How VARTKO handles your information.

1. Who this policy covers

This Privacy Policy explains how VARTKO ("VARTKO", "we", "us") collects, uses and protects information when you use our website, the VARTKO Customer, Rider and Partner apps, or interact with our support team — whether you're a customer sending a parcel, a registered recipient, a rider, or a Partner Store.

By creating a VARTKO account or otherwise using our services, you agree to the collection and use of information as described here. If you don't agree, please don't use VARTKO.

2. Information we collect

We collect information in three ways: what you give us directly, what's generated by using the service, and what a few trusted third parties share with us.

• Account information — name, email, phone number, password (stored only in hashed form), account type (customer, business, rider or Partner Store) and, if you add one, a profile photo. Business accounts also give a business name, type, registration number and address.
• Shipment information — pickup and delivery addresses and map pins, recipient contact details, parcel description, declared value, any delivery instructions you provide and, if you add one, a photo of the parcel.
• Location information — see "Location" below for exactly when each app uses your device's location.
• Photos, signatures and scans — delivery proof photos and recipients' on-screen signatures captured by riders, evidence photos taken by Partner Stores, and photos or files you attach to support tickets. The apps use the camera to scan parcel labels and handover QR codes; the scan is read on your device and only the decoded code is sent to us, not the image.
• Rider application information — date of birth, operating area (region, city and area), driver's licence number, vehicle details (type, registration number, make, model, colour, year and ownership), identity and vehicle documents (e.g. Ghana Card), and an emergency contact's name, phone number and relationship to you. Please let your emergency contact know you have shared their details with us; we only use them to reach someone in an emergency involving you.
• Partner Store information — the store's business details, registration number and documents, location and opening hours, and the names, email addresses and phone numbers of staff members the owner invites. Every parcel intake, release and rider handover is recorded together with the staff member who performed it.
• Payout and earnings information — for riders and Partner Store owners: the bank or mobile money account you want paid to (account number, account name and bank or network), earnings, wallet balances, cash collected on deliveries, and payout history.
• Payment information — VARTKO does not store your card details. Card payments and wallet top-ups are processed directly by Paystack, our payment processor, on Paystack's own page; we receive only the transaction result and reference, not your card number.
• Device and usage information — app version, device platform (Android or iOS), push notification tokens, and basic request logs used for reliability, security and fraud prevention. We do not use advertising identifiers, advertising SDKs or third-party analytics in our apps.
• Communications — messages you send our support team, and records of notifications sent to you (SMS, WhatsApp, email, push, in-app).

Location

• Customers — the VARTKO app reads your device's location only when you tap "Use my location" (to fill in an address or find nearby Partner Stores). The pickup and delivery points you choose are stored with the shipment.
• Partner Stores — the VARTKO Partner app reads your device's location only when you choose to confirm your store's position during onboarding.
• Riders — while you are online (available for jobs) and while you are carrying out a delivery, the VARTKO Rider app shares your device's location with VARTKO so we can offer you nearby jobs, coordinate pickups and deliveries, and verify handovers. This continues when the app is in the background or your screen is locked, and is always shown by a "location sharing on" notification. It stops as soon as you go offline. Your live location is used by VARTKO's dispatch and operations; it is not shown to customers or on public tracking. Your location at pickup, handover and delivery is recorded with the shipment.

3. How we use this information

• To create and manage your account, and to verify rider and Partner Store applications.
• To calculate delivery routes, service availability and shipment pricing.
• To offer delivery jobs to nearby riders and coordinate them while they are online or on a delivery.
• To connect the right rider and Partner Store to a shipment, and to verify custody at each handoff (pickup, storage, delivery) using verification codes, QR scans, photos and signatures.
• To process payments, wallet top-ups and payouts through Paystack and our banking partners.
• To send you shipment updates, verification codes, and service notifications by SMS, WhatsApp, email, push notification or in-app message.
• To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and violations of our Terms & Conditions.
• To provide customer support and resolve disputes.
• To meet legal, regulatory and tax obligations in Ghana.

4. When we share information

We share information only where it's necessary to provide the service, never as a general data-sale business:

• With the other side of a shipment — a sender's contact details are shared with the assigned rider and any Partner Store handling the parcel; a recipient's name, phone number and delivery address are shared with the rider delivering to them. Partner Stores verify a rider's VARTKO rider ID at each handover.
• With Partner Stores — for parcels routed through a Partner Store as a drop-off or collection point.
• With law enforcement or regulators — only when required by Ghanaian law, a valid court order, or to protect the rights, property or safety of VARTKO, our users, or the public.

We also use service providers who process information on our behalf, under our instructions, only to run VARTKO:

• Paystack — card payments, wallet top-ups and rider/Partner Store payouts.
• Google Maps Platform — maps and location features in our apps and website. When a map is shown, Google receives the requests needed to display it (and, if you use the "my location" feature, your device's location) under Google's Privacy Policy.
• Google Firebase Cloud Messaging and Expo's push notification service — delivering push notifications to your device. They receive your device's push token and the content of the notification.
• Cloudinary — storing photos and documents uploaded in our apps (verification documents are stored with restricted access).
• Communication providers — SMS and WhatsApp Business API providers, and Resend for email, to deliver notifications and verification codes.
• Hosting and infrastructure providers — our servers, database hosting and Cloudflare, which delivers and protects our website.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing or advertising.

5. What the apps ask your device for

• Location — only as described under "Location" above. The Rider app does not ask for "Allow all the time"; background sharing happens only through the visible "location sharing on" notification while you are online.
• Camera — scanning labels and QR codes, taking delivery or evidence photos, and taking a profile photo if you choose to.
• Photos — only the photos you pick to attach (profile photo, parcel photo, documents, support attachments).
• Notifications — shipment, job and store updates. You can turn them off in your device settings or in the app.

6. How long we keep information, and deleting your account

We keep your account information for as long as your account is active. You can ask us to delete your account at any time, in the app (Delete account in your profile or account settings) or at vartko.com/account-deletion. We email you when you make the request, if you cancel it, and when the deletion is complete.

Deletion takes place 7 days after your request, so you can change your mind. If your account still has a parcel in progress, money in or owed to a wallet, cash still to hand in, a refund or payout being processed, or a Partner Store that is still open, the request waits until those are resolved and then continues automatically. While it waits you can finish what's already in progress, but you can't start new activity unless you cancel the request.

Deleting an account does not mean every record about you disappears. When your account is deleted:

• Deleted — your password, email address, phone number, profile photo, saved addresses, business profile, notification settings, sign-in sessions and device registrations; for riders, date of birth, operating area, vehicle and licence details, identity and vehicle documents, emergency contact, payout account details and last known location; documents of a store application that never went live.
• Anonymised — your name and contact details are removed from shipments you booked (the city or neighbourhood is kept), from records of SMS, WhatsApp and email messages sent to you, and from a Partner Store's team list and activity log.
• Pseudonymised — records we need to keep, such as shipments, payments, wallet transactions, refunds, payouts and custody handovers, stay without your name or contact details, but still carry internal references (like an account number or a rider code) that link them to each other. Card details are reduced to the card type, bank and last four digits, and payout account numbers to their last four digits.
• Retained — some kept records can still identify someone by their nature: delivery photos and signatures, where a parcel changed hands, what you wrote or attached in support conversations, security logs (including IP addresses), the business documents of a Partner Store that traded, and recipient details a sender entered on a shipment (which stay part of the sender's record).

We keep these records only where necessary for legal, financial and tax recordkeeping, fraud prevention, safety, and resolving disputes and claims about parcels and payments. We are confirming, with legal advice, how long each kind of record must be kept; after that period they will be deleted or anonymised. Copies in our backups remain until those backups are rotated. Our service providers (such as Paystack, Cloudinary and our email provider) keep their own records under their own policies.

7. Your rights

Depending on applicable law, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information VARTKO holds about you.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information via your profile settings or by contacting support.
• Delete your account and associated personal information, subject to the retention described above — in the app or at vartko.com/account-deletion.
• Opt out of marketing communications at any time — transactional messages (verification codes, shipment updates) are not affected, since they're necessary to operate the service.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below.

8. How we protect information

We use industry-standard measures — encrypted connections, access-controlled systems, and hashed passwords — to protect your information. Verification codes for pickup and delivery are never exposed to anyone other than the intended party. No system is completely secure, and we encourage you to use a strong, unique password for your VARTKO account.

9. Children's privacy

VARTKO's services are intended for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as VARTKO's services evolve. We'll update the "last updated" date at the top of this page when we do, and for significant changes we'll make reasonable efforts to notify you directly (e.g. in-app or by email).

11. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how your information is handled, reach us at: