Privacy Policy

Who we are

Sumuda Technology ("we", "us") is a software and web and custom software development company based in 3FVR+PQJ, Hawassa, Sidama, Ethiopia. We are responsible ("data controller") for the personal data collected through sumudatechnology.com. You can reach us about privacy at info@sumudatechnology.com or by phone on +251 914 493 986. Our privacy contact is Alemseged Matusala, CO and Founder.

We follow the Ethiopian Personal Data Protection Proclamation No. 1321/2024. Where visitors from other countries use the website, we also aim to meet the main principles of international rules such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): we collect only what we need, explain why, keep it safe and delete it when it is no longer needed.

What we collect and why

When you contact us or ask for a quotation

The quotation forms, the contact page and the demo booking form ask for your name, email address, phone number, and optionally your organisation, the solution you are interested in, a preferred demo date/time and a description of your project. We use these details only to reply to you, prepare a proposal or demo, and manage any project that follows.

• Legal basis: your request (steps before a possible contract) and your consent, which you give by ticking the privacy box on the form.
• When we reply by email, the message is sent through our own mail server and a copy is kept in our email log.
• If you allowed analytics cookies, the request is linked to your current website visit (pages viewed, approximate location, time on site) so we can understand what you were looking for. Without analytics consent this link is not made.

When you comment on a blog article

We store your name, optional email address, optional role and your comment. Your name, role and comment are shown publicly once approved; your email address is never published. Legal basis: your consent.

When you send a testimonial

If you share your experience on the testimonial form (or through a personal invite link we send you), we store your rating, testimonial text, name, job title, organisation, email address, the product or project it is about, an optional photo and the time you agreed to publication. Your testimonial, rating and name are shown publicly only after our team approves it, in the form you chose (full name, first name and initial, initials or anonymous). Your email address is never published; we use it only to confirm the testimonial with you. Photos are re-saved on our server without location data. A salted, one-way hash of your IP address is kept to block spam. Legal basis: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time to have the testimonial removed.

When you subscribe to updates

If you subscribe, we keep your email address, name and the preferences you choose so we can send updates. Every email has a way to unsubscribe. Legal basis: your consent.

When you make a privacy request

We keep the details you send on the privacy request form and a record of how we answered it, as proof that we handled your request. Legal basis: our legal obligation.

Visitor statistics (only with your consent)

If you choose Accept all or switch on Analytics in the cookie settings, our own first-party statistics tool records: the pages you view and for how long, the website or campaign that sent you, your browser language, screen size, device type, browser and operating system, and an approximate location (country, region, city) worked out from your IP address.

• Your IP address is never stored in readable form – only a salted, one-way hash used to recognise repeat requests and block abuse.
• Location is looked up on our own server using the DB-IP Lite database; your IP address is not sent to another company for this.
• A random visitor number is kept in your browser's local storage to count unique visitors. It does not contain your name or contact details.
• The "online" box on the website shows anonymous totals and, for people currently browsing, an approximate location and page – never names, emails or IP addresses.
• We do not use these statistics for advertising and do not sell or share them.
• If you reject analytics (or your browser sends a Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal), none of this is recorded.

Legal basis: your consent. You can withdraw it at any time; we then stop recording immediately.

Information needed to run the website

Our web server keeps short technical logs (such as IP address, time and page requested) to keep the website secure and working. We also keep a record of your cookie choices (see "Proof of your choices" below). Legal basis: our legitimate interest in a secure, working website and our legal obligation to show that consent was given.

Cookies and similar technologies

We only use the cookies and storage listed in our Cookie Policy. Optional ones are used only after you agree. You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page.

Who we share data with

We do not sell your personal data. We only share it when necessary:

• Our hosting provider, which stores the website, its database and our email on its servers on our behalf.
• Authorities, if the law requires it.
• Services you choose to use: links to Telegram, WhatsApp, Google Maps and our clients' websites take you to those services, which have their own privacy policies.
• Some images in articles and project pages may be loaded from an image service (for example Unsplash), which receives your IP address the way any website you load an image from does.

Fonts and icons are hosted on our own server, so opening our pages does not send your data to Google Fonts or other font services.

International transfers

Our hosting servers may be located outside Ethiopia. Where personal data is transferred abroad, we only use providers that protect it with appropriate security and contractual safeguards, as required by the Proclamation.

How long we keep data

• Quotation, contact and demo requests: as long as needed to answer you and manage any resulting project, and then up to 3 years for our business and accounting records, unless you ask us to delete them earlier and no law requires us to keep them.
• Blog comments: until you ask us to remove them or the article is removed.
• Testimonials: while they are published and until you ask us to remove them; testimonials we do not publish are deleted within 12 months.
• Subscriptions: until you unsubscribe.
• Visitor statistics: 395 days, then deleted automatically.
• Records of cookie choices: 1095 days, then deleted automatically.
• Privacy requests: 3 years after they are closed, as proof that we answered them.

Your rights

Under the Proclamation (and similar laws), you have the right to:

1. Be informed about how your data is used – this policy.
2. Access your personal data and receive a copy.
3. Correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
4. Delete your data ("right to be forgotten"), where we have no legal reason to keep it.
5. Object to or ask us to restrict the use of your data.
6. Data portability – receive your data in a common electronic format.
7. Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting what was done before.
8. Not be subject to decisions made only by automated processing. We do not make such decisions.

Send your request with the form below or by email to info@sumudatechnology.com. We reply within 30 days. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we act, to protect your data from others.

Make a privacy request

If you are not happy with our answer, you can complain to the Ethiopian Communications Authority, the supervisory authority under the Proclamation.

Proof of your choices

When you accept or reject cookies, or tick the privacy box on a form, we record: a random consent number, your choice, the policy version, date and time, the page, your approximate country and device type, and a hashed IP address. This lets us prove that consent was given, as the law requires. It does not identify you by name.

Security

The website uses HTTPS encryption, secure HTTP headers, hashed IP addresses and a password-protected administration area that only authorised staff can use. No method is 100% secure, but we review our measures regularly and will inform you and the authority of any serious personal data breach as required by law.

Children

Our website and services are intended for businesses and adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 18. If you think a child has sent us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We update this policy when our website or the law changes. The version number and date are shown at the top. If a change affects how we use your data, we will ask for your cookie choices again.