Economics and Management Students Association (EMSA) (“EMSA”, “we”, “us”) is a student association registered at Faculty of Integrated Management Science, University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, Western Region, Ghana. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share personal data we receive through our website (emsa-umat.org) and member portal, and describes your rights under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) of Ghana.

We collect personal data in the following categories:

• Account & identity data: full name, student/staff ID, email address, phone number, profile photo.
• Academic data: programme of study, academic year, level, graduation year.
• Payment data: dues payment reference numbers and Paystack transaction records. We do not store raw card numbers; payment processing is handled entirely by Paystack Ghana.
• Communications: messages submitted via the contact form and email correspondence with EMSA.
• Event data: event registrations, check-in records, and attendance history.
• Usage data: pages visited, browser type, IP address, and interaction logs, collected automatically via analytics software.

We process your personal data for the following purposes:

• Creating and managing your EMSA member account.
• Processing dues payments and issuing payment receipts.
• Sending service communications: approval confirmations, dues reminders, event notifications.
• Publishing your profile in the alumni directory (alumni only; you may opt out at any time from your dashboard).
• Maintaining membership records required by our constitution and UMaT regulations.
• Improving our website and services through aggregated, anonymised analytics.
• Responding to contact-form enquiries.

We rely on the following legal bases under Act 843:

• Contract performance: to administer your membership and process dues.
• Legitimate interest: to communicate service updates and maintain accurate records.
• Consent: for optional items such as alumni directory listings and marketing communications. You may withdraw consent at any time.

Our technical infrastructure involves service providers whose servers are located outside Ghana, including:

• Supabase (database & authentication): hosted in the United States (AWS us-east-1).
• Vercel (web hosting): edge network across multiple countries.
• Paystack (payment processing): headquartered in Nigeria.
• Resend (transactional email): United States.

By creating an account or submitting data through this website, you expressly consent to the transfer of your personal data to these countries, which may not have data protection laws equivalent to Ghana’s Act 843. We have entered into or rely on the standard contractual arrangements provided by each processor to safeguard your data.

We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with:

• Third-party service providers listed in Section 4, who process data on our behalf and are bound by data processing agreements.
• UMaT administration, to the extent required for compliance with university regulations.
• Law enforcement or regulators, when required by law.

Your data is never shared with advertisers or sold to third parties for marketing purposes.

We retain your personal data for as long as your membership is active or as required for the purposes described above. Upon membership termination or a deletion request, we will remove or anonymise your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law (e.g. payment records kept for 7 years under Ghanaian financial regulations).

Under Act 843 and applicable law, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Delete your data (“right to be forgotten”), subject to legal retention requirements.
• Withdraw consent for processing activities based on consent (e.g., alumni directory listing).
• Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• Lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission of Ghana.

To exercise these rights, email us at contact@emsa-umat.org. We will respond within 30 days.

We use essential session cookies required for authentication. We may also use privacy-respecting analytics (e.g., Plausible Analytics) that do not use tracking cookies or fingerprinting, and do not share data with advertisers. You can disable all non-essential cookies via your browser settings at any time.

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including: encrypted connections (HTTPS), row-level database security, access controls limited to authorised administrators, and HMAC-verified payment webhooks. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security.

EMSA membership is open to enrolled UMaT students, who must be at least 16 years old. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 16. If you believe a minor has submitted data to us, contact us immediately.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify members by email and post the updated policy on this page with a new “Last updated” date. Continued use of our services after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

For privacy-related queries or to exercise your rights, contact the EMSA Executive at:
Economics and Management Students Association (EMSA)
Faculty of Integrated Management Science, University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, Western Region, Ghana
contact@emsa-umat.org