety, accounts settlement, and compliance with applicable laws.

As you use the Services, we automatically collect certain technical and usage information. This includes device identifiers, mobile operating system and version, app version, language, IP address, time zone, and diagnostic data such as crash reports and performance logs. We record how you interact with the Services, such as pages viewed, features used, search queries, the time and date of activities, and referrers. If you permit the app to access location services, we collect precise location information to help you select accurate addresses, to suggest nearby Chefs, to present realistic estimated times of arrival, and, if you are a Delivery Agent, to support routing and proof of delivery during an active trip.

4) Purposes for Processing and Legal Bases

We process personal data to provide the Services, to safeguard the platform and its users, and to comply with law. Specifically, we process personal data to create and maintain your account, to enable you to browse Chefs and menus, to place orders, to communicate order status to you and to the Chef, to coordinate or assign deliveries where available, to process payments and issue receipts, and to handle cancellations and refunds. We also process personal data to provide customer support, to investigate incidents, to resolve disputes, to monitor for fraud and misuse, to enforce our terms and community standards, and to keep the Services secure and reliable.

We process personal data to personalize your experience by recommending Chefs, cuisines, or dishes based on your location and your prior interactions. We may send you service announcements and transactional communications that are necessary for your order or account. With your consent where required, we may also send you marketing communications about offers, features, and updates that we think will be of interest to you. You can opt out of marketing at any time, and you will continue to receive transactional messages that are necessary for the Services.

Our legal bases for processing include the necessity of processing to perform a contract with you (for example, to fulfill an order), our legitimate interests (for example, to secure the Services, improve features, conduct analytics, and prevent fraud), your consent (for example, for marketing communications or precise location collection where consent is the local standard), and legal obligations (for example, to maintain tax and accounting records or to respond to lawful requests from regulators and law enforcement).

5) Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live and the law that applies to you, you may have the right to request access to your personal data, the right to receive a copy in a portable format where technically feasible, the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data, and the right to request deletion of personal data in certain circumstances. You may also have the right to object to or request restriction of certain processing activities, including direct marketing, and the right to withdraw your consent where processing is based on consent. To exercise your rights, contact us at privacy@foodie.ng and clearly describe your request and the data or processing to which it relates. We may ask you to verify your identity before acting on your request, and we will respond within the time period defined by applicable law. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may contact the Nigeria Data Protection Commission or the relevant supervisory authority in your jurisdiction.

6) Sharing of Personal Data

Foodie does not sell your personal data. We share personal data only as necessary to operate the Services, to comply with law, or with your consent. We share delivery-relevant details with Chefs and, where applicable, with Delivery Agents so that they can prepare and deliver your order; this includes your first name, the items ordered, delivery address and instructions, and a contact method to resolve time-sensitive issues about your order. We share transaction-relevant data with Paystack so that your payment can be processed, reconciled, and refunded where appropriate. We use reputable technology vendors to host our infrastructure, send emails and SMS messages, provide analytics, assist with identity verification, and power customer support. Each vendor is required to process personal data only on our documented instructions and to implement appropriate security measures. We may also share personal data with professional advisors, auditors, or prospective investors under appropriate confidentiality obligations, and with regulators or law enforcement when we are legally required to do so or when disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, users, or the public.

7) Notes on Particular Features

When you submit a rating or review through the Services, your review content, together with your first name and an indicator that you purchased the item, may be displayed to other users so that they can make informed decisions. Reviews must comply with our content standards, and we may remove or redact reviews that violate those standards or applicable law. If you provide dietary preferences or restrictions, we use that information solely to help the Chef prepare your meal and to reduce the risk of receiving items that do not meet your needs. Because dietary preferences can reveal sensitive information, we encourage you to share only what is necessary to fulfill your order and to avoid sharing detailed medical information through open-text fields.

If you enable location services on your device, the app uses precise location to make address selection and delivery more accurate, to recommend nearby Chefs, and to provide realistic delivery estimates. You can disable location services in your device settings at any time, although the Services may be less accurate and may require manual address entry. All payments are processed by Paystack on our behalf. Paystack provides us with tokenized confirmations and settlement information so that we can fulfill orders and handle refunds. Foodie does not store your full card number, and you should never send card details to Foodie or to Chefs via chat or email. If you opt to receive certain notifications or order updates via an integrated messaging channel, those messages are transmitted by the messaging provider according to its own terms and policies, and you can disable that option at any time in your preferences.

8) Cookies and Similar Technologies

Foodie uses cookies, mobile software development kits (SDKs), and similar technologies to recognize you when you return to the Services, to keep you signed in securely, to remember your preferences, to measure traffic and usage patterns, and to diagnose and fix issues. Some cookies are necessary to provide the Services and cannot be switched off in our systems. Others help us improve performance and personalize your experience. You can manage cookies through your browser controls and manage app permissions through your device settings. If you block or reject certain cookies, the Services may not function optimally.

9) Additional Processing for Chefs and Delivery Agents

Because Chefs and Delivery Agents perform essential functions within the marketplace, we process additional personal data for these roles. We collect and verify identity information to maintain platform integrity and to comply with laws designed to prevent fraud and protect Consumers. We maintain operational metrics such as acceptance and completion rates, cancellations, preparation or delivery times, quality indicators derived from ratings and reviews, and support incident histories. If you are a Delivery Agent, we process precise location during an active delivery so we can provide routing guidance, show the Consumer estimated arrival time, and record proof of delivery. These data support safety, help us resolve disputes, and enable accurate payouts. We do not track Delivery Agents' precise location when they are offline, and we retain detailed location traces only for as long as necessary to achieve these purposes or to comply with legal obligations.

10) Data Security

We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, or access. Measures include access controls that limit personal data to personnel and service providers with a need to know, encryption for data in transit, hardened and monitored infrastructure, and regular security reviews. We require our service providers to implement appropriate security controls commensurate with the sensitivity of the data they process on our behalf. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security; however, we take reasonable steps to reduce risk and we maintain incident response processes to investigate and, where required by law, to notify you and relevant authorities of any data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms.

11) Data Retention

Foodie retains personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, including providing the Services, maintaining business and financial records, resolving disputes, enforcing agreements, and complying with legal obligations. In practice, this means that we keep order and transaction records for a period consistent with applicable tax and accounting requirements. We keep customer support communications for a period that allows us to understand prior issues and to defend against legal claims. We keep identity verification and payout records for Chefs and Delivery Agents for the duration of their relationship with Foodie and for a reasonable period thereafter if required by law or for fraud-prevention. Marketing preferences are retained until you withdraw consent or object to further communications. When personal data are no longer required for the stated purposes, we either delete them or irreversibly anonymize them so that they can no longer be associated with you.

12) International Data Transfers

Foodie may use cloud infrastructure and service providers that are located outside your country, which means that personal data may be transferred to and processed in jurisdictions that may have data protection laws different from those in your home country. When we transfer personal data internationally, we implement appropriate safeguards designed to protect your data, such as contractual protections with our service providers and other measures recognized by applicable law. If you would like more information about these safeguards, you can contact us at privacy@foodie.ng.

13) Children's Privacy (Under 16)

The Services are not directed to, and must not be used by, anyone under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from individuals under 16. If we learn that we have collected personal data from someone under 16 without appropriate authorization, we will delete that data promptly and take steps to close the account. Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided personal data to Foodie may contact us at privacy@foodie.ng to request deletion and to assist us in taking appropriate action.

14) Automated Decision-Making and Profiling

Foodie may use automation to support certain features of the Services. For example, we may algorithmically sort search results to prioritize nearby Chefs or popular dishes, estimate preparation and delivery times based on historical data, and flag unusual activity for manual review to help prevent fraud. These processes are designed to enhance user experience and platform safety. We do not use automated decision-making to make determinations that produce legal effects concerning you or that similarly significantly affect you without meaningful human involvement. If you have questions about these processes or wish to object to certain forms of profiling as permitted by law, you may contact us using the details below.

15) Marketing Communications

With your consent where required, Foodie may send you marketing communications by email, SMS, in-app messages, or push notifications to tell you about promotions, new features, or recommendations that may be relevant to you. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions in the message, by adjusting your notification settings in the app, or by contacting us at privacy@foodie.ng. Even if you opt out of marketing, we will continue to send transactional and service messages that are necessary to deliver the Services, such as receipts, order confirmations, delivery updates, and important notices about your account or this Policy.

16) Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of the privacy rights described in Section 5, send an email to privacy@foodie.ng with a clear statement of your request and sufficient information to help us verify your identity and locate your records. We will acknowledge your request and respond within the timeframe required by law. We may request additional information solely to verify your identity or to clarify the scope of your request. If we decline your request where an exception applies, we will provide our reasons unless prohibited by law. You may also submit a complaint to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission or to your local data protection authority; however, we ask that you give us the opportunity to address your concern first.

17) Third-Party Links and Services

The Services may contain links to third-party websites or may allow you to enable integrations with third-party services. Foodie does not control these third parties and is not responsible for their privacy or security practices. When you click a link or enable an integration, the collection and use of your personal data by that third party is governed by its own privacy notice, not this Policy. We recommend that you read the privacy notices of any third-party service you choose to use.

18) Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, changes to the Services, or changes in our data practices. When we make material changes, we will notify you in a reasonable manner, such as by posting a notice within the app or by sending an email to the address associated with your account. The "Last Updated" and "Effective Date" at the top of this Policy indicate when the current version took effect. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically to remain informed about how we protect your personal data.

19) Governing Law

This Policy and any dispute arising from it are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and any regulations made under it, without regard to conflict of laws principles. Where the Services are provided in other jurisdictions, local data protection laws may also apply, and we will honor rights afforded to you under those laws.

20) Contact Information

If you have questions about this Policy, our data practices, or your rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer using the details below. We welcome your questions and will do our best to respond promptly and thoroughly.