01. Who we are
Near-U is operated by Near-U Ltd., a private company limited by shares, registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria (RC 9620980). Our registered office is at:
Shop 22/23, Block P, Robinson Plaza, Deco Road, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria
Throughout this policy, "Near-U", "we", "us", and "our" refer to Near-U Ltd. and our affiliates. We are the data controller for the personal information described below, which means we are the ones deciding what gets collected and how it gets used. If you have a question about anything in this policy, write to us at privacy@near-u.ng.
02. Information we collect
We only collect what we actually need to run the marketplace. Here's the full list, grouped by when we get it.
When you create an account
- Identity: your full name, phone number, email address, and a password (which we never store in plain text).
- Role: whether you signed up as a client, a service provider, or a field agent.
- Optional profile photo you choose to upload.
When you complete provider verification
If you sign up as a service provider, we ask for additional documents so we can verify you're a real, trustworthy person before clients book you:
- A clear selfie photo for face match.
- One government-issued ID document (NIN slip, Voter's Card, Driver's License, or International Passport).
- If you trade as a registered business, your CAC certificate.
- Your trade categories, service area (LGAs and optional GPS pin), pricing, and a short bio.
When you book a service or accept a booking
- The service details — what you need done, when, and where.
- Your address or GPS location for the job (shared only with the provider you book, only after booking is accepted).
- Messages exchanged between client and provider through the platform.
- Photos or files either party uploads as part of the job (e.g. before/after pictures, receipts).
When you pay or get paid
- Payment metadata from Paystack (transaction reference, amount, status). We do not see or store your full card number, CVV, or bank login — Paystack handles that directly and is PCI-DSS certified.
- For providers receiving payouts: your bank account name, account number, and bank code so we can send your earnings.
- Wallet top-up and withdrawal records.
When you use the site
Some information is collected automatically as part of how the web works:
- Your device type, browser, operating system, and approximate IP-derived location.
- Pages you visit on Near-U and the actions you take on them.
- Cookies and similar technologies — only those you've consented to. See section 07 for details.
- Search queries you make through the AI search (we keep these to improve matching).
When you communicate with us
- Support messages, dispute submissions, and any photos or files you attach.
- Call records if you contact our support team by phone.
03. Why we collect it
Under the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), we need a lawful basis to process your information. We rely on these four:
- Performance of a contract: we need your information to deliver the service you signed up for — matching clients to providers, processing bookings, holding payments in escrow, etc.
- Consent: for optional things like marketing emails, location sharing, and non-essential cookies — you can withdraw consent any time.
- Legal obligation: for things we must do by law — keeping financial records, responding to lawful requests from authorities, AML / KYC checks.
- Legitimate interest: for things like fraud prevention, platform security, and product improvement — balanced against your right to privacy.
04. How we use your information
- Run the marketplace: match you with the right pros, deliver bookings, process payments, send notifications about your bookings via email, SMS, and in-app.
- Verify identities: compare your selfie to your ID document, check submitted documents against the issuing register where possible.
- Keep the platform safe: detect fraud, prevent abuse, investigate disputes, ban bad actors.
- Provide support: respond to your questions, resolve issues with bookings.
- Improve Near-U: understand which features work, where people drop off, what's confusing. Always aggregated and anonymous where possible.
- Comply with the law: tax records, anti-money-laundering checks, responding to lawful requests from regulators.
- Communicate with you about service updates, security alerts, and (only if you've consented) marketing news.
05. Who we share it with
Near-U does not sell your personal information. We share it only with the parties listed below, only for the purposes described.
Other Near-U users
When a client books a provider, the provider sees the client's display name, the booking details, and the agreed location/time. When a provider lists services, clients see the provider's display name (or business name for verified companies), trade categories, ratings, and review excerpts. Full personal details (phone, exact address) are only shared between matched parties after a booking is confirmed.
Payment processor — Paystack
Paystack Payments Limited processes all card and bank transfer payments on Near-U. They are PCI-DSS Level 1 certified and licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Their own privacy policy applies to the payment data they handle.
SMS provider — Termii
Termii delivers our transactional SMS messages (booking confirmations, OTP codes, dispute updates). They process your phone number and the message body solely to deliver the message.
Infrastructure providers
Hostinger International Ltd. hosts our servers and stores our databases. Cloudflare provides DDoS protection and CDN delivery. Our email service handles outgoing transactional email. These vendors process data on our instructions only — they don't use it for their own purposes.
Analytics and marketing partners
If you've consented to Analytics cookies, we may share anonymised usage data with Google Analytics. If you've consented to Marketing cookies, we may share advertising-relevant data with Meta and Google for remarketing. You can manage both via the .
When required by law
We will disclose personal information to law enforcement, regulators (including the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau), courts, or other authorities when we are legally required to — or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect a person's life or prevent serious harm.
06. International transfers
Some of the third-party services we use (Cloudflare, our email service, Google Analytics) process data outside Nigeria. When that happens, we rely on the recipient operating under data-protection laws comparable to NDPR, on Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable, or on your explicit consent. You can ask us at any time which of your information has been transferred outside Nigeria and on what legal basis.
07. Cookies and tracking
Near-U uses cookies and similar technologies (local storage, pixels) for four purposes: strictly necessary functions like keeping you signed in, functional preferences like remembering your shared location, analytics to understand site usage, and marketing for remarketing on third-party platforms. Only strictly necessary cookies fire by default — everything else stays off until you opt in.
You can review, change, or withdraw your cookie choices at any time:
08. How long we keep your data
- Account information: retained for as long as your account is active, plus 30 days after deletion (in case you change your mind).
- Booking and transaction records: retained for 7 years after the booking, in line with Nigerian tax and accounting law.
- Identity verification documents: retained for as long as you remain a verified provider, plus 5 years after your account closes (to defend against fraud claims).
- Messages between users: retained for 2 years after the related booking closes.
- Support tickets: retained for 3 years.
- Cookies and analytics: retained per the lifetime declared in the cookie preference center (most expire within 30 days to 2 years).
- Marketing email lists: retained until you unsubscribe.
When the retention period ends, your information is either deleted or fully anonymised so it can no longer be linked back to you.
09. Your rights under NDPR
Under the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation, you have the following rights over your personal information. You can exercise any of them by emailing privacy@near-u.ng — we'll respond within 30 days at no cost.
- Right to access: ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Right to correction: ask us to fix anything that's wrong or outdated.
- Right to deletion: ask us to delete your information (subject to the retention periods above for legal/financial records).
- Right to object: tell us to stop processing your information for a specific purpose, especially marketing.
- Right to restriction: ask us to pause processing while we investigate a complaint or correction request.
- Right to data portability: ask us to send your information to you or another provider in a common machine-readable format.
- Right to withdraw consent: any consent you gave us (e.g. marketing emails, cookies) can be withdrawn at any time — though this doesn't affect anything done before the withdrawal.
- Right to complain: if you believe we've mishandled your information, you can complain directly to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) at ndpc.gov.ng.
10. How we protect your data
We take security seriously. Among other measures:
- All traffic between your browser and Near-U is encrypted (HTTPS / TLS).
- Passwords are stored hashed with bcrypt — we cannot read them.
- Card details are never stored on Near-U's servers — they go straight to Paystack.
- Optional two-factor authentication (2FA) is available for every account from the Security tab in your profile.
- Admin access to user data is permission-gated and audit-logged.
- Identity documents are stored in restricted-access cloud storage with encryption at rest.
No system is perfectly secure. If we ever experience a data breach that affects your information, we will notify you and the relevant regulator within 72 hours of becoming aware, as required by NDPR.
11. Children's data
Near-U is not directed at children under 18 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under that age. If you believe a child has registered or shared information with us, please write to privacy@near-u.ng and we will delete the account and the data immediately.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time — for example when we launch a new feature, change a third-party vendor, or update for new legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will tell you by email (if you have an account) and by showing a notice on the site at least 14 days before the changes take effect. The "Effective" date at the top of this page will always reflect the most recent version.
13. Contact us
For privacy questions, requests, or complaints:
- Email: privacy@near-u.ng
- Post: Near-U Ltd., Shop 22/23, Block P, Robinson Plaza, Deco Road, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria
- General support: hello@near-u.ng
If your concern is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may also contact the Nigeria Data Protection Commission at ndpc.gov.ng.