Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information SriBazaar collects when you use the site, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. It applies to the SriBazaar website and to any listing, message, payment or verification you submit through it.

Information you give us

We collect the information you enter yourself:

• Account details — your name, email address, phone number and password, all required to register, and optionally a separate WhatsApp number and a profile photo.
• Listing content — the title, description, price, category, location, photos and any video you attach to a listing, together with the language you posted it in.
• Messages — the contents of conversations you have with other users through the on-site chat, including which listing a conversation started from.
• Reports — the listing you reported, the reason you selected and any explanation you wrote.
• Identity documents — if you apply to become a verified seller, images of your National Identity Card or passport.

Information collected automatically

Some information is recorded as you browse, so the site can function and so sellers can see how their listings are performing:

• A session cookie that keeps you signed in, protects forms against cross-site attacks and remembers choices such as your selected district.
• Listing views, de-duplicated per session or account so that refreshing a page does not inflate a seller's view count.
• For signed-in users with personalisation enabled, which listings and categories you viewed, roughly how long you viewed them for, and the page you arrived from.
• If you allow browser notifications, a push notification token and your browser identification string, so we can deliver chat alerts to that browser.
• The words you search for. These are counted across all users so that common searches can be suggested to everyone; the counts are totals only and are not recorded against your account, session or device.

The Cookie Policy describes this in more detail, including how to switch personalised recommendation tracking off.

Search suggestions

When you type in the search bar, what you type is sent to our servers so we can return matching listings, categories and popular searches. Suggestions are produced by SriBazaar itself: the text is not shared with any third party and no advertising network is involved.

If personalisation is on, your suggestions may also include listings you recently viewed and categories you visit often. Those rows are worked out for you alone and are never shown to sellers or other users. Every suggestion is re-checked against the current rules before it appears, so a hidden, restricted or removed listing — or one belonging to a suspended seller — is not suggested, whatever your history contains.

Your last few searches are stored in your own browser so they can be offered back to you. They remain on your device, are never sent to us, and are deleted when you turn personalisation off, clear them from the suggestions panel, or clear your browser data.

How we use your information

We use the information above to create and secure your account, publish and rank your listings, let buyers and sellers contact each other, process payments for boosts and promotions, review reports and enforce the platform rules, verify seller identity, send you service emails, and improve search results and recommendations.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers for their own marketing.

What is visible to other people

A published listing is public. Its title, description, price, photos, category, location and posting date can be seen by anyone, including people who are not signed in, and may appear in search engines. The seller name, profile photo and verified-seller badge shown alongside a listing are public as well.

Your email address, your identity documents and your payment records are never shown publicly. If you report a listing, your identity is not disclosed to the seller you reported.

Identity documents

Identity documents submitted for seller verification are treated as sensitive. They are stored privately rather than in public storage, are reachable only through controlled, time-limited links, and can be opened only by authorised administrators reviewing your application. We do not display full identity-document numbers anywhere on the site.

Payments

Payments for boosts and promotions are processed by PayHere. Your card details are entered on PayHere's systems, not ours. We never receive or store your full card number, expiry date or security code. If you choose to save a card for future payments, we store only a masked card number, the card brand and a token issued by PayHere that cannot be used outside our account.

We keep a record of each payment attempt — the order reference, amount, currency, status and the payment reference returned by PayHere — because we need it to activate what you paid for, to handle refunds and disputes, and to meet accounting obligations.

Service providers we share data with

We rely on a small number of providers to run the service, and share only what each one needs:

• PayHere — payment processing.
• Brevo — delivery of transactional email such as verification, password reset and notification messages.
• Cloudflare R2 — storage of listing images, profile photos and verification documents.
• Google Firebase — delivery of browser push notifications, if you have enabled them.
• Google Sign-In — if you choose to sign in with Google, Google confirms your identity to us and provides your name, email address and profile picture. We do not receive your Google password.

We may also disclose information where we are required to by law, or where it is necessary to investigate fraud, abuse or a serious violation of the platform rules.

How long we keep it

We keep your account information for as long as your account is open. Listings, reports, warnings, moderation records and payment records are retained after a listing ends, because they are needed for dispute handling, fraud prevention and accounting.

If you delete your account, essential data is retained for 90 days and then permanently erased, except where we are required to keep a record for longer.

Your choices

• You can review and update your account details, phone number and profile photo at any time from your profile.
• You can turn personalised recommendation tracking on or off from Profile > Privacy.
• You can clear the recent searches saved in this browser from the search suggestions panel; turning personalisation off removes them automatically.
• You can edit or delete your own listings.
• You can block another user to stop them contacting you.
• You can enable two-factor authentication to add a second step when signing in.
• You can delete your account, subject to the retention period described above.

Security

Passwords are stored hashed and are never readable by us or by anyone else. Verification documents are held in private storage. Access to administrative tools is restricted and moderation actions are recorded. No system is completely secure, so please use a strong, unique password and tell us promptly if you believe your account has been accessed by someone else.

Children

SriBazaar is not intended for people under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has created an account, please contact us so that we can remove it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service changes. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised, and continuing to use SriBazaar after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Contact us

If you have a question about this policy, or want to ask about the information we hold about you, please get in touch.

[email protected]

Colombo, Sri Lanka

This document is provided for information and is not legal advice. It should be reviewed by a qualified lawyer in Sri Lanka before being relied on.