Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how PrepIQ ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, shares, and protects information when you use our website, mobile apps, dashboard, and related services (together, the "Service"). We wrote it in plain language on purpose — your trust matters more to us than legal jargon.

PrepIQ is operated by PrepIQ, based in Kampala, Uganda. By using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you have questions at any point, contact us at customer@prepiq.net.

2. Information We Collect

We collect only the information we need to run the Service well. This includes:

• Account information — your name, email address, phone number, job title, and the organization and branch(es) you belong to.
• Operational data — the data that powers PrepIQ's forecasts and recommendations, such as sales history, inventory levels, waste records, menu items, recipes, and the forecasts and prep plans we generate for you.
• Notification data — records of the notifications we send you (for example, stockout alerts or planning reminders) so we can manage delivery and let you review your history.
• Device and technical information — browser type, operating system, IP address, device identifiers, and similar technical details, collected automatically when you use our website or apps.
• App logs and crash reports — technical logs that help us diagnose problems and keep the Service stable.
• Connector diagnostics — status and health information from the PIQ Connector (for example, whether it's connected and syncing), which we use to alert you to connectivity issues. The Connector does not send us the contents of your POS database beyond the operational data described above.
• Communications — messages you send us through support requests, contact forms, or feedback tools, along with any files you choose to attach.

3. Information We Do Not Collect

We're equally clear about what we deliberately avoid collecting:

• Full payment card numbers. Payments are handled by our payment processor, Flutterwave — PrepIQ never sees or stores your complete card number.
• Passwords in plain text. Your password is never stored in a readable form; it is hashed using industry-standard cryptographic methods.
• Personal photos or your phone's photo library, unless you explicitly choose to upload an image (for example, a profile picture or a support attachment).
• Your personal contacts.
• Your location, unless you explicitly grant location permission for a feature that requires it — and even then, only while that feature is in use.

4. Why We Collect Information

We collect and use information to:

• Generate accurate demand forecasts and operational recommendations.
• Build prep plans, purchasing suggestions, and reports.
• Continuously improve our machine learning models within your own environment.
• Authenticate you and keep your account secure.
• Send you operational notifications and important service communications.
• Provide customer support and respond to your requests.
• Maintain the security, integrity, and reliability of the Service.

5. How We Use Your Information

To operate the Service — create forecasts, generate prep plans and purchasing recommendations, manage your account and subscription, and process payments.

To improve the platform — understand how customers use PrepIQ, improve performance and reliability, and develop new features.

To communicate with you — respond to support requests, send service and security notifications, and share relevant product updates.

6. Data Sharing & Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information or your business's operational data — ever. We do not use one customer's confidential business data to generate forecasts or insights for another customer. We share information only in the following limited circumstances:

• Service providers who help us run PrepIQ, including:

  • Flutterwave, for secure payment processing.
  • Firebase, for push notifications to the mobile app.
  • Cloudinary, for secure hosting of images and file attachments (for example, support request attachments).
  • Our cloud hosting provider, which runs our servers and databases.
  • Our email delivery provider, for account and transactional emails such as password resets and verification codes.

  Each of these providers is contractually required to protect your data and may only use it to provide services to us — never for their own purposes.

• Legal compliance — we may disclose information if required by law, regulation, court order, or other valid legal process, or where necessary to protect the rights, safety, or security of PrepIQ, our customers, or others.

• Business transfers — if PrepIQ is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of all or part of its business, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify affected customers where required by law.

• With your consent — we may share information with third parties when you specifically ask or authorize us to.

7. Data Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect your information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. No system can guarantee absolute security, but we work continuously to keep PrepIQ safe and reliable. Our security measures include:

• Encrypted communications using HTTPS/TLS.
• Encrypted storage for sensitive information.
• Role-based access controls, so team members only see what they need.
• Secure authentication mechanisms.
• Infrastructure monitoring and logging.
• Regular backups and tested recovery procedures.

For more detail, see our Security page.

8. Confidentiality

We recognize that the information you entrust to PrepIQ — sales figures, recipes, supplier relationships, and more — is often commercially sensitive. Access to customer data is limited to authorized personnel who need it to operate, maintain, or support the Service, or to meet legal obligations. Everyone with that access is required to keep it confidential.

9. AI Processing & Data Isolation

PrepIQ uses artificial intelligence to generate forecasts, recommendations, and operational insights from the information you provide. These outputs are meant to support your decisions, not replace your judgment (see our Terms of Service for more on this).

Every organization's data is logically isolated from every other organization on the platform. Restaurants cannot access or view another organization's information, and we do not use one customer's confidential business data to train models or generate recommendations for other customers.

10. Data Ownership

Your organization retains ownership of all business data you upload to PrepIQ — sales records, inventory information, recipes, menus, forecasts, and other operational data. We process this information solely to provide, maintain, and improve the Service, and we do not claim ownership of it. You can export your business data at any time using the tools available in the platform, or by contacting our support team.

11. Data Retention

We keep your information for as long as your account is active, or as long as we need it to provide the Service. When you delete your account:

• Your access to the Service is disabled immediately.
• Your personal information is deleted from our active systems within 30 days.
• Encrypted backup copies may remain in our backup systems for a limited additional period before they are automatically and permanently deleted.
• We may retain certain information longer where required by law, or for legitimate purposes such as fraud prevention, dispute resolution, or enforcing our agreements.
• We may retain anonymized, aggregated data indefinitely for analytics — this data can no longer be linked back to you or your business.

12. Your Rights

Depending on where you're located, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate information.
• Delete your personal information.
• Export your data in a portable format.
• Restrict or object to certain kinds of processing.
• Withdraw consent, where our processing is based on your consent.
• Close your account entirely.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at customer@prepiq.net. We will respond to verified requests within a reasonable timeframe, as required by applicable law.

13. Cookies & Similar Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to operate, secure, and improve the Service:

• Essential cookies are required for authentication, security, and core functionality — you can't opt out of these and still use the Service.
• Analytics cookies help us understand how customers use PrepIQ so we can improve performance and usability.
• Preference cookies remember choices like your language and interface settings.

You can control cookies through your browser settings, though disabling essential cookies may prevent parts of the Service from working properly.

14. Mobile App Permissions

If you use the PrepIQ mobile app, here's exactly what we access and why:

• Account & sign-in. The app requires you to sign in with a PrepIQ account to access any kitchen data — you cannot use the core features without authenticating.
• Push notifications. With your permission, we use notifications to deliver operational alerts (like stockout risk or production reminders), messages from your team through the Operations Hub, and important system updates. You can turn these off at any time in your device settings.
• Storage access. The app may access device storage when you choose to upload a file (for example, attaching a photo to a support request) or download a report.
• Camera and photo library. If you choose to attach a photo — for example, when reporting an issue — the app will ask for camera or photo library access at that moment. We only access these when you initiate that action.
• Location. We do not access your device's location unless a specific feature requires it and you have explicitly granted permission.

In every case, the information collected through these permissions is used only to provide the Service to you and to improve our forecasting and operations tools — never sold, and never used for advertising.

15. International Transfers

Your information may be processed in countries other than the one where you or your business are located. When this happens, we put appropriate safeguards in place — including contractual protections — to keep your information protected in line with applicable data protection laws.

16. Children's Privacy

PrepIQ is a business tool built for restaurant operators and their staff. It is not directed at, or intended for use by, individuals under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we learn that we've inadvertently collected information from a child, we will delete it promptly.

17. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our Service, legal requirements, or business practices. We'll update the "Last updated" date whenever we do. If a change materially affects your rights or how we handle your information, we'll let you know through the Service or by email before it takes effect. Continuing to use the Service after an update takes effect means you accept the revised policy.

18. Contact Us

Questions, concerns, or requests about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data? We'd rather you ask than wonder.

Email: customer@prepiq.net Mail: PrepIQ, Kampala, Uganda