Privacy Policy

1. About this policy

Malipo is a business-record service for businesses in Zambia, operated by Botsmith Technologies under the Botsmith Africa brand. This policy applies when you use Malipo through WhatsApp or its web interfaces.

2. Information we receive

Depending on the features you use, we receive:

• Phone and contact information, business details and information about authorised staff.
• Business information such as products, sales, expenses, stock, customers and balances, and the records created from it.
• Messages, images, voice messages or barcode information you choose to submit.
• Information needed for subscription payments and support requests.
• Basic technical information needed to operate and secure Malipo.

3. How we use information

We may use automated or assisted processing to understand your instructions, create and maintain business records, provide summaries and reports, manage access and payments, provide support, and keep Malipo reliable and secure. We do not sell your business information or use your records for advertising.

If you send Malipo a voice message, we process it to understand your instruction. Malipo does not keep the voice recording as part of your business records. Information understood from the message may become part of the record you asked Malipo to create.

Malipo's web features use essential cookies or browser storage to keep sessions and supported features working. We do not use them for advertising tracking.

4. When information is shared

We may share information with service providers and partners where necessary to operate Malipo, process payments or provide a feature you use. We may also disclose information where required by applicable law.

5. WhatsApp and payments

When you use Malipo through WhatsApp, your messages and media also pass through WhatsApp and are subject to Meta's applicable privacy practices. Botsmith does not control Meta's independent processing.

Subscription payments are processed with pawaPay through supported mobile-money networks, currently MTN, Airtel and Zamtel. Payment processing involves your payer phone number, selected network, amount, currency, payment reference and status. Malipo does not ask for your mobile-money PIN or banking password.

6. How long we keep information

We maintain business records to provide Malipo and preserve your business's financial history, subject to deletion requests and applicable retention requirements. Other information is kept for the purposes described in this policy. Some information may need to be retained to meet applicable legal obligations.

Deleting an account does not necessarily remove every backup or record that must legitimately be retained immediately. Contact us to establish what can be removed and what exceptions apply to your request.

7. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards to protect information handled by Malipo. No digital service can guarantee absolute security.

Keep your phone secure. If you allow staff to use Malipo for your business, only authorise people you trust and remove their access when it is no longer needed.

8. Your choices and deletion requests

You may contact us about access to, correction of, or a copy of your personal information, or to request its deletion. We may need to verify your identity and authority.

Only the business owner may request deletion of their business and its records from Malipo. Staff members and other people with shared access cannot authorise that deletion. Removing a staff member, leaving a business and deleting the business from Malipo are separate actions.

Where account deletion is available in Malipo, the owner can use Settings → Delete account. The owner may also contact support for assistance with a deletion request.

Requests concerning your own personal information are distinct from authority to delete another person's business from Malipo.

9. Contact and updates

For privacy questions or requests, email support@botsmithafrica.com. Updates to this policy will be published here with a revised date. See also our Terms of Service.