Privacy Policy
The short version
- We collect what Azmach needs to work: your sign-in details, your profile, what you do in the app, and, if you buy, sell or earn, the details those need.
- We don't sell your personal data, we don't show ads, and we don't collect your precise location.
- Lives are public. Anything you say or show in a live, chat or comment can be seen by others.
- You can download your data and delete your account at any time, in the app or at https://azmach.habeshaware.com/delete-account.
1. Who we are
Azmach is a live-streaming, gifting and live-shopping app run by SOTA TRADING ONE MEMBER PLC, Woreda 1, House No. 709, Lemi Kura, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ("Azmach", "we", "us"). We are responsible for the personal data described here. Questions or requests: [email protected].
This policy covers the Azmach app, our website and the links we share. Our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines explain the rules for using Azmach.
2. What we collect
You give us
- Sign-in details. Your phone number or email address, which we verify with a one-time code. If you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your account id with them and, if they share it, your name and email address. We never see your password for those services.
- Profile. Display name, username, photo, bio, date of birth, city, interests, the languages you watch in and your app language. Your date of birth is used to check your age and isn't shown to anyone.
- Lives and posts. The video and audio of lives you host or join as a guest, their titles and categories, the moments you post (photos, videos and text), chat messages, comments on replays and moments, polls, questions, and the reports you send us.
- Shopping. Orders, delivery addresses, the phone number for delivery, and messages and photos you send in a dispute.
- Creators and sellers. To pay you out we ask for your full legal name, a photo of your ID and a selfie, and the bank or mobile money account to pay. Sellers also give a business name, business type, tax number (TIN), pickup city, delivery areas and product listings.
- Security. If you set a transaction PIN, we keep only a one-way scrambled version of it.
We collect when you use Azmach
- Activity. Lives, replays and clips you watch and for how long, likes, follows, blocks, gifts sent and received, coin purchases, and how you move through the feed. We use a random id for each install so activity before and after you sign in can be joined up.
- Devices and sessions. Device name, a device id, IP address, and when you signed in and last used each session. You can see and end your sessions in Settings › Devices.
- Notifications. A push token for your phone, so we can send the notifications you choose.
- Crash reports. When the app crashes, details of the error, the app version, and the phone model and system version.
We don't collect
- Your precise location. The city on a live is the one its host chooses; your own city comes from your profile.
- Your contacts, or photos and videos you haven't picked yourself. The camera and microphone are used only while you go live, join a live as a guest, or take a photo in the app.
- Advertising ids. We don't show ads or share data with advertisers.
- Card numbers or mobile money PINs. Payments are handled by our payment provider, which tells us whether a payment went through.
3. Recording lives
A live is streamed as it happens. Its host chooses what is kept: nothing, the clips they mark while live, or the full replay. Clips go up as moments. A moment, whether a clip or something you post, is shown for 7 days and then deleted. A host can remove a replay or a moment sooner. If a live, replay or moment has been reported, we may keep a copy for up to 30 days, or longer if it's needed for an investigation or the law requires it.
Moderators may watch a live while it's happening to keep Azmach safe. Every video live is also checked automatically for nudity every few seconds, and so are profile photos, product photos and shop banners before they're shown. If a check flags something, we keep that picture for our moderators to review, and the live may be paused until they do.
4. How we use it
| We use your data to | Because |
|---|---|
| Create your account, sign you in, and run lives, chat, gifts, coins, orders and payouts | It's needed to provide the service you asked for |
| Recommend lives, clips and creators, and show lives in your languages first | It's needed to provide the service, and it's our legitimate interest in making Azmach worth using |
| Check your age, verify creators and sellers before paying them, and keep financial records | The law requires it |
| Keep people safe: filter chat, review reports, detect fraud, scams and account takeovers, and enforce our rules | It's our legitimate interest and, where it applies, a legal duty |
| Send notifications about lives, orders, earnings and your account's security | It's needed to provide the service; you choose which kinds you get in Settings › Notifications |
| Fix crashes and understand how Azmach is used, so we can improve it | It's our legitimate interest |
Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time in the app or by contacting us.
5. Who sees it
- Everyone on Azmach sees your profile (name, username, photo, bio, follower counts), your lives, replays and clips, your chat messages and comments, gifts you send in lives, and a seller's shop and products.
- The seller you buy from sees your name and the delivery details and phone number for that order. The buyer sees a seller's business name and, for pickup, the pickup address.
- Our service providers process data for us under contract and only as we instruct: hosting and databases, file storage (for example Cloudflare), live video servers, SMS and email delivery, our payment provider (for example Chapa), automatic content checks for nudity (Sightengine), push notifications (Expo, Google Firebase and Apple), crash reporting (Sentry) and, if you use them, Google or Apple sign-in.
- Authorities, when the law requires it, to protect someone's safety, or to stop fraud or abuse. Content that sexually exploits children is reported to the relevant authorities.
- A buyer of our business, if Azmach is merged or sold, under the same protections.
We don't sell your personal data.
6. Where it's kept
Some of our providers store or process data outside Ethiopia. When they do, we use providers that protect it to the standard this policy describes and that the law requires.
7. How long we keep it
- Your account and profile: until you delete your account.
- Sign-in codes: they expire after 5 minutes and are deleted when your account is.
- Replays: until the host removes them or deletes their account (see section 3 for reported ones).
- Moments (posts and clips of lives): 7 days after they go up, unless you remove them sooner (see section 3 for reported ones).
- Payments, gifts, coin purchases, orders, payouts and earnings: as long as tax and financial laws require, even after you delete your account.
- ID photos and selfies from creator and seller checks: only as long as the law requires.
- Reports and moderation records: as long as needed to keep Azmach safe and handle appeals.
8. Deleting your account
Delete your account in the app (Profile › Settings › Delete account) or on the web at https://azmach.habeshaware.com/delete-account. When you do:
- Right away, we remove your phone number, email, name, username, photo, bio, date of birth, city, interests, PIN, linked sign-in accounts, addresses, payout accounts, follows, blocks, notifications, push tokens and activity history, and end every session. Your replays, clips and products are taken down and their files deleted.
- Your account becomes an empty record shown as "Deleted user". Chat messages and comments you posted, and gifts you sent, stay where they are under that name.
- We keep the financial records and ID checks described in section 7, linked only to that empty record.
- Any coins and earnings left in your account are lost, so spend or withdraw them first.
You can't delete your account while you're live, while an order you bought or sold is still open, or while a withdrawal or payment is in progress. Copies in our backups are overwritten in the normal course.
9. Your rights
You can:
- See your data: download a copy in the app (Settings › Download your data).
- Correct it: edit your profile in the app, or ask us.
- Delete it: see section 8.
- Object or restrict: ask us to stop a use of your data that relies on our legitimate interest, or to limit it while a question is resolved.
- Control notifications: in Settings › Notifications and your phone's settings.
Write to [email protected] for anything you can't do in the app. We'll answer within 30 days and may ask you to prove the account is yours. If you're not happy with our answer, you can complain to the data protection authority in Ethiopia.
10. Children
You must be at least 13 to use Azmach, and at least 18 to go live, receive gifts as earnings or sell. We ask for your date of birth when you sign up and block accounts under 13. If you think a child under 13 is using Azmach, tell us at [email protected] and we'll delete the account.
11. Security
We protect your data with encrypted connections, access limited to staff who need it, a second sign-in step for staff, and a log of staff actions on accounts, payouts and ID checks. ID photos are stored privately, never public, and staff open them only through links that expire within minutes. No system is perfectly secure, so keep your sign-in codes and PIN to yourself: Azmach staff will never ask for them.
12. Changes
We'll update this policy when Azmach changes. If a change matters, we'll tell you in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top shows when it last changed.
13. Contact
SOTA TRADING ONE MEMBER PLC, Woreda 1, House No. 709, Lemi Kura, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Email [email protected].