This Privacy Policy explains how ThuoTech (Pty) Ltd ("ThuoTech", "we", "us")
collects, uses, and protects information when you use the Thuo Link mobile
application (the "App") on Android phones and iPhones. Thuo Link is a livestock and farm-management app
that works with your farm's ThuoTech cloud account; the same account is used on the ThuoTech website and
the ThuoTech desktop program. Accounts are created by a farm (its owner adds the people who work on it).
By using the App you agree to the practices described in this policy. If you do not agree,
please do not use the App.
1. Who we are
| Data controller | ThuoTech (Pty) Ltd, Botswana |
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| App | Thuo Link (com.thuolink.mobile) |
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| Privacy contact | info@thuotech.co.bw |
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2. Information we collect
Information you provide
- Account & identity data — your name, username, email address, an
encrypted (hashed) password, and your role and farm association. This is used to sign you
in and control what you can access.
- Farm operational data — the records you create or edit in the App, such as
animal, breeding, health, movement, inventory and financial records.
- Records about the farm's workers — a farm can keep its workers' names, contact
details, identity numbers, contracts, the days and hours they worked, leave and pay. A worker sees their
own records in the App; the farm owner, and people the owner allows, see the farm's.
- Messages — the content of any messages and attachments you send through the
App's in-app messaging features.
Photos, videos and voice notes
- Camera and photo library — when you take or choose a photo or a short video (of an
animal, a farm paper, finished work or a problem to report), it is uploaded and kept with the record it
belongs to, so others on your farm can see it. The App uses the camera only when you press a camera
button, and reads only the photos you pick.
- Location inside photos — if a photo you add already carries the place it was taken
(most phone cameras store this), we read that place so the photo can be shown on the farm's map.
- Microphone — when you record a voice note in a message, or a video with sound, the
recording is uploaded and kept with that message or record.
- Speaking a number — when you say a number out loud (such as a weight or a count) to
fill it in, your phone turns your words into text. The App asks your phone to do this on the device
where it can; some phones send the short recording to the phone maker's speech service (Apple or
Google) to do it. We receive only the number, not the recording.
- Bluetooth — used only to connect to a weigh scale or tag reader you choose, to read
its weights or tag numbers. We do not collect information about other Bluetooth devices around you.
Location
- When you allow it, the App records where you were when you make certain reports (for example a sick,
missing or stray animal, or a check at a water point), so the place can be found again. The App asks
for location only while you are using it, never in the background, and works without it.
- When a worker clocks in or out of the day's work in the App, the place is recorded with the time, if
location is allowed, so the farm's day register shows where the work started and ended.
Messages
- Messages, photos, voice notes and files you send in the App's chat are kept so the people in the
conversation can read them. Chat is private to the people on your farm. Message text is stored
encrypted on our servers.
- If you report a message, a copy of it, the reason you gave and your name are sent to
ThuoTech and to your farm's owner so they can act on it. If you block a person, we keep
a record of that so their messages are hidden from you.
Information collected automatically
- Notifications — if you allow notifications, your phone gives the App a notification
address (a push token), which we keep with your account so we can tell you about messages, approvals
and farm alerts. On Android it is issued by Google Firebase Cloud Messaging; on iPhone by Apple's push
notification service.
- How the service is used — our servers record which parts of the service your account
uses and when (for example, that a page was opened or a record saved), to keep the service working,
to see which features farms use, and to improve them. This is not used for advertising.
- Technical data — app version, operating-system version, IP address, and diagnostic
and log information needed to keep the service working and secure.
- If the App closes unexpectedly, it keeps a short technical note on your phone. It is sent to us only
if you choose to copy it into a message to us.
What we do not do
- We do not track you across other companies' apps or websites. The App contains no advertising and no
advertising or analytics libraries.
- We do not collect your location in the background, and we do not read your contacts.
- We do not sell your personal information.
3. How we use your information
- To provide and operate the App, and keep your farm's records in the ThuoTech cloud so they can be
used on the App, the ThuoTech website and the desktop program.
- To send you the notifications you have allowed.
- To act on reported messages and keep chat safe for the people on your farm.
- To authenticate you and keep your account and data secure, including sending a link to choose a new
password when you ask for one, and slowing down repeated wrong passwords.
- To respond to support requests and fix problems.
- To maintain, troubleshoot, and improve the service.
- To comply with legal obligations.
4. How your information is shared
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only:
- With service providers who host and operate our infrastructure (for example,
our server and database hosting, and email delivery), strictly to provide the service on our behalf.
- With the services that deliver notifications — Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) for
Android phones and Apple (Apple Push Notification service) for iPhones receive a notification's title
and short text and your phone's notification address, only to deliver it.
- With weather services — to show your farm's weather, our server sends the farm's map
position (not your name or account) to public weather services (the Norwegian Meteorological
Institute and NASA's POWER service).
- When required by law — to comply with a valid legal request or to protect
our rights, users, or the public.
- With your organisation — data you enter is visible to other authorised users
of your farm/organisation account in line with your assigned role.
5. Where your information is kept
The ThuoTech cloud, which holds your account and your farm's records, runs on servers in France, in the
European Union. Using the App means your information is sent to and stored there. A copy of the backups is kept
by ThuoTech in Botswana. We protect it in the same way wherever it is held.
5a. Data security
Data transmitted between the App and our servers is protected in transit using HTTPS/TLS
encryption. Passwords are stored only in hashed form. We apply access controls and reasonable
technical and organisational measures to protect your data. No method of transmission or storage
is 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
6. Data retention
We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the
service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
When you delete your account (Section 11), your sign-in is closed and your name, email address,
password, profile photo and notification address are removed. Records you made for the farm (for example
a treatment, a count or a message) are the farm's business records: they stay with the farm, shown as made
by "Removed user". When a farm's account is closed, the farm's records are deleted.
7. Children's privacy
The App is intended for use by farm operators and businesses and is not directed at children
under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child
has provided us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.
8. Your rights
You may request to access, correct, export, or delete your personal information, or withdraw
consent where applicable. You can delete your account yourself in the App (Settings, then
Delete my account) or on the ThuoTech website (your profile page). For anything else, email
info@thuotech.co.bw. We will respond within a
reasonable period.
9. Facebook Page messaging
Separately from the App, ThuoTech operates a Facebook Page ("Thuo Tech") and responds to
enquiries sent to that Page through Facebook Messenger. This section explains how we handle
information received from Meta when you message us there.
When you send a message to our Facebook Page we receive the content of your message, the
name and page-scoped identifier that Meta provides for your account, and the time the message
was sent. We receive this only because you chose to message us; we do not obtain your Facebook
profile, friend list, or any data beyond the conversation itself.
We use this information for one purpose only: to understand your enquiry and reply to it.
We do not use Facebook Page conversation data for advertising, profiling, or resale, and we do
not combine it with data from the App.
10. Automated replies and AI processing
Replies to Facebook Page messages are generated by an automated assistant rather than typed
by a person. If you ask whether you are speaking to a person, the assistant will tell you it is
automated. You can always reach a person instead by calling or messaging
+267 73003123.
To generate a reply, the content of your conversation is transmitted to
Anthropic, which operates the Claude language model,
acting as our data processor. Anthropic processes the message in order to return reply text to
us and does not use it to train its models. No other third party receives your Facebook Page
conversation data.
Where the assistant cannot answer a question accurately — for example a price for a specific
site, or whether we cover a particular area — it tells you we are checking, and a member of
staff is alerted by email so that a person can answer you directly.
On our own server we retain the message identifier, a one-line summary of your question, and
any follow-up record needed to make sure your enquiry is not missed or answered twice. Full
message content is not retained by us after a reply has been generated; your conversation
remains in Facebook Messenger, governed by Meta's own policies.
11. Data deletion
You can ask us to delete the information we hold about you at any time.
- Your account, in the App. Open Settings and choose Delete my account, then
confirm with your password. Your account is deleted at once, as described in Section 6. On the ThuoTech
website the same choice is on your profile page.
- If you are your farm's only owner, deleting your account also closes the farm's
account and deletes the farm's records for everyone on it. So that this cannot happen by accident, the App
records your request, we confirm it with you by email, and we complete it within 30 days. Until then you
can still sign in, and you can cancel the request.
- App data, by email. You can also email
info@thuotech.co.bw from the address on your
account, stating that you want your account and data deleted.
- Facebook Page conversation data. Email
info@thuotech.co.bw with the name you use on
Facebook and a note that you want your Messenger enquiry records deleted. You may also
remove ThuoTech's access at any time through your Facebook settings, and you can delete the
conversation itself from within Messenger.
We will confirm deletion by email within 30 days. Records we are required to keep by law are
retained only for as long as that obligation lasts, and are not used for any other purpose.
12. Government and legal requests
From time to time a public authority may ask us to disclose personal information
about a user. We treat those requests seriously and handle them according to the
following practices.
- We review the legality of every request. Before disclosing
anything, we check that the request comes from an authority entitled to make it,
that it is properly issued, and that it is valid under the laws of Botswana. We do
not disclose personal information on an informal or verbal request.
- We disclose the minimum necessary. We provide only the specific
information the request actually requires, and no more. In practice we hold very
little: for Facebook Page enquiries we retain a message identifier, a one-line
summary of the question, and any follow-up record, rather than full conversation
content.
- We document every request. We record what was asked for, who
asked, what we disclosed, the reasoning applied, and the date. These records are
kept so that our handling of any request can be reviewed afterwards.
Where we are lawfully permitted to do so, we will tell an affected user that their
information has been requested.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will revise the "Last updated" date at
the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you within the App. Continued use of the App
after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
14. Contact us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled, contact: