Privacy Policy

Information Collection

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us (for example, via contact forms or newsletter sign-ups) as well as certain data automatically through your use of our site. The types of information we collect include:

• Personal Information You Provide: When you fill out a contact form, apply for work with us, or subscribe to our newsletter, you provide information such as your name, email address, phone number (if provided), and organization. We may also ask for your location information (e.g., country or city) and any other details you choose to share. This typically includes any content of messages you send us using forms on our site.
• Information Collected Automatically: When you visit our website, certain data is collected automatically via cookies and similar technologies. This may include your device’s IP address, browser type, operating system, pages viewed, date/time of visit, and referring websites. This data helps us understand how our site is used and is usually anonymized unless required for security.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies: Our website uses cookies to enhance user experience and analyze web traffic. Cookies allow us to remember your preferences, recognize repeat visitors, and collect usage data (e.g., pages viewed, time spent). You can manage or disable cookies in your browser settings, though some parts of the site may not function properly if disabled.

Use of Information

We use the personal information collected for purposes consistent with the reasons you provided it, and to support our business operations. Specifically, HVC may use your information in the following ways:

• To Communicate with You: We use your contact information (like name and email) to respond to inquiries, questions, and requests you send us, and to provide you with information you requested. For example, if you fill out our contact form or email us, we will use your details to reply to you.
• To Provide Services and Information: We use your contact information (like name and email) to respond to inquiries, questions, and requests you send us, and to provide you with information you requested. For example, if you fill out our contact form or email us, we will use your details to reply to you.
• Analytics and Improvements: We use data about how visitors use our site (e.g. which pages are most popular, how users navigate the site, and overall traffic patterns) to understand and improve our website and services. For instance, information collected via Google Analytics helps us analyze user behavior and preferences, allowing us to refine our content and user experience. This analysis is done on an aggregated basis and helps us make informed decisions on website improvements and strategy.
• To Provide Services and Information: We use your contact information (like name and email) to respond to inquiries, questions, and requests you send us, and to provide you with information you requested. For example, if you fill out our contact form or email us, we will use your details to reply to you.
• Operational and Administrative Purposes: Personal data is used to operate and maintain our website and business. This includes troubleshooting issues, securing our site against fraud or abuse, and analyzing site performance. We might use your information to personalize your experience on the site (for example, by remembering your preferences on future visits) and to ensure the site’s content is presented effectively on your device.
• Legal Compliance and Protection: In certain cases, we may process your personal information to comply with applicable legal obligations or regulatory requirements. For example, we may retain and use personal data to fulfill record-keeping duties, to respond to lawful requests by public authorities, or to meet government reporting obligations. Additionally, we may use or disclose information as necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others – for instance, to investigate or prevent fraud, security issues, or misuse of our website, and to enforce our terms and agreements if needed.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it (or for closely related purposes). If we need to use your data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and, if required, seek your consent.

Cookies and Analytics

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device (computer, tablet, smartphone) when you visit websites. We use cookies and similar technologies to make our website function smoothly, to remember your preferences, and to collect information about how you use our site. For example, cookies help us know whether you’ve visited before and what pages you looked at. They enable certain features on the site and can make your next visit easier (by remembering settings) and the service more useful to you.

One of the primary ways we utilize cookies is through Google Analytics, a widely-used web analytics service provided by Google.Google Analytics uses first-party cookies to collect data on how visitors interact with our site. The information gathered through these cookies is transmitted to and stored by Google on servers (which may be outside of Africa, e.g., in the United States). Google Analytics cookies track details such as: the time of your visit, pages you viewed, how long you stayed, the website that referred you to our site, and whether you have visited before. This data helps us compile reports and insights on website usage. Importantly, Google Analytics reports to us aggregate trends without identifying individual users. The cookies do not reveal personally identifiable information like your name or email; however, they do collect your IP address, which Google may use to determine an approximate geographic location of visitors.

We use the analytics information to understand user interests and improve our content and navigation. For instance, knowing which pages are most frequently visited or where users spend the most time helps us optimize those sections of the site. It also helps us identify and fix performance issues to enhance your browsing experience.

Please note that Google, as a third-party analytics provider, may also use the collected data for its own purposes in accordance with its privacy policies. Google may share the analytics data with its subsidiaries or where required by law or for processing on Google’s behalf. We have no direct control over how Google uses the information it collects via its analytics cookies; however, we only use the service to gather insights for our own purposes as described.

Your Choices: On your first visit to our website, you may see a notification about our use of cookies. By continuing to use our site, you signify your consent to the placement of cookies as described hereiss.com. You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies or alert you when a cookie is being set. Check your browser’s help section for instructions on how to manage cookies, or see the links provided by popular browsers on how to adjust cookie settings. Keep in mind that disabling cookies may affect some features of our website; for example, certain interactive features or preferences might not work properly without cookies.

If you do not want Google Analytics to collect data about your site visits, Google provides an Opt-Out Browser Add-on that you can install. This add-on prevents the Google Analytics script on websites (called ga.js in Universal Analytics or gtag.js/analytics.js in Google Analytics 4) from sharing information about your visit with Google Analytics. You can obtain this browser add-on (for most modern browsers) by visiting Google’s official site for the Google Analytics Opt-out Tool. Using this tool will not affect your general use of our website, but it will stop your data from being included in Google Analytics statistics. Additionally, you can clear or block cookies in your browser at any time to remove existing analytics cookies and prevent future ones.

For more detailed information on how Google Analytics collects and processes data, you may refer to Google’s Privacy & Terms site or Google’s own documentation on “How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services”. Our use of analytics is intended to be fully compliant with privacy regulations. If you have any concerns about our use of cookies or tracking technologies, please contact us (see Contact Information below), and we will be glad to address them.

Sharing of Information

We treat your personal information with care and confidentiality. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to unrelated third parties for their own marketing purposes. However, in the normal course of running our operations, we may share your information with certain trusted parties in the following situations, and always in accordance with this Privacy Policy:

• Service Providers: We may share your data with third-party service providers and vendors who perform services on our behalf. This includes, for example, technology and hosting providers (who keep our website up and running), cloud storage services, email delivery services (for sending newsletters or contact form responses), analytics providers (like Google Analytics), and other IT or customer support services. These service providers are given access only to the information necessary to perform their functions, and they are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for the purposes we specify. We ensure that any service providers handling personal data on our behalf implement adequate security and confidentiality measures
• Business Partners and Affiliates: HVC operates across Africa and collaborates with various partners in the agricultural value chain ecosystem. We may share information (for example, your contact information or project-related details) with our affiliated entities, joint venture partners, or other organizations we work with, but only as needed for legitimate business purposes. For instance, if we co-organize an event or program with a partner, we might share attendee lists or inquiry details with that partner to facilitate the event. In all cases, we will do so in line with applicable data protection laws and, where required, with your consent. Our partners are likewise expected to handle your information in compliance with privacy obligations similar to ours.
• Legal Requirements and Protection: We may disclose personal information to third parties if we believe in good faith that such action is necessary to (a) comply with any law, regulation, legal process, or enforceable governmental request (for example, to comply with a court order or subpoena); (b) enforce our site Terms of Use or other agreements; (c) detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues; or (d) protect the rights, property, or safety of HVC, our users, our employees, or the public. This means if authorities lawfully demand user data, or if we must share information in a legal dispute, we will do so as required by law
• Professional Advisors: On occasion, we might share information with our professional advisors (such as lawyers, auditors, or insurers) on a need-to-know basis. This would only happen for legitimate purposes such as obtaining legal advice or managing risks, and under duties of confidentiality.
• Business Transfers: If HVC undergoes a business transaction such as a merger, acquisition by another company, reorganization, or sale of all or part of its assets, personal data may be transferred to the new owner or successor entity as part of that transaction. We would ensure that any such successor is bound to respect your personal data in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy. We will notify you (for example, via a notice on our website or email) of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information, as may be required by law.
• Aggregated or De-Identified Data: We may share information that has been aggregated or anonymized, so it no longer identifies you personally, with third parties for research, marketing, or other business purposes. For example, we might publish reports or share statistics with partners or funders that show overall usage trends (e.g., total number of site visitors or geographic distribution of users) without revealing any personal details of any individual. Such aggregated data cannot be linked back to you or any specific person.

In all cases of sharing information with third parties, we exercise due diligence to ensure that your data is protected. If personal data is transferred to another country (including outside Nigeria or outside the African continent) – for example, when we use a cloud service or our partners are located abroad – we will take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your privacy. This may include using contracts based on standard data protection clauses, transferring to jurisdictions deemed adequate under relevant laws, or relying on your consent when permitted. We remain responsible for the processing of personal data by any third party acting on our behalf, and we will work to remedy any issues if a service provider fails to meet its privacy obligations.

Lastly, to reiterate: we will not share your personal information with any third party for their own marketing or advertising purposes without your explicit consent. If our sharing practices change in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy accordingly and inform you as required.

Data Security

HVC is committed to safeguarding your personal data. We employ a range of technical and organizational security measures to protect your information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include, for example, secure servers, firewalls, encryption of data transmissions (our website is enabled with HTTPS to encrypt data in transit), and access controls to ensure that personal data is accessible only to those who need to use it for the purposes described in this Policy. We also train our staff on data protection best practices and continuously work to maintain a high level of security.

We regularly review our information collection, storage, and processing practices to guard against unauthorized access and vulnerabilities. Internally, access to personal information is restricted to employees or contractors who have a business need to know such information to perform their duties, and who are subject to confidentiality obligations. We also utilize up-to-date antivirus and monitoring tools to prevent and detect any potential cyber threats.Google Analytics While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, please be aware that no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee absolute security of your information. In particular, emails or web forms are not always secure, so please refrain from sending sensitive personal information (like financial details or national ID numbers) through these channels unless necessary. That said, we will exercise reasonable care and follow industry best practices to protect your personal data. In the unfortunate event of a data breach or security incident, we will follow applicable laws to inform affected individuals and authorities of the breach, and we will take prompt action to mitigate any harm.

By using our website or services, you acknowledge that you understand these inherent security limitations. We encourage you to also take precautions on your end, such as using strong passwords, not sharing your account information (if any) with others, and ensuring you use a secure connection when transmitting data to us.

If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure (for example, if you feel that the security of any account you have with us has been compromised), please immediately notify us using the contact information provided below so that we can investigate and resolve the issue.

Your Choices: On your first visit to our website, you may see a notification about our use of cookies. By continuing to use our site, you signify your consent to the placement of cookies as described hereiss.com. You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies or alert you when a cookie is being set. Check your browser’s help section for instructions on how to manage cookies, or see the links provided by popular browsers on how to adjust cookie settings. Keep in mind that disabling cookies may affect some features of our website; for example, certain interactive features or preferences might not work properly without cookies.

If you do not want Google Analytics to collect data about your site visits, Google provides an Opt-Out Browser Add-on that you can install. This add-on prevents the Google Analytics script on websites (called ga.js in Universal Analytics or gtag.js/analytics.js in Google Analytics 4) from sharing information about your visit with Google Analytics. You can obtain this browser add-on (for most modern browsers) by visiting Google’s official site for the Google Analytics Opt-out Tool. Using this tool will not affect your general use of our website, but it will stop your data from being included in Google Analytics statistics. Additionally, you can clear or block cookies in your browser at any time to remove existing analytics cookies and prevent future ones.

For more detailed information on how Google Analytics collects and processes data, you may refer to Google’s Privacy & Terms site or Google’s own documentation on “How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services”. Our use of analytics is intended to be fully compliant with privacy regulations. If you have any concerns about our use of cookies or tracking technologies, please contact us (see Contact Information below), and we will be glad to address them.

Your Rights

You have certain rights regarding your personal data under the NDPR and other data protection laws. We respect your rights and have processes in place to help you exercise them. These rights include (subject to applicable law and some exceptions):

• Right to Be Informed: You have the right to clear and transparent information about how we collect and use your personal data. This Privacy Policy is one of the ways we fulfill this right. If you have any questions about our data practices, we will be happy to provide further information.
• Right of Access: You are entitled to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. We will provide you with access to your data and details about how it’s used, usually within a reasonable timeframe. This helps you understand what personal data of yours we have and how we are using it. (There are some circumstances, defined by law, where we might have to refuse such a request – for example, if providing the data would infringe on someone else’s rights – but we will inform you if that is the case.)
• Right to Rectification: f any of your personal data that we have is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to correct it. We encourage you to contact us to update your information if it changes or if you notice any inaccuracy. We will update the data and notify any third parties who received the incorrect data, where relevant.
• Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): You can request that we delete your personal information in certain circumstances, for instance if it’s no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or if you withdraw consent and we have no other legal basis to continue processing it. Upon a valid request for erasure, we will take reasonable steps to remove your personal data from our records (and direct our service providers to do the same), unless retention is required by law. Please note that this right is not absolute – sometimes we may need to retain certain information (e.g., for legal compliance or legitimate business interests), but we will inform you if that is the case.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on your consent to process your personal data (such as for sending newsletters or certain marketing messages), you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. For example, you can opt out of marketing emails by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in any email, or by contacting us directly. Once you withdraw consent, we will stop the specific processing that was based on consent. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal.
• Right to Object to Processing: In certain situations, you have the right to object to our processing of your personal data. Notably, you have the unconditional right to opt out of direct marketing – if you no longer wish to receive promotional communications from us, you can object, and we will stop sending them. You may also object if you contest that we have a legitimate interest in processing your data and you have particular reasons to stop it. If you raise an objection, we will consider it and cease processing the information in question unless we have a compelling legitimate ground to continue (or if it’s needed for legal claims).
• Right to Restrict Processing: You can ask us to limit the processing of your personal information in certain cases – for example, while we are verifying the accuracy of data you’ve challenged, or if you need us to preserve data for a legal claim but not otherwise use it. When processing is restricted, we will store your data but not use it until the restriction is lifted
• Right to Data Portability: To the extent required by law, you have the right to receive some of your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and have that data transmitted to you or another organization at your request. This typically applies to data you provided to us and that we process by automated means based on your consent or a contract. We will assist with such requests as technically feasible.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: If you believe your privacy rights have been violated or you are unsatisfied with our handling of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority. For example, in Nigeria, the regulating authority is the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC, which has succeeded NITDA’s bureau). We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns directly before you approach a regulator, so we encourage you to contact us first and we will do our best to resolve any issue. Nevertheless, this right ensures you can seek independent resolution through a supervisory authority if needed.

To exercise any of your rights outlined above, please contact us using the details in the Contact Information section. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to an unauthorized person. We will respond to your requests within the timeframe required by law (generally within one month, but this can be extended for complex requests). There is usually no fee for exercising your rights, but if requests become excessive or unfounded, we reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee or refuse the request as permitted by law.

We are dedicated to upholding your rights and ensuring your personal data is handled transparently and in accordance with applicable laws. If you have any questions about your rights or how to exercise them, you can always reach out to us.

Changes to Policy

We may update or revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We reserve the right to amend this Policy at any time, and any changes will be effective when we post the revised Privacy Policy on our website. If we make any significant changes, we will take appropriate measures to inform you, consistent with the importance of the changes. For example, we may post a prominent notice on our website or notify you via email (if you have provided your email and appropriate consent) to alert you to important changes.

Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to address your inquiries and support you in exercising your privacy rights.

Harvest Value Chain Limited (HVC)

Email: hello@hvcproject.com

Phone: +234 912 220 3166 (09122203166)

You may reach out to us via email or phone, and we will endeavor to respond promptly. If contacting us by email to exercise your rights, please include “Privacy Request” in the subject line and describe the nature of your request.

HVC is based in Nigeria, but operates in multiple countries across Africa. If you contact us, please note that your inquiry may be handled by our team in the appropriate region or forwarded to the relevant personnel in order to best address your issue. Regardless of where you are, we take privacy inquiries seriously and will work to resolve any concerns in accordance with applicable data protection laws and this Policy.

Thank you for trusting Harvest Value Chain Limited with your personal information. We value your engagement and are committed to protecting your privacy while furthering sustainable agricultural value chains across Africa.