Master Privacy Policy

This Policy applies to all users and visitors of ushopgh.com and related applications, including:

• Buyers: Individual consumers browsing, reserving, inquiring about, or purchasing technology equipment from peers on the platform.
• Sellers: Individual users, refurbishers, hardware enthusiasts, or micro-merchants listing new, used, or pre-owned technology hardware for sale.
• Visitors & Guests: Any person accessing public web pages, blogs, or tech pricing guides on ushopgh.com without registering an account.
• Third-Party Logistics & Service Partners: Courier personnel, escrow agents, and payment service providers interfacing with transaction metadata.

A. Information You Provide Directly

1. Identity & KYC Data: Full legal name, date of birth, username, profile photograph, national identification number (e.g., Ghana Card / Passport details), and biometric selfie verification (specifically required for sellers listing high-value technology items).
2. Contact Data: Primary physical/delivery address, postal address, mobile telephone number, and email address.
3. Financial & Payout Data: Mobile Money wallet numbers (MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AT Money), bank account details, payment card billing addresses, and escrow payout history.
4. Technology Listing Data: Device specifications, condition notes, hardware test reports, battery health metrics, purchase receipts/proof of ownership, serial numbers, and IMEI numbers provided by Sellers.
5. Communication Data: In-App Chat Logs, Customer support tickets, dispute submissions, and product reviews.

B. Information Automatically Collected / Technical Data

1. Device & Network Data: IP address, operating system version, browser type, hardware identifier (MAC address/device ID), screen resolution, and mobile carrier.
2. Platform Activity Data: Search queries (e.g., "Apple M2 Pro", "NVIDIA RTX 4080"), listings viewed, saved wishlists, time spent per listing, referring URLs, and shopping cart interactions.
3. Location Data: Approximate or precise geolocation (with user consent) to facilitate local peer-to-peer drop-offs, pickups, and geo-targeted hardware listings within specific zones in Ghana.

C. Information Received from Third Parties

1. Payment & Escrow Partners: Confirmation tokens, risk evaluation scores, and transaction status from Mobile Money operators and PCI-DSS compliant payment gateways.
2. Logistics & Delivery Partners: Shipment status updates, delivery signatures, drop-off location timestamps, and recipient verification.
3. Anti-Theft & Law Enforcement Registries: Equipment verification checks against stolen device databases to prevent illegal hardware trafficking on ushopgh.com.

U-Shop uses cookies, web beacons, and local storage mechanisms to distinguish you from other users, preserve your active sessions, optimise website performance, and customise hardware recommendations.

Types of Cookies Used:

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: Essential for system authentication, security enforcement, escrow checkout routines, and active cart preservation.
• Performance & Analytics Cookies: Collect anonymised data on how users navigate ushopgh.com, helping us identify platform bottlenecks and optimise search performance.
• Functional Cookies: Store user preferences, such as preferred currency, recent hardware category filters, and notification settings.
• Targeting & Marketing Cookies: Facilitate personalised ads and offers for tech products on external networks (including Google Digital Marketing and partner networks).

Under the Ghana Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) and international privacy guidelines, U-Shop processes your data under four recognised legal bases:

1. Performance of a Contract: Processing is required to execute our Terms of Service, manage user registration, process escrow transactions, and coordinate peer hardware deliveries.
2. Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary to protect our marketplace integrity - preventing the sale of stolen hardware, detecting fraud, maintaining system uptime, and facilitating dispute resolution - provided your privacy rights are respected.
3. Compliance with Legal Obligations: Processing required to fulfil statutory reporting obligations, anti-money laundering (AML) laws, tax compliance, or law enforcement mandates.
4. Consent: Where you have explicitly opted in (e.g., location tracking, direct promotional newsletters, or targeted third-party advertising). You may withdraw consent at any time.

U-Shop respects your privacy and strictly limits third-party data sharing. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for independent marketing purposes.

Approved Sharing Scenarios:

1. Peer-to-Peer Transaction Sharing: To fulfil C2C purchases, essential delivery details (buyer's name, delivery address, phone number, and pickup PIN) are shared with the selling peer or assigned courier. Sellers are strictly bound to use this data solely for order delivery.
2. Third-Party Service Providers: We engage trusted vendors under strict confidentiality contracts to perform key infrastructure tasks:
   • Payment gateways and Mobile Money processors (Paystack, MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash).
   • Verified logistics and courier delivery partners.
   • Identity verification and biometric KYC software providers.
   • Secure cloud hosting infrastructure (AWS / Cloudflare).
3. Anti-Theft & Fraud Prevention Disclosures: If a device listed on ushopgh.com is flagged as stolen or fraudulent, we reserve the right to share relevant serial numbers, IMEI data, identity records, and transaction history with law enforcement agencies and anti-theft database registries.
4. Corporate Restructuring: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of U-Shop assets, user data may be transferred under strict non-disclosure terms.

As an e-commerce platform operating in Ghana with cloud infrastructure hosted globally, your personal data may be stored or processed on secure servers located outside your country of residence (e.g., EU or US data centres).

When executing cross-border data transfers, U-Shop ensures appropriate safeguards are in place, including:

• Transferring data to jurisdictions recognised as providing adequate data protection standards.
• Implementing Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and data processing agreements with cloud hosting providers.
• Utilising end-to-end encryption for all cross-border data in transit and at rest.

U-Shop adheres to the principle of data minimisation. We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the operational, legal, tax, or fraud-prevention purposes for which it was collected.

Customer Support & Inquiry Logs are retained for twenty-four (24) months for quality assurance and dispute reference.

U-Shop maintains multi-layered technical and organisational security standards to guard your data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or alteration:

• Encryption Standards: Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3) encryption for all data in transit across ushopgh.com, and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256) for data stored at rest.
• Financial Security: Payment operations adhere strictly to Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS Level 1). No raw credit card credentials or banking PINs are ever stored on U-Shop servers.
• Access Control & Auditing: Strict Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) restrict internal employee access to personal data.
• Breach Notification Procedure: In the event of a confirmed personal data security breach, U-Shop will notify affected users and the Data Protection Commission (DPC) within 72 hours of confirmation, detailing the nature of the breach and corrective steps taken.

Under applicable data protection laws, you possess clear statutory rights regarding your personal data:

1. Right to Access: Request a copy of the personal data U-Shop maintains about you.
2. Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated personal information.
3. Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): Request permanent deletion of your account and personal data, subject to statutory tax and anti-fraud retention obligations.
4. Right to Restrict or Object: Object to data processing based on legitimate interests or restrict direct marketing communications.
5. Right to Data Portability: Request transfer of your data to another service provider in a structured, machine-readable format.
6. Right to Opt-Out: Unsubscribe from promotional channels via the "Unsubscribe" link in any marketing communication.

To maintain a secure ecosystem on ushopgh.com, users and sellers must adhere to the following rules:

• Accuracy of Information: Users are required to maintain accurate, truthful, and updated identity and financial details.
• Strict Prohibition of Off-Platform Data Misuse: Sellers who receive Buyers' shipping names and phone numbers strictly for order fulfilment are prohibited from using this data for unsolicited personal contacts, external marketing, or sharing with outside third parties.
• Consequences of Non-Compliance: Any violation of privacy terms, unauthorised data extraction (scraping), misuse of peer contact information, or submission of fraudulent KYC credentials will result in immediate account suspension, forfeiture of active escrow payouts (where linked to fraud), and legal prosecution where applicable.

• Peer Interaction Guidance: While U-Shop conducts identity checks and holds funds in escrow, users should maintain vigilance during peer communications. Never share financial passwords, bank PINs, or sensitive personal credentials in open chat channels.
• Off-Platform Transactions Disclaimer: U-Shop’s Privacy Policy and buyer/seller protection guarantees apply exclusively to transactions completed within ushopgh.com. Transactions executed outside the platform fall outside our security controls.
• External Links: ushopgh.com may contain links to third-party brand websites, hardware manufacturers, or external software tools. U-Shop assumes no responsibility for the privacy policies or content of external platforms.

If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or wish to exercise your legal privacy rights, don't hesitate to get in touch with our Data Privacy Office:

U-Shop reserves the right to amend this Privacy Policy at any time to reflect updates in technology, legal requirements, or marketplace features. Material updates will be communicated via site notifications or registered email prior to becoming effective.