Privacy Policy

Who we are

Umoja is a classifieds platform listing goods and services in Uganda. For the purposes of data-protection law we are the controller of the data described below.

For any privacy question, write to support@umoja.ug.

No accounts, no tracking

This site has no signup and no login for buyers or sellers. We do not ask you for your name, your email address or your phone number in order to use it.

We also run no analytics: there is no Google Analytics, no tag manager, no advertising pixel and no marketing SDK anywhere on this site. That means there are no tracking or advertising cookies, and therefore no consent banner — the only cookies we set are strictly necessary ones.

What data we handle

There are only four categories:

• Your location preference — the `yako_region` cookie remembers the region you picked so results and prices are right. It holds no identifier for you.
• Data that stays on your device — your favourites, the adverts you hid, and your recently used locations are kept in your browser (localStorage) and are never transmitted to our servers. Clearing your browser data removes them.
• Your IP address and request logs — handled for security only. The phone-reveal endpoint rate-limits by IP so nobody can harvest numbers in bulk, and server logs help us find abuse and faults.
• Seller details inside listings — a seller's name, location and phone number. These reach us from the partner platform we source listings from, not from you.

Seller phone numbers

A seller's phone number is deliberately not part of the page HTML. It is fetched only when you tap "Show Number", and that request is limited to 30 reveals per minute per IP address, which is there to stop automated bulk collection of numbers.

If you are a seller and you do not want your listing or your number to appear here, write to support@umoja.ug and we will remove it.

Why we handle it

Our basis is legitimate interest: running the platform, keeping it secure, and letting a buyer reach a seller — which is the entire point of a classified advert. The location preference rests on your own act of choosing a region.

We make no automated decisions that have a legal effect on you, and we build no behavioural profiles for advertising.

Who we share it with

We do not sell or rent personal data. We share it only with the service providers that let us run the site — server hosting, image storage, caching and logging — who process it on our instructions and for no purpose of their own.

We may disclose data where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to protect someone's rights, safety or property.

International transfers

Our servers and service providers may sit outside Uganda. Where data is transferred across a border we rely on the contractual protections in place with that provider.

How long we keep it

Server logs and rate-limit records are kept only for the short period needed for security and debugging. Listing data is kept while the listing is live, and is removed or deactivated when it expires or when removal is requested.

Data held on your device stays there until you clear it.

Your rights

Under the Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019 you can ask us for access to your data, and for its correction, deletion, or restriction; you can object to our use of it, and ask for it in a portable form. Send any request to support@umoja.ug.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Personal Data Protection Office.

The cookies we set

The complete list — all strictly necessary:

• `yako_region` — the region you selected, so listings and prices are correct.
• Staff session and CSRF cookies — set only when someone signs in to the admin area.

Children

This site is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe we have, write to us and we will delete it.

Security

We use appropriate technical measures: all traffic is encrypted over HTTPS, seller phone numbers are kept out of page HTML, and administrative areas require authentication. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure.

Changes to this policy

We update the date at the top of this page whenever the policy changes, and we will make significant changes clear. Questions: support@umoja.ug.