Status: Draft 0.1, for counsel reviewLast updated: Provider: GHBusinessDesk
1. Who we are
GHBusinessDesk (“we”) is a private business-services company that helps people start and maintain Ghanaian businesses online. We are not a government agency.
For the personal data described in this notice, we are the data controller, except where we process data only on a business customer’s instructions, when we act as a processor.
- Registered in: Texas, United States
- Registration number: to be confirmed
- Ghana office: Accra, Ghana (full address to be confirmed)
- Data Protection Commission registration: to be confirmed
- Data protection supervisor: to be confirmed, contactable at [email protected]
2. The law we follow
We process personal data in line with the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), which is overseen by the Data Protection Commission. We register with the Commission as a data controller before we process personal data.
3. What we collect
We collect only what the service you choose requires. That depends on the structure and on who is involved.
| Type | Examples | How we protect it |
|---|---|---|
| Account and contact | Name, email, phone and WhatsApp number, time zone, sign-in and security records | Encrypted; access by role |
| Identity (restricted) | Images of identity documents, Ghana Card or passport numbers, dates of birth, identity-check results | Held separately, encrypted again at field level, masked on screen by default, every access logged |
| Ownership (restricted) | Beneficial-ownership particulars, including answers about politically exposed persons | As for identity data |
| Business records (confidential) | Applications, company records, officers, shareholders, addresses, documents and messages | Separated from other customers’ data; encrypted; access by role and case |
| Payments | Order and payment records, receipts and payment tokens | Card and mobile-money details are handled by our licensed payment provider, not stored by us |
| Website use | Pages visited and device information | Analytics only with your consent |
Other people’s data. An application often includes other people, such as co-directors, partners, shareholders or beneficial owners. Please tell them you are sharing their details with us. Where possible, we invite each person to verify their own details.
4. Why we use it
- To provide the service you asked for: preparing, checking, submitting and tracking applications and filings, keeping your documents and running your compliance calendar.
- To meet our legal obligations, including record-keeping and any identity-verification or anti-money-laundering duties that apply to us.
- For our legitimate interests in keeping the service secure, preventing fraud and improving it, using de-identified data wherever we can.
- With your consent, for example for WhatsApp or SMS updates you opt into, and for analytics cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.
5. Who we share it with
- Government authorities, such as the Office of the Registrar of Companies, the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority and local assemblies, when you ask us to file with them.
- Licensed professional partners working on your case. They see only what that case requires.
- Service providers who act for us, under contract: a licensed payment provider, an identity-verification provider, cloud hosting, email, SMS and WhatsApp messaging, and couriers.
- Others where the law requires it, for example a court order or a lawful request from a regulator.
Our analytics run on de-identified data. Personal data from your account never goes into our reporting tools.
6. Data stored outside Ghana
Some of our providers, including cloud hosting, may store or process data outside Ghana. Where they do, we put in place the safeguards Act 843 requires. The hosting locations will be listed here before launch: to be confirmed.
7. How we protect it
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, access is limited to the people who need it, and every access to your documents is logged. Trust and security explains our controls in full.
8. How long we keep it
We keep data only as long as we need it. Our proposed schedule is:
| Record | Kept for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Official registration documents | For as long as you are a customer, plus 7 years | Your company record; legal limitation periods |
| Identity documents | For as long as the person holds the role, plus 7 years, or earlier on a lawful deletion request | Evidence of verification; collecting no more than needed |
| Payment records and receipts | 7 years after the transaction | Accounting and tax records |
| Abandoned drafts | 90 days after last activity | Collecting no more than needed |
| Audit records | 10 years | Accountability and resolving disputes |
This schedule is itself a draft for counsel to confirm. When data reaches the end of its period, or you make a lawful deletion request, we remove every version and anything derived from it, and record that we have done so. Where the law requires us to keep a record, we keep only the minimum.
9. Your rights
Under Act 843 you can ask us to:
- tell you what personal data we hold about you and give you a copy
- correct data that is wrong or incomplete
- delete data we no longer have a lawful reason to keep
- stop using your data for direct marketing
To make a request, email [email protected] or message us after you sign in. We will confirm your identity before acting. You can also complain to the Data Protection Commission.
10. Cookies and analytics
We use cookies needed to run the site and keep you signed in. Analytics cookies are used only if you agree, and we do not use third-party advertising trackers on signed-in pages.
11. If something goes wrong
If a security incident affects your personal data, we will tell the Data Protection Commission and you, as the law requires, and explain what happened and what we are doing about it.
12. Changes to this notice
We will update this notice when our practices or the law change, show the date of the latest version at the top, and tell customers about significant changes.
13. Contact
Questions about privacy: [email protected]. Other ways to reach us are on the contact page.