Privacy Policy

Makay ("we," "us," "our") is a peer-to-peer marketplace application operating in the Republic of Liberia. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, store, and protect personal information about individuals ("you," "users") who access or use our mobile application and web platform (collectively, the "Platform").

This Policy applies to:

• All registered users of the Makay Platform, including both Buyers and Sellers;
• Visitors who browse the Platform without creating an account;
• Any person who communicates with Makay via email, in-app messaging, or other channels.

This Policy does not apply to third-party websites or services that may be linked from the Platform. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external services you use in connection with Makay.

The table below summarises the categories of personal data we collect and the purpose of each:

We collect only the personal data necessary to provide and improve the Platform. We do not collect sensitive personal data such as national ID numbers, financial account details, health data, or biometric information.

We collect your personal data through the following means:

Directly from You

• Registration: When you create an account, you provide your name, email or phone number, and a password (or use Google Sign-In).
• Profile setup: When you upload a profile photo or add other profile information.
• Listings: When you create a product listing, including all text, photos, and item details you provide.
• Messaging: Every message you send through the Makay chat system is stored on our servers.
• Reporting: When you submit a report about another user or listing, we collect details of your report.
• Customer support: When you contact us by email or through MyCusto, our in-app support chat, we retain records of that communication.

Automatically

• Device identifiers, IP addresses, app version, and usage logs are collected automatically when you use the Platform.
• A push notification token is generated for your device so we can deliver in-app alerts about messages and account activity. This token is tied to your device, not directly to your identity.
• Firebase Analytics collects anonymised usage events to help us understand how features are being used.

From Third Parties

• If you sign in using Google Sign-In, we receive your name, email address, and Google profile photo from Google, subject to your Google account privacy settings.
• We may receive information from other users when they report you or mention your listing in a dispute.

Makay uses the personal data we collect for the following purposes:

Platform Operations

• Creating and managing your user account and profile;
• Publishing and displaying your listings to other users;
• Enabling messaging between Buyers and Sellers;
• Delivering in-app notifications about messages and account activity;
• Providing the Plastay (saved items) bookmark feature;
• Processing reports and conducting moderation of content and users.

Safety & Security

• Detecting, investigating, and preventing fraudulent activity, account abuse, and violations of our Terms of Service;
• Verifying user identity and eligibility where required;
• Identifying and responding to technical vulnerabilities or security incidents;
• Maintaining audit logs for accountability and dispute resolution purposes.

Platform Improvement

• Analysing usage patterns to improve app features, navigation, and performance;
• Diagnosing and fixing technical bugs and performance issues;
• Understanding which categories, search terms, and features are most popular;
• Personalising the order of "Trending Now" using your taste profile (see Data We Collect). Deleting your account deletes your stored taste profile.

Communication

• Sending essential service communications — including security alerts, account notifications, and policy updates — to your registered email or phone number;
• Responding to support requests and enquiries;
• Sending optional emails about deals and marketplace updates, only if you opted in when creating your account. You can stop these at any time by contacting us at makayapp@gmail.com; opting out does not affect essential service communications.

Legal Compliance

• Complying with applicable Liberian laws, regulations, court orders, and lawful requests from government authorities;
• Establishing, exercising, or defending legal claims involving Makay.

Makay does not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties. We may share your data only in the limited circumstances described below:

Publicly Visible Information

The following information is visible to all users of the Platform, including non-registered visitors:

• Your display name and profile photo;
• All active listings you have posted, including product photos, descriptions, prices, condition, sizes, colours, and item details;
• Your listing history (items you have sold or removed may remain visible in some contexts);
• Your Brand Profile, if approved — including your business name, logo, category, description, phone number, location, and social media handles.

Please keep this in mind when choosing your display name and profile photo, and when writing listing descriptions. Do not include your phone number, physical address, or other private contact details in public listing fields. If you offer a service, describe the areas you cover (for example, "Sinkor, Congo Town") rather than your home address — this field is public.

Other Users

When you initiate or receive a chat message on Makay, the content of those messages is visible to both parties in the conversation. Messages are not shared with other users unless Makay accesses them for dispute resolution or safety purposes.

Service Providers

We work with a small number of reputable, established technology partners to run the Platform — for example, to handle sign-in and our core database, and to securely host and deliver photos, videos, and voice recordings you upload. Each partner is contractually limited to processing your data only to provide its specific service to Makay, is bound by confidentiality and security obligations, and is prohibited from using your data for its own purposes. See Section 6 for more on how this infrastructure works.

Law Enforcement & Legal Authorities

We may disclose your personal data to the Liberia National Police (LNP), courts, or other government authorities if we are legally required to do so, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to prevent serious harm, investigate criminal activity, or enforce our Terms of Service. See Section 13 for details.

Business Transfers

If Makay is involved in a merger, acquisition, reorganisation, or sale of all or part of its assets, your personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will provide notice before your personal data is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Makay is built using a combination of established cloud technology providers, selected for their reliability, security, and performance on mobile networks across Liberia. We don't build or run our own data centres — like most modern apps, we rely on specialist infrastructure providers for different parts of the Platform. Below is a summary of the categories of infrastructure we use and the data involved. We don't publish the full list of individual vendors in this Policy, as that operational detail can change over time as we optimise the Platform; what matters to you — what data is collected and how it's protected — is described below and stays true regardless of which specific provider is behind it.

Our infrastructure partners each operate under their own privacy and security terms, and under data processing agreements with Makay that limit how they may use your data. For more information on Google Firebase specifically, visit firebase.google.com/support/privacy.

Makay is based in Liberia, but our technology partners — described in Section 6 — operate global infrastructure. This means that your personal data may be transferred to and stored in countries outside the Republic of Liberia, including the United States and other jurisdictions where our infrastructure providers operate data centres.

These countries may have data protection laws that differ from those in Liberia. Where such transfers occur:

• We select infrastructure partners that maintain recognised data security certifications, such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2/3, and rely on standard contractual clauses to ensure your data receives an appropriate level of protection;
• Data is encrypted in transit using TLS, and encrypted at rest using industry-standard encryption (such as AES-256) wherever our providers support it.

By using Makay and agreeing to this Privacy Policy, you consent to the transfer of your personal data outside Liberia for the purposes described in this Policy.

Makay is primarily a mobile application and does not use traditional browser cookies. However, we and our service providers may use the following local storage mechanisms:

Firebase Local Persistence

Firebase Authentication stores your authentication session locally on your device. This allows you to remain logged in between app sessions without re-entering your password. You can clear this session by logging out of the app or clearing your app's data from your device settings.

App Cache

The Makay app may cache product listings, images, and other content locally on your device to improve performance and reduce data usage. This cached data is stored only on your device and is not transmitted to third parties.

Managing Local Storage

You can clear the app's cached files at any time in the app under Settings → Help → Storage. This removes stored images and app files but keeps you signed in, and does not delete your listings, messages, or saved items. You can also clear all locally stored data by logging out, clearing the app's data in your device or browser settings, or uninstalling the app — clearing your session this way will require you to log in again.

Makay takes the security of your personal data seriously. We implement the following technical and organisational measures to protect your information:

Technical Safeguards

• Encryption in transit: All data transmitted between your device and Makay's backend is encrypted using TLS (Transport Layer Security).
• Encryption at rest: Data stored in our core database and with our media hosting partners is encrypted at rest using industry-standard encryption.
• Authentication security: Passwords are never stored in plain text. Firebase Authentication handles all password storage using industry-standard hashing techniques.
• Database security rules: We enforce strict database access rules that prevent one user from accessing another user's private data, including messages and account details.
• Access controls: Access to the Makay backend is restricted to a small number of authorised team members only, using role-based access controls tied to individually authenticated accounts.

Organisational Safeguards

• Team members with access to user data are trained in data security and privacy best practices.
• We conduct periodic reviews of our security configurations and access logs.
• In the event of a confirmed data breach, we will notify affected users within a reasonable timeframe and take immediate steps to contain the breach.

Makay retains your personal data for as long as necessary to provide the Platform's services and for legitimate operational purposes. The following retention periods generally apply:

• Account data (name, email, phone): Retained for the lifetime of your account. When you delete your account (Settings → Manage Account → Delete Account), this data is removed immediately, rather than after a waiting period.
• Active listings: Retained while your account is active and while the listing is live. Removed when you delete a listing or close your account.
• Chat messages: Retained for as long as the conversation and the accounts of both participants remain active, to support dispute resolution and community safety. Because a conversation belongs to both participants, if you or the other participant deletes their account, the conversation is permanently removed for both sides as part of that deletion. If you may need a record of a conversation for a dispute, we recommend saving a copy (for example, a screenshot) before either party closes their account.
• Support chat (MyCusto): Your conversation with our support team is retained while your account is active, and for up to 12 months afterward for support recordkeeping and accountability, unless a longer period is required by law.
• Notifications: Retained for up to 90 days, then automatically purged.
• Saved items (Plastay): Retained while your account is active. Deleted immediately upon account closure.
• Brand applications: If approved, retained for as long as your Brand Profile is active. If rejected, your submitted details — including your logo — are deleted as part of the rejection process, not retained.
• Analytics data: Retained for up to 14 months in an aggregated, anonymised form.
• Device and usage logs: Retained for up to 12 months for security and fraud prevention purposes.
• Legal holds: Where Makay is required by law to retain specific data for a longer period — for example, in connection with ongoing litigation or a government investigation — we will do so for the required duration, to the extent the data is still available to us at the time the requirement arises.

After the applicable retention period, personal data is either permanently deleted or anonymised so that it can no longer be associated with any individual.

Makay respects your right to control your personal data. Depending on applicable law, you have the following rights regarding the personal information we hold about you:

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at makayapp@gmail.com. Please include your full name, registered email address or phone number, and a clear description of the right you wish to exercise. We will respond within 30 days of receiving your request.

Please note that some rights are subject to limitations. For example, we may not be able to delete data that we are legally required to retain, or data that is necessary to resolve an active dispute.

Makay is not designed for or directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors without verifiable parental or guardian consent.

If we become aware that a user under 18 has provided personal data to Makay without appropriate parental consent, we will take steps to:

• Delete the account and associated data as soon as reasonably practicable;
• Notify the parent or guardian if contact information is available.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has created a Makay account without your consent, please contact us immediately at makayapp@gmail.com with the details of the account.

Makay may be required to disclose personal data to government authorities, law enforcement agencies, or courts under certain circumstances. Specifically, we may disclose your data when:

• We receive a lawful request, court order, subpoena, or official directive from the Liberia National Police (LNP), a Liberian court, or another competent authority;
• We are required to do so under applicable Liberian law or regulation;
• We believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to prevent imminent physical harm to a person or to the public;
• Disclosure is necessary to investigate, detect, or prevent fraud, criminal activity, or violations of our Terms of Service;
• Disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Makay, our users, or the public.

Where permitted by law, Makay will attempt to notify affected users before disclosing their personal data to authorities. However, we may be legally prohibited from providing such notice in certain circumstances (for example, if notification would obstruct a criminal investigation).

All law enforcement requests should be submitted in writing to makayapp@gmail.com. We do not respond to informal requests from individuals claiming to be law enforcement personnel.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data practices, applicable Liberian law, Firebase's services, or industry standards.

When we make material changes to this Policy, we will:

• Update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page;
• Send a notification to your registered email address or display an in-app alert before the changes take effect;
• Where required, seek fresh consent for any new processing of your personal data.

We encourage you to review this Policy periodically. Your continued use of the Platform after any changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

Previous versions of this Privacy Policy are available upon request at makayapp@gmail.com.

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy or the way Makay handles your personal data, please get in touch. We take all privacy enquiries seriously and will respond within 30 days.