Privacy Policy

1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1. Information You Provide Directly

When you create an account and use Contrinow, you provide us with:

Account Information: Your name, email address, phone number, and password when you register.

Profile Information: Optional information such as profile picture and bio.

Group Information: Details about fundraising groups you create or join, including group names, descriptions, and your role within each group (admin, validator, or contributor).

Financial Information: Bank account details you provide for receiving withdrawals, contribution amounts, expense records, and receipt uploads.

1.2. Google User Data We Access

If you choose to sign in with Google or connect your Google account to Contrinow, we access the following Google user data:

Basic Profile Information: Your Google account name and email address. We use this to create your Contrinow account and identify you within the app.

Email Address: We use your Google email address as your primary login credential and to send you important notifications about your account and group activities.

We only request the minimum Google permissions necessary to provide our service. We do not access your Google Drive, Gmail messages, Google Calendar, or any other Google services beyond basic profile information.

2. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

2.1. To Provide and Improve Our Services

Account Management: We use your email and profile information to create and manage your Contrinow account, verify your identity, and enable you to sign in.

Group Management: We use your information to let you create fundraising groups, join existing groups, and participate in group activities based on your assigned role.

Financial Transactions: We process your contribution and expense data to maintain accurate financial records for your groups. We use your bank account number solely to process approved fund withdrawals.

Service Improvements: We analyze usage patterns to understand how people use Contrinow and identify ways to improve the app's functionality and user experience.

2.2. To Communicate with You

Transaction Notifications: We send you notifications about important financial events in your groups, including new contributions, recorded expenses, withdrawal requests, and approval status changes.

Account Updates: We send you emails about changes to your account, security alerts, and important updates to our Terms of Service or Privacy Policy.

Support Messages: We use your contact information to respond to your support requests and questions.

2.3. For Security and Compliance

Fraud Prevention: We monitor transactions and account activity to detect and prevent fraudulent or unauthorized activities.

Legal Compliance: We use and disclose your information as required to comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, or government requests.

3. HOW WE USE GOOGLE USER DATA

We want to be completely clear about how we handle data from your Google account:

3.1. What We Do With Your Google Data

Account Creation: We use your Google name and email to create your Contrinow account. This saves you time and makes signing in easier.

Profile Display: Your Google profile picture (optional: if available) and name are displayed in the app so other members of your groups can identify you.

Email Communications: We use your Google email address to send you important notifications about your account and group activities, as described in Section 2.2 above.

3.2. What We Do NOT Do With Your Google Data

We do not read, access, or store your Gmail messages.

We do not access your Google Drive files or folders.

We do not access your Google Calendar, Google Photos, or other Google services.

We do not sell your Google data to advertisers or third parties.

We do not use your Google data to train artificial intelligence or machine learning models.

3.3. Disconnecting Your Google Account

You can disconnect your Google account from Contrinow at any time through your account settings. If you disconnect, you will need to set a password to continue using Contrinow, but your fundraising groups and contribution history will remain intact.

4. HOW WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

We are very careful about sharing your information. Here's when and how we share it:

4.1. Within Your Fundraising Groups

When you join a fundraising group on Contrinow, other members of that group can see your name, profile picture, role (admin, validator, or contributor), and your contribution history within that specific group. This transparency is essential for accountability in community fundraising.

4.2. With Service Providers

We share your information with trusted third-party service providers who help us operate Contrinow:

Payment Processors: We use Paystack and Flutterwave to process contributions and withdrawals. These providers receive your payment information and bank account details as needed to complete transactions. They are bound by strict data protection requirements.

Cloud Hosting: We use secure cloud hosting services to store your data. Our hosting providers have access to your information only to the extent necessary to maintain and secure our servers.

Communication Services: We use email and SMS service providers to send you notifications. These providers only receive the specific information needed to deliver messages to you.

All our service providers are contractually required to protect your data and use it only for the purposes we specify.

4.3. For Legal Reasons

We may disclose your information if required by law or if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to:

Comply with legal obligations, court orders, or government requests.

Protect the rights, property, or safety of Contrinow, our users, or the public.

Detect, prevent, or address fraud, security issues, or technical problems.

4.4. With Your Consent

We will share your information with other parties when you give us your explicit consent to do so.

4.5. What We Never Share

We do not sell your personal information to anyone.

We do not share your information with advertisers or marketing companies.

We do not share your Google user data with any third parties except as explicitly described in this policy.

5. HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

We take the security of your information very seriously and use industry-standard measures to protect it:

5.1. Data Encryption

In Transit: All data sent between your device and our servers is encrypted using TLS (Transport Layer Security) to prevent interception.

At Rest: Your sensitive information, including passwords and bank account details, is encrypted when stored in our databases.

5.2. Access Controls

We limit access to your personal information to only those employees and service providers who need it to perform their job functions.

All team members with access to user data are bound by confidentiality agreements.

5.3. Security Monitoring

We continuously monitor our systems for potential security threats and unauthorized access attempts.

5.4. Your Role in Security

Please help us protect your account by choosing a strong password and keeping it confidential.

Enable two-factor authentication if available.

Never share your login credentials with anyone.

While we implement strong security measures, no system can be 100% secure. If you believe your account has been compromised, please contact us immediately at support@contrinow.com

6. HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION

We keep your information for different periods depending on the type of data and why we need it:

6.1. Account Information

We keep your account information (name, email, profile data) for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete this information within 30 days, except as required by law.

6.2. Financial Records

We keep records of contributions, expenses, and withdrawals for 7 years after the transaction date to comply with financial record-keeping requirements and to resolve any disputes that may arise.

6.3. Google User Data

If you sign in with Google, we keep your Google profile information (name, email, profile picture: if available) for as long as your account is active. If you disconnect your Google account or delete your Contrinow account, we delete this information within 30 days.

6.4. Anonymized Data

We may keep anonymized usage data (data that cannot identify you personally) indefinitely for analytics and service improvement purposes.

7. YOUR RIGHTS AND CHOICES

You have several rights regarding your personal information:

7.1. Access Your Information

You can access and view most of your personal information directly in the app through your account settings and group transaction history. If you need a complete copy of all data we have about you, contact us at support@contrinow.com

7.2. Correct Your Information

You can update your name, email, phone number, and profile picture at any time through your account settings. If you notice any errors in your financial records, please contact us immediately.

7.3. Delete Your Information

You can request deletion of your account and personal information at any time by:

Using the "Delete Account" option in your account settings, or

Sending an email to support@contrinow.com with the subject "Delete My Account"

We will process your deletion request within 30 days. Please note that we may need to retain certain financial records for legal compliance, even after account deletion.

7.4. Control Communications

You can control what notifications you receive through your notification settings in the app.

However, we will still send you essential communications about your account security, legal notices, and critical transaction alerts even if you opt out of other notifications.

7.5. Revoke Google Access

You can revoke Contrinow's access to your Google account at any time by visiting your Google Account permissions page at https://myaccount.google.com/permissions. You can also disconnect your Google account from within your Contrinow account settings.

8. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

Contrinow is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we discover that we have collected information from a child under 18, we will delete that information immediately.

If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at support@contrinow.com

9. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS

Contrinow primarily serves users in Nigeria, but our cloud hosting servers may be located in other countries. When we transfer your information internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable laws.

10. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make changes, we will:

Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy.

Send you an email notification if the changes are significant.

Display a notice in the app when you next sign in.

Your continued use of Contrinow after we make changes means you accept the updated Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the changes, you should stop using the app and delete your account.

11. COMPLIANCE WITH GOOGLE API SERVICES USER DATA POLICY

Contrinow's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Specifically:

We only request access to the minimum Google user data necessary to provide our service.

We use Google user data only for the purposes explicitly disclosed in this Privacy Policy.

We do not share Google user data with third parties except as explicitly described in Section 4.

We do not use Google user data for serving advertisements or for training machine learning models.

12. CONTACT US

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, please contact us:

Email: support@contrinow.com

Response Time: We will respond to your inquiries within 48 hours.

We are committed to working with you to resolve any privacy concerns you may have.