Data Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

TechWorld Voting System operates the voting platform at vote.searchghana.com and the USSD service on *920*112#. We process personal information to run voting for events created by organisers. We handle this information in line with Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843).

For a given event, the event organiser also decides how its contestants' and applicants' information is used for the event; for those purposes the organiser is responsible alongside us.

2. Information about voters

When you vote we collect:

• Your phone number — the mobile money number you enter (website) or dial from (USSD);
• Your mobile network (MTN, Telecel or AT), where you select it or the payment provider reports it;
• Your name, only if you choose to give it on the website vote form;
• the event, contestant, number of votes, amount and time of the vote.

Voting does not require an account, and we do not ask for your Ghana Card number, address or date of birth.

3. Mobile money and payment information

Payments are processed by our payment partners — Paystack for website payments and NaloPay for USSD payments. You enter your payment details or approve the mobile money prompt with them, not with us. We never receive or store your mobile money PIN, card number or card security code.

From the payment partner we receive the payment's status (successful, pending, failed, cancelled or reversed), the amount, the partner's reference and fee, and, where they report it, the network and a masked form of the number that paid.

4. Transaction records

For each vote we keep a transaction record: the transaction ID, event, contestant, amount, number of votes, channel, network, status and date. Your phone number is kept in three forms:

• a masked form (for example 23324****567) — the only form event organisers ever see;
• the full number, encrypted — readable only by TechWorld's Super Administrators, and used to send your SMS vote receipt and to resolve payment questions and disputes; and
• a one-way fingerprint (a cryptographic hash) that cannot be turned back into the number. It lets you look up your own transaction on the Verify a Transaction page, and lets our administrators find transactions when you give them your number.

5. Contestants, nominees and applicants

• Contestants: name, photograph, category, biography and any details the organiser chooses to show (such as region or contestant number) are displayed publicly for the event.
• Applicants using the registration form give their name, email address, phone number, optional gender, a biography, a photograph and any answer to the organiser's extra question. Email addresses and phone numbers are stored encrypted. Applications and photographs are visible only to the event's organisers and our administrators until approved; on approval the name, photograph, gender and biography become the public contestant profile.
• Results: contestants with a private results link can see only what the event's settings allow.

6. Organiser and staff accounts

For people with accounts (organisers, judges, agents, administrators) we keep their name, email address, role, institution and sign-in history. Passwords are stored only as secure hashes.

7. Technical and usage information

Like most websites, our servers record technical information such as IP address, browser type and the time of requests. For website votes we keep the IP address and browser details with the transaction, and we keep a log of significant administrative actions. We use this to keep the platform secure, prevent fraud and investigate problems. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking tools.

8. Why we process information

• to record your votes and process and confirm your payments;
• to let you verify your own transactions;
• to calculate and display results under each event's rules;
• to let organisers run their events, review applications and reconcile payments;
• to detect and prevent fraud and abuse, and to keep the platform secure;
• to keep financial records and meet legal obligations; and
• to answer your questions and complaints.

We process information because it is necessary to provide the service you request, to meet legal obligations, for our legitimate interest in running a secure and fair platform, or with your consent (for example, when you apply as a contestant).

9. Who we share information with

• Payment partners (Paystack, NaloPay) — the information needed to take and confirm your payment.
• NALO Solutions — our USSD gateway, which carries your USSD session, and our SMS provider, which receives your number and the receipt text to send you an SMS receipt after a confirmed vote.
• Event organisers — transaction records for their own events with masked phone numbers, and the applications submitted to their events.
• Hosting and email providers that run our servers and send messages on our behalf.
• Authorities, where the law requires it or to investigate fraud.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.

10. How long we keep information

• Full phone numbers: kept encrypted with the transaction record, readable only by Super Administrators. We may set a shorter period after which full numbers are deleted (the masked copy and fingerprint remain).
• Transaction records (with masked numbers): kept as long as needed for financial record-keeping, for resolving disputes, and to meet legal and tax obligations.
• Contestant applications: kept for the event's records. You can ask us to delete an application you submitted.
• Account information: kept while the account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards.

11. How we protect information

• the website is served only over encrypted HTTPS connections;
• full phone numbers and applicants' contact details are stored encrypted, organisers see only masked numbers, and look-ups use one-way fingerprints;
• passwords are stored as secure hashes, and sign-in attempts are limited to block password guessing;
• access to results, transactions and applications is limited by role and checked on the server;
• forms and look-ups are rate-limited, and significant administrative actions are logged.

No system is perfectly secure, but we review and improve these measures regularly.

12. Your rights

Under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) you have the right to:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you, and get a copy of it;
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or out of date;
• ask us to delete information we no longer need or that we hold unlawfully;
• object to processing, or withdraw consent you have given (this does not affect what was done before); and
• complain to the Data Protection Commission of Ghana if you believe your information has been mishandled.

13. Access, correction and deletion requests

Send your request using the contact details below. To protect you, we will ask you to confirm your identity — for a vote, usually the phone number you paid with and a transaction ID. We aim to respond within 21 days. Some records (for example, financial records of confirmed payments) may need to be kept even if you ask for deletion; we will explain when that applies.

14. Cookies

We use only the cookies the website needs to work: a session cookie that keeps you signed in or remembers a step you are completing, and a security cookie that protects forms against forgery. We do not use advertising or analytics cookies.

15. Data breaches

If we discover that personal information has been accessed without authorisation, we will act promptly to contain it, assess the risk, notify the Data Protection Commission where required, and inform the people affected where there is a real risk to them, telling them what happened and what they can do.

16. Privacy enquiries

For privacy questions or requests, contact us using the details below. Please do not send your mobile money PIN or card details — we will never ask for them.