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Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 2026

Yowe ("Yowe", "we", "us") helps people discover restaurants, caterers, and food vendors, and connects them directly with those vendors. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and the choices you have. We've written it to describe what Yowe actually does — not a generic template — so if something below doesn't match your experience of the app, please tell us.

1. Information we collect

Account information

When you create an account, we collect your first and last name, email address, phone number, city, state, date of birth (to confirm you're 18 or older), and a password (which we never see in plain text — it's hashed before it's stored). If you sign up or sign in using Google, we receive your name and email from Google instead of you typing them in. You can optionally add a profile photo.

Vendor information

If you register a shop, restaurant, or catering business on Yowe, we additionally collect your business name, address, category, description, contact phone and WhatsApp number, business email, logo and cover photos, and — if you provide them for verification — your business registration number (issued by your country's relevant registration authority) and supporting documents. Menu items, posts, and photos you upload are stored and displayed on your public shop profile.

Content you create

Reviews, ratings, comments, and posts you submit are stored against your account and are visible to other users as part of how Yowe works. Please don't include personal information in these that you wouldn't want made public.

Usage information

We record when shops and posts are viewed, what you like and save, and when someone taps to call, WhatsApp, or email a vendor. Vendors only ever see totals (view counts, like counts, contact counts), never who viewed or contacted them. If you're signed in, the shops you view, save, and rate highly are linked to your account so we can suggest restaurants you might like ("Recommended for you").

Contact taps are not tied to who you are by default. If you turn on "Share engagement data" in your account settings, your city may be included in a vendor's contact analytics as part of an aggregated breakdown (for example, "40% of your contacts this month were from Lagos") — never as an individually identifiable data point, and never if too few people from that city have contacted that vendor for anonymity to hold. This setting is off by default for every account and you can turn it off again at any time.

Your location (optional)

On the Yowe website and in the Yowe Android app, you can choose to share your location. If you do, your approximate coordinates (rounded to about 100 metres) are saved in a cookie in your browser and sent with your requests, so we can show how far away restaurants are and sort them by distance when you ask us to. We use them only for that request and never save them to your account or our database. We also look up which country you're in once, through OpenStreetMap, so we can show the right food categories. If you're a vendor and tap "Use my current location" when applying, we look up your shop's address from your precise position through OpenStreetMap; your shop's address and map position are saved with your shop. You can turn location off at any time in your browser's site settings or the app's Android permissions, and Yowe then stops using it.

Searches and technical logs

When you search, your search terms are sent to our servers to find results. Our hosting provider, SmarterASP.NET, keeps standard server logs — the pages requested (including search terms), errors, your IP address, and browser or device type — which we use to keep Yowe running and secure and to fix problems when things break.

Payment information

Vendor subscription payments are made on the Yowe website and processed by Paystack (in Nigeria) or Flutterwave (elsewhere). Your card details are entered directly into their secure payment pages — Yowe never receives or stores your full card number. We store only the outcome: which plan you're subscribed to, when it renews, and a payment reference for support purposes.

2. How we use this information

We use the information above to:

  • Create and secure your account, and let you sign in
  • Show shops, menus, and posts to people browsing Yowe
  • Let you contact vendors, and let vendors see basic engagement on their profile
  • Process vendor subscription payments and send related receipts or renewal notices
  • Send account-related emails — password resets, subscription confirmations, and (for vendors) new-follower or milestone notifications
  • Suggest restaurants you might like, based on the shops you've viewed, saved, or rated
  • Send vendors on the free plan occasional emails about our paid plans — every one has an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time
  • Review vendor applications and investigate reports of fake listings or abuse
  • Improve Yowe and fix problems when things break

3. What happens when you contact a vendor

Tapping Call, WhatsApp, or Email on a shop's profile opens your phone's own dialer, WhatsApp, or email app, connecting you directly to that vendor. Yowe does not transmit your personal information as part of that connection — but naturally, the vendor will see your phone number, WhatsApp profile, or email address the same way they would from anyone contacting them directly, since that's how calling, messaging, or emailing someone works. Any arrangements, orders, or payments you make with a vendor after that point happen directly between you and them, outside of Yowe — see our Terms of Service for more on this.

4. Who we share information with

We don't sell your personal information to anyone. We share information with:

  • Cloudinary — hosts the photos and videos uploaded to Yowe
  • SmarterASP.NET — hosts the Yowe website, app server, and database
  • Paystack and Flutterwave — process vendor subscription payments
  • Resend — sends emails on our behalf (password resets, receipts, notifications, and vendor plan emails)
  • Google Firebase — delivers push notifications to the Yowe app on your device (a new post from a shop you follow, a status update on your vendor application, and similar). Firebase receives a device token, not your personal information
  • Google — if you choose to sign in with your Google account
  • OpenStreetMap (Nominatim, run by the OpenStreetMap Foundation) — receives coordinates or a shop address from our server to look up an address, map position or country, if you share your location or save a shop address. It isn't sent your name or account details
  • Other users, for information that's inherently public on Yowe — your shop's profile if you're a vendor, or your first name, last initial, and content you post publicly
  • Law enforcement or regulators, only if we're legally required to

5. Cookies and local storage

Yowe uses a session cookie to keep you signed in. If you share your location, cookies also remember your approximate coordinates and your country for 30 days, or remember for a year that you said "Not now". Separately, your browser's local storage (not a cookie) remembers your light/dark theme and accent color choice, stored only on your own device. We don't use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.

6. How long we keep your information

We keep your account information for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account (see below), your personal information is removed at that point, except where we're required to keep certain records — for example, payment records that Nigerian tax or financial regulations require us to retain.

7. Your choices and rights

  • Update your information — most of your account and shop details can be edited directly in your account settings
  • Turn off engagement data sharing — in your account settings, at any time
  • Stop plan emails — use the unsubscribe link in any of those emails
  • Delete some of your data — see what you can delete without closing your account
  • Delete your account — in the app or on the website, go to Account → Security → Delete Account. If you can't sign in, email hello@yowe.app from your registered address. What's deleted and what's kept
  • Ask what we hold about you — email us and we'll respond within a reasonable time

If you're in Nigeria, these choices reflect the rights given to you under the Nigeria Data Protection Act. If you're contacting Yowe from elsewhere, you may have additional rights under your local law — reach out and we'll do our best to help.

8. Children's privacy

Yowe is not directed at children, and you must be at least 18 years old to create an account. If you believe a child has created an account, please contact us and we'll remove it.

9. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we'll update the date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, let you know directly.

10. Contact us

Questions about this policy or your information? Email hello@yowe.app.