Privacy policy

1. What we collect

• Your phone number, to sign you in. Every 232bite account is a phone number.
• Your name, if you add one, and your saved places (a name like “Home”, a map pin, a landmark and a phone number).
• Your orders: what you ordered, from which restaurant, when, pickup or delivery, the delivery pin and landmark, the contact phone, how you paid, your ratings and comments, and any help requests and photos.
• Someone else's details, if you order for them: their name and phone number, so the rider can reach them and we can text them the delivery code once. Please only give them if they're happy for you to.
• Payments: the mobile money number you pay from or are paid to, the amounts, and the payment provider's reference. We never see your mobile money PIN.
• Your device: a push notification token so we can tell you about your order, and basic technical records when something goes wrong.
• For riders: your application (national ID, driving licence, photos of your bike and plate, a selfie, a guarantor's name and phone, your payout wallet) and your location while you are online (see below).
• For restaurants: business details, branch locations, opening hours, menus, the phone numbers of the staff you add, and your payout wallet or bank account.

2. Signing in

We use Firebase Authentication (a Google service) to send your 6-digit sign-in code by SMS and to check it. Firebase gets your phone number for this. On the website, Google's reCAPTCHA checks that the sign-in is not automated.

3. Your location

• Customers: only if you allow it, and only while you use the app or website, to show restaurants near you and to place your delivery pin. We keep the pin of each delivery order and your saved places, not where you go.
• Riders: while you are online, the rider app shares your location about every 10 seconds, also when the app is in the background, so we can offer you nearby trips. During a delivery, the customer sees where you are, and we keep the route as a record in case of a dispute. When you go offline, sharing stops.
• Restaurants: the restaurant app doesn't use your location. The branch location on the map is the one you enter.

4. How we use it

• To take your order, pass it to the restaurant, find a rider and show you the wait time and the rider on the way.
• To take payments, give refunds and pay restaurants and riders.
• To send you messages about your orders and your account, by push notification or SMS.
• To help you when something goes wrong, and to prevent fraud, for example by setting limits on cash orders.
• To check and approve riders and restaurants before they start.
• To improve 232bite, for example to make wait times more accurate.

5. Who sees what

• The restaurant sees your order (dishes, options, kitchen notes, total and how you are paying) and the contact phone on the order, so it can call you about it. On reviews it sees your first name only. It doesn't see your saved places or your other orders.
• The rider sees only the area and the distance of your drop-off before accepting the trip. From accepting until the delivery ends, the rider sees your pin, landmark and contact phone. After that, they no longer see them.
• You see your rider's name, vehicle, plate and location while they are on the way, and can call them.
• Our team sees what their job needs. Phone numbers are shown partly hidden (like +232 •• ••• 412), except to support staff working on your order who need to call you. Rider documents are private, and every time our team opens one, it is recorded.

6. Companies that help us

We share only what each one needs to do its job for us:

• Google Firebase, for signing in and for push notifications.
• Our payment provider (we plan to use Monime) and the mobile money operators, Orange Money and Afrimoney, for payments, refunds and payouts.
• The companies that send our text messages.
• Our hosting and map providers, which run our servers and show the maps.

Some of these companies store information outside Sierra Leone. We may also share information when the law requires it.

7. How long we keep it

• Your account information, for as long as you have an account.
• Orders, payments and payouts, for as long as we need them for our accounts, tax and any disputes, even after you delete your account.
• A rider's delivery routes and documents, for as long as needed to settle disputes and to meet our checks on riders.
• When we no longer need something, we delete it or remove what links it to you.

8. Your choices

• You can change your name and saved places in Account at any time.
• You can turn off location, or notifications, in your phone or browser settings. You can still order with a pin you place yourself.
• You can ask us for a copy of your information or to correct it. Call our support team from the phone number on your account (below).
• You can delete your account yourself (see below).

9. Deleting your account

In the customer app, go to Account, then Delete account. In the rider app, go to Me, then Delete account. In the restaurant app, go to Store, then Delete account. In the restaurant portal, go to Your account, then Delete account. On the website, go to Account, then Delete account. If you can't get in, call our support team from the phone number on your account.

• We remove your name, saved places, favourites and devices, and sign you out everywhere. Your phone number is taken off your account, so you can sign up again with it.
• We keep a scrambled version of your number that can't be read back, only to stop misuse of offers and cash limits. So if you sign up again, offers you've used stay used, you can't join as a new friend through an invite, and any limit on cash stays. We keep nothing else with it: no name, and nothing that links it to your old account.
• For riders, we also remove your documents, ID and licence numbers, guarantor and payout wallet.
• Any app credit, invite rewards and delivery pass you have left are lost.
• We keep your past orders, payments and payouts for our accounts and tax, without your name or phone number. The mobile money number on a payment stays on that payment record.
• We can't delete an account while an order or delivery is in progress, a refund or payout is on its way, a rider is holding cash, or a help request is open. Finish those first, and we'll say which one is in the way. The only owner of a restaurant needs to contact us first.

10. Keeping it safe

Your information travels over encrypted connections. Sign-in needs a code sent to your phone. Our team sees only what their role needs, phone numbers are partly hidden, and changes to money and settings are recorded.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change what we collect or who sees it, we'll update this page and tell you in the app or on the website first. The date at the top shows the last change.