Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Phinmon is a verified insights marketplace that connects respondents who share opinions in paid studies with researchers who run research campaigns. Our platform is built and operated in Nigeria.

For privacy questions, contact us via in-app chat (Crisp) or through Evergreene Software Ltd.

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you use Phinmon, we may collect:

• Account details: name, email address, role (respondent, researcher, or admin), account status, and records of your acceptance of our Terms and this Privacy Policy.
• Identity verification data: legal name, date of birth, National Identification Number (NIN) verification results, and (where enabled) liveness checks. We do not store your raw (plaintext) NIN on the platform. After verification we retain your NIN only in encrypted form, plus a one-way hash, so we can verify identity and prevent the same NIN from being registered on more than one account. We do not use NIN for marketing.
• Profile information: demographics you provide (for example gender, state, occupation) to improve study matching.
• Survey and campaign data: survey responses you submit, campaign settings you create, and related research content.
• Payment and wallet data: transaction records, withdrawal requests, and bank account details needed to pay you or process researcher payments (via our payment partners).
• Support communications: messages you send us through chat or email.
• Technical and usage data: IP address, device/browser type, pages visited, approximate location derived from IP, and similar diagnostics needed to run and secure the service.

3. How we use your information

We use personal data to:

• Create and manage your account, including OTP sign-in
• Verify identity and prevent fraud or duplicate accounts
• Operate surveys, campaigns, wallets, and payouts
• Send service emails (sign-in codes, survey alerts, account notices)
• Provide customer support and respond to your messages
• Understand how people use Phinmon so we can improve the product
• Meet legal, security, and compliance obligations

We do not sell your personal data. We do not use analytics or chat tools to build advertising profiles for unrelated third-party marketing. Tools described below are used only to study how users interact with Phinmon and to reply to users on our platform.

4. Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors and users navigate Phinmon — for example which pages are visited, how often features are used, and where people drop off. This helps us improve product design, performance, and content. Analytics scripts load only after you accept non-essential cookies in our cookie banner (or equivalent preference).

• Purpose: study usage of our platform only (product improvement and performance).
• We do not use Google Analytics to sell your data or to enable unrelated third-party advertising against your Phinmon profile.
• Google may process technical data (such as truncated IP, device/browser info, and page events) under its own terms as our analytics processor. See Google's Privacy Policy.

5. Crisp chat

We use Crisp to power in-app customer support chat so we can answer questions, help with account issues, and reply to users on our platform. The chat widget loads only after you accept non-essential cookies.

• Purpose: support conversations only — helping you use Phinmon and resolving issues you raise.
• Chat content, and basic identifiers you share in chat (such as name or email if provided), are used so our team can respond to you. They are not sold or licensed for unrelated third-party marketing use by us.
• Crisp processes chat data as our support tooling provider. See Crisp's Privacy Policy.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

We use essential cookies and similar technologies that are necessary to keep you signed in, protect accounts, and remember security preferences. Non-essential analytics (Google Analytics) and support chat (Crisp) cookies or scripts load only if you accept them via our cookie banner. You can change your browser settings to block cookies; blocking essential cookies may limit parts of the service (for example staying logged in).

7. Service providers and sharing

We share data only with trusted processors who help us run Phinmon, and only as needed for that purpose — not for their independent commercial use of your Phinmon data. These may include:

• Identity verification providers (for example QoreID) for NIN / liveness checks
• Payment processors (for example Paystack) for deposits, transfers, and payouts
• Email delivery for OTP codes and service messages
• Google Analytics and Crisp, as described above (when you consent)
• Hosting and infrastructure providers that store or transmit data securely

We may also disclose information if required by law, regulation, court order, or to protect the rights, safety, and integrity of Phinmon, our users, or the public.

When you complete a survey, researchers receive your responses together with an anonymised respondent identifier and limited verification flags needed for research quality (for example whether NIN verification is complete). They do not receive your email or legal name in standard response exports. They are expected to use that data only for the study purpose and not for unrelated third-party resale.

8. Data security

We use technical and organisational measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the data, including encryption for sensitive identity fields (such as NIN), access controls, and secure transmission. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure; we work to reduce risk and respond to incidents promptly.

9. Data retention

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purposes in this policy — including operating your account, completing payouts, preventing fraud (including encrypted NIN and hash records used to block duplicate NINs), and meeting legal or accounting requirements. When data is no longer required, we delete or anonymise it where practicable.

10. Your rights

Subject to applicable Nigerian data protection law, you may have the right to:

• Access personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request deletion or restriction, where legally available
• Object to certain processing
• Withdraw consent where processing is consent-based (including non-essential cookies)

You can request account deletion from Settings in the product. You may also contact us through Crisp chat or via Evergreene Software Ltd. We may need to verify your identity, settle open balances, and retain limited records where required for fraud prevention, accounting, or law before completing a deletion request.

11. Children's privacy

Phinmon is intended for adults aged 18 and over who can lawfully create an account and complete identity verification. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided data to us, contact us so we can take appropriate action.

12. International processing

Some providers (including Google Analytics and Crisp) may process data on servers outside Nigeria. Where that happens, we rely on appropriate contractual and organisational safeguards and use those providers only for the platform purposes described in this policy.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top will change when we do. Material changes may require in-product re-acceptance of this Privacy Policy together with our Terms of Service before you continue using Phinmon.

14. Contact

Questions about privacy, Google Analytics, Crisp chat, or your data rights: use the Crisp chat widget on Phinmon (when enabled), or reach Evergreene Software Ltd at www.evergreenesoftware.com.