Privacy notice

1. Who this notice covers

Lintech Telecom operates Mlezi, a marketplace for adult caregivers and employers/parents. The initial service connects families hiring in Kenya with caregivers, including people joining from Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda. Mlezi currently provides listings and introductions, rather than recruiting, placing, employing or supervising workers.

Accounts are for people aged 18 or older. We do not offer children accounts. Describe care needs by general age group; do not publish children’s names, photos, school details, medical records or exact addresses. Report an underage account or inappropriate information through Support.

2. Information we collect and its sources

Information comes directly from users, their marketplace interactions, administrators handling a case and the providers operating the service. Earlier Mlezi account records may be carried forward for continuity; account ownership still requires verification. Do not put ID numbers, passwords, private contact details or other people’s sensitive information in public fields.

• Account details: email, phone, account role and name where provided, with verification, credentials and session records needed for authentication.
• Caregiver profiles: photo, general location, experience, services, languages, skills, age groups cared for, availability, expected pay and bio supplied by the caregiver.
• Identity evidence: private national ID image and recent selfie, plus the profile photo, for manual identity and adult-age review. The ID image can contain more information than the fields used in a review.
• Manual payment reports: plan, expected amount, M-Pesa receipt reference, paying phone, status and administrator confirmation/rejection records. These are private account records, not public profile content.
• Marketplace records: shortlists, contact unlocks, membership dates, employer reviews, caregiver replies and reports. Reviews and reports can contain information supplied by another user.
• Support/privacy cases: issue details, messages, guest contact email and administrator decisions or restriction reasons.
• Technical information: authentication/session information, security events, provider connection/usage records and cookie choices. Optional search preferences stay in your browser tab.

3. Purposes and intended processing grounds

We use information to provide and secure accounts, publish profiles, run search and contact access, review identity evidence, calculate ratings, moderate misuse, answer support and handle access/correction/deletion requests. Required fields are labelled. Without required account information, registration cannot be completed; without required caregiver evidence and approval, a caregiver cannot be published.

The intended grounds are providing the service requested under the user agreement, proportionate legitimate interests in security and preventing misuse, consent where required for optional processing, and applicable legal obligations. The operator must confirm the appropriate grounds and necessity of mandatory ID/selfie processing before launch. Accepting terms or an upload permission does not waive privacy rights or authorize unrelated uses.

Optional font loading and remembered search filters require your cookie choice. We do not currently use advertising trackers, sell personal information, or run automated face matching, facial templates or liveness verification.

4. Identity and age review

An authorized administrator compares the ID, selfie and profile photo and checks that the ID birth date indicates an age of at least 18. The full birth date entered for that calculation is not saved in the review record; the result, reviewer and time are recorded. The retained ID image can still contain the birth date and ID number.

Identity checked records this manual review. It is not an issuer-backed identity validation, criminal/background check, or guarantee of authenticity, suitability or conduct. Uploads, reviews and Premium do not grant this badge automatically. Identity/profile-photo changes can require a fresh review.

Use Privacy and account or Support to withdraw a review request, question a decision or request evidence deletion. We will assess the request and explain effects on publication and any justified retention. A publicly listed caregiver must still have the required evidence and approval.

5. Who sees what

Shortlists and private identity/support records are not public profiles. Necessary disclosures for valid legal processes or serious safety/security concerns are assessed for lawful basis and scope. Deleting information here cannot always recall copies another person has already downloaded or shared.

• Visitors can see approved public caregiver profiles, profile photos, stated services/experience, availability, expected pay and public reviews/replies. Do not include private information in these fields.
• Employers with contact access can unlock a caregiver’s phone/email. Previously unlocked contacts remain accessible after ordinary pass expiry, subject to account deletion and identity/safety restrictions.
• Authorized administrators access private evidence and case information needed for review, moderation and support. Privileged access requires additional administrator verification.
• Service providers process information needed for hosting, database/storage, authentication, email and requested anti-spam or optional font features.

6. Providers and international processing

Providers and their subprocessors may process data outside Kenya. A European database location does not establish that every provider processes all information only there. Actual deployments, processor agreements, destinations and lawful transfer safeguards must be confirmed before launch; this notice remains a draft until that review is complete. Ask through Support for applicable arrangements. Website use is not blanket consent to international transfers.

• Convex: authentication, database functions, file storage, sessions and operational records.
• Resend: account email and support acknowledgements/replies, including recipient address and email content.
• Website hosting: frontend delivery and connection information. Vercel is the planned host; the final deployment must be confirmed.
• Cloudflare Turnstile: browser/network information and challenge results when the visitor chooses to load the guest-support anti-spam check.
• Google Fonts: IP address and browser request information when optional font loading is accepted.

7. Search, paid visibility and decisions

Search applies the employer’s filters before showing labelled matching Premium profiles first, with rotating exposure. Other matching profiles follow. Keyword synonyms match stated information; they do not infer nationality, work eligibility or skills. Premium does not improve identity decisions or ratings.

Ratings are calculated from public employer reviews. Unlocking a contact permits a review but does not prove hiring. Identity decisions and moderation have human review routes through Support. Mlezi does not automatically recruit or hire a caregiver on your behalf.

8. Retention and deletion

Deletion is scheduled/batched, so removal can finish after a threshold rather than at its exact instant. An account-deletion request hides caregiver availability and restricts ordinary use immediately, followed by a seven-day cancellation period before personal records and associated files are purged. Limited pseudonymous audit/financial references may remain where justified.

Cloud backups, provider logs and former migration/rollback copies need their own approved retention and secure-disposal schedule. That schedule is not yet finalized. Live-record deletion does not immediately erase every protected backup. Final backup limits, restore safeguards and payment-record retention must be documented before the relevant production use.

• Active accounts and profiles: retained while the account is active, subject to correction, deletion and justified obligations.
• Current ID image: retained for review while the caregiver account remains; necessity and duration require approval before launch.
• Reviewed selfies and obsolete identity evidence: scheduled for removal 30 days after the review decision. The current profile photo and ID remain separately.
• Pending identity requests: expire after 30 days; the expired selfie is removed and a fresh submission is needed.
• Unclaimed uploads: expire after approximately one hour. Security audit events: scheduled for removal after 90 days.
• Support conversations and associated email jobs: resolved tickets after 90 days without updates; other tickets after 180 days without activity. Account-linked tickets are also removed with account deletion.
• Cookie choice: up to 180 days. Optional search preferences and authentication storage are tab-based, subject to browser behavior; optional search preferences are cleared when optional use is declined.

9. Support emails and guest requests

Guest support requires an email for acknowledgement and follow-up. It is private to authorized staff and email providers, unverified, and not proof of account ownership. Support acknowledgement and staff replies use Resend. Direct email replies go to the configured team inbox; they are not automatically imported into the app. Legacy guest tickets can still be accessible with a reference and secret access key.

Do not send ID images, passwords, login codes or payment PINs through support. We target addressing support issues within 48 hours; statutory privacy-request deadlines remain separate. This is not an emergency service.

10. Your rights and complaints

You can ask how your data is used, request access or correction, object to processing, seek deletion where applicable, and withdraw consent where processing relies on it. You may also ask about applicable portability/restrictions and challenge a decision affecting you. Rights depend on the circumstances; proportionate identity verification may be needed and any lawful limitation will be explained.

Use Privacy and account for a portable summary, a broader access/correction request or deletion. The summary excludes credentials, private file identifiers and other people’s private contacts; request additional personal records separately. If unable to sign in, use Support. You can change optional cookie choices at any time. You may complain to Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner without giving up that right by first contacting us.

11. Security and changes

We use access controls, administrator verification, private evidence storage, upload limits and audit logging. These reduce risk; absolute security cannot be promised. Keep credentials private and report suspected misuse. Incidents are assessed and notifications provided where applicable law requires them.

Material notice changes receive a new version. We explain changes affecting existing users and seek additional permission where required. An earlier acceptance does not authorize unrelated new purposes.