Privacy Policy

VoteCam is an online voting platform based in Douala, Cameroon. We are responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

We collect as little as we need to run fair, paid voting. We do not sell your personal information, and we never see your mobile money PIN.

When you vote:

• the mobile money number you pay with and its network (MTN or Orange);
• the candidate, competition, number of votes and amount paid;
• the payment reference and status returned by your mobile money operator;
• the date and time of each payment.

When you apply to become an organizer:

• your full name, phone number, email address and city;
• a copy of your identity document (national ID card, passport or similar);
• details of your competition, and the mobile money number where you want to be paid.

About candidates, from their organizer: name, photo, category, short bio and a contact phone number.

When you contact us: your name, email or phone number, and what you tell us in your message.

Automatically, when you use the site: your device and browser type, IP address, pages visited and basic usage data, collected through cookies and server logs.

We use your information to:

• process your payments and add your votes to the right candidate;
• show you your voting history under My Votes;
• verify organizers and pay them their share of vote revenue;
• detect and prevent fraud, fake votes and payment abuse;
• answer your questions and resolve payment problems;
• keep the platform secure and improve how it works;
• meet our legal, tax and accounting obligations.

We will only send you marketing messages if you have agreed to receive them, and you can stop them at any time.

Candidate profiles — name, photo, category, bio, vote total and ranking — are public, because that is how a public vote works.

Voters are never shown publicly. Other visitors, candidates and organizers cannot see who voted or which number paid. Phone numbers that appear in dashboards are masked (for example +237 6•• ••• 412).

We share personal information only when needed to run VoteCam:

• MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money, to process your payments and refunds;
• organizers, who see vote totals, revenue and payouts for their competitions — but not the phone numbers of individual voters;
• trusted service providers such as hosting, SMS and email companies, who process data only on our instructions;
• public authorities, courts or the police, when the law requires it or to investigate fraud.

If VoteCam is ever merged with or sold to another company, your information may be transferred to it, and this policy will continue to protect it.

• Payment and vote records: 10 years, as required for accounting records under the OHADA Uniform Act on accounting.
• Organizer identity documents: for as long as the organizer account is active, and then up to 5 years to handle disputes and fraud investigations.
• Support messages: up to 2 years after the conversation ends.
• Technical logs: up to 12 months.

When we no longer need information, we delete it or make it anonymous.

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls so that only staff who need information can see it, and monitoring to spot unusual activity. Identity documents are stored separately with restricted access.

No system is perfectly secure. If a data breach puts your information at risk, we will tell you and the relevant authorities as the law requires.

People under 18 may only pay for votes with the permission of a parent or guardian.

Candidates under 18 may appear on VoteCam only when their organizer confirms that a parent or guardian has consented. A parent or guardian can ask us at any time to remove a minor's profile.

Under Cameroonian law, you can ask us to:

• tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy;
• correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
• delete your information, unless we must keep it by law (for example payment records);
• stop using your information for marketing;
• object to or limit how we use your information in certain cases.

To use any of these rights, email support@votecam.cm from your registered email, or message us from the phone number concerned. We may ask you to prove your identity, and we will reply within 30 days.

We use a small number of cookies to keep the site working (for example, to keep organizers signed in) and to understand how people use VoteCam so we can improve it.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block essential cookies, some features — such as the organizer console — may not work.

We may update this policy from time to time. We will change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page, and for important changes we will show a notice on the site.

For any question or request about your personal information, contact the VoteCam team:

• Email: support@votecam.cm
• Phone / WhatsApp: +237 650 000 000
• Address: Douala, Cameroon
• Support hours: Monday – Saturday, 8:00 – 18:00 (WAT)