Privacy Policy

About Zela

Zela is a fashion, beauty and lifestyle marketplace that connects buyers with verified vendors, stores, and service providers across Cameroon. Through our platform — available on web and as a mobile app (Android and iOS) — you can browse and purchase fashion, cosmetics, skincare, hair products, perfumes, accessories, gifts, and book beauty services such as makeup, nail care, hair styling, and more. Vendors can showcase their products and services through stories, reels, and product feeds, while buyers enjoy a personalised, location-aware shopping experience.

Zela is operated by Looping Binary. This policy explains how we handle personal data collected through our platform.

Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly to us and information generated through your use of Zela. This may include:

• Name, email address, phone number, and profile photo
• Billing and delivery addresses
• Payment information (processed securely through our payment partners — we do not store raw card or mobile money credentials)
• Order history, wishlist items, and cart contents
• Beauty preferences and product interests you set in your profile
• Location data — your city or GPS coordinates if you choose to share them — used to show nearby vendors and services first
• Vendor store information: store name, logo, product listings, reels, stories, and KYC identity documents (for verified vendors only)
• Booking details for beauty service appointments
• Messages you send to vendors, buyers, or support
• Reviews, including optional photos or video from verified buyers
• Device information and push notification tokens for sending order updates, social activity alerts, and promotional notifications (if you allow notifications)
• Usage data such as pages viewed, products clicked, and search queries, used to improve recommendations and marketplace ranking (for example Best Sellers and Hot Trends)
• Creator share-link visits when someone uses a Creator Boost product link

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Process and fulfil your product orders and service bookings
• Send order confirmations, shipping updates, and delivery notifications
• Show you beauty products, stores, and services near your location
• Personalise your feed based on your stated beauty interests
• Send social notifications — such as when a vendor you follow posts a new story, reel, or product — with sound and vibration alerts on our mobile app
• Notify you when trending products in your interest categories are available
• Verify vendor identity and maintain a safe marketplace
• Process vendor payouts and wallet withdrawals
• Provide customer support and respond to your enquiries
• Improve our platform, recommendations, and app performance
• Send marketing communications (only with your consent, and you can unsubscribe at any time)
• Comply with applicable legal obligations

Location Data

Zela uses your location — either a city you select or GPS coordinates you optionally share — to show nearby vendors and products. We ask for location when you open Near You or when you choose to save an area in your profile. We do not ask for location just because you opened the app.

Precise GPS coordinates are stored in your profile only if you choose to share them, for example when you open Near You. We use them to rank nearby vendors and products. We do not request background location, and we do not continuously track you. If you decline, Zela still works: you can pick a city instead. Map pins for vendors use the location the vendor chose to publish, often as an approximate area rather than an exact home address.

Push Notifications

If you install the Zela mobile app and grant notification permission, we will send you push notifications for:

• Order and delivery status updates
• New stories, reels, and products from vendors you follow
• Social activity such as likes, comments, and new followers
• Trending beauty products that match your interests
• Booking confirmations and reminders
• Account and subscription alerts

You can manage notification preferences in your device settings or within the app at any time.

Information Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only in the following circumstances:

• With vendors: Your delivery name, address, and order details are shared with the vendor(s) fulfilling your order
• With payment processors: PayUnit processes Mobile Money (MTN and Orange) payments. We send the amount, a transaction reference, and the phone number you provide. We do not store Mobile Money PINs or raw card numbers.
• With delivery partners: Where applicable, to ship your orders
• With infrastructure providers we actually use: Supabase (authentication and database), Cloudinary (product and profile media), Cloudflare R2 (file storage and public media delivery when enabled), Firebase Cloud Messaging (push notifications on the mobile app), Agora (optional in-app voice/video calls), and our hosting/CDN providers including Cloudflare for HTTPS, DNS, and caching of public assets.
• When required by law: To comply with legal obligations or protect the rights and safety of our users
• With your consent: For any other purpose you explicitly agree to

Vendor KYC Data

Vendors who apply to sell on Zela are required to submit identity verification documents (national ID or equivalent) as part of our Know Your Customer (KYC) process. This data is stored securely, used only for verification purposes, and is never shared publicly or sold to third parties.

Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your personal information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot promise that information will never be accessed without authorization. Measures currently in use include:

• TLS/HTTPS encryption for data in transit
• Access-controlled databases with row-level security policies
• Hashed passwords handled by our authentication provider (Supabase Auth)
• Payment processing through PayUnit — we never store Mobile Money PINs
• Limited staff access based on what is needed to operate the marketplace
• Monitoring of application errors and payment callbacks
• Caching of public assets only — checkout, authentication, and private APIs are not cached as public pages

Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to maintain your login session, remember your cart and preferences, and analyse how our platform is used. You can control cookie settings through your browser. Disabling cookies may affect some features such as staying logged in or checkout.

Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide our services. Order records are kept for accounting and legal compliance purposes. You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time — see "Your Rights" below.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access and review the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate or outdated information
• Request deletion of your account and personal data
• Opt out of marketing emails at any time via the unsubscribe link
• Withdraw consent for optional data processing (e.g. location sharing)
• Export a copy of your data on request

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at loopingbinary@gmail.com.

Children's Privacy

Zela is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such data, please contact us immediately and we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy as our platform evolves. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the updated policy on this page and, where appropriate, via an in-app notification or email. Continued use of Zela after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please reach out to us: