Introduction
Last Updated: May 1, 2025
Welcome to the Ethiopia eVisa Service Privacy Policy. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy will inform you about how we look after your personal data when you visit our website and use our services, regardless of where you visit it from, and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.
This privacy policy aims to give you information on how Ethiopia eVisa Service collects and processes your personal data through your use of this website, including any data you may provide when you apply for an eVisa, sign up for our newsletter, or contact our customer support.
It is important that you read this privacy policy together with any other privacy notice or fair processing notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data.
Information We Collect
We collect several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve our service to you. The personal data we may collect, use, store and transfer falls into the following categories:
Identity and Contact Data
- Full name (as it appears on your passport)
- Date of birth
- Gender
- Nationality
- Email address
- Phone number
- Home address
Travel Document Data
- Passport number
- Passport issue and expiry dates
- Country of issue
- Passport photograph
- Digital copy of passport bio page
Travel Information
- Purpose of visit
- Intended arrival and departure dates
- Accommodation details in Ethiopia
- Travel itinerary
- Previous travel history (if required)
Payment Information
- Credit/debit card details (we do not store complete card numbers)
- Billing address
- Transaction records
Technical and Usage Data
- IP address
- Browser type and version
- Device information
- Operating system
- Time zone setting and location
- Pages visited on our website
- Time spent on pages
- Referral source
Communication Data
- Customer service communications
- Feedback and survey responses
- Marketing preferences
How We Use Your Information
We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:
Processing Your eVisa Application
- To process and submit your eVisa application to the Ethiopian Immigration authorities
- To verify your identity and eligibility for an Ethiopia eVisa
- To communicate with you about your application status
- To provide customer support related to your application
Service Improvement
- To improve our website functionality and user experience
- To develop new features and services
- To analyze usage patterns and optimize our application process
- To conduct research and statistical analysis (in an anonymized format)
Communication
- To respond to your inquiries and support requests
- To send important notifications about your application or our services
- To provide travel information relevant to your trip to Ethiopia
- To send marketing communications (only with your explicit consent)
Legal and Security Purposes
- To comply with legal obligations
- To enforce our terms and conditions
- To detect and prevent fraud or misuse of our services
- To protect the security of our systems and data
Information Sharing
We may share your personal information with the following categories of recipients:
- Ethiopian Immigration Authorities: To process your eVisa application
- Service Providers: Third-party vendors who perform services on our behalf (payment processors, cloud hosting providers, customer support services)
- Professional Advisers: Including lawyers, auditors, and insurers who provide legal, accounting, and insurance services
- Law Enforcement and Regulatory Bodies: When required by law or to protect our rights and the security of our services
We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
Data Security
We have implemented appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered, or disclosed. These measures include:
- Encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using SSL/TLS technology
- Secure Data Storage: Personal data is stored in secure, access-controlled databases
- Access Controls: Strict access controls limit who can access your data within our organization
- Regular Security Audits: We conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing
- Payment Security: We comply with PCI DSS standards for secure payment processing
- Staff Training: Regular data protection and security training for all staff
Data Retention
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider:
- The amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data
- The potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure
- The purposes for which we process your personal data
- Whether we can achieve those purposes through other means
- The applicable legal requirements
In general, we keep basic information about our customers (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for up to 7 years after they cease being customers for tax and legal purposes.
For eVisa applications, we typically retain your application data for:
- Successful applications: 2 years after the visa expiry date
- Rejected applications: 1 year from the date of rejection
- Incomplete applications: 90 days from the last activity
Your Rights
Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. These include the right to:
- Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
- Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected.
- Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
- Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground.
- Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in certain scenarios.
- Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party (data portability).
- Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data.
How to Exercise Your Rights
If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us at:
Email: privacy@evisaethiopia.com
Postal Address: Ethiopia eVisa Service, Bole Road, Friendship Building, 4th Floor, Office 405, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.
We use the following types of cookies:
- Strictly Necessary Cookies: Required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website or use a shopping cart.
- Analytical/Performance Cookies: Allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.
- Functionality Cookies: Used to recognize you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalize our content for you and remember your preferences.
- Targeting Cookies: Record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests.
You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.
International Transfers
We operate internationally and may transfer your personal data to countries outside your country of residence, including to countries that may not provide the same level of data protection as your home country.
We take appropriate steps to ensure that recipients of your personal data are bound to duties of confidentiality and implement appropriate measures to ensure your personal data remains protected and secure in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy.
You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:
Email: privacy@evisaethiopia.com
Phone: +251 11 552 0123
Postal Address: Ethiopia eVisa Service, Bole Road, Friendship Building, 4th Floor, Office 405, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
