Privacy policy

Last updated 5 October 2026.

Ghanaspora is an app and website for finding Ghanaian community events, places and guides near you. This page says what we collect, why, and how to get rid of it. It is written to be read, not to cover us.

Browsing needs no account

You can use the app without signing in. Your saved events and places, your home town, your travel radius and your interests are stored only on your phone. Nothing about you is sent to us until you sign in.

What we collect when you sign in

• Sign-in details. Apple, Google or a phone number, handled by Firebase Authentication (a Google service). We keep the identifier, and the name and email or phone number the sign-in method gives us, so we can show you your own submissions and claims and reach you about them.
• Your saves, town, radius and interests, so they follow you to another phone. Your home location is stored rounded to about a kilometre, never as an exact address.
• What you submit. Flyers you upload, events you add, listings you claim or suggest, edits, and reports. Flyers are read by an automated model to propose the event's details, which you check before anything is published. Published flyers and event details are public in the app and on the website. If you list a service you offer, the name, description, service area (city and state, stored as a rounded point on the map, never your home address) and the contact details you choose to publish are public too.
• Notification tokens, if you turn notifications on, so we can send the digest and updates about your submissions. Reminders for saved events are scheduled on your phone and never leave it.

What we collect from everyone

• Usage and crash data through Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics: which screens are used, and what went wrong when the app crashed. No personal data is put into these reports.
• Event views, saves and shares, as counts. When you open an event in the app or on this website, save it or share it, we add one to that event's count, at most one view per event per day from your phone or browser. Nothing about you goes with it: no account, no device identifier, no address. The counts are public on the event as "128 views" and "Trending". To avoid counting the same view twice, your phone or browser remembers which events it counted today; that list stays on your device.
• Location, only when you allow it and only to sort events and places by distance. The app asks the system for permission; you can refuse and type a town instead.

What we never do

• We never ask where you or your family come from. Ghanaspora is about the Ghanaian community and open to everyone.
• We do not sell or share your data with advertisers, and we do not track you across other apps or websites.
• There are no ads.
• There is no directory of members. Listings are places and organizations; a member may publish a listing for their own service, with a service area rather than a home address, and only ever for themselves.

Who processes the data

Everything is stored with Google Firebase (Firestore, Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions, Authentication, Cloud Messaging, Analytics and Crashlytics) in the United States. Flyer reading uses Google's Gemini API: the image is sent for that one purpose, and how Google handles it is governed by the Gemini API terms for the service tier we use. Address lookups use Google's Geocoding API and Apple's MapKit. Maps in the app are drawn by the Google Maps SDK for iOS and Directions open Google Maps; that use is governed by Google's Maps Platform terms and privacy policy, and the app does not give the SDK your location.

Moderators

A small number of moderators review submissions, claims and reports. They see the content you submit, your account identifier, and, for claims, the name, role and contact you gave. They do not see your saves, town or interests.

Deleting your account

You tab, Delete account. This removes your profile, saves, reports, suggestions, claims and notification tokens everywhere, and your sign-in from our records. A listing for your own service is deleted with your account, photos included. Events and places you added stay listed, without your name, because the community relies on them; email us if one should come down.

Children

Ghanaspora is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes in a way that matters, the app will say so. Questions: hello@ghanaspora.app.