Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

NITIZEN is a civic intelligence platform operated by Ekene Godseffort Chimarin (Lead Campaigner, Founder). Our registered contact is: hello@nitizen.ng. NITIZEN operates from Nigeria and processes data primarily relating to Nigerian residents and citizens.

For data protection purposes, NITIZEN is the Data Controller. Formspree Inc. acts as a Data Processor on our behalf for form submissions.

2. Legal Basis

This policy is issued pursuant to:

• Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA)
• Nigeria Data Protection Regulation 2019 (NDPR) — still applicable in transitional provisions
• Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) regulations and guidelines
• Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (right to privacy)

3. Data We Collect and Why

3.1 Contact and Submission Forms

When you use any form on NITIZEN (contact, RedFlag report, OpenMic submission, Critika submission, Ledger data, Conscience Letters pitch, membership, AskNaija notification), we collect:

• Name — to identify you for correspondence
• Email address — to respond to your enquiry or submission
• Phone number (optional, where requested) — for membership or report follow-up only
• Message/submission content — to process your request
• Location/state (where provided) — for editorial context in reports and submissions

Legal basis: Your explicit consent provided at the point of submission.

3.2 AskNaija

AskNaija is entirely client-side. Your questions are processed locally in your browser using our knowledge base JavaScript file. No question you type is transmitted to any server, stored, or logged. There is no chat history, no user profiling, and no data collection of any kind from AskNaija interactions.

3.3 Technical Data (Passive)

Our hosting provider (Netlify) may collect standard server logs including IP addresses and page visits for security and performance purposes. This data is not accessible to NITIZEN editorially and is governed by Netlify's privacy policy (netlify.com/privacy).

3.4 Data We Do NOT Collect

• We do not use cookies for tracking or advertising
• We do not use Google Analytics or any third-party analytics trackers
• We do not collect biometric data
• We do not process children's data (persons under 18) — if you are under 18, please do not submit personal data without parental consent

4. How We Use Your Data

• Responding to your contact enquiry or editorial pitch
• Processing and publishing (where appropriate) RedFlag reports, OpenMic posts, Critika submissions, and Ledger data — after editorial review
• Activating and administering Conscience Letters membership
• Notifying you of AskNaija launch (if you registered interest)
• Internal editorial and organisational records

We will never use your data for: unsolicited commercial marketing, profiling, automated decision-making, or sale to third parties.

5. Your Rights Under the NDPA 2023

Right	What It Means	How to Exercise
Right to Information	Know what data we hold about you and how it is used	Email us — we respond within 7 days
Right of Access	Receive a copy of all personal data we hold about you	Submit a Subject Access Request by email
Right to Rectification	Correct inaccurate or incomplete data	Email with the correction needed
Right to Deletion	Have your data erased where no longer necessary	Email requesting deletion — actioned within 14 days
Right to Withdraw Consent	Withdraw your consent at any time; does not affect prior processing	Email us; we cease processing immediately
Right to Data Portability	Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format	Email requesting portability export
Right to Object	Object to processing for any purpose beyond your original consent	Email stating your objection

To exercise any right: hello@nitizen.ng — subject line: "Data Rights Request". We respond within 7 working days.

6. Data Retention

• Contact and editorial submissions: 12 months from submission date, then deleted unless active editorial relationship continues
• Published submissions (RedFlag, OpenMic, Critika, Ledger): retained as part of the public civic record — you may request removal at any time
• Membership records: 7 years (financial record-keeping requirement under Nigerian law)
• AskNaija interactions: zero retention (never collected)

7. Third Parties and Data Processors

Formspree Inc. processes form submissions on our behalf. Formspree is GDPR-compliant and applies equivalent protections. Formspree's privacy policy: formspree.io/privacy.

Netlify Inc. hosts the NITIZEN website. Standard server logs are governed by Netlify's privacy policy: netlify.com/privacy.

We have no other third-party data processors. No advertising networks. No social media trackers. No analytics platforms.

8. Security

All data transmitted through NITIZEN is encrypted via HTTPS (TLS). Access to submitted data is restricted to the NITIZEN editorial team. We do not store payment card details — payment processing, if implemented, will use PCI-DSS compliant providers (Paystack/Flutterwave).

9. Complaints

If you believe NITIZEN has violated your data rights, you may:

• Contact us directly: hello@nitizen.ng
• File a complaint with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC): ndpc.gov.ng

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as our platform evolves or as regulatory requirements change. Material changes will be notified on the NITIZEN homepage. The effective date of the current version is shown below.

Effective: May 2026 · NITIZEN · Contact: hello@nitizen.ng · Regulated under Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA) · NDPC Registration: Pending (applied May 2026)