AlkestorePrivacy policy
In short
- We use your data to run Alkestore (account, ads, messages), to protect it against scams and to improve it.
- Our statistics are overall counters (per day, per hour, per neighbourhood): they contain neither your name, nor your IP address, nor your GPS location.
- No targeted advertising, no sale of your data.
- You can delete your account at any time, in the app or on this page.
This policy covers the Alkestore app for Android and iOS, its web version (https://app.alkestore.tech) and the alkestore.tech website. It complies with Guinean law No. L/2016/037/AN of 26 July 2016 on cybersecurity and the protection of personal data, and with Google Play and App Store rules. The French version prevails in case of difference.
1. Who is responsible for your data?
The data controller is Alkestore, Conakry, République de Guinée. For any question about your data: contact@alkestore.tech.
2. Data you give us
| Data | Why | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Account: email address, name, password | Create your account and sign you in. The password is never stored in clear text: it is handled by our authentication provider. | Yes |
| Phone number | Let buyers reach you, if you choose to. | No |
| Profile: photo, bio, neighbourhood | Introduce you to other users; the neighbourhood is used to show you nearby ads. | No |
| Shop and ads: texts, prices, photos, features, the shop’s WhatsApp number | Publish your ads. | To sell |
| Location of an ad: the phone’s GPS position if you allow it when posting, otherwise the chosen neighbourhood or city | Show buyers the distance. The exact position is never shown: it is rounded to about 100 metres. | No |
| Messages: texts, photos, videos and voice messages exchanged | Run the chat between buyers and sellers; review a report. | To chat |
| Reviews, reports and your answer to “Did you sell it?” | Trust between users and the fight against scams. | No |
3. Data collected while you use Alkestore
- Overall statistics. We count events — app opened, ad viewed, search, seller contacted, ad posted, sale — as counters per day, per hour, per neighbourhood, per category, per shop and per ad. These counters contain neither your name, nor your IP address, nor your GPS position, nor your phone’s identifier. The neighbourhood used is the one you chose in your profile.
- Searches. Search words are counted overall (“12 searches for ‘toyota’ today”), with no link to your account, to improve results and spot what is missing.
- Days of use. This is the only statistic linked to your account: we record the day (not the time, nor your actions) you use Alkestore while signed in, to measure how many members come back. Kept for 400 days at most.
- Presence: the time of your last activity, to show “online” or “seen at…”. You can hide it in Profile → Privacy.
- Notifications: a technical token of your phone, only to send you the notifications you allowed.
- Crash reports: when something breaks, a technical report (device type, app version, error) may be recorded so we can fix it.
- Technical logs: our servers and our web host keep the IP addresses of connections for a few days, for security only (attacks, abuse).
The alkestore.tech website sets no cookies and uses no audience measurement tool. The web version of the app keeps your session in your browser’s storage so you don’t have to sign in again.
4. Why we use it
- To provide the service you ask for: account, posting, nearby search, chat, notifications.
- Safety and trust: fighting scams, handling reports, moderation, complying with the law.
- Improving Alkestore with overall statistics.
- Keeping you informed (team banners and notifications). You control notifications in the settings.
We do no targeted advertising and do not sell your data. We do not collect sensitive data (origin, religion, health, opinions…): please do not put any in your ads.
5. What other users see
- Your name, photo, shop, published ads and the reviews you received.
- Your personal email and phone are hidden by default; you can choose to show them in Profile → Privacy.
- The location of your ads, rounded (see § 2).
6. Moderation and trust score
To protect buyers, the Alkestore team may review a shop (reports, automatic alerts on suspicious or duplicate ads), contact you in the app, then decide on a warning, a temporary suspension or the closure of the account. A trust score is computed for each shop (age, reviews, response time, sales, reports). It is used by the team only and no decision is made by a machine alone: a person always reviews the case. You can challenge a decision by writing to contact@alkestore.tech.
7. Who we share it with
Your data is entrusted only to the technical providers needed to run the service, which may not use it for their own purposes:
| Provider | Role | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, authentication, photo storage | European Union (Ireland) |
| Hostinger | App server | European Union (France) |
| Vercel | Hosting of the website and web version | Global network, based in the United States |
| Google Firebase | Delivering notifications | United States and worldwide |
| Error tracking service (if any) | Crash reports | European Union or United States |
As these countries are not Guinea, your data is transferred abroad. We choose providers offering a sufficient level of protection (contractual commitments, encryption), as the law requires. We may also have to disclose data to the Guinean authorities upon lawful request.
8. How long it is kept
- Account, shop, ads, messages: as long as your account exists.
- After deleting your account: your account, profile, shops, ads, photos, favourites, messages and notifications are erased immediately; technical backups are overwritten within 30 days. Messages you sent also disappear for the people you talked to.
- Days of use: 400 days at most.
- Technical logs (IP addresses): 30 days at most.
- Overall statistics: without limit, since they are about no one in particular.
9. Your rights
Guinean law gives you the right:
- to be informed (this page);
- to access your data and get a copy;
- to correct it (directly in your profile);
- to erase it: delete my account;
- to object to a use or withdraw your consent (location, notifications), in the app or phone settings.
Write to us at contact@alkestore.tech: we reply within one month. If our answer does not satisfy you, you may refer the matter to the personal data protection authority provided for by law No. L/2016/037/AN.
10. Security
Encrypted connections (HTTPS), passwords never stored in clear text, access keys kept on the server and never in the app, data access limited to authorised people, a log of every administrator action. If a data breach affects you, we will tell you.
11. Children
Alkestore is not intended for children under 16. If you believe a child has given us data, write to us: we will delete it.
12. Changes
Any change to this policy is published on this page with its date. In case of a significant change, we will let you know in the app.