Privacy Policy

1. What we collect

Depending on how you use Ethio Books, we collect:

• Account details: your name, email address and password (stored only as a secure hash). If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email and profile picture from Google.
• Purchases: the books you buy, amounts, payment method, transaction references and any receipt screenshots you upload to prove a transfer.
• Contact details for transfers: the name and phone number you give at checkout, stored encrypted.
• Seller details: legal name, phone number, payout account (stored encrypted), the answers in your seller application, and the ID document you upload to apply (national ID, passport or driving licence), stored privately and seen only by the staff who review applications.
• Usage: pages viewed, the device and browser you use, and how you arrived (for example from a share link). Visits are counted with a one-way code made from your connection and browser that changes every day, not with your identity.

2. How we use it

• to run your account and deliver the books you buy;
• to check payments, including reading the receipts you upload;
• to stamp downloaded copies with your name and email, which protects authors from piracy;
• to answer your questions and handle refunds and reports;
• to prevent fraud and abuse and keep the service secure;
• to understand which pages and features help, so we can improve them;
• to send emails about your account and purchases, and news about books only if you asked for it.

3. Payments

You pay by telebirr or bank transfer and upload a screenshot of the receipt. We keep the receipt in private storage, only to check the payment and for our accounts; it is never public. We never ask for your PIN or password.

4. Who we share it with

We never sell your personal data. We share it only:

• with the seller of a book you buy: your first name only, never your email or phone number;
• with the companies that run parts of our service for us, such as hosting, file storage, email delivery and payment processing, under agreements that protect your data;
• when the law requires it, or to protect our users, sellers or the public from fraud or harm.

5. Cookies and local storage

We use a small number of cookies that the website needs to work: to keep you signed in, to remember your language, and to bring back purchases made without an account. Your light or dark choice is kept in your browser. We do not use advertising cookies or sell browsing data.

6. How long we keep it

We keep your account data while your account is open. Orders, payments and payout records are kept for as long as tax and accounting law requires, even after an account is closed. Receipt screenshots are kept while they may be needed to settle a payment question or dispute.

7. Keeping it safe

Data is sent over encrypted connections. Phone numbers and payout accounts are encrypted in our database, book files and receipts are stored privately, and staff accounts require two-factor sign-in. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password.

8. Your choices and rights

You can ask us for a copy of your data, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete your account, except for records the law requires us to keep. You can stop news emails at any time from the link in each email. Write to hello@ethiobooks.company and we will reply within 30 days.

9. Children

Ethio Books is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

10. Changes to this policy

If we change how we use personal data in a way that matters, we will tell you on the website or by email before the change takes effect.