Privacy Policy

NaijaNest is operated by AyoTech Innovations Hub ("NaijaNest," "we," "us," "our"), an AI-powered house rental assistant serving Nigeria. This policy explains what information we collect, why, and how it's handled, in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA) and the oversight of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).

Information we collect

• Account information: if you sign in with Google, we receive your name and email address. If you sign in with email, we store your email and an encrypted password.
• Landlord/agent submissions: when you list a property, we collect your full name, phone number, email, and National Identification Number (NIN) for verification purposes, along with property details and photos.
• Payout / financial information: if you list a property and receive rent through NaijaNest, we collect your bank account number, bank name, and account holder name so rent payments can be paid out to you. These details are verified and processed through Paystack, a licensed payment processor — we never see or store your card details.
• Waitlist signups: name, WhatsApp number, city, and role (renter/agent/landlord).
• Payment information: when you pay rent through escrow or pay to feature a listing, payment is processed directly by Paystack. We do not store your card details — only the transaction reference, amount, and status.
• WhatsApp messages: if you message our WhatsApp assistant, we store your phone number and conversation history to maintain context across your chats.
• Usage data: favorited properties, chat history with our AI assistant, and your IP address, used to keep the platform secure and understand usage patterns.

How we use your information

• To verify landlords/agents and reduce fraudulent listings
• To match renters with relevant properties via our AI assistant
• To process rent payments securely and pay landlords out once a tenancy is confirmed
• To process payments for featured listings
• To notify you about your listing, payment, or booking status via WhatsApp
• To improve our service, investigate reported issues, and respond to support requests

Legal basis for processing

We process your personal data because it's necessary to provide the service you've asked for (finding or listing a rental property, or paying/receiving rent), to comply with our legal obligations, or because you've given us consent — for example, when you submit your NIN or bank details as part of listing a property.

NIN (National Identification Number)

Your NIN is collected solely to verify landlord/agent identity and reduce fake listings. It is encrypted (AES-256-GCM) before storage, never displayed publicly, never shared with other users, and is only decrypted for review by authorized NaijaNest administrators.

Third-party services

We use the following third parties to operate NaijaNest, each with their own privacy practices:

• Supabase — database and authentication hosting
• Vercel — application hosting
• Groq — AI model provider powering our chat assistant
• Paystack — payment processing, including rent escrow and landlord payouts
• Meta (WhatsApp Business Platform) — powers our WhatsApp assistant and notifications
• Google — optional sign-in

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

How we protect your information

• Your NIN is encrypted using AES-256-GCM before it's stored.
• Bank details are handled through Paystack's secure infrastructure.
• Access to personal data is limited to authorized NaijaNest staff.
• We monitor our systems for errors and security issues on an ongoing basis.

Data retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active, or as needed to meet legal, tax, and dispute-resolution obligations. You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time by contacting us, where we're not legally required to keep it.

Your rights

Under the NDPA, you have the right to:

• Know what personal data we hold about you
• Request a copy of your data
• Ask us to correct inaccurate data
• Ask us to delete your data, where we're not legally required to keep it
• Object to certain uses of your data
• Withdraw consent at any time — though this may affect features that depend on it, like your NIN and listing verification
• Lodge a complaint with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) if you believe your rights have been violated

Children's privacy

NaijaNest is not directed at children under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from minors.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as NaijaNest grows. Material changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date above.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data? Reach out via the contact details on our homepage, or write to us at ayotechinnovation9@gmail.com.