Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Cognita ("Cognita," "we," "us," or "our") is an independently operated AI service created and operated by 'Gbemiga Akinde. Cognita is not a separate legal entity and is not operated by or on behalf of another company.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect information when you use the Cognita website and application (the "Service").

For questions about this Privacy Policy, your personal information, or how your information is handled, you can contact us at hellogbemiga@gmail.com.

2. Information We Collect

Account information. When you create an account, we collect information needed to create and manage your account, such as your email address. If you sign in using Google or another supported authentication provider, we may receive basic profile information made available by that provider, such as your name, email address, and profile photo. We do not receive or store your authentication provider's password.

Content you provide. When you use Cognita, you may provide text prompts, uploaded files, images, documents, and other information that you choose to submit to the Service ("Input"). We may also store responses generated by the Service ("Output") when necessary to provide features such as conversation history, saved conversations, or other functionality you choose to use.

Usage information. We collect information about how you use the Service, such as the features you use, the number and type of requests you make, and usage associated with your subscription or plan. This information helps us provide the Service, enforce usage limits, maintain security, and understand how the Service is being used.

Payment information. Payments are processed by Paystack. We do not collect or store your full payment card details. Payment information is handled by Paystack in accordance with its own privacy and security practices. We may receive information such as confirmation of a successful or failed transaction, a transaction reference, and information about the plan or subscription associated with the payment.

Technical information. We may automatically collect standard technical information when you use the Service, including your IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, approximate location derived from technical information, and information about how your browser or device interacts with the Service. We use this information for security, fraud prevention, troubleshooting, diagnostics, and service improvement.

Communications. If you contact us for support or otherwise communicate with us, we may retain the information you provide, including your email address and the contents of your communication, so that we can respond to you and keep appropriate records.

3. How We Use Your Information

We may use the information we collect to:

• Provide, operate, maintain, and improve the Service;
• Create and manage your account;
• Authenticate users and protect accounts from unauthorized access;
• Process payments and manage subscriptions;
• Enforce plan features, entitlements, and usage limits;
• Process your requests and generate AI responses;
• Provide conversation history and other features you choose to use;
• Respond to questions and support requests;
• Detect, prevent, and investigate fraud, abuse, security incidents, and other misuse;
• Monitor and improve the performance, reliability, and safety of the Service;
• Communicate with you about your account, transactions, service updates, and important notices;
• Comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, or lawful requests.

We do not sell your personal information. We also do not use your Input or Output to train our own AI models or intentionally provide it to third parties for the purpose of training their general AI models.

4. How Cognita Processes Your AI Requests

When you submit a prompt, upload a file, or otherwise make an AI request through Cognita, your Input is processed by our backend infrastructure and may be sent to third-party AI infrastructure providers that we use to generate the requested response.

These providers may process your Input and related technical information on our behalf for the purpose of providing the AI functionality. We select providers based on factors such as service quality, security, reliability, and applicable data-processing terms. The providers we use may change over time as Cognita develops.

We do not use your Input or Output to train our own AI models. We also take reasonable steps to ensure that third-party AI providers used by Cognita process submitted content in accordance with the applicable terms governing their services.

You should avoid submitting highly sensitive personal information or information that you are not authorized to share. You are responsible for ensuring that your use of the Service and the information you submit complies with applicable laws and your own obligations to third parties.

5. Who We Share Your Information With

We may share information with third parties where necessary to operate Cognita, provide requested functionality, protect the Service, or comply with legal obligations. These parties may include:

• Authentication providers that help us securely create and authenticate user accounts.
• AI infrastructure providers that process requests submitted through Cognita and generate AI responses.
• Cloud, database, hosting, and storage providers that provide the infrastructure required to operate the Service and store information.
• Payment processors, including Paystack, that process payments and subscription transactions.
• Security, monitoring, and technical service providers where necessary to detect problems, maintain reliability, and protect the Service.
• Legal authorities where disclosure is required by applicable law, legal process, or a valid governmental request, or where reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Cognita, our users, or others.
• Successor entities in connection with a future merger, acquisition, restructuring, financing, or sale of all or part of the Cognita business or its assets.

We do not sell your personal information to advertisers. Cognita does not display third-party advertising.

6. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Cognita may use cookies, local storage, session technologies, and similar technologies that are necessary to operate the Service, keep you signed in, remember preferences, maintain security, and understand how the Service is used.

Some cookies or similar technologies may be provided by third-party services that we use to operate, secure, analyze, or improve Cognita. Where applicable law requires your consent before placing or using non-essential cookies, we will request that consent through the appropriate mechanism.

You can control certain cookies through your browser settings. Disabling necessary cookies may prevent some parts of Cognita from functioning properly.

7. How We Lawfully Process Your Information

Depending on the circumstances and the information involved, we may process your personal information because it is necessary to:

• Provide the Service and perform our agreement with you;
• Comply with legal and regulatory obligations;
• Protect the security and integrity of the Service;
• Pursue legitimate interests, where permitted by applicable law and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests; or
• Obtain your consent where consent is required.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent where applicable. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that occurred before the withdrawal.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including providing the Service, maintaining account records, resolving disputes, enforcing agreements, preventing fraud and abuse, and complying with legal, tax, accounting, or regulatory obligations.

Account information is generally retained while your account remains active. If you use features that save conversations or other content, that information may be retained until you delete it, delete your account, or it is otherwise no longer required for the relevant Service feature.

Certain information may need to be retained after account deletion where required by law, necessary to resolve disputes, prevent fraud or abuse, enforce our agreements, or protect our legitimate interests.

9. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include encrypted connections such as HTTPS, server-side authentication and authorization controls, restricted access to production systems, and other security practices appropriate to the nature of the information we process.

However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. While we work to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live and the applicable law, you may have rights concerning your personal information. These may include the right to:

• Request access to personal information we hold about you;
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
• Request deletion of your personal information, subject to applicable exceptions;
• Object to or request restriction of certain processing where applicable;
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• Request a copy of certain personal information in a portable format where applicable;
• Request information about how your personal information is processed; and
• Complain to a relevant data protection authority where you believe your rights have been violated.

To exercise a privacy right or ask a question about your information, contact us at hellogbemiga@gmail.com. We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests. We will handle valid requests within the timeframe required by applicable law.

You may also request deletion of your Cognita account. Account deletion may remove information associated with your account, subject to information that we are legally required or otherwise permitted to retain.

11. Children's Privacy

Cognita is not directed to individuals under 18 years of age, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18.

If you believe that a person under 18 has provided personal information to Cognita without appropriate authorization, please contact us at hellogbemiga@gmail.com. If we determine that we have collected such information, we will take reasonable steps to delete it, subject to any legal obligations that require us to retain it.

12. International Data Transfers

Cognita and the service providers we use may process or store information in countries other than the country in which you live. As a result, your information may be transferred across national borders.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer and subsequent processing are carried out in accordance with applicable data-protection requirements and appropriate safeguards.

13. Third-Party Services

Cognita may rely on third-party services to provide authentication, payments, hosting, storage, AI processing, analytics, security, and other functionality. These providers may process information on our behalf or independently in accordance with their own applicable terms and privacy policies.

Third-party websites or services linked from Cognita are not controlled by us. If you follow a link to a third-party service, we encourage you to review that service's privacy policy before providing personal information.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to the Service, our data practices, or applicable legal requirements.

When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice through the Service or by other reasonable means. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise a privacy right, or have concerns about how Cognita handles your information, please contact:

'Gbemiga Akinde
Privacy contact: hellogbemiga@gmail.com