Privacy Policy

Version 1.0 — Effective 13 July 2026

A note on this document This is Novaro's first published Privacy Policy. It has not yet been reviewed by a Nigerian-qualified lawyer, and will be formally reviewed as Novaro grows. We take the handling of your personal data seriously, particularly identity documents like your NIN, and wanted this policy live and transparent from day one rather than waiting.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data Novaro collects, why we collect it, how we protect it, and what rights you have over it. It applies to everyone who uses Novaro — shippers, truck owners, and drivers.

1. Who We Are

Novaro is operated by Improvised Technology and Services ("ITS", "we", "us", "our"), a company registered in Nigeria (CAC Reg. No. 7586359), based in Abuja. For the purposes of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA), ITS is the data controller for information collected through Novaro.

2. What Data We Collect

Data	Why we collect it
Full name, email, phone number	To create your account, contact you about your orders, and let other users identify who they're dealing with.
Password	To secure your account. Stored as a one-way cryptographic hash — we cannot see or recover your actual password, even internally.
NIN or passport number (truck owners: required; shippers: optional)	To verify identity, given the trust and money involved in moving cargo. Encrypted before storage — see Section 4.
CAC registration number (business accounts only)	To confirm a business account represents a real registered company. Not encrypted — this is information businesses already display publicly.
Profile picture (optional)	Shown to other users you transact with, purely for your own recognition and trust-building. You may remove it at any time.
Shipment details (pickup/drop-off addresses, cargo description, weight, value)	To provide quotes, match you with a truck owner, and maintain a record of the order.
Payment metadata (amount, status, timestamps)	To manage escrow and commission. Novaro does not store your card number or full bank account details — these are handled directly by our licensed payment processor.
Device and log information (IP address, browser type, access times)	For security — detecting suspicious logins, rate-limiting abuse, and maintaining an audit trail of account activity.

3. How We Use Your Data

To operate the core service — matching shippers with truck owners, processing payments, tracking shipments.
To communicate with you — order updates, OTP verification codes, account notices, and (only if you're a registered user) occasional platform announcements.
To verify identity and reduce fraud on the platform.
To maintain security — detecting and responding to suspicious activity.
To comply with legal obligations under Nigerian law.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties, and we do not use your data for advertising.

4. How We Protect Your Data

Identity numbers (NIN/passport) are encrypted at rest using industry-standard encryption (AES-256), and are never displayed in full to anyone, including our own admin team — administrators can see only whether a document is on file, not its contents.
Passwords are hashed using bcrypt, a one-way algorithm — we cannot reverse a hash back into your original password.
All traffic between your device and Novaro is encrypted via HTTPS.
Access to administrative functions is restricted, logged, and auditable.
We use rate-limiting and account lockout mechanisms to slow down and detect brute-force attacks.

5. Who We Share Data With

We share limited data with the following categories of third party, strictly as needed to operate Novaro:

Payment processor (currently Paystack, or an equivalent CBN-licensed processor) — to collect and hold payments in escrow. They receive what's needed to process a transaction; they do not receive your NIN or CAC number.
Email service provider — to deliver OTP codes, order notifications, and account emails.
Hosting provider — where our servers and databases physically run.
Legal or regulatory authorities — only where required by Nigerian law, or to protect against fraud, abuse, or harm.

We do not otherwise sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

6. How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain account and order data for as long as your account is active, and for a reasonable period afterward to meet legal, tax, and dispute-resolution obligations. If you request deletion of your account, we will remove or anonymize personal data except where we are legally required to retain it (for example, financial transaction records).

7. Your Rights Under Nigerian Law

Under the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, you have the right to:

Know what personal data we hold about you, and request a copy of it.
Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Request deletion of your data, subject to our legal retention obligations.
Object to certain processing of your data.
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, without affecting processing already carried out.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at improvisedtechnology.services@gmail.com. We will respond within a reasonable time and in line with applicable law.

8. Cookies & Session Data

Novaro uses a session cookie to keep you signed in securely. This cookie is essential to the platform functioning and is not used for advertising or cross-site tracking. We do not currently use third-party analytics or advertising cookies.

9. Children's Privacy

Novaro is not intended for use by anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If we become aware that we have, we will delete it promptly.

10. International Data Transfers

Our infrastructure provider may process or store data outside Nigeria as part of standard hosting operations. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure your data continues to receive an appropriate level of protection consistent with the NDPA.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as Novaro grows. Material changes will be reflected by a new version number and effective date at the top of this page.

12. Contact Us

Questions about this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled can be sent to improvisedtechnology.services@gmail.com.

Novaro is operated by Improvised Technology and Services (ITS), CAC Reg. No. 7586359, Abuja, Nigeria.