Privacy policy

This policy explains what personal information AcademHep collects, why, who sees it and what your rights are. AcademHep decides how this information is used and is responsible for it. Questions go to privacy@academhep.com.

1. What we collect

We ask only for what we need to run the service.

• Your account: name, email address, phone number and a password, which is stored in a scrambled form we cannot read.
• If you are a student: your institution, level of study, programme, country and expected completion date.
• If you are a mentor: your current role, years of experience, a short description, the tracks you mentor in, the credential documents you upload, and the bank account we should pay your fees to.
• Your projects: requests, files, submissions, feedback, chat messages, problem reports and ratings.
• Payments: the amount, date, reference, status and how it was paid. Payments are handled by Paystack. We never receive your card number.
• Security records: the internet address used for sign-ins and for sensitive actions, kept in a security log.

2. Why we use it

• To provide the service you asked for: matching you with a mentor, running your project and taking payment.
• To tell you what is happening: emails and notices about your requests, payments and projects.
• To keep AcademHep safe and fair: preventing fraud, enforcing our rules and resolving disputes.
• To meet legal duties, such as keeping payment records.

We do not use your information for advertising and we do not sell it.

3. Messages and files inside a project

Everything written or uploaded inside a project (chat messages, submissions, feedback and files) is part of that project's record. Our team can read it, and we run automated checks on it. We do this to keep students and mentors safe, to resolve disputes and to enforce the rule that work and communication stay on AcademHep. Please do not put anything in a project that you would not want our team to read.

4. Who sees what

• Your mentor sees your name, level, institution and programme, and what you put in the project. They do not see your phone number or email address. Before a mentor accepts a project they see only what you wrote about the project, so please do not put your name or contact details in your request.
• Your student sees your first name, role, years of experience and description. They do not see your surname, phone number, email address, credentials or bank details. Files can carry their author's name in their properties: we replace it in Word files you send, but please check PDFs and images yourself.
• In a WhatsApp group: if a student or mentor asks for a WhatsApp group for a project, everyone in that group can see each other's phone number and WhatsApp name, as in any WhatsApp group. That is outside our control, so ask for a group only if you are comfortable with it.
• Our team sees what is needed to run and protect the service. Staff accounts are protected by two-step sign-in and their actions are logged.
• Companies that work for us: Paystack for payments, and the providers that host the platform and deliver our emails. They may only use your information to provide that service to us.
• Authorities, only where the law requires it.

5. Where it is kept and for how long

The platform is hosted with a commercial hosting provider, whose servers may be outside Nigeria. Where information leaves Nigeria we rely on the safeguards the law allows.

• Account details are kept while your account is open.
• Project records are kept for up to two years after a project closes, in case of a dispute or a question from you.
• Payment records are kept for at least six years, as tax and accounting rules require.
• Security logs are kept for up to two years.

After that the information is deleted or made anonymous.

6. How we protect it

• The site is served over an encrypted connection.
• Files are stored privately and are only released to the people on that project and to our team.
• Mentors' bank account numbers are stored encrypted.
• Sensitive actions are recorded in a log that cannot be edited from the site.

No system is perfectly secure. If something happens that puts your information at risk, we will tell you and the regulator as the law requires.

7. Your rights

Under the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 you can ask us to:

• show you the information we hold about you;
• correct anything that is wrong (you can change most of it yourself on your profile);
• delete your information, where we have no legal reason to keep it;
• stop or limit a use of your information that you object to;
• give you a copy you can take elsewhere.

Write to privacy@academhep.com and we will answer within 30 days. If you are not satisfied you can complain to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.

8. Cookies

We use only the cookies needed to keep you signed in and to protect forms from misuse. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

9. Age

AcademHep is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone younger.

10. Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will tell you by email or on your dashboard before the change takes effect.