Amusika helps farmers, buyers, transporters and equipment owners find each other and trade. To do that, we need some information about you. This policy explains what we collect, why, who sees it, and the choices you have.
Amusika is a trading name of Acloudidea (Pty) Ltd (registration number 2026/789189/07), a private company registered in South Africa. Acloudidea (Pty) Ltd is the responsible party for your personal information. The policy covers the Amusika app, the web app at app.amusika.com, the website at amusika.com and the Amusika WhatsApp assistant.
At a glance
- We never show your phone number to other users. Messages pass through Amusika, so nobody sees your number unless you choose to share it.
- We don't sell your information and we don't show you third-party adverts.
- Other users see your name, your town or area, what you post and your ratings, never your exact location.
- You're in control: you can turn off location and notifications, and ask us to show, correct or delete your information at any time.
- Questions? Email [email protected].
What information do we collect?
In short What you give us when you use Amusika, some information from your device, and your messages if you use WhatsApp.
Information you give us
- Your account: your phone number (we text you a one-time code to sign in), your name, the roles you choose (farmer, buyer, transporter) and your town or area.
- What you post: listings, buyer requests, offers, quotes, transport jobs, equipment and farm support posts, with their descriptions, prices, quantities and photos.
- Your messages: what you send other users in the app or on WhatsApp, including photos, voice notes and any location you choose to send.
- Your deals and ratings: for example, that you accepted an offer for 20 bags of maize, reserved them, and marked the deal completed, plus the ratings you give and receive.
- Community posts: what you share in Village Square, including comments and voice notes.
- Questions you ask: what you ask "Ask Amusika" in the app or on WhatsApp.
- Membership: if you subscribe to a paid membership, your plan and whether it's paid. Your card or mobile-money details stay with the payment provider; we never see them.
Information from your device
- Location: only if you allow it. We use it for your weather forecast and to show listings near you.
- Device and usage: your type of phone or browser, app version, which features you use, and technical logs such as IP address and error reports.
- Notification token: if you allow notifications, a code that lets us send them to your phone or browser.
- Browser storage: the web app saves your sign-in and settings (such as language) in your browser so it loads quickly and works offline. We don't use advertising cookies.
Information from WhatsApp
If you message the Amusika WhatsApp assistant, we receive your WhatsApp number, your WhatsApp profile name, your messages and the buttons you tap. If you later sign in to the app with the same number, we link the two.
How do we use your information?
In short To run the marketplace, keep it safe, and make it better. We only use it for the reasons below.
- To run your account: to sign you in and keep your account secure.
- To run the marketplace: to publish your listings and requests, deliver offers and messages, keep stock counts right when a deal reserves goods, and keep a record of your deals.
- To show what's relevant: prices, weather, news and listings for your area.
- To answer your questions: through "Ask Amusika" and the WhatsApp assistant.
- To keep you updated: notifications about your messages, offers, deals, jobs and account.
- To keep Amusika safe: to spot fraud and misuse, enforce our Terms, and look into reports and disputes.
- To fix and improve Amusika: using error reports and usage figures that don't identify you.
- To manage memberships, once paid memberships begin.
- To follow the law, for example by keeping payment records.
We only use your information where the law allows: to provide the service you signed up for, with your consent (for location and notifications), where we have a legitimate reason to run a safe and useful marketplace, or where the law requires it.
Who can see your information?
In short Other users see what you choose to post and your ratings. Your phone number stays private.
- Other users can see your name, your town or area, your listings, requests and posts, and your ratings.
- Your phone number is never shown. When someone contacts you, in the app or on WhatsApp, the message goes through Amusika. If you decide to share your number in a chat, only that person sees it.
- Your exact location is never shown. People see your town or area, unless you send a location in a chat.
- Chats between a buyer and a seller open once the seller accepts the buyer's offer, and only the two of them can read them.
How does the assistant use AI?
In short Google's AI helps understand your question, but prices and listings come from Amusika's own records.
"Ask Amusika" and the WhatsApp assistant use Google's Gemini service to understand questions and write replies, so the text of your question is sent to Google. Prices, listings and other figures in a reply come from Amusika's records, not from the AI. If a question finds nothing, we may keep it, without your name, to learn what people are looking for.
Who do we share information with?
In short Only with the companies that help us run Amusika, and with authorities when the law requires it. We never sell it.
- Companies that run parts of Amusika for us, under contracts that require them to protect your information: Google (sign-in, file storage, notifications, analytics and the Gemini AI), Supabase (our database), Meta (WhatsApp messages), Sentry (error reports) and Cloudflare (website and email).
- Payment providers, such as Pesepay, if you pay for a membership.
- Authorities, when the law requires it, or when it's needed to protect someone's safety, rights or property.
- A new owner, if Amusika is sold or reorganised. This policy would still apply to your information.
Where is your information stored?
In short With our service providers, sometimes outside Zimbabwe and South Africa, always with protections in place.
Our providers may store and process information in other countries, including in the European Union and the United States. When information moves across borders, we use providers that protect it to recognised standards and take the steps the law requires.
How long do we keep it?
In short While your account is open. After that we delete it, except what the law requires us to keep.
- Your account: for as long as it's open.
- After you delete your account: we delete or anonymise your information within 30 days, except as below.
- Messages and deals: kept while the other person in the conversation still has an account, so their history still works, and for as long as a dispute needs them.
- Records the law requires, such as payment and tax records: for as long as the law says, usually up to 7 years.
- Error reports and logs: usually no more than 90 days.
How do we protect it?
In short Encryption, strict access rules and regular security checks.
We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), encryption of stored data, database rules that let each user reach only what they're allowed to see, secure sign-in, a check on every message that arrives from WhatsApp, and regular security reviews. No system is perfect, so if a security incident affects your information, we'll tell you and the authorities as the law requires.
Your choices and rights
In short You decide what Amusika can access, and you can ask us for your information, or to delete it, at any time.
Choices you can make yourself
- Location: turn it off in your phone or browser settings. Weather and "near you" results will be less accurate.
- Notifications: turn them off in the app's settings, your phone's settings or your browser's site settings.
- WhatsApp messages: tell the assistant "stop my alerts", or block the number.
- Your posts: edit or delete your listings and posts at any time.
- Your account: delete it from your profile, or ask us to.
Rights you have
You can ask us to:
- show you the information we hold about you;
- correct anything that's wrong;
- delete your information;
- stop or limit how we use it;
- give you a copy in a common format.
You can also withdraw your consent at any time. Email [email protected] from, or quoting, the phone number on your account. We'll reply within 30 days, and we may first check that the request really comes from you.
Rights in your country
In short The data protection laws of South Africa and Zimbabwe apply, and you can complain to the regulator.
- South Africa: we follow the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). You can complain to the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).
- Zimbabwe: we follow the Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07]. You can complain to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ).
- Elsewhere: we follow the data protection law that applies to you.
Children
Amusika is for people aged 18 and over. We don't knowingly collect information from children. If you think a child has given us information, tell us and we'll delete it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as Amusika changes. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change is significant, we'll tell you in the app or by message before it takes effect.
How to contact us
Questions, requests or complaints about your privacy go to our Information Officer:
Acloudidea (Pty) Ltd, trading as Amusika
Registration number: 2026/789189/07
Email: [email protected]
Address: 46 Dorchester Drive, Parklands, Cape Town, Western Cape, 7441, South Africa
Phone: +27 82 970 9254