Privacy Policy

1. What we collect

Information you give us directly:

• Your name, email, and business details when you sign up for our newsletter
• Your business name, contact details, sector, and location when you create a Directory listing
• Your name, email, business details, and what you need help with when you ask for a service referral
• Any information you share when you contact us, leave a comment, or apply to become a partner or advertiser

Information we collect automatically:

• Your IP address, browser type, device details, and the pages you visit, using cookies and similar tools (see our Cookies Policy for more)
• General, combined data about how people use the Platform

We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal information, such as health data, political views, religious beliefs, or biometric data. Please do not send us this kind of information.

2. How we use your information

We use your information to:

• Send you the newsletter and other content you signed up for
• Publish and manage your Directory listing
• Match your service request with the right Partner
• Respond to your questions and support requests
• Understand how people use the Platform, so we can improve it
• Send marketing messages, but only if you agreed to receive them, and you can opt out at any time
• Meet our legal responsibilities

3. When we share your information

Service referrals. If you ask for a service referral, we share the relevant details with the Partner or Partners who can help you. This is the whole point of that feature, and we only do it when you ask. Partners are separate businesses. Once we share your information with a Partner, how they use it is covered by their own privacy rules, not ours.

Directory listings. Anything you add to a public Directory listing will be visible to anyone who visits the site. Do not include information you want to keep private.

Service providers. We use outside companies for things like web hosting, email, and analytics. They handle data on our behalf and are required to keep it safe and private.

Legal reasons. We may share information if the law or a valid government order requires it.

We do not sell your personal information.

4. Cookies

We use cookies for basic site functions, to understand how people use the Platform, and sometimes for advertising. You can read more, including how to manage this, in our Cookies Policy.

5. How long we keep your information

We only keep your information for as long as we need it. For example, we keep newsletter data until you unsubscribe, and Directory listing data until you ask us to remove it or the listing has been unused for a long time. We may keep some information longer if the law requires it, for example for tax reasons.

6. Your rights

Under the NDPA, you have the right to:

• Ask what personal information we hold about you
• Ask for a copy of it
• Ask us to fix incorrect information
• Ask us to delete your information, with some legal exceptions
• Object to certain uses of your information, including marketing
• Take back your consent at any time, where consent was the reason we used your information
• File a complaint with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) if you believe we handled your information incorrectly

To use any of these rights, contact us using the details below. You can also unsubscribe from the newsletter directly using the link in any email we send.

7. Keeping your information safe

We use reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect your information from being lost, misused, or accessed without permission. No system is completely safe, so we cannot promise total security.

8. Sending information outside Nigeria

Some of the companies we work with for hosting, analytics, and email may be based outside Nigeria. When this happens, we take steps to make sure your information is still protected, as required by the NDPA.

9. Children's privacy

SME Foundry is made for business owners and professionals, not children. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you think a child has given us personal information, please contact us and we will remove it.

10. Contact us

For questions, requests, or complaints about your privacy:

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will change the date at the top of this page, and if the changes are significant, we will let you know more clearly on the Platform.