Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Vowsery is a wedding planning platform for couples and wedding service providers in Uganda and the diaspora. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, who sees it, and what rights you have. It is written to comply with the Uganda Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019.

For any question about your data, or to use any right in section 8, write to vowsery@gmail.com.

2. What we collect

Couples:

• Account details: names, email address, phone number, and the sign-in method you chose (email and password, or Google).
• Planning data: event dates, locations, guest estimates, budgets, pledges, checklist items, committee members and notes.
• Guest lists: names, phone numbers, table numbers and RSVP status of the people you invite. You enter these; we do not collect them from guests.
• Keepsakes: photos, documents, your love story and your couple photo.

Vendors:

• Business details: name, category, location, WhatsApp number, description, price range, portfolio photos and videos.
• Verification documents: your national ID and trading licence, used only to verify your business.
• Activity: the requests you unlock, quotes you send, bookings and payout requests.

Everyone:

• Payment records: mobile money phone number, amount, status and the references issued by our payment provider. We never see or store your mobile money PIN.
• Gift contributions: if you send a gift on a couple’s page, we keep your name, message, phone number and the amount. The couple sees your name, message and amount. Couples who withdraw also give us the mobile money number or bank account they want paid.
• Technical data: a sign-in session cookie, your theme and tour preferences, and server logs (IP address, browser, pages and errors) used to run and secure the service.

3. How we use it

• To run your account and the planning tools you use.
• To review and publish requests, match couples with vendors, and show quotes and bookings.
• To verify vendors and keep the marketplace trustworthy.
• To process mobile money payments and vendor payouts and to keep financial records.
• To send service messages (for example, a vendor quoted on your request) by in-app inbox and email.
• To secure the platform, prevent fraud and fix problems.
• To meet legal obligations.

We rely on your consent, our contract with you, our legitimate interest in running a safe marketplace, and legal obligation. We do not make decisions about you using fully automated processes that have legal effect.

4. Who sees your data

• Vendors see a couple’s request details (service needed, area, date, budget and guest estimate), but not their name or phone number, until the vendor pays to unlock the request. After unlocking, that vendor sees the couple’s contact number so they can quote.
• A vendor a couple accepts sees the booking details needed to deliver the service.
• Couples and the public see a vendor’s public profile: business name, photos, description, rating, verified badge and WhatsApp number.
• Our admin team can see account, request, payment and verification data to review plans and vendors, support users and reconcile payments.
• Vendor ID and licence documents are stored privately. Only our admin team can open them, through short-lived links.
• We do not sell personal data and we do not share it with advertisers.

5. Service providers we use

We use trusted providers to run Vowsery. They process data only for us:

• Supabase: database, file storage and sign-in infrastructure.
• Yo! Payments: mobile money collections and settlements.
• Brevo: sending email notifications.
• Google: optional Google sign-in, and the AI planner that turns a short description into a draft budget. Only the text you submit to the planner is sent.

Some providers are located outside Uganda, so your data may be processed in other countries. We take steps to make sure it is protected to a comparable standard.

6. Guest and committee details you add

When you add guests or committee members you are responsible for having a good reason and, where needed, their permission to store their name and phone number and to message them. Use these details only to plan your event. You can remove any entry at any time.

7. How long we keep data

We keep your data while your account is active. When you delete your account we remove your planning data and profile, apart from records we must keep, such as payment records for tax and audit, which we keep for the period required by law. Backups are overwritten on a rolling basis.

8. Your rights

Under the Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019 you may:

• ask what data we hold about you and receive a copy;
• ask us to correct data that is wrong or incomplete;
• ask us to delete your data, or stop using it, where we have no good reason to keep it;
• object to particular uses of your data, and withdraw consent where we rely on it;
• complain to the Personal Data Protection Office of Uganda if you think we have handled your data unlawfully.

Email vowsery@gmail.com and we will respond within 30 days. We may ask you to confirm who you are first.

9. How we protect data

• Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and stored with access controls: our database denies public access and is reached only through our servers.
• Verification documents are kept in a private store and opened only by admins through links that expire.
• Payment details are handled by our payment provider; we do not store mobile money PINs.
• Admin actions that change accounts or money are restricted and logged.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your data we will tell you and the regulator as the law requires.

10. Cookies and similar storage

We use a sign-in session cookie that is essential to keep you logged in, and your browser’s local storage for preferences such as theme and whether you have seen a guided tour. We do not use advertising cookies.

11. Children

Vowsery is for adults planning a wedding. It is not meant for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect data from children.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service changes. When the changes are important we will tell you in the app or by email. The date at the top shows the latest version.