Privacy Policy

1. Introduction Olandex Ventures Company Limited ("Olandex", "we", "our", or "us") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your personal information when you access or use Olandex.com, our mobile applications, and any related services. Olandex operates an online multi-vendor marketplace that enables customers to discover and purchase products from independent sellers, make payments, and arrange deliveries within Zambia. By using our platform, creating an account, placing an order, or otherwise interacting with our services, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy. We process personal information in accordance with applicable laws, including the Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021 of the Republic of Zambia. National Assembly of Zambia +1 2. Information We Collect We collect information that you provide directly, information generated through your use of our platform, and information received from third parties involved in providing our services. 2.1 Personal Identification and Account Information When you register for an account or use our services, we may collect: - Full name and username. - Mobile phone number. - Email address. - Password and account authentication information. - Profile picture and other optional profile details. - Account preferences and communication preferences. If you register as a seller, we may additionally collect business names, business contact details, business addresses, registration information, and other information reasonably necessary to verify and manage your seller account. 2.2 Order and Transaction Information When you place an order, purchase a product, request a refund, or otherwise transact through Olandex, we may collect: - Products viewed, added to cart, ordered, or purchased. - Order numbers, quantities, prices, and transaction dates. - Billing and delivery addresses. - Delivery instructions and recipient contact details. - Payment method, payment status, and transaction references. - Refund, cancellation, return, and dispute records. We use this information to process purchases, coordinate sellers and delivery providers, provide customer support, and maintain transaction records. 2.3 Payment Information Olandex may support payment methods such as MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money, Zamtel Kwacha, bank transfers, cards, or other payment methods made available on the platform. Depending on the payment method, we may collect or receive your mobile money number, payment transaction reference, payment confirmation, amount paid, and payment status. Payments may be processed by third-party payment service providers, mobile network operators, banks, or other authorised financial service providers. Olandex does not intend to store your mobile money PIN, banking password, or card security code (CVV). Such confidential payment credentials should be entered only through the appropriate authorised payment interface. Payment providers may process your information under their own privacy policies and applicable legal obligations. 2.4 Location and Delivery Information To facilitate deliveries, we may collect delivery addresses, provinces, districts, towns, neighbourhoods, GPS coordinates where provided or permitted, and delivery instructions. If you enable location services on your device or grant permission through your browser or mobile application, we may collect your approximate or precise location to help identify delivery areas, estimate delivery charges, improve address accuracy, and support delivery tracking. You can manage location permissions through your device or browser settings. Disabling location access may affect certain delivery-related features. 2.5 Device and Technical Information When you access Olandex, we may automatically collect technical information, including: - IP address and approximate geographic location derived from it. - Device type, operating system, and browser type. - Device identifiers and application version. - Pages visited, products viewed, searches performed, and links clicked. - Date, time, duration, and frequency of platform visits. - Referral sources, error logs, and diagnostic information. This information helps us maintain platform security, diagnose technical issues, understand usage patterns, and improve our services. 3. How We Use Your Information We use personal information for legitimate business purposes and, where required, with your consent. These purposes include: 1. Account management: Creating, maintaining, authenticating, and securing customer and seller accounts. 2. Order processing: Confirming orders, communicating with sellers, processing payments, and managing cancellations, returns, and refunds. 3. Delivery services: Sharing necessary delivery information with delivery providers to arrange collection, transportation, tracking, and delivery of purchases. 4. Customer support: Responding to enquiries, complaints, disputes, and requests for assistance. 5. Marketplace operations: Connecting buyers and sellers, displaying relevant products, managing seller activities, and facilitating transactions. 6. Personalisation: Remembering preferences, displaying relevant products, and improving search results and shopping recommendations. 7. Security and fraud prevention: Detecting suspicious transactions, preventing unauthorised access, investigating fraud, and protecting customers, sellers, and Olandex. 8. Analytics and improvement: Measuring platform performance, understanding customer behaviour, improving functionality, and developing new services. 9. Marketing and promotions: Sending promotional offers, product updates, discounts, and information about services where permitted by law and your communication preferences. 10. Legal compliance: Meeting applicable tax, accounting, consumer protection, data protection, regulatory, and law enforcement obligations. We will not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with the purposes described in this Policy without an appropriate legal basis or any consent required by law. 4. How We Share Your Information Olandex does not sell your personal information to third parties for their independent marketing purposes. However, we may share relevant information with the following categories of recipients where necessary to operate our marketplace. 4.1 Sellers and Vendors When you purchase a product from a seller, we may share the information necessary for the seller to fulfil your order. This may include your name, order details, delivery address, contact number, and relevant delivery instructions. Sellers must use customer information only for legitimate purposes connected with the transaction, customer service, and applicable legal obligations. Sellers are not permitted to use customer information obtained through Olandex to send unrelated marketing communications or misuse it for other purposes. 4.2 Delivery and Logistics Providers We may share your name, phone number, delivery address, order details, and delivery instructions with couriers, drivers, transport companies, and logistics partners. This information is shared to enable delivery collection, transportation, communication, tracking, and proof of delivery. Delivery providers are expected to handle personal information responsibly and use it only for authorised purposes. 4.3 Payment Service Providers We may share necessary transaction information with payment gateways, mobile money operators, banks, and other financial service providers to process payments, verify transactions, prevent fraud, and issue refunds. The information shared will depend on the payment method selected and the requirements of the relevant provider. 4.4 Technology and Service Providers We may use third-party service providers to support our operations, including: - Website and cloud hosting providers. - Database and data storage providers. - Analytics and website performance services. - Customer communication and messaging platforms. - Email, SMS, and notification providers. - Security, fraud prevention, and technical support services. These providers may process information on our behalf under appropriate contractual, security, and confidentiality arrangements. 4.5 Legal and Regulatory Authorities We may disclose information when required or authorised by applicable law, a valid court order, a lawful regulatory request, or another legally recognised obligation. Where legally permitted, we may also disclose information when reasonably necessary to protect the rights, safety, property, or security of Olandex, our customers, sellers, or other individuals. 4.6 Business Transfers If Olandex undergoes a merger, restructuring, acquisition, financing, or sale of business assets, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to applicable data protection requirements. We will not disclose personal information to unrelated third parties for their own purposes without an appropriate legal basis. 5. Cookies and Similar Technologies Olandex may use cookies, pixels, local storage, and similar technologies to improve your shopping experience and understand how our platform is used. Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. We may use the following categories: Cookie category Purpose Essential cookies Enable login, shopping carts, checkout, security, and core website functionality. Preference cookies Remember language, location, and other preferences. Analytics cookies Help us understand website traffic, visitor activity, and platform performance. Marketing cookies Where enabled and permitted, support advertising measurement and relevant promotional campaigns. Some cookies are set by third-party services integrated into our platform. You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings. However, disabling essential cookies may affect certain website functions, including account login, checkout, and shopping cart functionality. Where required by applicable law, we will obtain consent before using non-essential cookies or similar tracking technologies. 6. Marketing and Communications We may communicate with you through SMS, email, WhatsApp, telephone calls, push notifications, or other communication channels. These communications may include: - Order confirmations and payment notifications. - Delivery updates and tracking information. - Account verification and security alerts. - Customer support responses. - Promotional offers, discounts, and new product announcements. Transactional and security-related communications may be necessary to provide our services and may continue even if you opt out of promotional communications. You may opt out of marketing communications by using the unsubscribe instructions in the message, adjusting your notification preferences, or contacting our support team. For WhatsApp communications, you may also manage your preferences through the relevant WhatsApp conversation or platform settings. We will respect applicable consent requirements and your marketing preferences. 7. Data Retention Olandex retains personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, subject to applicable legal and regulatory obligations. Retention periods depend on the type of information, the nature of our relationship with you, and the purposes for which the information is processed. Examples include: Information Retention purpose Account information Maintaining your account and providing marketplace services. Orders and transaction records Fulfilment, accounting, tax compliance, refunds, disputes, and fraud prevention. Delivery records Delivery verification, tracking, customer support, and dispute resolution. Technical and analytics data Platform security, performance monitoring, and service improvement. Customer support records Resolving enquiries, complaints, and disputes. Where information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to delete, anonymise, or securely dispose of it, unless retention is required or permitted by law. Deleting your account does not necessarily result in the immediate deletion of all associated information. Certain transaction records may need to be retained to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. 8. Data Security Olandex takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, loss, misuse, or destruction. These measures may include: - Access controls and restricted employee permissions. - Password protection and secure authentication procedures. - Encryption and secure communication technologies where appropriate. - Security monitoring and system maintenance. - Backups and recovery procedures. - Confidentiality obligations for personnel and relevant service providers. Access to personal information is restricted to individuals and service providers who need it for authorised business purposes. However, no website, internet transmission, or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. While we work to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a personal data breach occurs, Olandex will take appropriate steps to investigate, contain, and address the incident and provide notifications to affected individuals or relevant authorities where required by applicable law. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential and notifying us promptly if you suspect unauthorised access to your account. 9. Your Privacy Rights Subject to applicable law, including the Zambia Data Protection Act, 2021, you may have the following rights concerning your personal information. National Assembly of Zambia +1 Right to access Request confirmation of whether we process your personal information and obtain access to the information we hold about you. Right to correction Request that inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated personal information be corrected or updated. Right to erasure Request deletion of personal information where the applicable legal requirements for erasure are satisfied. Right to restrict processing Request that we limit certain processing activities where the law provides for such a restriction. Right to object Object to certain processing activities, including applicable direct marketing or processing based on legitimate interests. Right to data portability Request a copy of eligible personal information in a structured, commonly used format, where provided by law. Rights concerning automated decisions Exercise applicable rights concerning decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects. You may also withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal. To exercise your rights, contact us using the details in Section 16. We may request reasonable information to verify your identity before responding. We will respond within the time limits required by applicable law. Certain requests may be refused or restricted where a lawful exemption applies, including where information must be retained for legal compliance or the protection of other individuals' rights. You may also lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission of Zambia if you believe your personal information has been processed unlawfully. 10. International Data Transfers Olandex may use technology providers, hosting services, payment providers, or other service providers located outside Zambia. As a result, your personal information may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in another country. Where personal information is transferred outside Zambia, we will take steps required by applicable law to ensure that the transfer is lawful and that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information. These safeguards may include contractual protections, appropriate security measures, and other mechanisms recognised under applicable data protection laws. By using our services, you acknowledge that certain service providers involved in operating the platform may process information in other jurisdictions, subject to applicable legal requirements. 11. Third-Party Websites and Services Our platform may contain links to third-party websites, applications, payment services, seller pages, or other external services. These third parties may have their own privacy policies and terms of service. Olandex is not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of third-party websites and services that we do not operate. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of third parties before providing them with your personal information. Where you interact directly with a seller or third-party service outside Olandex, that interaction may be governed by the relevant third party's privacy practices. 12. Children's Privacy Olandex is intended for individuals who are legally capable of entering into transactions under applicable law. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children in circumstances where such collection is prohibited by law or without any required parental or guardian consent. Where information relating to a child is collected lawfully, we will handle it in accordance with applicable data protection requirements and take appropriate measures to protect the child's privacy. If you believe that a child has provided personal information to Olandex unlawfully, please contact us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action. 13. Seller and Vendor Responsibilities Sellers using Olandex may receive personal information about customers to fulfil orders and provide customer support. Sellers are responsible for ensuring that their use of customer information complies with applicable laws and the requirements of this Privacy Policy. Sellers must not: - Sell or disclose customer information to unauthorised parties. - Use customer contact details for unrelated marketing without an appropriate legal basis. - Retain customer information longer than reasonably necessary for authorised purposes. - Use customer information for fraudulent, discriminatory, or unlawful activities. Olandex may investigate suspected misuse of customer information and take appropriate action, including restricting or suspending seller accounts, where permitted by our terms and applicable law. 14. Changes to This Privacy Policy We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business operations, technology, services, legal requirements, or data protection practices. When we make changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the beginning of this Policy. Where changes materially affect how we process your personal information or where required by law, we will provide appropriate notice through our website, mobile application, email, or other suitable communication channels. Your continued use of Olandex after an updated Privacy Policy becomes effective will be subject to the updated Policy, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Where additional consent is required, we will seek that consent before carrying out the relevant processing. 15. Applicable Law This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the Republic of Zambia, including the Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021 and other applicable legislation. Nothing in this Policy is intended to limit any rights or remedies available to you under applicable law. If any provision of this Policy is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply to the extent permitted by law. 16. Contact Us If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your privacy rights, or want to report a privacy or data security concern, please contact Olandex using the following details. Olandex Ventures Company Limited Privacy and Data Protection Enquiries Website www.olandex.com Email support@olandex.com Lusaka, Zambia