Your privacy, plainly explained.

Hwehw3 Ghana Ltd. ("Hwehw3", "we", "us") operates a local business directory connecting consumers with small and medium businesses across Ghana and West Africa. This policy explains what information we collect from business owners and consumers who use our website and dashboard, how we use it, and the choices you have.

By using Hwehw3, you agree to the collection and use of information as described here. If you don't agree, please don't use the platform.

We collect information you give us directly, information generated by using the platform, and information from third-party services we rely on to operate.

• Account information — name, email address, phone number, and password (stored as a hash, never in plain text).
• Business listing information — business name, category, city, landmark, address, WhatsApp number, phone, email, opening hours, services, and photos.
• Location data — coordinates captured via Google Maps Places autocomplete when a business owner sets their listing location.
• Usage data — pages viewed, searches performed, profile views, and WhatsApp click-throughs, collected to power search, ranking, and the analytics shown on business dashboards.
• Payment information — when a business subscribes to a paid tier, payment is processed by Paystack. We store the subscription status and Paystack reference IDs, never your card or mobile money PIN.
• Reviews — the rating and comment you submit, linked to your account.

We use the information we collect to operate and improve the directory, specifically to:

• Create and display business listings and consumer accounts.
• Power search, category browsing, and location-based results.
• Record profile views, WhatsApp clicks, and search impressions so business owners can see how their listing is performing.
• Process subscription payments and manage listing tiers (Free, Featured, Premium).
• Send service-related messages, such as listing approval status or subscription updates, by email, SMS, or WhatsApp.
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and fake listings or reviews.

WhatsApp is the primary way consumers contact businesses on Hwehw3. When you tap the WhatsApp button on a listing, we log that click to the business's analytics before redirecting you to WhatsApp — we do this to help business owners understand how many people are trying to reach them, not to read or store the contents of your WhatsApp conversation.

Once you're redirected, the conversation happens directly between you and the business on WhatsApp, governed by WhatsApp's own privacy policy. Hwehw3 has no access to messages exchanged there.

We don't sell your personal information. We share the minimum necessary data with the following service providers to run the platform:

• Paystack — processes subscription payments (MTN Mobile Money, Vodafone Cash, AirtelTigo Money, cards, and bank transfer). Paystack handles your payment details directly; we never see full card numbers or mobile money PINs.
• Cloudinary — stores and optimises the photos you upload to your listing.
• Google Maps Platform — provides location autocomplete and map display for business addresses.
• PostHog — provides product analytics that help us understand how the directory is used and improve it.
• Upstash (Redis) — caches category and search pages to keep the site fast; cached data does not include personal account details.

We use cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember your preferences (such as a selected city), and understand aggregate usage patterns through PostHog. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though some parts of Hwehw3 — like staying signed in to the business dashboard — depend on them working.

We keep account and listing information for as long as your account is active. If a business listing is removed or a consumer account is deleted, we retain a minimal record for a limited period to comply with legal, tax, and fraud-prevention obligations, after which it is deleted or anonymised.

You can review and update your account or listing details at any time from your dashboard settings. You may also:

• Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate information.
• Ask us to delete your account and associated personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Withdraw consent for non-essential communications at any time.

We use industry-standard measures — encrypted connections, hashed passwords, and access controls on our database and infrastructure — to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security, but we work continuously to safeguard your data.

Hwehw3 is intended for business owners and consumers aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will remove it.

We may update this policy as Hwehw3 grows or as regulations change. We'll post the updated version here with a new "last updated" date, and for material changes we'll make reasonable efforts to notify business owners directly.