Privacy Policy

Effective date: 1 September 2026

SUUQ ONLINE (U) LTD (“we”, “our” or “us”) operates Akedi Online (“Akedi”) through akedi.ug and the related Akedi Android and iOS applications (together, the “Service”). Akedi is a classifieds marketplace that helps buyers discover products, communicate directly with sellers and, where available, watch sellers demonstrate products through Akedi Live. This policy explains what information we handle, why we use it, who receives it, and the choices available to you.

1. Who we are

SUUQ ONLINE (U) LTD
Plot 12, Makindye I, Luvuma, Makindye Division,
Kampala, Central Uganda.

Privacy and safety contact: privacy@akedi.ug

2. Information we collect

2.1 Account and profile information

  • Email address and a securely hashed password;
  • Name, phone or WhatsApp number, country, city, district or address when provided;
  • Profile photo, followed shops and notification preferences;
  • Seller or shop details, including business name, contact details, logo, address, product categories and verification information when supplied;
  • Internal account identifiers used to identify and operate your Akedi account.

2.2 Listings, messages and user content

  • Product names, descriptions, prices, categories, photos and availability;
  • Product reels, videos, captions, hashtags and attached product information;
  • Reviews, comments, likes, follows and other content you choose to post;
  • Messages, images and files sent through Akedi chat;
  • Live broadcast information when a seller chooses to use Akedi Live, including the Live title, selected products, video, microphone audio and related broadcast information.

2.3 Device, usage and technical information

  • IP address, browser or app user-agent, session cookies and security logs;
  • App version, device and operating-system information made available by the device, browser or application environment;
  • Firebase Cloud Messaging push token and related device or installation identifier needed to deliver notifications when notifications are enabled;
  • Actions needed to operate features, such as product views, likes, follows, message-read status and login activity.

2.4 Permissions you control

  • Camera and photos: used only when you choose to capture or upload a profile photo, listing image, chat image, reel, product video or use a feature such as Akedi Live that requires your camera.
  • Microphone: used only when you choose a feature that requires audio, such as recording video with sound or starting an Akedi Live broadcast.
  • Location information: you may manually provide or select location information such as your country, region, city, district, area or shop address where a feature requires it. The Akedi Android application does not request precise or approximate device GPS location permission for this purpose.
  • Notifications: used to deliver chat, account, marketplace and safety alerts after you grant notification permission.

You can deny or later change device permissions through your device settings. Some features that depend on a permission may not work unless that permission is granted.

2.5 Akedi Live

When a seller deliberately starts an Akedi Live broadcast, camera video and microphone audio are transmitted through our Live streaming provider so viewers can watch the broadcast. Live broadcast media may also be processed or stored by the streaming provider as needed to provide, deliver and operate the Live service.

Buyers do not need to grant camera or microphone permission simply to watch an Akedi Live broadcast.

2.6 Safety reports and blocks

When you report a listing, reel, review, comment or chat, we collect the selected reason, optional details, the reported content, the relevant account identifiers and the time of the report.

When you block another user, we store the two account identifiers and the time of the block so we can prevent new messages and contact between those accounts.

2.7 Payments for Akedi vendor plans and services

On supported Akedi surfaces, a seller who chooses a paid vendor plan or another paid seller service may provide transaction and billing information to the relevant payment processor.

Akedi receives transaction information needed to administer the payment, such as the transaction reference, selected service or plan, amount, currency and payment status.

We do not ask users to send a Mobile Money PIN, card password or one-time password to Akedi staff.

3. How we use information

  • To create accounts, maintain profiles and operate seller shops;
  • To publish approved listings, reels and other marketplace content;
  • To provide product discovery, chat, follows, likes, reviews and notifications;
  • To provide and deliver Akedi Live broadcasts;
  • To determine a seller's area or shop location when the seller voluntarily uses a location-based feature;
  • To process supported vendor-plan or seller-service payments and prevent duplicate activation;
  • To investigate reports, enforce blocks, moderate content, prevent fraud and protect Akedi users;
  • To secure, troubleshoot and improve the reliability of the Service;
  • To send essential account, safety, payment and policy communications;
  • To comply with applicable law and respond to valid legal requests.

4. Moderation and marketplace safety

Product listings and reels may be held for staff approval before they become public. Reviews, comments and other user-generated content may also be reviewed where necessary for marketplace safety.

Reports are reviewed by authorised Akedi staff, who may dismiss a report or take proportionate action such as removing content, warning a user, restricting contact or suspending an account.

A block prevents new chat messages between the affected accounts while the block remains active.

5. Service providers and sharing

We disclose only the information reasonably needed for another party to perform its role in providing or supporting the Service. Current categories of recipients include:

  • Other users: public profile, shop, listing, reel, review, comment and Live information may be visible to other users where the feature is designed to be public. Chat information is visible to the conversation participants and authorised Akedi staff where access is required for safety, support or legal purposes.
  • Google Firebase: app configuration, installation or device identifiers needed for Firebase services, and push-notification delivery through Firebase Cloud Messaging.
  • Cloudflare: delivery, processing and storage-related services for images, product videos and Akedi Live video and audio streaming.
  • Payment providers: the payment processor and supported payment channels involved when a seller initiates a supported Akedi payment.
  • Infrastructure providers: hosting, database, email, security and backup providers used to operate Akedi.
  • Authorities or professional advisers: where required by law, valid legal process, or where reasonably necessary to protect users, Akedi or the Service.

Service providers process information on Akedi's behalf to provide the relevant service. We do not sell or rent personal information.

Akedi is primarily a classifieds marketplace. Buyers and sellers arrange payment and delivery for physical products directly with each other unless a particular Akedi feature clearly states otherwise.

6. Data retention

We keep account and content information while an account is active and for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Service.

Payment records, moderation cases, security logs, deletion records and records required for legal, tax, fraud-prevention or dispute purposes may be retained for longer where necessary.

Backups may take additional time to cycle out of our systems. We delete or anonymise information when it is no longer reasonably needed, subject to legitimate legal, security and operational retention requirements.

7. Account and data deletion

You can request deletion of your Akedi account from the in-app Profile or Account section.

You can also request account deletion through our public account-deletion page: https://akedi.ug/profiles/delete-account/

When an account deletion request is completed, the account is deactivated or deleted as applicable, direct personal details are removed or anonymised where feasible, authentication access is disabled and active sessions are ended.

Some transaction, safety, fraud-prevention, moderation and legal records may be retained where reasonably necessary or required by law, as explained in this policy.

For privacy or deletion assistance, you may also contact: privacy@akedi.ug .

8. Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you may ask to access, correct, export or delete your personal information, or object to certain uses.

Contact: privacy@akedi.ug . We may verify your identity before processing a request in order to protect your account and information.

9. Security

We use measures such as HTTPS encryption in transit, securely hashed passwords, authentication, access controls and restricted staff moderation tools.

No internet service can guarantee absolute security. Please use a strong password and never share your password, Mobile Money PIN, payment PIN, card password or one-time password with another person.

10. International processing

Some service providers may process information outside Uganda. When this happens, we require the provider to handle information under its applicable contractual and legal data-protection obligations, and we limit information provided to what is reasonably necessary for the relevant service.

11. Children

Akedi is not directed to children under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without appropriate permission, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as Akedi, applicable law or the services we use change.

We will publish the updated version on this page with a revised effective date and provide additional notice where required.