Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 2026
This policy explains what information Mtendere OS, the system behind the shop you are using, collects when you
shop or chat with us, why we collect it, who we share it with, and how long we keep it. It applies when you
message us on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or Instagram, comment on our posts, or place an order with us.
In short: we use your details to answer you, take your order and deliver it. We do not sell
your information. Many of our replies are written by an automated assistant, and a member of our team can
step in at any time.
1. Information we collect
- Your contact details — your name, phone number or social media account, and an email
address if you choose to give one.
- Your messages — text, voice notes, photos, videos and documents you send us, and your
comments on our Facebook and Instagram posts.
- Order details — the products you order, quantities, prices, your delivery address or a
location pin you share, and any delivery instructions.
- Payment information — the payment method you choose and any proof of payment you send us,
such as a transfer screenshot. We do not collect or store bank card numbers or PINs.
- Purchase history — your past orders, which we use for membership tiers and member prices.
- Ad information — if you reach us by tapping one of our ads, Meta tells us which ad it was,
so we can show you the right product.
- Visits to the shop websites — the pages you open and your internet address, in our
server's logs, and visitor counts from Cloudflare that use no cookies. Browsing the shop websites sets
no advertising or tracking cookies.
- On your own phone or computer — the shop websites keep a few small notes in your browser,
never sent to us: how many times you have visited (so the offer to add the shop to your home screen appears
from your second visit), whether you said no to that offer, the last 20 products you looked at (their
names and pictures, so the homepage can show them again as "Recently viewed" and suggest similar things;
the suggestions are worked out on your device from a list that is the same for everyone), the products you
saved with the heart, and the city you chose for delivery times. They also keep a copy of the site's
design files so pages load faster. You can clear all of it in your browser's settings. For each visit the
homepage also picks a random number, kept only until you close the tab, that decides the order things are
shown in so the page is fresh each time; it is sent with the homepage's own requests for its shelves so they
match, says nothing about you and is not stored with anything else.
- Reports about a product — if you use "Report an issue" on a shop website, we receive what
you chose (wrong information, wrong price or something else) and any note you write. No name or number is
asked. It is kept for 90 days, then deleted.
- Photos you search with — if you search a shop website with a photo, we compare it with
the shop's product photos on our own server, and an AI service (OpenAI) describes the item in a few words so we
can search for it. The photo is used for that search only and is not kept.
- Chats with a shop's assistant — if you chat with the assistant on a shop website, an AI
service (OpenAI) writes its replies from that shop's catalogue. The conversation is kept for 30 days so the chat can
follow it and we can check the answers it gives, then deleted. It is not linked to your name or number, and a
phone number you type in it is hidden before it is kept or sent to the AI. A photo you send in the chat is used
for that search only and is not kept.
- "Listen" on WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram — when you tap Listen under one of our
replies, an AI voice reads that reply to you. The words of replies that show the button are kept for 7 days
so a tap can find them. On Messenger and Instagram the spoken reply is placed at a private link for Meta to
collect and deleted within an hour.
- Voice in a shop's chat — if you speak a message in the chat, the recording is turned into
words by an AI service (OpenAI), shown to you to check before you send it, and not kept. If you tap Listen, an
AI voice reads the shop's reply aloud; that recording of the reply (not of you) is kept for 30 days so it plays
at once if you listen again, then deleted.
- Quote requests — if you ask a shop website for a quote, we keep what you need, how many,
where, by when, your budget, your name and WhatsApp number, and any photo you add (re-saved without its
location or camera details, and kept privately, never on the website). After 90 days the name, numbers, words and
photo are deleted; only the quantity, the town and how the request went are kept, for our own figures.
- "Notify me when it's back" — if you send us "Notify me" for a product, we keep your
WhatsApp number and that product for up to 60 days, send you one message when it is back in stock, and then
stop. Replying STOP stops it too.
- Reviews — after a delivery, we may ask whether you'd like to write a review. Only if you tap
"Write a review" and send your words do we keep them, with your first name and the products you ordered. Once
we have checked them, they are shown on that shop's website with your first name only: never your surname,
number or address (phone numbers and links in the words are removed). Ask us on WhatsApp at any time and we
take your review down.
- Language — if you switch a shop website to Chichewa, a small cookie on your phone remembers
the choice for a year. Nothing else is kept.
- Visits to a shop website — we count page views, taps on "Order on WhatsApp" and taps on our own offer banners as daily
totals only. No address, cookie or list of pages is kept about you.
- Searches on a shop website — the words you search for and how many products they found are
kept for 90 days, with no way to tell who searched, so we can suggest popular searches and find what people
look for that we don't have yet. A phone number typed into the search box is hidden first.
2. How we use it
- To answer your questions, show you products and prices, and find a product from a photo you send.
- To take, confirm, deliver and support your order, including receipts, invoices and delivery updates.
- To apply membership tiers and member prices based on your purchases.
- To send you reminders about an order, a payment or an outstanding balance.
- To send occasional offers if you have bought from us or are a member. You can stop these at any time by replying STOP.
- To keep our pages useful and safe — for example, we may hide comments that are abusive or off-topic.
- To keep accurate business and tax records.
3. Automated replies and AI
Many of our replies are written by an automated assistant that uses artificial intelligence. To do this, the
content of your messages is processed by our technology providers: OpenAI writes replies, transcribes voice
notes and can reply to you by voice, and Google may receive a short text description of a photo you send so we
can match it to a product. When your conversation is passed to our team, Anthropic's AI assistant may read it to
answer you, to ask our team something it does not know, or to place your order once you have confirmed the order
summary. Prices, stock and your order are always checked by our own system, not by the AI.
If you would rather speak to a person, just ask.
4. Our WhatsApp contacts
If your number is saved in our business WhatsApp contacts, our system stores it so that we can show you our
WhatsApp Status updates. When you view one of our Status updates, we record when you last viewed it, and we use
the views from the last 120 days to show our updates first to the people most interested in them. Older views
are deleted automatically.
If you would rather not be included, message us and we will remove you. We delete the number and the viewing
record our system holds, and keep only a note of your request, so that you are not added again.
5. Who we share it with
- Our team and delivery riders — the staff member and rider handling your order receive your
name, phone number, delivery address and the items ordered.
- Couriers — for deliveries outside our delivery cities, the courier receives what it needs to
deliver your parcel.
- Technology providers who help us run our service: Meta (WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and
Facebook), OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Resend (email receipts), Cloudflare (delivering the shop websites
securely) and DigitalOcean (our servers).
- Authorities, where the law requires it.
We do not sell your information or share it with anyone for their own marketing.
6. Where your information is processed
Our servers are in the United Kingdom, and our technology providers may process information in other
countries, including the United States. We only use providers that are well established and apply their own
security and privacy protections.
7. How long we keep it
- Chat records our system uses to follow a conversation are deleted after about 7 days.
- Photos, voice notes and documents you send: our system's own copy is deleted within
24 hours. If a message is passed to a member of our team, it stays in that team chat while your request is
handled.
- Saved delivery details are offered back to you for up to 90 days after an order, so you do
not have to type them again.
- Order, payment and accounting records, and records of support requests, are kept for as long
as we need them for deliveries, returns and warranties, and as long as tax and accounting law requires.
- Records of the offers we send you (which item, and when) are kept for about 13 months, so
we never send you more than your allowance or the same item again too soon. Then they are deleted.
- System logs, which can include parts of messages, are kept for up to 30 days for
troubleshooting and then deleted automatically. Phone numbers and email addresses in them are replaced
with codes.
- Shop website logs (the pages requested and the internet address that asked) are deleted
after 14 days.
- Chats on WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram are also stored by Meta under Meta's own policies.
8. How we protect it
Access to customer information is limited to the people and systems that need it, and our system files are
protected so that only our service can read them. Phone numbers and email addresses are replaced with codes in
our system logs. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable care to protect your information.
9. Your choices and rights
- Ask us what information we hold about you, and for a copy of it.
- Ask us to correct anything that is wrong.
- Ask us to delete your information. We will, except records we must keep by law, such as order and
payment records.
- Stop marketing messages at any time by replying STOP.
- Ask to be left out of our WhatsApp Status updates.
To make a request, message us on any of our chats or email us at the address below. We may need to confirm
it is you before we act.
10. Children
The shops that run on Mtendere OS are meant for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a
child has sent us their details, contact us and we will delete them.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as our services change. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.
12. Contact us
For any privacy question or request, email [email protected].