This policy explains what OctaPlus collects, why, who else sees it, and how to get it removed. It is written to be read, not to be survived.

1. What we collect

Only what the Platform needs to work. Nothing is collected for advertising, and nothing is sold.

• Your account. Name, email address, phone number, and password (stored only as a one-way hash — we cannot read it, and neither can anyone who obtained our database).
• Your Ghana Card (NIA) number. Collected at registration to verify that Artisans and Customers are real, identifiable people. This is national identity data and we treat it as the most sensitive thing we hold: it is never shown to other users, never included in search results, and never shared with anyone outside OctaPlus.
• Location. Your saved address, and — only when you allow it in your browser — your current position, or a point you pin on the map. Location is used to rank Artisans by distance and to alert nearby Artisans to a new job.
• Profile details. Photo, bio, skills, pricing, certificates and photos of past work, where you choose to provide them.
• Job activity. Requests you post, quotes, messages sent through the Platform, before-and-after photos, ratings and reviews.
• Payment records. Amount, method, status and the gateway's reference. We never see or store your card number, PIN or mobile-money credentials — those go directly to the payment provider.
• Technical data. Your IP address at the moment you accept the Terms, and ordinary server logs.

2. What we do with it

• Match Customers with suitable Artisans, and rank results by relevance, rating, completion record and distance.
• Send one-time codes, job alerts, arrival and completion codes, and account notices by SMS and email.
• Verify identity, investigate complaints, and remove people who abuse the Platform.
• Keep records of work arranged and payments made.

We do not use your data to build advertising profiles, and we do not sell it to anyone, for any purpose.

3. What other users can see

Judge what to share by what is visible. Other users can see your name, your profile photo, your general location, your ratings and reviews, your completed job count, and — for Artisans — your skills, pricing and photos of past work.

Your Ghana Card number, email address, date of birth and exact coordinates are never shown to other users. Your phone number is shared with the other party only once a job is arranged between you, so that you can reach each other about the work.

Please do not put personal or financial details into a public job description or a review.

4. Who else receives it

A small number of services do specific jobs for us. Each receives only what that job requires.

• mNotify (Ghana) — receives your phone number and the text of the message, in order to deliver SMS.
• Paystack — receives payment details directly from you when you pay online. They are the payment processor; we receive only a reference and a status.
• OpenStreetMap / Nominatim — receives the place name you type into the map search box. It does not receive your identity or your account.
• Our hosting provider — stores the database and files on our behalf.

We also disclose information where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to protect someone's safety.

5. How long we keep it

Your account details are kept while your account is open. Records of jobs and payments are kept afterwards, because they are also the other party's records and are needed for accounting and dispute resolution.

6. Deleting your account

You can close your account yourself at any time: log in, open My Profile, and use "Close my account" at the bottom of the page.

We want to be exact about what that does, because a vague promise here is worse than none.

• Removed immediately: your name, email address, phone number, Ghana Card number, date of birth, address and coordinates, bio, profile photo, certificates and photos of past work. Uploaded files are deleted from our servers, not merely hidden. Your password is replaced with a value that cannot be matched, so the account can never be signed into again.
• Kept, with your identity removed: records of jobs, quotes, payments and reviews. These are shown as belonging to "Deleted user".

Why we keep those. A completed job is not only your record — it is also the record of the Artisan or Customer on the other side of it, and it forms part of their earnings history and their rating. Deleting your account outright would erase their business records along with your own. So we strip your identity from those rows and leave the transaction itself intact.

An account with work still in progress cannot be closed until that work is finished or cancelled, so that nobody is left mid-job with no way to reach the other person.

If you would prefer us to close the account for you, or you want a copy of your data first, contact us through the channels on octaplus.org.

7. Your choices

• Location is only read when you permit it, and you can refuse or withdraw that permission in your browser or phone settings at any time. Matching still works using your saved address.
• Profile details can be edited or emptied whenever you like.
• SMS and email tied to a job — one-time codes, arrival codes, payment confirmations — cannot be switched off while your account is open, because they are part of how the service works.

8. Security

Passwords are stored only as one-way hashes. The site is served over HTTPS. Access to the database is restricted. We take reasonable steps to protect your information, but no online service can promise perfect security, and we will not pretend otherwise.

9. Children

OctaPlus is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has created an account, please tell us and we will remove it.

10. Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle your information we will update this page and its effective date, and where the change is significant we will ask you to review it.

11. Contact

For any question about your data, including access, correction or deletion, contact us through the channels provided on octaplus.org.

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