Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how SDS Consult, in partnership with CEA (Complementary Education Agency) Ghana, collects, uses, discloses, and protects information when you use our platform — the SDS Consult website and dashboards, and the SDS Consult mobile app (used by SDS agents and regional coordinators) — together, the "Platform".

The Platform supports accreditation and certification of tradespersons and Master Craft Persons (MCPs) in alignment with Ghana's Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) standards, and is used by administrators, regional coordinators, SDS agents, facilitators/assessors, and registered tradespersons.

By using the Platform, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.

We collect the following categories of information:

a. Account & Identity Information

• Full name, email address, phone number, gender, and role (agent, regional coordinator, facilitator/assessor, or administrator)
• Region and district assignment
• Ghana Card (national ID) number and image, where required for agent or facilitator verification
• Login credentials, managed securely via our authentication provider (Supabase)

b. Tradesperson / MCP Registration Information

• Full name, contact details, trade/pathway, workshop address, and business details submitted during Master Craft Person (MCP) or skilled-person registration
• Photographs of the tradesperson, their workshop, and identification documents, captured via camera or uploaded
• Supporting documents and certificates uploaded during registration or certificate requests

c. Location Information

See Section 3 below.

d. Financial & Payment Information

• Registration and certificate payment records (amount, status, reference), processed through Paystack
• Payout/bank account details submitted by agents and coordinators to receive commission withdrawals, processed through Paystack
• Wallet balance and commission/earnings history

We do not collect or store your full card number, CVV, or bank PIN — these are entered directly into Paystack's secure, PCI-compliant payment interface and never pass through our servers.

e. Communications Data

• Email address and phone number, used to send registration confirmations, one-time passcodes (OTP), certificate notifications, and service updates via our email (Brevo) and SMS (PiloSMS) providers

f. Authentication & Security Data

• Session tokens, stored securely on your device (encrypted storage on mobile) to keep you signed in
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) status and verification codes, where MFA is enabled on your account

The SDS Consult mobile app requests access to your device's precise (GPS) location. This is used only for the following purposes, and only at the moment you take the corresponding action:

• Capturing the GPS coordinates of a tradesperson's workshop during MCP/skilled-person registration
• Capturing the GPS coordinates of the field interview/enumeration location during registration
• Capturing the GPS coordinates of a tradesperson's residence, where relevant to registration
• Displaying assigned locations on a map for agents and coordinators

We do not track your location in the background, and location is only captured when you tap a "Get Current Location" action within a registration form. You can deny or revoke location permission at any time in your device settings; doing so will only prevent GPS auto-capture — you can still type coordinates manually where the form allows it.

• To create and manage your account and verify your identity and role
• To process MCP and skilled-person accreditation registrations, assessments, and certificate issuance
• To process payments, calculate agent and regional coordinator commissions, and process withdrawal requests
• To send transactional communications: OTPs, registration confirmations, certificate notifications, and important service updates
• To enable offline draft saving and synchronization of registration data on the mobile app
• To maintain the security and integrity of the Platform, including fraud prevention and MFA
• To comply with CTVET-aligned recordkeeping and regulatory requirements

We do not use your information for advertising, and the Platform does not contain third-party advertising or analytics/tracking SDKs.

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only with the following categories of service providers, solely to operate the Platform:

• Supabase — our database, authentication, and file storage provider
• Paystack — our payment processor, for registration/certificate payments and commission withdrawals
• Brevo — our email delivery provider, for transactional emails
• PiloSMS — our SMS delivery provider, for OTPs and notifications

We may also disclose information where required by law, to protect the rights and safety of SDS Consult, CEA Ghana, or Platform users, or in connection with CTVET regulatory reporting obligations. Internally, information is accessible only to personnel who need it for their role (e.g. a regional coordinator can see agents and registrations within their assigned region/districts).

We use only strictly necessary cookies — small pieces of data stored in your browser that are required for the website to function, such as:

• Authentication/session cookies, which keep you signed in
• A security cookie enforcing an automatic sign-out after 24 hours
• A multi-factor authentication (MFA) verification cookie, where MFA is enabled on your account

We do not use advertising, marketing, or third-party analytics/tracking cookies. Because these cookies are required for you to securely sign in and use the Platform, they are set regardless of the choice you make on the cookie banner; declining the banner simply dismisses it and does not disable these essential cookies. Your device's theme preference (light/dark) is stored locally in your browser, not in a cookie. You can clear cookies at any time through your browser settings, though doing so will sign you out.

We apply role-based access controls and database-level row security so that users can only access data relevant to their role and region. Session credentials on the mobile app are stored using encrypted device storage. Payment card details are handled entirely by Paystack and never stored on our servers. No method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure, but we work to protect your information using industry-standard practices.

We retain account, registration, assessment, and payment/commission records for as long as your account is active and as necessary to comply with CTVET-aligned accreditation recordkeeping, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. If you request deletion of your account, we will delete or anonymize personal information that we are not otherwise required to retain for legal, regulatory, or accreditation-integrity purposes (for example, a completed certificate record may be retained to preserve the accreditation register).

You may:

• Access and review the personal information associated with your account from your profile page
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request a copy of your data
• Withdraw consent to location access at any time via device settings
• Request deletion of your account and associated personal information (see below)

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at admin@sdsconsult.gh.

You can request deletion of your account and personal information at any time — whether or not you still have the app installed — by emailing admin@sdsconsult.gh from your registered email address with the subject "Account Deletion Request". We will verify your identity and process eligible deletion requests within a reasonable time. As noted above, some records (e.g. issued certificates, payment records required for financial/regulatory compliance) may be retained or anonymized rather than fully deleted where we have a legal or regulatory obligation to keep them.

The Platform is intended for use by adults (18 years or older) participating in Ghana's tradesperson accreditation ecosystem as agents, coordinators, facilitators, administrators, or registrants. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the Platform after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, contact us at admin@sdsconsult.gh.

See also our Terms of Service.