Privacy policy

1. Data controller

Akiba is published and hosted by ICDataS (Innovation Center of Data Science), which is responsible for the processing described here.

Akiba is provided to AVECs by the organisations that support them.

Contact: [email protected]

2. Data we collect

• User account: username, full name, email address, phone number, role and preferred language. Passwords are stored hashed, never in plain text.
• Member record: name, member number, sex, date of birth, phone number, Mobile Money number, photo (optional) and status in the AVEC.
• AVEC operations: meeting attendance, share purchases, savings, loans and repayments, social fund contributions and grants, fines, cash counts and end-of-cycle share-out.
• AVEC location: village and, if you use “Use my location”, the GPS coordinates of the meeting place, at the time of entry only.
• Mobile Money payments: payer phone number, amount, currency and transaction reference.
• Technical data: a device identifier created by the app to manage the session, and security logs (sign-ins, sensitive operations).

3. What we do not collect

• No biometric data: fingerprint or face unlock is only used to open the app on your phone and never leaves the device.
• The PIN stays on the device, in hashed form.
• No advertising identifier, no advertising, no commercial tracking.
• We never sell your data.

4. App permissions

• Camera: take a member's photo, if the committee wishes.
• Location: record the AVEC's position, only when you tap “Use my location”.
• Fingerprint or face recognition: unlock the app without typing the PIN (optional).
• Notifications: meeting and due-date reminders.
• Internet: synchronise data with the server. The app also works offline.

5. Why we use this data

• Keep the AVEC's digital record book: shares, loans, social fund, fines, cash box and share-out, with automatic and verifiable calculations.
• Let each member view their own passbook.
• Send reminders and confirmations by SMS or notification.
• Process Mobile Money payments requested by the member or the committee.
• Ensure security: access control, traceability of operations and fraud prevention.
• Follow the support given to groups: the teams supporting the AVECs see indicators (number of AVECs, savings, repayment rate).

6. Who can see the data

• A member sees their own passbook; they do not see other members' passbooks.
• The AVEC committee and its facilitator see their group's data.
• Supervisors and support teams see the AVECs within their scope and overall indicators.
• A financial partner (bank or microfinance institution) only sees aggregated indicators of an AVEC, and only if the group has consented. No member's personal data is shared with it. The group can withdraw its consent.

7. Service providers

Akiba relies on a few providers, which only receive the data needed for their service:

• Africa's Talking: sending SMS (phone number and message text).
• Mobile Money payment aggregators (for example SasPay, MaishaPay, FlexPay): phone number, amount and transaction reference.
• Google: signing in with a Google account, if you choose it (email address and Google identifier).
• Hosting of Akiba's servers.

8. Security

• Traffic between the app and the server is encrypted (HTTPS).
• The app's database on the phone is encrypted.
• Access is limited according to each user's role and scope.
• Sensitive operations (opening a meeting, disbursement, cash box, closing) require approval by several officers, and every operation is logged.

9. Retention

Data is kept as long as the AVEC takes part in the programme. Financial operations are kept for the group's transparency and traceability; a correction is a new operation, never an erasure.

When an account is deleted:

• the sign-in account and the personal profile data (e-mail, address, photo, date of birth, SMS preferences) are deleted within 30 days;
• the AVEC's financial operations are kept for 10 years (retention period for accounting records under OHADA law); the name is replaced by "Member no. X" and the phone number is erased at the end of the current cycle;
• the audit log is kept for 10 years for fraud prevention, then deleted.

10. Your rights and account deletion

You can ask to access, correct or delete your personal data, or ask for your account to be deleted.

To delete your account, use the page akibayako.com/delete-account, or write to [email protected] with your name, your AVEC and your phone number. We reply within 30 days. Your committee or facilitator can also pass on the request.

Delete my account

11. Children

Akiba is intended for adult AVEC members and programme staff. It is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their data.

12. Changes

We may update this policy. The date of the last update is shown at the top of this page. In case of a significant change, we will announce it in the app.