Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

UGC ("we", "us", "our") is operated by UGC Ltd (RC RC: 9299334), with its principal address at Block 10, Plot 2 & 3 Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. International contracts and payments are handled via Flywox Inc, our global operating entity. We operate the UGC waitlist at https://ugc.africa.

For any questions about this policy, reach our data protection team at [email protected]. We reply to every message.

2. What This Policy Covers

This Privacy Policy applies to personal data collected through the UGC waitlist website. It does not apply to third-party websites we may link to - those services have their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to read.

3. What We Collect

Information you give us

• Email address - required to add you to the waitlist and send you updates.
• Name - optional; used to personalise the welcome email.
• Role - whether you are joining as a Creator or Advertiser, so we can prioritise your access and tailor onboarding when the platform launches.
• Country - optional; used to estimate demand by region and plan market rollouts.
• Referral code - if you signed up via someone's referral link, we store the referring code to credit their queue position.

Information collected automatically

• IP address (hashed) - we store a one-way SHA-256 hash of your IP address to prevent duplicate registrations and detect abuse. The raw IP address is never stored and cannot be recovered from the hash.
• Language preference - stored as a browser cookie (lang) to remember your language choice. We set no tracking or advertising cookies.
• Referral source - the ?ref= query parameter in your URL, if present.

4. Why We Process Your Data

We rely on the following legal bases:

• Consent - by submitting the waitlist form, you consent to us processing your data for the purposes set out here. You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing [email protected] or requesting deletion via our Data Deletion page.
• Legitimate interests - fraud prevention (IP hashing) and aggregate analytics to understand platform demand.
• Contract performance - managing your waitlist position and referral credits.

5. How We Use Your Information

• To add you to the UGC waitlist and assign a queue position.
• To send a welcome email confirming your registration and sharing your referral link.
• To send updates about our launch, early access invitations, and platform news. Every email includes a one-click unsubscribe link.
• To calculate and apply referral queue-jump bonuses.
• To prevent duplicate registrations and detect abuse.
• To understand where in the world people are joining, so we can plan regional launches.
• To meet our legal obligations.

6. Third-Party Services

We use the following services, each of which has its own privacy policy:

• Resend (resend.com) - transactional email. Your email address and name are sent to Resend solely to deliver our emails. Resend is SOC 2 Type II certified. Resend Privacy Policy.
• Google Fonts - our site loads fonts from Google's servers, which may collect your IP address as part of the request. Google Privacy Policy.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with any third party for marketing or advertising purposes.

6A. Platform API Integrations (Effective at Launch)

When the UGC platform launches, we will use the following official APIs to retrieve performance metrics for content that creators voluntarily submit through our platform. This section describes how that data will be handled.

• YouTube Data API v3 (Google LLC) - we use this API to retrieve the public view count for YouTube Shorts videos that creators submit to our platform. We access only view count data for the specific URLs submitted; we do not access private content, playlists, subscriber information, or any data beyond what is publicly visible. This data is used solely to calculate creator compensation. Google Privacy Policy.
• TikTok Content API (TikTok Pte. Ltd.) - we use this API to retrieve the public view count for TikTok videos that creators submit to our platform. We access only view count data for the specific video URLs submitted; we do not access profile data, follower lists, private videos, messages, or any content beyond the posts creators explicitly share with us. This data is used solely to calculate creator compensation and to detect fraudulent view inflation in order to protect both creators and advertisers. TikTok Privacy Policy.
• Instagram Graph API (Meta Platforms, Inc.) - subject to approval, we may use this API to retrieve public view counts for Instagram Reels that creators submit to our platform, via OAuth authorisation granted by the creator. We access only media insights for posts the creator has explicitly authorised; we do not access private content, direct messages, Stories, follower lists, or any data beyond the authorised posts. Creators can revoke this authorisation at any time via Facebook/Instagram Settings → Security and Login → Apps and Websites. Meta Privacy Policy.

What we do not do with API data: We do not sell it, share it with advertisers beyond what is necessary to report campaign performance, or use it to build profiles of individual users on those platforms. All API data is accessed for the sole purpose of calculating and verifying creator earnings.

Creator control: Creators can stop submitting posts at any time, ending any further API data collection. To delete existing data we have collected via these APIs, follow the process on our Data Deletion page.

7. Data Retention

We keep your waitlist data for up to 24 months from the date you registered, or until one of the following happens first:

• You request deletion - see our Data Deletion page for how to do this.
• You are granted access to the UGC platform and create a full account, after which your waitlist record is superseded by your account record.

8. International Data Transfers

Our servers are located in regions that provide an adequate level of data protection. When data is transferred to Resend or other processors, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, including standard contractual clauses where required.

9. Your Rights

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

• Access - request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification - ask us to correct inaccurate data.
• Erasure - ask us to delete your personal data. See our Data Deletion Instructions.
• Restriction - ask us to limit how we process your data.
• Portability - receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection - object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Withdraw consent - at any time, without affecting anything processed before withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

10. Cookies

We set a single functional cookie:

• lang - stores your language preference (e.g., "en", "fr", "pt"). Expires after 365 days.

We also store your theme preference (light, night, or black mode) in your browser's local storage, shared with our blog on the same site. This never leaves your device. No tracking or advertising cookies are used.

11. Children

UGC is not directed at anyone under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If you believe we have done so, please contact us immediately and we will delete the data.

12. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to protect your data: HTTPS encryption, hashed IP storage, access controls, and rate limiting. That said, no internet transmission is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy occasionally. If we make material changes, we will notify waitlist members by email. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page always reflects the current version.

14. Contact

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, contact us at [email protected].