Privacy Policy
Version: privacy-policy-v2026-08-14 · Last Updated: 14/08/2026
Legal Notice: This Privacy Policy is provided as a template for guidance and does not constitute legal advice. You should obtain independent legal review before using this policy in production.
1. Introduction
AFRIQEX Ltd ("AfriQex", "we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data when you visit our website, create an account, use our B2B marketplace, buy products, sell products, contact us, or otherwise interact with our services.
AfriQex operates a business-to-business marketplace connecting UK business buyers with sellers and suppliers based in Kenya and other African markets. Our services may involve account registration, business verification, product listings, orders, payments, logistics, customs information, import options, customer support, seller settlement, and compliance checks.
This Privacy Policy applies to buyers, sellers, suppliers, account users, business representatives, website visitors, and other people who interact with AfriQex.
2. Who Is Responsible for Your Personal Data?
For the purposes of UK data protection law, including the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, AFRIQEX Ltd is generally the controller of personal data processed through the AfriQex marketplace.
Our registered address is 195-197, Suite Ra01 Wood Street London E17 3NU United Kingdom. You can contact us about privacy matters at info@afriqex.com.
3. Information We Collect
We collect different types of information depending on how you use AfriQex.
3.1 Account and Identity Information
- Full name
- Email address
- Phone number
- Password or authentication credentials
- Job title or role
- Account type, such as buyer, seller, supplier, admin, or support user
- Login activity and authentication data
3.2 Business Profile Information
- Legal business name
- Trading name
- Company registration number, where applicable
- Business type, such as limited company, sole trader, partnership, charity, or public sector body
- Registered business address
- Trading address
- Website
- Industry, business activity, and intended product use
- Authorised buyer or authorised seller representative details
3.3 Buyer Import, Tax and Customs Information
- VAT registration status
- UK VAT number, where provided
- GB EORI number, where provided
- Customs broker name and contact details, where provided
- Importer of record preference
- Preferred import option, such as using the buyer's EORI or AfriQex managed import
- Delivery contact details and delivery instructions
- Information required for customs clearance, import VAT, duties, courier clearance, and delivery
3.4 Seller/Supplier Information
- Business registration details
- Business address and contact details
- Tax details
- Bank account or payout details
- Seller verification, onboarding, and compliance information
- Product documentation, including Safety Data Sheets, Certificates of Analysis, Certificates of Origin, batch details, specifications, and export documents
- Information needed for sanctions, fraud, AML, KYB, and risk checks
3.5 Order, Payment and Transaction Information
- Products ordered or listed
- Order value, currency, quantities, prices, fees, taxes, duties, delivery charges, and import-related charges
- Payment status, refund status, chargeback status, and dispute history
- Payment method information, such as payment token, card brand, card expiry, and last four digits where provided by a payment partner
- Invoices, receipts, credit notes, seller settlement records, and payout statements
We do not intentionally store full payment card numbers on our servers. Payments may be processed by payment partners, which are to be confirmed and may include Stripe, Thunes, or other regulated payment, payout, acquiring, banking, or treasury providers.
3.6 Logistics, Delivery and Customs Information
- Delivery addresses
- Delivery contact names, phone numbers, and email addresses
- Collection and delivery instructions
- Aramex or logistics partner tracking numbers
- Commercial invoice information
- Packing list information
- HS codes, country of origin, product descriptions, weights, dimensions, and customs values
- Customs clearance messages, courier updates, delivery evidence, failed-delivery records, and claims information
3.7 Communications and Support Information
- Emails, messages, support tickets, and live chat messages
- Buyer and seller enquiries
- Complaints, returns, refunds, product quality reports, and delivery issue reports
- Reviews, ratings, comments, and marketplace content you submit
3.8 Technical, Usage and Device Information
- IP address
- Device type, browser type, operating system, and approximate location derived from IP address
- Pages viewed, links clicked, search activity, product interactions, and session activity
- Log files, error reports, security events, and performance data
- Cookie identifiers and consent preferences
3.9 Marketing and Preference Information
- Marketing preferences
- Newsletter subscription status
- Cookie consent choices
- Campaign interactions, where applicable
- Early access waitlist sign-ups, and your choice of whether to be notified when a saved product becomes available to order
3.10 Wishlist and Saved Product Information
- Products you save to your wishlist, and when you saved them
- Any private note you add to a saved product (visible only to you and to AfriQex staff who need access to operate or support the service)
- Whether you have asked to be emailed when a saved product becomes available to order
We use this to show you your wishlist, to notify you where you have asked us to, and — in aggregated form only — to understand which products buyers are interested in. Sellers are not shown who saved their products or any individual buyer's wishlist. You can remove saved products, or clear your wishlist entirely, at any time from your wishlist page.
3.11 Information We Ask You Not to Provide
Unless specifically requested by AfriQex for a lawful and necessary purpose, you should not upload or send sensitive personal data, such as health information, biometric data, criminal offence data, children's data, or unnecessary identity documents.
4. How We Collect Information
We may collect personal data:
- directly from you when you create an account or complete a profile;
- when you place or manage orders;
- when sellers upload product listings and documents;
- when you contact support or communicate with us;
- automatically through cookies, logs, analytics, and security tools;
- from payment partners, logistics partners, customs brokers, fraud-prevention providers, and verification providers;
- from public business registers and other public sources, such as company registries;
- from other users where necessary to fulfil orders, resolve disputes, or operate the marketplace.
5. How We Use Your Information
We use personal data for the following purposes:
- to create, manage, authenticate, and secure user accounts;
- to verify buyers, sellers, suppliers, and business representatives;
- to operate the AfriQex B2B marketplace;
- to display products, manage listings, and process orders;
- to process payments, refunds, chargebacks, payouts, and supplier settlements;
- to arrange logistics, delivery, customs clearance support, import options, and Aramex shipment handling;
- to generate invoices, receipts, commercial invoices, packing information, and order documents;
- to manage VAT, import VAT, customs duties, fees, tax records, and accounting records;
- to provide customer support and respond to enquiries;
- to handle returns, refunds, complaints, quality issues, disputes, product investigations, and recalls;
- to review seller and product documentation, including SDS, COA, origin, batch, and export documents;
- to prevent fraud, misuse, unauthorised access, payment abuse, sanctions breaches, and unlawful activity;
- to comply with legal, tax, accounting, customs, product safety, payment, and regulatory obligations;
- to enforce our Terms of Service, seller rules, buyer rules, and platform policies;
- to improve website performance, user experience, security, and marketplace functionality;
- to send service messages, order updates, security notices, compliance requests, and policy updates;
- to send marketing messages where permitted by law and your preferences.
6. Our Lawful Bases for Processing
We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis under applicable data protection law. Depending on the situation, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:
- Contract: to provide the Services, create accounts, process orders, arrange delivery, handle payments, manage supplier settlement, and provide support.
- Legal obligation: to comply with tax, accounting, customs, sanctions, fraud prevention, product safety, data protection, and other legal obligations.
- Legitimate interests: to operate and improve our marketplace, prevent fraud, secure our systems, manage business risk, verify business users, resolve disputes, maintain records, and protect AfriQex, our users, partners, and the public.
- Consent: where we ask for your permission, such as for certain marketing communications or non-essential cookies and similar technologies.
- Vital interests: in rare cases, where processing is necessary to protect someone's life or safety.
7. Sharing Your Information
We may share personal data where necessary to operate the marketplace, fulfil orders, comply with law, prevent fraud, or protect our rights. We may share information with:
- Buyers and Sellers/Suppliers: where necessary to process orders, resolve product questions, manage fulfilment, handle disputes, or provide required product documents.
- Payment partners: payment providers, payout providers, acquiring partners, banking partners, fraud-prevention providers, and treasury providers. These providers are to be confirmed and may include Stripe, Thunes, or other providers.
- Logistics partners: Aramex, couriers, customs brokers, freight partners, delivery partners, and insurance or claims handlers.
- Customs and tax authorities: where necessary for import, export, VAT, customs, tax, or legal compliance.
- Technology providers: AWS, AWS Cognito, infrastructure providers, hosting providers, security providers, monitoring tools, analytics providers, email providers, and customer support tools.
- Verification and compliance providers: identity, business verification, KYB, AML, sanctions screening, fraud-prevention, and risk-management providers.
- Professional advisers: accountants, lawyers, auditors, insurers, banks, consultants, and other professional advisers.
- Regulators, courts, law enforcement, and public authorities: where required or permitted by law.
- Business transfer parties: potential buyers, investors, lenders, or advisers if we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, restructuring, sale, or transfer of all or part of our business.
We do not sell your personal data to advertisers.
8. Buyer and Seller Visibility
Because AfriQex is a B2B marketplace, certain business and order information may be visible to other marketplace participants where necessary.
- Buyers may see seller or supplier business names, product details, origin information, documents, dispatch updates, and support messages.
- Sellers/Suppliers may see buyer business names, order details, delivery information, product requirements, and support messages needed to fulfil an order.
- We limit information sharing to what is reasonably necessary for the transaction, support, compliance, logistics, or dispute handling.
9. Payments, Fraud Checks and Seller Settlement
Payments and payouts may be handled by third-party payment partners, which are to be confirmed and may include Stripe, Thunes, or other regulated providers. These providers may process personal data as independent controllers or processors depending on the service and applicable terms.
We may use payment, account, transaction, device, business, and risk information to prevent fraud, manage chargebacks, detect suspicious activity, comply with sanctions and AML obligations, and protect the marketplace. We may delay, refuse, refund, investigate, or cancel a transaction where necessary for security, legal, or risk reasons.
Seller/Supplier settlement information may be used to calculate scheduled supplier payments, platform fees, refunds, adjustments, chargebacks, and payout records. AfriQex does not intend to provide a consumer wallet or on-demand withdrawal product through the standard marketplace settlement process.
10. Logistics, Customs and Import Data
To arrange shipments from Kenya or other African markets to the United Kingdom, we may process and share logistics, customs, and import data with Aramex, logistics partners, customs brokers, tax authorities, customs authorities, and other parties involved in delivery or import handling.
This may include buyer business details, delivery contact details, GB EORI numbers, VAT numbers, customs broker details, product descriptions, HS codes, country of origin, commercial invoice information, packing information, values, weights, dimensions, import option preferences, and customs communications.
11. Marketing Communications
We may send service communications that are necessary for account management, orders, support, security, compliance, policy updates, and operational notices.
We may also send marketing communications about AfriQex, products, suppliers, marketplace updates, or promotions where permitted by law. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or contacting us at info@afriqex.com.
12. Cookies and Similar Technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies to operate our website, keep users signed in, secure accounts, remember preferences, understand website performance, and improve the marketplace.
We use the following categories of cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies: required for login, authentication, security, checkout, basket/cart, fraud prevention, load balancing, and remembering cookie preferences. These are always active because the website cannot work properly without them.
- Analytics cookies: help us understand how users use the website and improve performance. We only use these where required consent has been obtained.
- Preference cookies and storage: remember what you have viewed so we can show recently-viewed products and better suggestions. Only set with your consent.
Cookies we currently use
This is the complete, current list. It is generated from the same definition the cookie banner uses, so the two cannot drift apart.
| Name | Category | Purpose | Duration |
|---|
session | Strictly necessary | Keeps you signed in. Encrypted and readable only by our server; it is what lets your account, wishlist and orders be yours. | 30 days |
oauth_state, pkce_verifier, oauth_aud | Strictly necessary | Protects the sign-in process against request forgery. Created when you start signing in and deleted the moment it completes. | 10 minutes |
afriqex_cookie_consent | Strictly necessary | Remembers this cookie choice so we do not ask on every page. | 180 days |
post_login_path | Strictly necessary | Remembers the page you were on so you return to it after signing in. Cleared when you close the tab. | Browser session |
recently_viewed_product_ids | Preferences | Shows you the products you looked at recently and improves the suggestions on your home page. | Until you clear it |
Product view events | Analytics | Counts how often a listing is viewed so we can show trending products and tell suppliers which listings get attention. Aggregated, not used to profile you. | Not stored in your browser |
We do not use advertising or third-party marketing cookies, and we do not sell personal data.
You can manage your cookie choices through our cookie banner or cookie settings link. You can also control cookies through your browser settings. For more information, please read our Cookie Policy.
13. Data Retention
We keep personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to provide the Services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, maintain records, and enforce our agreements.
Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data:
- Account data: kept while your account is active and for a reasonable period after closure.
- Order, invoice, payment, tax, customs, and accounting records: kept for the period required by applicable tax, accounting, customs, and legal rules.
- Seller/Supplier compliance and product documents: kept for as long as needed for product traceability, legal compliance, audits, disputes, recalls, and marketplace risk management.
- Support and dispute records: kept for as long as needed to handle complaints, claims, chargebacks, investigations, and legal issues.
- Security logs: kept for a limited period unless needed for investigation, fraud prevention, security, or legal purposes.
- Marketing preferences: kept until you change your preference or for as long as needed to respect your opt-out.
When personal data is no longer required, we will delete, anonymise, or securely archive it where appropriate.
14. Security
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, and disclosure. These measures may include access controls, authentication, encryption, monitoring, backups, logging, secure development practices, and staff or contractor access restrictions.
We use Amazon Web Services and AWS Cognito for hosting, infrastructure, and authentication-related services. No website, marketplace, or online system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for notifying us immediately if you suspect unauthorised access to your account.
15. International Data Transfers
AfriQex is based in the United Kingdom, but we may transfer personal data outside the UK where necessary to operate the marketplace, process payments, arrange logistics, communicate with sellers and suppliers, use cloud services, provide support, or comply with legal obligations.
International transfers may occur because sellers and suppliers are based in Kenya or other African countries, and because our service providers, payment partners, logistics partners, or technology providers may operate internationally.
Where required by law, we use appropriate safeguards for international transfers, such as adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, contractual protections, or other lawful transfer mechanisms.
16. Automated Decision-Making and Profiling
We may use automated tools to help detect fraud, suspicious activity, security risks, payment risk, account misuse, sanctions issues, or platform abuse. These tools may flag orders, payments, accounts, or users for review.
We do not currently intend to make decisions based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects on you without appropriate human review, unless permitted by law.
17. Your Data Protection Rights
Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you may have the following rights:
- Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
- Right to erasure: to ask us to delete personal data in certain circumstances.
- Right to restrict processing: to ask us to restrict how we use your personal data in certain circumstances.
- Right to object: to object to certain processing, including processing based on legitimate interests and direct marketing.
- Right to data portability: to receive certain personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
- Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
- Right to complain: you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office if you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data.
These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal limits, exemptions, identity verification, or retention obligations. To exercise your rights, contact us at info@afriqex.com.
18. Complaints to the ICO
We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve your concern. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office, the UK supervisory authority for data protection matters.
ICO website: https://ico.org.uk
19. Third-Party Links
Our website may contain links to third-party websites, tools, payment pages, logistics tracking pages, or partner services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of those third-party services. You should read their privacy policies before providing personal data to them.
20. Children
AfriQex is a business-to-business marketplace and is not intended for children. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the Services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.
21. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.
Where changes are significant, we may notify you by email, account notice, website banner, or another appropriate method.
22. Contact Information
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, our use of personal data, or your data protection rights, please contact us:
AFRIQEX Ltd
Email: info@afriqex.com
Registered Address: 195-197, Suite Ra01 Wood Street London E17 3NU United Kingdom