Your privacy matters to us. This Policy describes our current information practices for the HostelHubb website, mobile application, accommodation marketplace, storage, transport, payments, referrals, and manager tools. It is intended as operational information and should be reviewed by independent Ghanaian counsel for legal compliance.
1. About this Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how NAG HOSTELHUBB ("HostelHubb", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, stores, and shares personal information when you use our mobile application, website, account portal, and related accommodation, storage, transport, referral, payment, and partner services (together, the "Platform").
This Policy should be read together with our Terms and Conditions. By using the Platform, you acknowledge that you have read this Policy. Where consent is required by applicable law, we will request it separately.
2. Information We Collect
The information we collect depends on how you use the Platform and may include:
- Account and identity information, such as your name, email address, phone number, profile photo, gender, institution, and authentication identifiers.
- Authentication information from providers such as Google or Apple when you choose social sign-in. We receive the information made available by the provider and use it to create or access your HostelHubb account.
- Booking and service information, including accommodation preferences, school, room type, storage items and quantities, pickup and delivery details, transport details, dates, booking status, and communications about a booking.
- Payment and transaction information, including payment status, amount, currency, transaction references, refunds, and payout records. Payment card or mobile-money credentials may be processed by payment providers rather than stored directly by HostelHubb.
- Partner information, including hostel ownership or management documents, identity documents, face images, property details, listing content, payout details, and verification records.
- Device and technical information, including IP address, browser or device type, operating system, application version, approximate location, crash information, and access logs.
- Communication information, including messages, support requests, feedback, reviews, survey responses, and information you provide through WhatsApp or other support channels.
- Referral and promotion information, including referral codes, invited users, qualifying bookings, reward status, and promotional activity.
- Referral handoff information, including a referral code stored in a first-party browser cookie or local storage when someone opens a referral link. This temporary handoff expires automatically after 24 hours and is used only to preserve the referrer while the recipient opens the app, signs in, or completes an eligible booking.
3. How We Use Information
We use personal information to:
- Create and secure accounts, authenticate users, complete profile requirements, and prevent unauthorised access.
- Display accommodation, storage, and transport options and process bookings, schedules, pickup, delivery, cancellations, refunds, and support requests.
- Verify hostel managers, service providers, listings, documents, and payout details.
- Process payments, reconcile transactions, calculate commissions, administer manager payouts, detect fraud, and resolve disputes or chargebacks.
- Communicate booking updates, operational notices, service changes, security alerts, and customer support responses.
- Operate, maintain, troubleshoot, measure, and improve the Platform, including research and product development.
- Administer referral programmes, promotions, rewards, and eligibility checks.
- Protect users, staff, partners, property, and the Platform from fraud, abuse, unsafe conduct, unlawful activity, and security threats.
- Comply with legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, court, law-enforcement, and other lawful obligations.
4. Legal Bases and Consent
Depending on the activity, we process information because it is necessary to provide a service or perform a booking, because you have given consent, because we have a legitimate operational or security interest, or because processing is required by law.
You may withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. Withdrawal does not affect processing that occurred before withdrawal or processing that we may continue on another lawful basis. Some information is necessary to provide requested services; if you do not provide it, we may be unable to create an account or fulfil a booking.
5. Sharing Information
We share information only as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Depending on the service, recipients may include:
- Hostel managers and accommodation providers, limited to information needed to review, confirm, and fulfil a booking.
- Storage facilities, pickup teams, delivery providers, drivers, and other service partners, limited to information needed to provide the requested service.
- Payment processors, banks, mobile-money providers, fraud-prevention providers, and payout providers.
- Technology providers that host, secure, analyse, support, or maintain the Platform, databases, authentication, communications, and files.
- Professional advisers, insurers, auditors, regulators, courts, law-enforcement authorities, or other parties where disclosure is required or permitted by law.
- A buyer, successor, or professional adviser in connection with a merger, financing, restructuring, sale, or transfer of all or part of our business.
6. Accommodation, Storage, and Transport Privacy
Accommodation providers may receive the booking and contact details needed to prepare a room, confirm a reservation, apply lawful property rules, and communicate about arrival or move-out. They should use that information only for the relevant service and their legal obligations.
Storage and delivery partners may receive item descriptions, quantities, declared information, pickup and delivery locations, dates, and contact details needed to handle belongings. Do not include passwords, financial credentials, or unnecessary sensitive information in item descriptions.
Transport partners may receive passenger, pickup, destination, schedule, and contact information needed to coordinate a trip. We may share safety-relevant information where reasonably necessary to protect passengers, drivers, or property.
7. Manager Documents and Payout Information
Hostel managers may be asked to provide identity documents, a clear face image, business registration or proof of ownership or management authority, property information, and payout details. We use these materials to verify eligibility, prevent fraud, meet operational requirements, administer listings and payouts, and respond to disputes.
Access to verification and payout information is restricted to authorised staff, relevant service providers, and authorities where necessary. We may retain records of verification decisions, payout adjustments, refunds, disputes, and compliance actions for as long as reasonably required for legitimate business, legal, accounting, fraud-prevention, and dispute-resolution purposes.
8. Cookies and Similar Technologies
The website may use cookies, local storage, pixels, and similar technologies to keep users signed in, remember preferences, protect accounts, understand page performance, measure campaigns, and improve the user experience. Some technologies are essential and cannot be disabled without affecting functionality.
You can control certain cookies through your browser settings. Blocking or deleting cookies may affect sign-in, preferences, analytics, and other Platform features.
9. Communications and Marketing
We may send service messages about accounts, bookings, payments, security, storage schedules, transport changes, and support. These messages are necessary for requested services and are not promotional messages.
Where permitted, we may send information about new services, offers, referrals, or promotions. You can opt out of promotional emails or messages using the available unsubscribe or contact options. We may still send non-promotional service and security communications.
10. Data Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organisational safeguards designed to protect information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, and disclosure. No website, application, network, or storage system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
You are responsible for keeping authentication details private, using a secure device, and notifying us promptly if you suspect unauthorised account activity.
11. Retention and Deletion
We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide services, maintain business and transaction records, administer payouts, investigate disputes, prevent fraud, comply with legal obligations, enforce agreements, and protect our rights.
You may request account closure or deletion by contacting us. Deletion may be limited where information must be retained for legal, accounting, security, fraud-prevention, dispute, or transaction-record purposes. Some content may remain in backups for a limited period before it is securely overwritten.
12. Your Rights
Subject to applicable law and reasonable verification, you may ask us to access, correct, update, or delete personal information we hold about you. You may also ask about how information is used, object to certain processing, withdraw consent, or request a copy of information where applicable.
To make a request, contact support@hostelhubb.com with enough information for us to identify your account and understand your request. We may request additional information to protect against unauthorised requests. You may also have the right to complain to the relevant data-protection authority in Ghana.
13. Children and Young Users
The Platform is designed for students and general users, but it is not directed at children who are below the minimum age permitted by applicable law. If you are under the age required to enter into a contract or use a service independently, you should use the Platform with the involvement and permission of a parent or legal guardian where required.
If we learn that we collected personal information from a child without the required permission, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.
14. International and Third-Party Services
Some technology, authentication, analytics, payment, communication, hosting, or support providers may process information outside Ghana. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to use appropriate contractual, technical, or organisational safeguards required by applicable law.
The Platform may contain links to third-party websites or services. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, and HostelHubb is not responsible for them. Review third-party policies before providing information or using those services.
15. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy when our services, technology, legal obligations, or operations change. We will update the effective date and may provide additional notice for material changes through the Platform, email, or another reasonable channel. Your continued use of the Platform after an updated Policy takes effect means the updated Policy applies to future use.
16. Contact Us
For privacy questions, data requests, security concerns, or complaints, contact:
- NAG HOSTELHUBB
- support@hostelhubb.com
- +233 24 574 6198