Privacy Policy
Last updated: February 2025 | Applicable to Nigerian and Diaspora Users
This comprehensive privacy policy is designed to protect the rights of users in Nigeria and Nigerians in the diaspora, in compliance with Nigerian Data Protection Regulations and international privacy standards.
1. Introduction
HomeQuest is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website and use our services.
2. Information We Collect
We may collect information about you in a variety of ways. The information we may collect on the site includes:
- Personal Data: Name, email address, phone number, mailing address, and other similar information when you register for an account or contact us.
- Property Information: Details about properties you search for, view, or list on our platform.
- Device Information: Browser type, IP address, device type, operating system, and pages visited.
- Cookies and Tracking Data: Information collected through cookies and similar tracking technologies.
3. Use of Your Information
Having accurate information about you permits us to provide you with a smooth, efficient, and customized experience. Specifically, we may use information collected about you via the site to:
- Process your property transactions and provide customer support
- Email you regarding your account or order
- Fulfill and manage purchases, orders, payments, and other transactions
- Improve our website and services
- Send marketing and promotional communications (with your consent)
- Respond to your inquiries and offer customer support
4. Disclosure of Your Information
We may share your information with third parties who perform services on our behalf, including payment processors, hosting providers, analytics companies, and marketing partners. We ensure that these third parties are contractually obligated to use your information only for the purposes of providing the services to us.
5. Security of Your Information
We use administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect your personal information. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
6. Retention of Your Information
We will retain your personal information for as long as your account is active and as reasonably necessary to provide you our services. You can request deletion of your account at any time by contacting us. We may retain certain information as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.
7. Cookies
We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. You can choose to disable cookies through your browser settings, but this may affect the functionality of our website. We use both session and persistent cookies for tracking user preferences and personalizing content.
8. Data Protection Rights (Nigeria & Diaspora)
As a user in Nigeria or a Nigerian in the diaspora, you have robust rights regarding your personal data under the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and international standards:
- Right to Access: You can request access to all personal data we hold about you at any time
- Right to Correction: You can request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
- Right to Deletion: You can request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal and business requirements)
- Right to Data Portability: You can request your data in a portable format to transfer to another service
- Right to Withdraw Consent: You can withdraw consent for processing at any time
- Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge complaints with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@homequest.ng with "DATA RIGHTS REQUEST" in the subject line. We will respond within 30 days.
9. Cross-Border Data Transfer
If you are a Nigerian or diaspora user, we ensure that any data transfers outside Nigeria comply with NDPR requirements. We only transfer data to countries with adequate data protection standards. Any transfers are protected by standard contractual clauses and your explicit consent.
10. Children's Privacy
HomeQuest does not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under 18 years old. If we become aware that we have collected information from a minor, we will take immediate steps to delete such information and terminate the individual's account.
11. International User Compliance
For diaspora users located in jurisdictions with strict data protection laws (EU, UK, US states), we comply with applicable regulations including GDPR and CCPA. Users in these jurisdictions have additional rights as outlined in those regulations.
12. Data Processing and Legal Basis
We process your data based on the following legal grounds:
- Contract Performance: To fulfill your property transaction requests
- Legal Obligation: To comply with regulatory and tax requirements
- Legitimate Interests: To improve our services and prevent fraud
- User Consent: For marketing communications and optional services
13. Third-Party Links and Services
Our website may contain links to third-party websites and services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites before providing your personal information. When you click external links, you are leaving HomeQuest's platform.
14. Fraud Prevention and Security
To protect our users and prevent fraud, we may collect and process additional information including:
- Payment transaction details and verification information
- Device identifiers and IP addresses to prevent fraudulent access
- Communication records related to dispute resolution
This processing is necessary for our legitimate interest in protecting user accounts and preventing financial fraud.
15. Data Retention Schedule
We retain personal data only as long as necessary to provide our services and comply with legal obligations:
- Account Data: Retained while account is active, plus 7 years for tax/legal compliance
- Transaction Records: Retained for 10 years as required by Nigerian law
- Marketing Data: Retained until you unsubscribe
- Support Communications: Retained for 3 years
16. Changes to This Privacy Policy
HomeQuest reserves the right to modify this privacy policy at any time to reflect regulatory changes or our business practices. Changes will be posted to this page with an updated "Last updated" date. For significant changes, we will notify users via email or prominent notice on our website. Your continued use of the site after changes constitute acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.
17. Data Protection Officer & Complaints
For privacy concerns and data protection inquiries, you can contact:
- Email: privacy@homequest.ng
- Data Protection Complaint: dpo@homequest.ng
- Mailing Address: HomeQuest Office, Lagos, Nigeria
- Response Time: We aim to respond to all inquiries within 30 days
If you're unsatisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Nigeria or your local data protection authority.
18. Specific Provisions for Diaspora Users
For Nigerians abroad and diaspora users, we maintain compliance with privacy laws in your jurisdiction including GDPR (EU), PIPEDA (Canada), and state laws (US). When you provide an address outside Nigeria, we apply the most stringent applicable privacy protections.