Privacy Policy for African Heritage Market

Effective Date: January 7, 2025At African Heritage Market, we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. This comprehensive privacy policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your data in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Please read this policy carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal information.

Who We Are

Our website address is: https://africanheritagemarket.com. African Heritage Market is an online store that specializes in authentic African groceries and cultural items. Our mission is to provide a seamless shopping experience while ensuring the highest standards of privacy and data protection.

Information We Collect

We collect various types of personal information to enhance your shopping experience and improve our services. The types of information we may collect include:

Personal Identification Information

• Contact Information: Name, email address, phone number.
• Address Information: Billing and shipping addresses.
• Payment Information: Payment method details (e.g., credit card number, expiration date, CVV).

Technical Data

• Device Information: Type of device, operating system, browser type.
• Log Data: IP address, browser user agent string, referring URL, and pages visited.

Usage Data

• Interaction Data: Information about how you use our website, products, and services.
• Cookies and Tracking Technologies: Data collected through cookies and similar technologies to enhance user experience.

Comments and Media Uploads

When you leave comments or upload media (e.g., images) on our site, we may collect additional data such as:

• The content of your comment.
• Any metadata associated with uploaded media (excluding location data).

How We Use Your Information

Your personal information is used for various purposes, including but not limited to:

• Order Processing: To process transactions and manage orders efficiently.
• Customer Communication: To communicate with you regarding your orders, inquiries, or customer service requests.
• Marketing Purposes: To send promotional emails about new products, special offers, or other information we think you may find interesting (with your consent).
• Website Improvement: To analyze usage patterns and improve our website’s functionality and user experience.
• Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws and regulations.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on our site, we collect the data shown in the comments form along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to assist in spam detection. An anonymized string (hash) created from your email address may be shared with the Gravatar service to check if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available on their website. After comment approval, your profile picture will be visible alongside your comment.

Media Uploads

If you upload images to the website, please avoid including embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors may download and extract location data from uploaded images. We advise users to be cautious when uploading media that may contain sensitive information.

Cookies Policy

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by websites you visit. We use cookies to enhance user experience on our site. Here’s how we utilize cookies:

Types of Cookies We Use

1. Essential Cookies: These cookies are necessary for the website to function properly and cannot be disabled in our systems.
2. Performance Cookies: These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our website by collecting information about pages visited and time spent on the site.
3. Functional Cookies: These cookies allow us to remember choices you make (e.g., username or language) and provide enhanced features.
4. Targeting Cookies: These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant ads on other sites.

Managing Cookies

You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings. However, disabling cookies may affect your ability to use certain features of our website.

Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles or pages on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images). Embedded content behaves as if you visited the other website directly. These external websites may:

• Collect data about you.
• Use cookies.
• Embed additional third-party tracking.
• Monitor your interaction with the embedded content.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any external websites you visit.

Data Sharing Practices

We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your personal information. We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. However, we may share your data in the following circumstances:

Third Parties We May Share Your Data With

1. Payment Processors: We partner with secure third-party payment processors (e.g., National Bank Card) to facilitate transactions. By completing a purchase, you agree to their terms and privacy policies.
2. Shipping Providers: To fulfill orders effectively, we share necessary information with shipping providers for delivery purposes.
3. Service Providers: We may engage third-party vendors for services such as analytics, marketing assistance, or customer support who will have access to your personal information as needed.
4. Legal Authorities: We may disclose personal information when required by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or government agency).

Data Retention Policy

We retain different types of data for varying periods based on legal requirements or business needs:

Retention Periods

1. Comments: Comments and metadata are retained indefinitely for automatic approval of follow-up comments.
2. Registered Users: Personal information is stored in user profiles for as long as you maintain an account. Users can view, edit, or delete their information (except their username).
3. Transaction Data: Order-related data is retained for a period consistent with legal obligations related to financial recordkeeping.

Your Rights Over Your Data

As a user of our website, you have specific rights regarding your personal data:

1. Access Rights: You can request access to the personal data we hold about you.
2. Correction Rights: You can request correction of inaccurate personal data.
3. Deletion Rights: You can request deletion of personal data under certain conditions.
4. Data Portability Rights: You can request an exported file of your personal data in a structured format.
5. Withdrawal of Consent: If we process your personal data based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

To exercise these rights or for any inquiries regarding your personal data, please contact us at support@africanheritagemarket.com.

Where Your Data Is Sent

Visitor comments are checked through an automated spam detection service that may process your data outside of your country of residence.

Payment Processing Policies

Payment Information Collection

When making a purchase from our store, we collect essential payment-related information:

• Name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Billing and shipping addresses
• Payment method details (e.g., credit card number)

Secure Transactions

Payments are processed securely through trusted payment gateways that comply with industry standards for security:

• Your payment data is encrypted during transmission using SSL technology.
• Complete credit or debit card details are not stored on our servers after processing.

Fraud Prevention Measures

To protect against fraudulent transactions:

1. Your payment details may be shared with financial institutions or fraud detection services when necessary.
2. We monitor transactions for signs of fraud and take appropriate action if suspicious activity is detected.

Refund Policy

If you request a refund for an order:

1. Your payment details will be securely processed according to our refund procedures.
2. For more detailed information regarding refunds, please refer to our Refund Policy available on our website.

E-Commerce Specific Information

Order Data Collection

During checkout, we collect specific order details such as:

• Purchased items
• Order totals
• Shipping information
• Payment method used

This information is essential for processing orders accurately and efficiently.

Sharing with Third Parties for Order Fulfillment

To fulfill orders effectively:

1. We may share necessary order details with payment processors like National Bank Card or PayPal for transaction processing.
2. Shipping providers receive relevant shipping information necessary for delivery purposes.

Analytics Services

We utilize anonymized analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics) to understand user behavior on our site better:

1. This helps us improve website functionality and user experience without identifying individual users personally.

Policy Updates

This privacy policy may change periodically to reflect new practices or legal requirements affecting how we handle personal information:

1. Significant changes will be communicated via email or through a notice on our website prior to implementation.
2. We encourage users to review this policy regularly for updates.

For any questions regarding this privacy policy or concerns about how we handle personal data protection practices at African Heritage Market, please contact us at support@africanheritagemarket.com.