Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Hanwok is a marketplace that helps people find skilled Artisans nearby, agree payment terms, chat, and pay through escrowed batches. Hanwok is the data controller: we decide why and how personal data is processed for the Services.

We are not your employer, and we are not a party to the job agreement between a Customer and an Artisan. Escrow and disputes relate to payment processing; they are not insurance for job quality or off-app safety.

2. Who this Policy covers

This Policy applies to:

• • Customers (people who hire and pay)
• • Artisans (people who offer skills and get paid)
• • Visitors to our website or marketing pages
• • People whose information appears in limited ways because another User uses a feature (for example, contacts sync - see below)

You must be 18+ (or otherwise legally capable) to use Hanwok.

3. Personal data we collect

Depending on how you use Hanwok, we may process:

4. How we use personal data

We use personal data to:

1. Create and manage accounts - sign-up, login, OTP verification, password reset, profile settings
2. Operate the marketplace - show jobs and Artisans, skills/services, search and recommendations tied to the product
3. Location features - match or surface local opportunities using selected places and, if enabled, GPS for proximity
4. Chat and collaboration - deliver messages, presence, and in-thread invoices / payment terms
5. Payments and escrow - take payments, hold and release batches per product rules, wallet credits, withdrawals when enabled, fees, accounting
6. Disputes, fraud, and safety - review relevant records (including relevant chat/payment context) for disputes, chargebacks, fraud prevention, Guidelines enforcement, and legal process
7. Contacts matching (optional) - find existing Users / invite flows only; not to sell data or spam non-Users from sync alone
8. Service communications - OTP, security alerts, chat/payment/ dispute notices needed to run your account
9. Marketing communications (optional) - product updates, promotions, or non-essential digests, with a way to opt out; OS push permission still applies
10. Improve and secure the Services - debugging, performance, preventing abuse, enforcing Terms
11. Comply with law - tax, accounting, regulatory, and lawful requests

We do not sell your personal data.

Signup acceptance of this Policy is not unlimited consent to promotional marketing. Service messages may still be sent as needed to operate your account.

5. What other Users can see

Hanwok is a discovery marketplace. Some information is visible to other Users by design.

Typically visible to other Users (as the product shows it):

• • Display name, profile photo
• • Skills, services, and profile information you choose to publish
• • Jobs and content you post
• • Reviews/ratings as designed in the product
• • Area/place you chose to show for discovery

Not shown on public profile / not shared with other Users by default:

• • Your phone number (other Users contact you via in-app chat; we do not expose your number as a profile field)
• • Precise GPS coordinates
• • Bank details and KYC documents
• • Your contacts list
• • Card data (Paystack)
• • Chat content with people who are not participants in that chat

Chat is visible to the participants in that conversation. Hanwok may also access relevant chat/payment content for disputes, fraud/safety, legal process, or Guidelines enforcement.

If you type a phone number or other personal details into a chat message, that is your choice and the other participant may see it.

Public job share links only show information you published for that job.

6. How we share personal data

We share personal data only as needed for the purposes in section 4, including with:

Service providers (processors)

Vendors that process data on our instructions, such as:

• • Cloud hosting and databases
• • Firebase / push notification delivery
• • Analytics or operational tools we use to run the product (if enabled)

Payment processor

Paystack processes payments and related financial data under its own terms and privacy policy. We receive payment status, references, and related records needed to run escrow and wallets.

Other Users

As described in section 5 (profile, jobs, chat participants).

Legal, safety, and corporate

• • To comply with law, regulation, or valid legal process
• • To protect Hanwok, Users, or the public (fraud, security, safety)
• • In connection with a merger, acquisition, or asset transfer, subject to appropriate protections

We do not sell personal data to data brokers.

7. Contacts sync

If you enable contacts sync:

• • We request OS permission and explain the purpose in plain language before syncing
• • Use is limited to finding people already on Hanwok and/or invite flows
• • We do not sell contact data or use synced contacts as a spam list
• • You can refuse sync and still use core parts of the app

We do not market to non-Users solely because their number appeared in someone's address book.

8. Push notifications, OTP, and email/SMS

• • Service messages (OTP, security, chat, invoice/payment) are sent as needed to operate your account.
• • Marketing / non-essential digests require a separable opt-out where offered, and push requires OS permission.
• • Device tokens are used to deliver notifications, not sold as an audience list.

OTP: In production, one-time codes are sent to you via the messaging provider. Hanwok staff tools are not meant to receive human-readable OTPs; internal logs should use masked or metadata-only records where logging is needed.

9. International processing

Personal data may be processed outside Nigeria by cloud, payments, push, and similar vendors. Where we use such vendors, we do so under contracts and safeguards appropriate to the service. Using Hanwok means this cross-border processing may occur. We do not claim that all data remains only in Nigeria unless we separately guarantee residency for a specific system.

10. Retention

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purposes in this Policy, including:

• • Profile and social content - while your account is active; deletable or anonymizable on request (see section 11)
• • Payment, escrow, dispute, wallet and fraud records - longer retention for accounting, legal, chargeback, and anti-fraud needs (periods set with our legal/compliance requirements)
• • Chat - may be deleted or anonymized on request except where needed for open disputes, investigations, or legal holds
• • Device tokens - removed or deactivated on logout / device deactivate flows.

We may delay or limit deletion disputes, balances, chargebacks, or legal holds exist.

11. Your rights and choices

Subject to Nigerian data-protection law and applicable exceptions, you may request to:

• • Access - personal data we hold about you
• • Correct - inaccurate data
• • Delete - or anonymize data (with the limits in section 10)
• • Withdraw consent - where processing is consent-based (for example optional GPS, contacts sync, marketing push) without affecting processing that must continue to run your account or meet legal duties
• • Object - to certain processing, where the law allows

How to request: email hello@hanwok.com from the phone/email on your account (or with enough detail for us to verify you).

Until in-app account deletion ships, deletion requests may be handled by support. We will not promise that “everything disappears instantly” if payment or dispute records must be kept.

You can also:

• • Revoke OS permissions (location, contacts, notifications) in device settings
• • Opt out of marketing communications where we provide that control

12. Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational measures appropriate to the risk (access controls, transport encryption where standard, least-privilege practices). No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. Please protect your login credentials and device.

13. Third-party links and services

The Services may link to third-party sites or open Paystack checkout. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies. This Policy applies only to Hanwok’s processing.

14. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version with a new effective date and, where required, provide additional notice. Continued use after the effective date means you accept the updated Policy.

15. Contact

Hanwok - Privacy
Email: hello@hanwok.com

If you have an unresolved concern, you may also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant Nigerian data-protection authority.

Quick summary

(This summary is for quick reference and is not a substitute for the Policy)