Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what Personal Data iHustle collects, how we use and share it, the legal bases on which we rely, and the choices you have. We encourage you to read it carefully.

Welcome

iHustle is a reverse-bidding services marketplace operated by Bangsoft (Private) Limited, a company incorporated in Zimbabwe ("Bangsoft", "iHustle", "we", "us", "our"). We connect customers who post jobs with skilled workers ("hustlers") who bid to do the work.

In this policy "Personal Data" means any information about an identified or identifiable individual — information you give us, information we collect about you when you use the Services, and information we receive from third parties acting on your behalf.

"Services" means the iHustle mobile application, websites (including ihustleapp.com), back-office tools, and any related features Bangsoft offers under the iHustle brand.

Depending on context, "you" may be a Customer, a Hustler, a Representative of an organisation, or a Visitor:

• A Customer is someone who posts a job and engages a hustler through iHustle.
• A Hustler is a skilled worker who places bids and performs work for Customers.
• A Representative acts on behalf of a Customer or Hustler that is an organisation, such as a director or authorised employee.
• A Visitor browses our public websites or marketing material without being signed in.

Depending on the activity, Bangsoft assumes the role of a "data controller" and, in some cases, a "data processor" acting on behalf of a Customer or Hustler.

1. Personal Data we collect

What we collect depends on whether you are a Customer, Hustler, Representative, or Visitor, and on which features of the Services you use.

1.1 Customers

When you sign up as a Customer we collect:

• Your mobile number, used as your primary identifier on iHustle. We verify it by sending a one-time code by SMS. We do not use your mobile number for marketing without your consent.
• Your name and, optionally, profile photo, country, and preferred language.
• The details of jobs you post — description, category, location (down to suburb or precise pin if you grant location access), photographs, attached documents, preferred timing, and budget hints.
• The bids you receive, the messages you exchange with hustlers, and the reviews you leave after a job.
• Device identifiers, push tokens, IP address, and basic usage telemetry, used for delivering notifications, preventing fraud, and improving the product.

We do not collect or store debit, credit, or mobile-money card numbers on the iHustle platform; subscription and lead-credit payments are tokenised by our payment partners.

1.2 Hustlers

When you sign up as a Hustler we collect everything listed under Customers above, plus:

• Your service categories and the geographic area in which you are willing to work.
• Information needed to operate hustler-specific features, including your bid history, the boosts you purchase, and the credits you consume.
• Optional verification documents — for example, your national identity document, proof of address, trade certificates, and police clearance. Verification documents are visible only to authorised iHustle reviewers; they are not shown to Customers. We display only the resulting badge (for example, "ID Verified" or "Skill Certified").
• Financial-account information needed to receive subscription-related refunds, where applicable. We do not settle Customer-to-Hustler payments through iHustle — those happen directly between the parties.

1.3 Representatives

Where a Customer or Hustler is a registered business, we collect contact details and proof of authority of the natural persons who manage that account — name, mobile number, email, role, and government-issued identification where required for know-your-customer ("KYC") purposes.

1.4 Visitors

When you browse our public websites or marketing channels, we may receive:

• Information you submit through contact, waitlist, or job-application forms.
• The content of any support-chat conversation you start with us, together with any contact details (such as your email) you provide so we can follow up. Support chat is operated by iHustle on our own infrastructure; first-level replies are generated by an AI assistant and a human takes over when needed. We store the conversation transcript and retain it in line with our retention practices.
• Device and browser data, IP address, approximate location derived from your IP, and pages viewed, collected through analytics cookies and similar technologies.

You can adjust or refuse cookies through your browser settings; some site features may not work without them.

2. How we use Personal Data

We use Personal Data for the following purposes.

Operating the marketplace

To run iHustle — verifying your identity, showing your bids to the right Customers, delivering notifications, supporting disputes, and enabling reviews. Without this data we cannot match Customers and Hustlers or operate the platform.

Providing the Hustler programme

To process Hustler subscriptions, lead credits, boost purchases, and badge applications, and to apply your subscriber benefits (such as discounted boosts or priority placement).

Trust, safety, and fraud prevention

To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, impersonation, money laundering, and other harm to users and to iHustle, including by comparing the information you provide against information we receive from identity-verification services, credit bureaus where lawfully permitted, and law-enforcement notices.

Improving the Services

To understand how our features are used, diagnose technical issues, develop new features, and measure the performance of changes — typically in aggregate and de-identified form.

Communication

To send you transactional messages (one-time codes, bid notifications, dispute updates, security alerts) and, where you have agreed, marketing communications about iHustle. You can opt out of marketing at any time without losing access to operational messages.

Compliance with legal obligations

To comply with applicable laws — including consumer-protection, taxation, anti-money-laundering ("AML"), know-your-customer, and lawful requests by competent authorities.

3. How we share Personal Data

We share Personal Data only in the limited situations described below. We do not sell Personal Data.

With other users, as the marketplace requires

A Customer sees the Hustlers who bid on their job, including each Hustler's display name, profile photo, ratings, badges, and the content of their bid and messages. A Hustler sees the Customer who posted a job they bid on, including the Customer's display name, location at the level required to perform the work, and the content of their messages. Reviews and ratings are visible to other users in the normal course of operating a marketplace.

With service providers

We rely on trusted third-party service providers to operate iHustle, including cloud hosting, SMS delivery (one-time codes), push notifications, email, payment processing for subscriptions and lead credits, identity verification, analytics, crash reporting, and an AI provider that powers our support assistant. They are contractually bound to use your Personal Data only for the purposes for which we engage them.

With financial partners

For Hustler subscriptions, lead-credit purchases, boost purchases, and badge fees, we share the Personal Data necessary for payment authorisation, settlement, and chargeback handling with our payment-processing partners. We do not store full card numbers on iHustle.

With Bangsoft affiliates

We may share Personal Data with other entities within the Bangsoft group for the purposes described in this policy, subject to this policy and equivalent safeguards.

Corporate transactions

If Bangsoft enters into a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganisation, sale of assets, or similar transaction, Personal Data may be transferred to or shared with the counter-party, subject to this policy.

Compliance and protection

We may disclose Personal Data when we believe in good faith that it is necessary to comply with applicable law, respond to lawful requests from public authorities, enforce our agreements, prevent fraud, or protect the rights, property, or safety of iHustle, our users, or others.

4. Legal bases for processing

For the purposes of applicable data-protection law — including Zimbabwe's Cyber and Data Protection Act and equivalent SADC frameworks — we process Personal Data on the following legal bases.

Performance of a contract

To create your account, list your bids, deliver notifications, and otherwise provide the Services you have requested.

Legitimate interests

To detect fraud, secure the platform, improve our features, and communicate with you about the Services — balanced against your interests and rights.

Compliance with legal obligations

For KYC, AML, tax, accounting, and lawful-request obligations.

Consent

For optional features such as access to precise device location, contacts (for invites), or marketing communications. You can withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing.

5. Your rights and choices

Subject to applicable law, you may exercise the following rights over the Personal Data we hold about you:

• Access — request confirmation of whether we hold data about you and a copy of that data.
• Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure — ask us to delete your data, subject to the retention obligations described below.
• Restriction — ask us to limit how we use your data while we consider another request.
• Portability — ask us to provide your data in a structured, machine-readable format where technically feasible.
• Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests; we will stop unless we have compelling reasons that override your interests.
• Withdraw consent — for processing based on your consent.
• Lodge a complaint — with the data-protection authority of your country of residence.

You can exercise most of these rights directly inside the app. Your name, mobile number, notification preferences, and account deletion are all available from Settings. For other requests, contact privacy@ihustleapp.com.

6. Account deletion

You can delete your iHustle account at any time from Settings. When you delete your account:

• Your profile becomes invisible to other users immediately.
• Your mobile number is permanently deactivated on iHustle and cannot be reused to create a new account. This is the safeguard that prevents a fraudulent user from re-registering on the same number.
• Personal Data is anonymised within 30 days, except records we are required to keep for legal or accounting purposes (see Retention below).
• Backups age out within 90 days.

If you wish to permanently leave iHustle and re-register on the same number later, contact support@ihustleapp.com.

7. Security and retention

We use organisational, technical, and administrative measures appropriate to the risk, including encryption in transit, access controls, audit logs, and regular security review. No system is ever completely secure; if you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at support@ihustleapp.com.

We retain Personal Data only as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy:

• Active accounts — for the duration of your relationship with iHustle.
• Deleted accounts — anonymised within 30 days; minimal records of the deletion are kept for fraud prevention.
• Transaction records (subscription, lead-credit, boost, and badge purchases) — for the period required by applicable tax and accounting law, typically six years.
• Verification records — for as long as the related badge is active, plus a reasonable post-expiry period for audit.
• Backups — typically aged out within 90 days of the deletion of the underlying record.

8. International data transfers

iHustle operates from servers located in Zimbabwe and partner regions in southern Africa and the European Union. Where Personal Data is transferred outside your country of residence, we put in place safeguards required by applicable law — including standard contractual clauses with our service providers and, where required, your consent.

9. Minors

iHustle is not intended for individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us with Personal Data, please contact privacy@ihustleapp.com and we will take steps to delete it.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

Our websites use cookies and similar technologies to remember preferences, secure your session, measure how the site is used, and improve the experience. Strictly necessary cookies cannot be switched off. Analytics and marketing cookies require your consent where applicable; you can withdraw it at any time.

The mobile app does not use browser cookies. It uses local storage and secure storage on your device to keep you signed in, cache content, and store push-notification tokens.

11. Updates to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Material changes will be announced in the app or by email before they take effect. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date means you accept the updated policy.

12. Contact us

If you have questions, complaints, or wish to exercise any of your rights under this policy, contact:

• Bangsoft (Private) Limited, Harare, Zimbabwe
• privacy@ihustleapp.com for privacy-specific requests
• support@ihustleapp.com for general support