1. Who We Are

Ruby Heart Marketplace is a marketplace platform that enables users to discover, advertise, buy, sell and communicate about goods and services. Marketplace activity is subject to our Terms and Conditions, safety rules and other applicable policies.

Depending on the processing activity, Ruby Heart Marketplace may determine the purposes and means of processing personal information and may use service providers to process information on our behalf.

2. Information We Collect

Depending on how you use the marketplace, we may collect:

• Name and account identification information.
• Email address and telephone number.
• Country and location information you provide.
• Account authentication and verification information.
• Passwords stored in protected hashed form rather than ordinary readable form.
• Advertisements and listing information, including descriptions, prices, locations and images.
• Information contained in messages, offers, enquiries, support requests and abuse reports.
• Transaction, subscription and payment-related information necessary to provide marketplace services.
• Information used for account security, fraud prevention and abuse investigations.
• Technical information such as IP address, browser, device, operating system and interactions with our services where collected.
• Other information you voluntarily provide when using particular marketplace features.

3. Information You Provide in Listings

If you publish a listing, information included in that listing may be visible to other marketplace users. This can include the listing title, description, images, price, category, location and seller information that you choose or are required to provide.

Do not publish passwords, authentication codes, payment credentials, identity documents or other information that should remain private unless a feature specifically requires it and the information is submitted through the designated secure process.

4. How We Use Information

We may use personal information to:

• Create and manage accounts.
• Authenticate users and maintain secure sessions.
• Provide marketplace, listing and search functionality.
• Facilitate communication between marketplace users.
• Process offers, orders and related marketplace activity.
• Facilitate available payment and subscription processes.
• Provide customer support.
• Verify accounts or identity where required.
• Prevent fraud, abuse, spam and unauthorized activity.
• Investigate reports and enforce marketplace rules.
• Maintain, secure and improve our services.
• Send service-related communications.
• Comply with legal obligations and lawful requests.
• Protect the rights, safety and property of users and Ruby Heart.

5. Legal Bases for Processing

Where required by applicable law, we process personal information on one or more lawful bases, which may include performance of a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, legitimate interests, consent, or another lawful basis recognized by the applicable law.

The applicable basis depends on the purpose and circumstances of the processing.

6. Payments and Subscriptions

Ruby Heart Marketplace may provide programmed payment options through available payment providers and payment destinations. Depending on availability and the transaction, these may include M-Pesa, bank payment, PayPal and Binance or other supported cryptocurrency payment options.

Payment information may be processed by Ruby Heart and/or the relevant payment provider as necessary to facilitate, verify, record or reconcile a transaction. We do not need to receive or store every piece of payment credential information used by an external payment provider.

Ruby Heart Marketplace does not provide a Ruby Heart customer stored-value account. Payment methods are used to complete supported marketplace transactions and services.

7. Identity and Account Verification

Some accounts, transactions or marketplace activities may require verification. Where verification is required, we may process information necessary to confirm account ownership, identity or eligibility.

Verification information is handled using appropriate access controls and security measures and is retained only as permitted or required by applicable law and our operational requirements.

8. Communications and Chat

Messages, offers, support communications and other interactions through marketplace features may be processed to deliver the communication, maintain security, investigate abuse, resolve disputes and enforce marketplace rules.

Users should avoid sharing passwords, one-time codes, payment credentials or unnecessary sensitive information in marketplace messages.

9. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Ruby Heart Marketplace may use cookies, session technologies and similar technical mechanisms to keep users signed in, maintain security, remember necessary preferences, support functionality and understand how our services are used.

Some cookies or technologies may be necessary for the operation and security of the service. Where applicable law requires user choice for non-essential technologies, we will provide the appropriate controls.

10. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We may share personal information where reasonably necessary with:

• Service providers supporting hosting, communications, security, verification, payments or other marketplace operations.
• Payment providers involved in a payment or subscription.
• Other users where information is intentionally made public through marketplace functionality.
• Professional advisers or authorities where legally necessary.
• Law enforcement, regulators or courts where required or permitted by applicable law.
• Other parties where disclosure is necessary to protect users, prevent fraud or protect the rights and security of the marketplace.

We do not sell personal information merely for the purpose of allowing third parties to build unrelated personal profiles about our users.

11. International Data Processing

Ruby Heart Marketplace is intended for worldwide use. Depending on the services and providers involved, personal information may be processed or stored in Kenya or other countries.

Where applicable law imposes requirements for international transfers, we will seek to use an appropriate lawful mechanism and reasonable safeguards.

12. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, loss and misuse.

Security measures may include access controls, protected authentication, secure credential handling, encrypted connections where supported, logging, monitoring and other safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information and the risks involved.

No online service can guarantee absolute security. Users are responsible for keeping their account credentials confidential and should report suspected unauthorized activity promptly.

13. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, including providing services, maintaining records, resolving disputes, preventing fraud, enforcing agreements and meeting legal or regulatory requirements.

Retention periods may differ depending on the type of information and the purpose for which it is processed.

14. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on the law applicable to you, you may have rights concerning your personal information, including:

• To be informed about relevant processing.
• To request access to personal information we hold.
• To request correction of inaccurate information.
• To object to certain processing where applicable.
• To request deletion where legally available.
• To request restriction of processing where legally available.
• To request portability where applicable.
• To exercise other rights provided by applicable law.

Some requests may be subject to lawful exceptions, verification requirements or other limitations.

15. Account Closure and Information Requests

You may request assistance concerning your account or personal information through our available support channels. Closing an account does not necessarily require immediate deletion of every record where retention is permitted or required by applicable law or where information is needed for legitimate operational, security or dispute-resolution purposes.

16. Children's Privacy

Ruby Heart Marketplace is not intended to enable children to enter into transactions or use age-restricted services contrary to applicable law.

Where applicable law requires parental or guardian involvement, age restrictions or additional protections, those requirements apply. If we learn that information was collected from a child contrary to applicable law, we will take reasonable steps to address the situation.

17. Third-Party Services and Links

Ruby Heart Marketplace may integrate with or link to third-party services, including payment, communication, verification, hosting or other providers.

Third-party services operate under their own privacy policies and terms. We are not responsible for privacy practices outside our control.

18. Marketplace Safety, Fraud and Abuse Prevention

We may process information to detect and prevent fraud, scams, account abuse, unauthorized access, spam, prohibited activity and other threats to the marketplace.

This may include reviewing reports, account activity, listing information, transaction records and technical information where reasonably necessary and permitted by applicable law.

19. Automated Systems and Security Decisions

We may use automated technical systems to support functions such as search, ranking, spam detection, security monitoring, fraud prevention and service reliability.

Where applicable law provides rights concerning significant automated decisions, we will handle those rights in accordance with the requirements that apply to the relevant processing.

20. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when our services, technology, legal obligations or privacy practices change.

When appropriate, we will provide notice of material changes through the marketplace or another reasonable communication method. The effective date displayed at the top of this Policy identifies the version currently in force.

21. Contact and Privacy Requests

Questions, privacy requests, complaints or concerns may be sent through the official Ruby Heart Marketplace support and contact channels made available on the platform.

When making a privacy request, please provide enough information for us to understand and verify the request while avoiding unnecessary sensitive information.

22. Governing Privacy Requirements

Ruby Heart Marketplace seeks to comply with applicable privacy and data protection requirements. Because the marketplace is designed for users in different countries, specific rights, obligations and remedies may vary according to the law applicable to a particular user or processing activity.

23. No Waiver of Mandatory Rights

Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to remove, restrict or override a privacy or data protection right that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable law.

24. Contact

Ruby Heart Marketplace support contact details are provided through the official Contact Us and Help Centre pages of the marketplace. Please use those official channels for account, privacy, safety or service-related enquiries.