Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 2026
Website: Maris Samuel Official Store & Literary Platform
Author: Maris Samuel

1. Introduction

Author Maris Samuel ("we", "us", or "our") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website, purchase our books, subscribe to our newsletter, or communicate with us.

Our practices comply with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and align with global data protection principles, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

2. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly to us when interacting with the website:

Account & Contact Details: Your full name, email address, phone number (used for WhatsApp/SMS notifications and OTP login), and postal/delivery address.
Order & Transaction Details: Products purchased, quantities, pricing, order reference codes, delivery preferences, and coupon codes applied.
Payment Information: Transaction identifiers and payment status supplied by our authorized payment gateways (Paystack, Stripe, PayPal). We never store credit card numbers, CVV codes, or bank account login details on our servers.
Communications: Messages and inquiries submitted via our contact forms, author letters, or customer support channels.
Technical & Usage Data: IP address, device type, browser specifications, operating system, and pages visited, collected through server logs and analytics tools.

3. How We Use Your Information

Your data is used strictly for legitimate business and fulfillment purposes:

Order Fulfillment: Processing transactions, generating time-limited secure digital download tokens, and booking courier dispatches for physical books.
Customer Notifications: Delivering automated order receipts, product download links, shipping alerts, and OTP authentication codes via Email and WhatsApp/SMS (via Termii).
Customer Support: Responding to inquiries, resolving delivery questions, and addressing technical issues.
Author Newsletter & Updates: Sending occasional author letters, new book announcements, and literary articles (only when opted-in; you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in each email).
Affiliate Program Management: Tracking referral orders and calculating legitimate commissions.
Platform Security: Detecting and mitigating fraud, rate-limiting brute force attempts, and verifying CSRF tokens.

4. Third-Party Service Providers

We partner with trusted third-party service providers who assist in operating our platform. These providers are bound by strict data confidentiality agreements:

Payment Gateways: Paystack (Nigeria/Africa), Stripe (Global Card Processing), and PayPal.
Messaging & Delivery: Termii (WhatsApp & SMS notifications), Brevo / PHPMailer (transactional and newsletter email).
Courier & Logistics Partners: DHL Express, GIG Logistics, GUO Transport, SpeedAF, and Gokada for physical parcel shipments.
Analytics & Measurement: Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Meta / Facebook Pixel, and Google Ads Conversion Tracking (anonymized IP tracking).

5. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use essential and analytical cookies to ensure optimal site functionality:

Essential Cookies: Maintain your active shopping cart, preserve your login session, and secure form submissions against CSRF attacks.
Analytical Cookies: Help us understand audience engagement, popular blog posts, and site performance to improve reader experience.

You can adjust your browser settings to reject cookies; however, some features (such as cart persistence and customer dashboard access) may not function properly without them.

6. Data Protection & Security Measures

We implement robust technical and organizational security controls to protect your data against unauthorized access, alteration, or disclosure. These include PDO parameterized database queries to prevent SQL injection, Argon2id cryptographic password hashing, SSL/TLS transport encryption, and file-based rate limiting.

7. Data Retention & Your Legal Rights

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill orders, maintain financial accounting records, and comply with legal requirements. You have the right to:

Request access to the personal data we hold about you.
Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information.
Request erasure of your customer account and personal data, subject to statutory bookkeeping obligations.
Opt out of marketing communications at any time.

8. Contact Us

For questions regarding this Privacy Policy or to exercise your privacy rights, please contact author Maris Samuel's team at contact@marissamuel.com or via our Contact Page.