Privacy notice

Who we are

Solarcrowdin provides software that independent solar retailers use to sell products on credit, and that licensed lenders of record and investors use to follow repayments. Solarcrowdin is not a lender.

For a customer's credit plan, the retailer and the lender of record named on the plan decide how the customer's information is used; Solarcrowdin runs the software for them and keeps it secure. [To be confirmed by Solarcrowdin's lawyer.]

What information is collected

Customers: name, phone number, the region and location you give, your national ID number stored only as a one-way coded value (it cannot be turned back into the number), and your answers to the affordability questions: how long you have used mobile money, how much money passes through it each month, and what you spend on airtime and on energy such as petrol, kerosene and phone charging. We also keep the product, your plan, your payments, the SMS messages sent to you, and any complaint or repair request.

Retailers: business name, owner's name, phone number and region.

Investors and administrators: name and work email address.

Everyone: sign-in records and technical error reports. Error reports do not include names, phone numbers or the content of forms.

Why it is used

To check whether a plan is affordable and explain the result; to run your plan, send receipts and, if you agreed, reminders; to deal with complaints and repairs; to give lenders and investors anonymised portfolio figures; and to keep the service secure and prevent fraud.

Your answers are used for a credit assessment only if you agree. You can refuse SMS reminders and still buy on credit.

How the credit decision is made

A published set of rules turns your answers and the deposit you choose into a score from 0 to 100. The retailer sees every factor and its points and can explain them to you. Your retailer, not the software alone, agrees the plan with you, and you can ask the retailer or the lender to look at the decision again.

What investors can see

Investors never see names, phone numbers, ID numbers, exact locations or which retailer sold a loan. They see the region (state or county), the product type, the amounts, the risk band and repayment status, with dates rounded to the month. Groups of fewer than five loans are hidden.

Who receives it

Your retailer and the lender of record on your plan.

Service providers that run parts of the service for us: Supabase (database, hosted in Frankfurt, Germany), Vercel (website hosting), Africa's Talking and, as a backup, Twilio (SMS), Resend (email) and Sentry (error monitoring, hosted in the European Union).

Credit bureaus do not receive your information through Solarcrowdin today. If that changes it will be done by the licensed lender, and this notice will say so first.

Information is stored outside your country (in the European Union). [To be confirmed by Solarcrowdin's lawyer.]

How long it is kept

Plan and payment records are kept while your plan runs and afterwards for as long as the lender of record must keep them by law. [To be confirmed by Solarcrowdin's lawyer.]

Your rights

You can ask what information is held about you, ask for it to be corrected, and withdraw your consent for future use at any time. Ask your retailer, or use the complaint form on your plan link.

You can also complain to the data protection authority in your country: the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Kenya's Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Uganda's Personal Data Protection Office or Tanzania's Personal Data Protection Commission.

Contact

Solarcrowdin support contact and registered company details: [To be confirmed by Solarcrowdin's lawyer.]