Privacy notice

This notice explains what personal information Agric City collects in the current release, why, and what you can do about it. It is written with the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 in mind.

What we collect

• Your name, email address and, if you give it, your mobile number.
• Whether you joined as a farmer or a buyer.
• Your password, stored only as a one-way hash. Nobody at Agric City can read it.
• Security records: the times you log in, failed login attempts, and the internet address and browser used.
• A record that you accepted the terms and this notice, and which version.
• Your farm or buyer profile, if you fill it in.
• Produce listings and their photographs. We remove the hidden location and camera details from every photograph before storing it.
• Messages you exchange with other members about a listing, and the record of any sale you agree.
• If you join the waiting list before you have an account: your name, the mobile number or email address you give, what describes you, and anything you write. We use it only to contact you about Agric City, and we delete it if you ask.
• If you order a product from a supplier, and the supplier confirms the order: you and the supplier each see the other’s mobile number and email address on that order. The order form says so before you send it.
• If you are a supplier and add a photograph of a product: the photograph, with its hidden location and camera details removed.
• If you sign in with Google: your name, your email address and the identifier Google gives your Google account. We do not receive your Google password, your contacts or anything else from your Google account.
• If you switch on alerts for a device: the address your browser gives us for sending alerts to that device, and the browser type. It is removed when you switch alerts off or log out on that device.

The community

• What you post or reply in the community can be read by every member. Your name and whether you are verified are shown beside it.
• Do not put a phone number, an account number or anyone’s private details in a post.
• You can remove your own posts and replies at any time. Our moderators can hide or remove a post that breaks the rules, and they tell you why.

The AI assistant

• When you ask the assistant a question, the words of your question and, if you choose it, the name of your state are sent to an AI service, which writes the answer. We use Anthropic’s Claude service and Google’s Gemini service, one as a stand-in for the other. Both companies’ servers are outside Nigeria.
• Your name, mobile number and email address are not sent. Phone numbers and email addresses typed into a question are taken out before it is sent or stored.
• We use both companies’ paid services. Anthropic states that it does not train its models on content sent to its service by default, and Google states that content sent to its paid service is not used to improve its products.
• We keep your questions and the answers for up to 12 months so that our team can check the quality of the answers. Then they are deleted.
• You do not have to use the assistant. Everything else in Agric City works without it.

What other members see

• Your name, your farm or business name, your state and local government area, and whether you are verified.
• Your mobile number and email address are not shown to other members. They see them only if you choose to share them in a conversation.
• One exception, which each form tells you about first: when a buyer accepts a farmer’s offer on a buying request, the buyer and that farmer each see the other’s mobile number and email address on the order, so that they can arrange payment and handover.
• After a completed order, or after an expert answers your question, the other person can rate their dealing with you. The rating, any comment and your reply are shown to members on your seller or expert page with the rater’s name. A rating you give is shown with your name.
• Only the two people in a conversation can read it. Our staff read a conversation only to deal with a reported problem or suspected misuse.

Why we collect it

• To create and secure your account.
• To contact you about your account, for example to confirm your email or reset your password.
• To show your listings to buyers and pass messages between you and the other person.
• To tell you about enquiries and orders, by email if your address is confirmed.
• To detect misuse and keep an audit trail of important actions.

What we do not do

• We do not sell your personal information.
• We do not send marketing messages without your consent.
• We do not share information that identifies you with third parties, except the service providers below.

Service providers

Agric City runs on hosting and database services whose servers are outside Nigeria. Your information is stored with them on our behalf. The current providers are listed in the project integration register and will be named here in the reviewed version.

If you sign in with Google, Google learns that you used your Google account to sign in to Agric City. If you switch on alerts, each alert passes through the alert service of your browser’s maker (Google, Apple, Mozilla or Microsoft) in an encrypted form that the service cannot read. Alerts say what happened and never include names, prices or the words of a message.

Your choices

You can ask for a copy of your information, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete your account. Until self-service tools are available, send the request to the Agric City team and we will act on it.

Cookies

We use one essential cookie to keep you logged in. If you sign in with Google, two more essential cookies are used for a few minutes to complete the sign-in safely, and then removed. If you choose a language other than English, one cookie remembers that choice. It holds two letters and nothing about you. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

Languages

Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo are on trial. The fixed wording of our own pages and our own guides is translated by a computer service run by Google. Only that wording is sent. Your name, your listings, your messages and anything else you type are never sent for translation and are shown as written. If you are logged in, we keep your language choice with your account so that alerts and the assistant can use the same language.