Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Sódu ("we", "us", "our") is a cross-border wholesale and managed sourcing platform that connects African buyers with verified Egyptian manufacturers. Our registered headquarters is in Cairo, Egypt, with commercial offices in Kampala, Uganda and Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect personal information when you visit www.gosodu.com, submit a sourcing request, send us an enquiry, or otherwise interact with our services.

2. Information we collect

We collect information in two ways: directly from you, and automatically when you visit our website.

Information you provide directly

• Contact details — your full name, company name, email address, WhatsApp number, and country.
• Sourcing details — the product or category you need, quantity, target price, destination port, preferred supplier country, and timeline.
• Enquiry content — your message, partnership type, markets covered, or any other details you include in a contact form submission.
• Order and transaction data — information related to orders you place or quotes you request through the Sódu platform or app.

Information collected automatically

• Usage data — pages visited, time spent, referring URLs, and browser or device type, collected via standard web server logs.
• Cookies and local storage — small files that help us maintain session state and remember your preferences. See Section 8 for details.

We do not collect sensitive personal data such as payment card numbers directly through this website. Payments and escrow are handled by our secure payment infrastructure and third-party processors.

3. How we use your information

We use the information we collect to:

• Respond to your sourcing requests, enquiries, or quotation submissions.
• Match your requirements with suitable Egyptian manufacturers and suppliers.
• Send you transactional communications — such as a confirmation that your request was received or an update on your order status.
• Notify our internal team of new submissions so requests are reviewed promptly.
• Improve the website, our services, and the buyer experience.
• Comply with applicable laws and regulations, including trade and export documentation requirements.
• Detect and prevent fraudulent, abusive, or spam submissions.

We do not sell your personal data. We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling.

4. Sharing your information

We share your information only where necessary to deliver the service or meet a legal obligation:

• Verified factories and suppliers — when fulfilling a sourcing request, we share the relevant details (product requirements, quantities, destination) with the manufacturers we contact on your behalf. We do not share your contact details with a factory until we have a confirmed engagement.
• Logistics and inspection partners — freight forwarders, inspection agencies, and port agents involved in executing your order.
• Email service providers — we use Resend to deliver transactional notification emails to our team. Your submission data passes through Resend's infrastructure solely to generate and deliver these emails.
• Legal and regulatory authorities — where required by Egyptian law, the laws of a destination country, or a valid legal process.

All third parties we work with are required to handle your data securely and only for the purpose for which it was shared.

5. Data retention

We retain your personal information for as long as is necessary to:

• Fulfil the purpose for which it was collected (for example, to complete a sourcing request and any resulting order).
• Meet our legal, regulatory, and tax obligations — typically a minimum of five years for transaction records under Egyptian commercial law.
• Resolve disputes or enforce our agreements.

When your data is no longer needed, we delete or anonymise it securely.

6. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These include:

• Encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) for all data transmitted between your browser and our servers.
• Access controls that restrict who within the Sódu team can view submission data.
• Regular review of third-party service providers to confirm they maintain appropriate security standards.

No transmission of data over the internet is completely secure. If you believe your data has been compromised, please contact us immediately at info@gosodu.com.

7. Your rights

Depending on where you are located, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion — ask us to delete your data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Restriction — request that we limit how we process your data in certain circumstances.
• Objection — object to our processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interests.
• Data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format where applicable.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@gosodu.com with your request. We will respond within 30 days. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing the request.

8. Cookies

Our website uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies:

• Strictly necessary — session and security cookies that are required for the website to function. You cannot opt out of these.
• Performance — anonymised analytics to help us understand how visitors use the site. No personal identifiers are shared with analytics providers.

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect certain functionality on the site.

9. Third-party links

Our website contains links to third-party services including the Apple App Store, our sourcing request portal (request.gosodu.com), and WhatsApp. These services have their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to review. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party services.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes we will take reasonable steps to notify affected users. Continued use of our website or services after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us:

We aim to respond to all privacy-related enquiries within 30 days.