How Yamalé collects, uses, and protects your data
Last updated: February 12, 2026
Yamalé Legal Platform ("Yamalé", "we", "us", or "our") operates the Yamalé Legal Platform website and mobile applications (collectively, the "Platform"), which provide African legal research, AfCFTA compliance tools, AI-powered legal research, a comprehensive legal document library, a verified lawyer directory, and The Yamalé Vault for legal and compliance resources.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you use our Platform and services. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data transparently and responsibly.
By accessing or using the Platform, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, please do not use our services.
We collect various types of information to provide and improve our services:
When you create an account, we collect:
If you register as a lawyer in our directory, we collect and store:
We automatically collect information about how you interact with our Platform:
We process payments through secure third-party payment processors (such as Lomi). We do NOT store your complete credit card information on our servers. We collect and store:
Our payment processors collect and process full payment card details in compliance with PCI DSS standards.
If you contact us for support or inquiries:
When you use The Yamalé Vault for legal resources:
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
We may share your information with third parties in the following circumstances:
We share information with trusted third-party service providers who help us operate the Platform:
These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your information and use it only for the specific services they provide to us. They cannot use your data for their own purposes.
If you are a registered lawyer:
When a user pays to unlock your profile, they receive permanent access to your contact information. We notify you when your profile is unlocked and provide the unlocking user's name and email so you can expect their contact.
Users who unlock your profile may contact you directly outside the Platform. We are not responsible for how they use your contact information after it is revealed.
We may disclose your information when required by law or when necessary to:
If Yamalé is involved in a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, bankruptcy, or similar business transaction, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity. We will notify you of any such change and provide information about your choices regarding your data.
We may share your information for other purposes with your explicit consent or at your direction.
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.
We retain your account information and usage data while your account is active.
Lawyer profile information is retained as long as you maintain your listing in the directory. Verification documents are retained for regulatory compliance.
Payment and transaction records are retained for at least 7 years for tax, accounting, and legal compliance purposes.
Records of lawyer profile unlocks are retained indefinitely to prevent duplicate charges and maintain service history.
When you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal information within 90 days, except for information we are required to retain for legal, tax, audit, or security purposes. This includes:
If you are a lawyer and request profile deletion, contact information revealed to users who previously unlocked your profile will remain with those users, as the transaction was completed. We will remove your profile from active search results within 30 days.
We implement appropriate technical, administrative, and physical security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.
We use PCI DSS-compliant payment processors. We do not store complete credit card numbers on our servers.
Depending on your location and applicable data protection laws (including GDPR, CCPA, and African data protection regulations), you may have the following rights:
You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you and receive a copy in a structured, commonly used format.
You can update most of your account information directly through your profile settings. For lawyer profiles, you can update your practice information, contact details, and other profile data. If you cannot update information yourself, contact us at info@yamaleadvisory.com.
You may request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions (e.g., legal obligations, fraud prevention, transaction records). To delete your account, contact us at info@yamaleadvisory.com.
You may object to certain processing of your personal information or request that we restrict processing in certain circumstances, such as when you contest the accuracy of your data or the lawfulness of processing.
Where applicable, you have the right to receive your personal information in a portable format and transmit it to another service provider.
Where we process your information based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
You can opt out of marketing emails by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email or by updating your communication preferences in your account settings. You will continue to receive transactional emails (e.g., receipts, password resets) even if you opt out of marketing.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@yamaleadvisory.com. We will respond to your request within the timeframe required by applicable law (typically 30 days). We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
We and our service providers use cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies to:
Most web browsers accept cookies by default. You can adjust your browser settings to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. However, some features of the Platform may not function properly if you disable cookies, particularly authentication and session management.
Some cookies may be set by our service providers (e.g., analytics tools). These third parties have their own privacy policies governing their use of your information.
Our Platform may contain links to third-party websites, applications, or services (including resources in The Yamalé Vault, external legal databases, or social media platforms). We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these third parties.
When you click on a third-party link or access a third-party service, you leave our Platform and are subject to that third party's privacy policy and terms of service. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any third-party services you visit.
When you purchase templates, courses, or other resources from third-party sellers in The Yamalé Vault, the seller may collect additional information from you. We facilitate the transaction but are not responsible for the seller's privacy practices.
Yamalé operates internationally and your information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in countries other than your country of residence, including other countries in Africa, the United States, Europe, and other regions where our service providers operate.
These countries may have data protection laws that differ from the laws of your country. When we transfer your personal information internationally, we implement appropriate safeguards to protect your data, including:
Where required by law, we will obtain your consent before transferring your information internationally.
Our Platform is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18 (or the minimum age of digital consent in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided personal information to us, please contact us immediately at info@yamaleadvisory.com. Upon verification, we will promptly delete such information from our systems.
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:
Email: info@yamaleadvisory.com
Subject Line: Privacy Inquiry — [Your Topic]
For GDPR or other data protection inquiries, you may request to speak with our Data Protection Officer by emailing info@yamaleadvisory.com with the subject line "Attention: DPO".
We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within 30 days. For complex requests, we may extend this period and will notify you of the extension.
If you are located in the European Union, United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with a data protection authority, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority if you believe we have violated your data protection rights.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, legal requirements, or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons.
When we make changes, we will:
Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the changes, you should discontinue use of the Platform and may request deletion of your account.
Changes will be considered "material" if they:
For users in the European Union, United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions with similar requirements, we process your personal information based on the following legal grounds:
Processing is necessary to perform our contract with you (e.g., providing Platform services, processing subscriptions, unlocking lawyer profiles).
Processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests (e.g., improving services, fraud prevention, analytics), provided these interests do not override your fundamental rights.
Processing is required to comply with legal or regulatory obligations (e.g., tax records, responding to legal requests).
In some cases, we process information based on your explicit consent. You may withdraw consent at any time, though this will not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
In rare cases, processing may be necessary to protect your vital interests or those of another person.
If you are a United States California resident, you have specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):
You can request information about the personal information we have collected about you in the past 12 months, including categories of information, sources, purposes, and third parties with whom we share it.
You can request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
We do not "sell" personal information as defined by the CCPA. If this changes, we will provide an opt-out mechanism.
We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.
Contact us at info@yamaleadvisory.com with "California Privacy Rights" in the subject line. We will verify your identity before processing your request.
You may designate an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf. The agent must provide proof of authorization.
We use automated systems, including AI, to enhance your experience on the Platform. This includes:
We do not use automated decision-making to evaluate or score individual lawyers in our directory. Ratings are based on user reviews, and profile display is based on user search criteria (location, expertise, language).
If you are subject to automated decision-making that produces legal effects or similarly significant effects, you have the right to:
Contact us at info@yamaleadvisory.com if you have concerns about automated processing.
By accessing or using the Yamalé Legal Platform, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy. This policy is effective as of the "Last Updated" date shown at the top of this document.
If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, you must not access or use our Platform.