1. Who we are
At Akhwat, we are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal data.

2. Information we collect
We collect personal information that you provide when registering and using our services as a buyer or a seller,
We may collect the following personal data:
• Name
• E-mail address
• Phone number
• Payment information
• Listing details

3. How we use your information
Your information is used to facilitate transactions, improve our services, and communicate with you.
We use your personal data for the following purposes.
• To process your transactions
• To communicate with you about your account listings
• To send promotional materials (with your consent).

4. Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

5. Legal basis for processing
The process of your personal data is based on the following legal grounds:
• Consent: For sending marketing communications
• Contract: To fulfil our applications to you as a member

6. Data Sharing
We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties. We may share your data with third-party service providers for the following reasons:
• Payment processing
• Marketing services (with your consent)

7. How long do we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognise and approve any follow-up comments that will be on hold instead of automatically approved.

For users who register on our website, we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

8. Media section here
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

9. Cookie Policy
If you leave a comment on our site, you may opt in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for 30 days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for 1 year. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. You can manage your cookie preferences through our cookie consent banner.

10. Changes to this Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. You will be notified of significant changes.

11. Contact us
For any questions regarding this privacy policy or your data, please contact us through the contact link on the website.

12. Support
To provide support with disputes for its users, Akhwat will look at members’ history, aligning this with whether it is violating the policy. This alignment will be based on evidence and evaluation of patterns of behaviour.