Privacy Policy: Credit Line

Credit Line Data Privacy Policy

At Credit Line, we prioritize the privacy and security of your personal information. This Data Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your personal information when you use our services across our mobile app, USSD platform, and website. Our practices are aligned with the Malawi Data Protection Act of 2016 and other relevant data protection laws, ensuring your data is handled securely and lawfully.

1. Information We Collect

We collect personal information that is necessary for providing our services effectively. The information we collect includes but is not limited to:

Personal Identification Information: Name, National ID/Passport number, date of birth, gender, and other identifiers.
Contact Information: Phone number, email address, postal address, and other contact details.
Financial Information: Bank account details, transaction history, loan information, and payment details.
Usage Data: Information about how you interact with our app, USSD, and web platforms, including IP address, browser type, device information, location data, and activity logs.
Fraud Prevention Data: Information collected to detect and prevent fraud, such as device location, call logs, contacts, messages, and other device information.

2. How We Use Your Information

Your personal information is utilized to provide, maintain, and enhance our services. Specifically, we use your data for the following purposes:

Service Provision: To verify your identity, process transactions, facilitate loans and repayments, and manage your account.
Communication: To communicate with you regarding your account, transactions, updates, promotional offers, and any changes to our services.
Compliance: To adhere to legal and regulatory obligations, including anti-money laundering (AML) laws and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) regulations.
Fraud Prevention: To detect, prevent, and investigate fraud, security breaches, and other potentially illegal activities.
Improvement of Services: To analyze usage patterns and preferences to enhance user experience and service delivery.
Marketing and Research: To offer tailored products and services, conduct surveys, and perform research to improve our offerings.

3. Legal Basis for Processing Personal Information

We process your personal information based on the following legal grounds:

Consent: Where you have given us explicit consent to process your data for specific purposes.
Contractual Necessity: To perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request prior to entering into such a contract.
Legal Obligation: To comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
Legitimate Interests: To pursue our legitimate interests, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

4. Sharing of Information

Credit Line may share your personal information with third parties in the following circumstances:

With Your Consent: We will share your data as necessary to fulfill your requests or as you consent.
With Service Providers: We may share information with third-party service providers who assist in delivering our services, including payment processors, IT service providers, and customer support.
With Lenders: To facilitate loan applications, approvals, and repayments through our platform.
Legal Requirements: To comply with laws, regulations, court orders, or legal processes; to enforce our agreements; or to protect the rights, property, and safety of Credit Line, our users, or others.
Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, we may transfer your information to the new owner.

5. Data Security and Protection

We employ a variety of security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

Encryption: We use industry-standard encryption technologies to protect sensitive information.
Access Controls: Access to your personal information is restricted to authorized personnel only, based on the principle of least privilege.
Regular Security Audits: We conduct regular security assessments and audits to identify and address vulnerabilities.
Data Anonymization: Where possible, we anonymize data to further protect your privacy.

While we take these steps to secure your data, please note that no security measures are completely infallible, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Your Rights

As a user, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

Right to Access: You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you.
Right to Rectification: You can request corrections to your personal information if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
Right to Erasure: You may request the deletion of your personal information, subject to legal and contractual restrictions.
Right to Restriction: You can request that we restrict the processing of your personal information under certain circumstances.
Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information for specific purposes, including direct marketing.
Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and to have it transferred to another data controller.
Right to Withdraw Consent: If we are processing your personal information based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. We may also retain your personal information for an additional period as necessary to establish, exercise, or defend our legal rights. When the information is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymize it.

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience, analyze usage, and provide personalized content and advertising. By using our website, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with this policy. You may choose to disable cookies through your browser settings, but this may limit your ability to use certain features of our site.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

Credit Line reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy periodically. Any changes will be communicated to you via our app, USSD platform, and website. Continued use of our services after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

10. Limitation of Liability and Indemnification

By using Credit Line's services, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Credit Line, its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, and agents from any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, or expenses arising from your use of our services, violation of this Privacy Policy, or any rights of another party. Credit Line is not liable for unauthorized access or use of your information unless it results from our gross negligence or willful misconduct.

11. Third-Party Links

Our platforms may contain links to third-party websites. Please note that this Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites, and we are not responsible for their content, policies, or practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites you visit.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data handling practices, please contact us at support@creditline.com or through our customer service channels on the app, USSD, or web platforms.

13. Data Deletion Request

As part of our commitment to user privacy, Credit Line adheres to the data privacy regulations and offers users the option to request the deletion of their personal data in accordance with applicable laws and policies.

If you would like to request the deletion of your personal data from our records, please follow the steps below:

1. Send a formal request to privacy@creditline.africa with the subject line "Data Deletion Request".
2. Provide your registered email address and a brief explanation of your request.
3. Once your request is processed, we will confirm the deletion of your data within 30 days, subject to any legal or regulatory obligations that may require us to retain certain information.

Please note that the deletion of your data may impact your ability to use our services, as we will no longer be able to process your loan applications, repayments, or related activities. If you wish to continue using the Credit Line platform after the deletion of your data, you may need to re-register and provide new personal information.

For further inquiries regarding data deletion or our data privacy practices, please refer to our Privacy Policy or contact our support team at support@creditline.africa.