Privacy Policy

When you sign up for Akilaah, we collect basic information to create your account. This includes:

• Personal Identification Information: Full name, phone number, email address, and mailing address and or residential address.
• Login Information: Username, password,
• Profile Preferences: Information about your preferences, such as sectors of interest (e.g., health, education, finance, etc.), which helps us personalize your experience and service offerings.

Once your account is set up, you may provide additional details that help further personalize and tailor our offerings. These may include:

• Demographic Information: Gender, age, occupation, and income bracket.
• Financial Information: Bank account details, financial history, savings, investments, and loan requirements.
• Subscription and Service Information: Details regarding the specific cooperative services you are interested in (e.g., loans, savings, housing, education, health subscriptions.

This data is used to personalize your interactions with Akilaah, ensuring we recommend appropriate financial products or services based on your profile.

To comply with financial regulations such as KYC (Know Your Customer) and to secure user accounts, we may collect and verify additional sensitive information:

• Biometric Information: In some cases, for users using our mobile application, we may collect biometric data such as fingerprints, facial recognition, or voice samples for secure account access or identity verification. All KYC and biometric data are encrypted during collection and storage, with access strictly limited to authorized personnel. Sensitive data such as biometric and financial information is collected and used solely with your explicit consent, and you may opt-out at any time. This ensures that sensitive data is protected at every stage, from initial capture to secure storage.
• Government-issued IDs: We may collect national identity numbers, passports, or other forms of government-issued identification to verify your identity.
• Proof of Address: Utility bills, bank statements, or other documents to confirm your address.

This verification ensures that users are legitimate, compliant with regulatory requirements, and helps protect the security of their accounts.

When you interact with Akilaah’s website or mobile platform, we collect certain technical information automatically to optimize functionality, improve services, and protect against fraud. This includes:

• IP Address: The unique address assigned to your device when you access Akilaah’s platform.
• Device Information: Details about the device you use to access Akilaah, including device type, operating system, browser version, and screen resolution.
• Cookies and Tracking Information: We may use cookies or similar technologies to collect data about your interaction with our site, such as pages visited, time spent, and actions taken.

This data is used primarily for security purposes, user experience optimization, troubleshooting, and internal analytics.

• Providing and Enhancing Services: We use your information to provide you with the cooperative services you have requested, including processing loans, savings, contributions, subscriptions, and withdrawals. Your information helps us deliver personalized content and product recommendations.
• Personalization: We use your profile and usage information to personalize your experience, such as suggesting services or content relevant to your sector preferences (e.g., health, education, finance).
• Communication: We may contact you via email, SMS, or in-app notifications to inform you about updates, transactions, and new services or offers. If you have consent, we may also send marketing communications.
• Compliance: We use your data to fulfil regulatory and legal obligations, including performing KYC checks, ensuring compliance with financial regulations, and reporting to authorities when necessary.

• To Provide Services: Your financial and personal information allows us to process your cooperative transactions (loans, savings, contributions, etc.), offer customer support, and ensure the smooth operation of Akilaah's services.
• To Improve Our Services: Data analysis helps us understand how users interact with Akilaah and identify areas for improvement. This includes analysing trends in service usage, identifying potential technical issues, and enhancing the platform’s features.
• To Ensure Security: Personal and technical data is used to detect and prevent fraud, secure user accounts, and protect against unauthorized access.

The following principles guide our use of your personal data:

• Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: We will process your data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner.
• Purpose limitation: We will process your data only for the specific purposes for which it was collected.
• Data minimization and Accuracy: We will only collect information necessary to provide Akilaah’s services effectively, ensuring accuracy through regular checks and updates to reflect any changes in your data preferences. For example, if you update your contact details, we will adjust our records promptly to maintain data accuracy and minimize outdated information.
• Storage limitation: We will retain your data only as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.
• Security: We will ensure your data is always kept secure, using appropriate measures to prevent unauthorized access or misuse.

As a data subject, you have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: Request corrections of any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Restriction: Request the restriction of the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Objection: Object to the processing of your data for marketing purposes or based on legitimate interest.
• Erasure: Request the erasure of your personal data (right to be forgotten).
• Lodge a Complaint: Lodge a complaint with the relevant authority if you believe your data privacy rights have been violated.

We may share your data with third-party service providers who help us operate Akilaah’s services, including:

• Payment Processors: For processing financial transactions.
• Hosting Providers: For storing data securely.
• Customer Support Platforms: For assisting with customer service queries.
• Credit Bureaus: For credit checks and verification.

All service providers use your data only for the purposes outlined in this policy. All third parties are bound by stringent data protection agreements, ensuring compliance with Akilaah’s privacy standards and applicable laws. We do not authorize third-party providers to use your data for any other purposes.

In certain circumstances, we may disclose your information to meet legal obligations, such as:

• Regulatory Authorities: We may share your data with regulators or government agencies to comply with financial, tax, or other legal obligations.
• Law Enforcement: If requested by law enforcement or in response to subpoenas, court orders, or legal processes, we may disclose your data as required by law.
• To comply with anti-money laundering (AML) or counter-terrorism financing (CFT) regulations.

We retain your personal data only as long as necessary to provide the services you requested, fulfill our legal and regulatory obligations, and achieve the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy. For example:

• Financial and Transaction Data: Retained for seven years in compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Identification and Verification Data (KYC): Retained for as long as your account remains active, and for up to five years after account closure to meet legal requirements.
• Technical and Usage Data: Retained for up to two years for security and analytics purposes.

After these retention periods, we securely delete or anonymize your data. If you choose to delete your account, we will honor your request and ensure your personal data is erased in compliance with data protection regulations.