Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to Mezzo Aid. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how Mezzo Aid ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, discloses, and safeguards your information when you use our platform to build fundable businesses through our quest system, expert consultations, business plan development, and pitch deck creation services.

By accessing or using Mezzo Aid, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our platform.

This policy applies to all users of our platform, including entrepreneurs completing quests, experts providing consultations, and visitors browsing our website.

2. Information We Collect

3. How We Use Your Information

4. How We Share Your Information

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Mezzo Aid uses cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience, understand how you use our platform, and improve our services.

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your web browser. They help us recognize you, remember your preferences, and provide personalized features.

Types of Cookies We Use:

• Essential Cookies (Required): These cookies are necessary for Mezzo Aid to function properly. They enable core features like secure login, quest progress tracking, expert consultation bookings, and payment processing. You cannot opt out of essential cookies as they're critical for platform functionality.
• Analytics Cookies (Optional): These cookies help us understand how you use Mezzo Aid by collecting anonymous information about pages visited, quests completed, features used, and time spent. We use Google Analytics and similar tools. This data helps us improve the platform and create better resources for entrepreneurs.
• Marketing Cookies (Optional): These cookies track your browsing activity to show you relevant content about entrepreneurship resources, upcoming webinars, and funding opportunities. They also help us measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns.
• Personalization Cookies (Optional): These cookies remember your preferences (language, dashboard layout, notification settings) and customize your experience. They remember your quest progress, saved experts, and recommended next steps.

Managing Cookie Preferences

You have full control over which cookies you accept:

• Use our cookie preference center (accessible via the cookie banner when you first visit)
• Update your cookie preferences anytime in your account settings
• Configure your browser settings to block or delete cookies
• Use browser extensions to manage cookie preferences

Note that disabling certain cookies may limit your ability to use some Mezzo Aid features. Essential cookies cannot be disabled as they're necessary for the platform to work.

6. Data Security

We take the security of your information seriously and implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.

Our Security Measures Include:

• Encryption: All data transmitted between your device and our servers is encrypted using TLS/SSL (Transport Layer Security). Sensitive data at rest is encrypted using AES-256 encryption.
• Secure authentication: Passwords are hashed using bcrypt with salt. We support two-factor authentication (2FA) for additional account security.
• Access controls: Strict role-based access controls limit who can access your information. Employees and contractors only have access to data necessary for their job functions.
• Regular security audits: We conduct regular internal security reviews and third-party penetration testing to identify and fix vulnerabilities.
• Secure infrastructure: Our platform is hosted on secure, certified cloud infrastructure (AWS, Google Cloud) with built-in security features, firewalls, and intrusion detection.
• Employee training: All team members receive regular security and privacy training and are bound by confidentiality agreements.
• Incident response: We have documented incident response procedures to quickly detect, respond to, and recover from security incidents.
• Monitoring: Continuous monitoring of our systems for suspicious activity, unauthorized access attempts, and potential security threats.
• Payment security: Payment information is processed by PCI DSS-compliant providers (Paystack, Flutterwave). We do not store complete payment card details on our servers.
• Data backups: Regular encrypted backups ensure data can be recovered in case of system failures or disasters.

Security Breach Notification

In the unlikely event of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will:

• Notify you via email within 72 hours of discovering the breach
• Inform relevant authorities as required by law
• Provide clear information about what data was affected
• Explain steps we're taking to address the breach
• Recommend actions you can take to protect yourself
• Offer free credit monitoring if financial information was compromised

Your Role in Security

While we implement robust security measures, you also play an important role in protecting your account:

• Use a strong, unique password for your Mezzo Aid account
• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) in your account settings
• Never share your password or authentication codes with anyone
• Log out when using shared or public devices
• Keep your contact information updated so we can reach you about security issues
• Report any suspicious activity or unauthorized access immediately
• Be cautious of phishing emails claiming to be from Mezzo Aid

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

Retention Periods:

• Active accounts: We retain your account information and quest progress for as long as your account is active and you continue to use Mezzo Aid.
• Inactive accounts: If you haven't logged in for 3 years, we may delete your account and associated data after sending you advance notice.
• Deleted accounts: When you delete your account, we permanently delete most of your personal information within 30 days, except for data we're legally required to retain.
• Business documents: Business plans, pitch decks, and documents you've uploaded are deleted when you delete your account or remove them individually.
• Expert consultations: Consultation records are retained for 2 years for quality assurance and dispute resolution, then deleted unless you or the expert request continued retention.
• Payment information: Transaction records are retained for 7 years as required by Nigerian tax and financial regulations. Payment card details are stored by Paystack/Flutterwave, not by us.
• Support communications: Customer support tickets and related communications are retained for 3 years to improve our service and resolve potential disputes.
• Marketing data: Email marketing data is retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion.
• Legal obligations: Some information may be retained longer when required by law, to comply with regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, or protect legal rights.
• Anonymized data: Aggregated, anonymized data (which cannot identify you) may be retained indefinitely for research, analytics, and improving our platform.

Secure Deletion

When we delete your data, we use secure deletion methods to ensure it cannot be recovered. This includes removing data from backups within 90 days. We maintain audit logs of deletions for compliance purposes, but these logs do not contain your personal information.

8. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have specific rights regarding your personal information under data protection laws such as the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Your Rights Include:

• Right to Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you, including quest responses, business plans, consultation records, and account data.
• Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information. You can update most information directly in your account settings.
• Right to Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions (e.g., records we must keep for tax or legal compliance).
• Right to Data Portability: Request a machine-readable copy of your personal information to transfer to another service provider.
• Right to Restrict Processing: Request that we limit how we process your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Right to Object: Object to processing of your personal information for direct marketing, research, or our legitimate interests.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw your consent for processing based on consent at any time (this won't affect processing that occurred before withdrawal).
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: File a complaint with your local data protection authority (in Nigeria: Nigeria Data Protection Commission - NDPC) if you believe we've violated your privacy rights.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, you can:

• Email us at privacy@mezzoaid.com
• Use the privacy settings in your account dashboard
• Contact our support team through the platform
• Write to us at: 15 Wole Ariyo Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, Nigeria

Response Timeline

We will respond to your request within:

• 30 days for most requests (as required by NDPR and GDPR)
• 45 days for complex requests (with notification of the extension)
• We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests

Limitations

Your rights may be limited in certain circumstances. For example, we may deny your deletion request if we're legally required to retain the information, need it to defend legal claims, or it's necessary for fraud prevention or security purposes. We will explain any limitations that apply to your request.

9. Children's Privacy

Mezzo Aid is designed for entrepreneurs who are at least 18 years old. We do not knowingly collect, use, or disclose personal information from children under 18 years of age.

If we discover that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 18, we will:

• Delete the information as quickly as possible
• Terminate the account
• Notify the parent or guardian if we have contact information
• Take steps to prevent future unauthorized access by minors

If you believe we have collected information from a child under 18, please contact us immediately at privacy@mezzoaid.com so we can take appropriate action.

Parents and guardians: If you discover that your child has created an account on Mezzo Aid without your permission, please contact us and we will delete the account and associated information.

10. International Data Transfers

Mezzo Aid is based in Nigeria, but we may transfer, store, and process your personal information in countries other than Nigeria, including the United States, Europe, and other locations where our service providers operate.

Safeguards for International Transfers

When we transfer your information internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place:

• Data Processing Agreements: Contracts with service providers that require them to protect your data according to applicable data protection laws
• Standard Contractual Clauses: Use of EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for transfers to countries without adequacy decisions
• Privacy Shield (where applicable): Certification under relevant data transfer frameworks
• Technical safeguards: Encryption during transit and at rest, regardless of storage location
• Compliance with NDPR: Ensuring transfers comply with Nigerian Data Protection Regulation requirements

Your Rights Regarding International Transfers

You have the right to:

• Request information about where your data is stored and processed
• Request a copy of the safeguards we use for international transfers
• Object to transfers in certain circumstances

For questions about international data transfers, contact us at privacy@mezzoaid.com.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make changes, we will:

• Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy
• Notify you of significant changes via email at least 30 days before they take effect
• Display a prominent notice on our platform about the changes
• For material changes that affect your rights, request your consent where required by law
• Maintain an archive of previous policy versions for your reference

Types of Changes

• Minor changes: Clarifications, fixing typos, or updates to contact information - effective immediately upon posting
• Significant changes: Material changes to data collection, use, or sharing practices - 30-day notice before effectiveness
• Legal changes: Updates required by law - may be effective immediately with notice

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of Mezzo Aid after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. If you disagree with changes, you may delete your account before they take effect.

12. Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, our data practices, or how we handle your personal information, please don't hesitate to contact us. We're here to help and committed to addressing your privacy concerns promptly.