Version 2027-02, in force since 20 September 2026.
This notice explains what personal data the Africa Energy Technology Centre holds about you, why we hold it, who else sees it, how long we keep it and what you can ask us to do about it.
It covers aetconference.com and your account on it, the forms you send us, our assistant Elorm, the emails we send, and the Africa Energy Technology Conference itself (AETC 2027 and the editions before and after it), including check-in at the doors. When the AETC apps are released, it will cover them too.
The Short Version
- We collect what we need to register you, take payment, get you through the door and answer your questions, and very little else.
- We do not sell your data, we do not use advertising cookies or trackers, and our emails do not track whether you open them or click their links.
- We count how many people read each page, without cookies and without keeping anything that identifies you.
- Your card and mobile money details go to Paystack, our payment provider. We never see them.
- The QR code on your pass carries no name, email address or phone number.
- A small number of suppliers help us run the platform, and some of them are outside Ghana. Each is listed below.
- You can ask to see, correct or delete your data at any time by writing to info@aetconference.com.
Who We Are
The Africa Energy Technology Centre ("AETC", "we", "us") organises the Africa Energy Technology Conference and is responsible for your personal data as its controller under Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843). Where the UK or EU General Data Protection Regulation applies to you, we are the controller for that purpose too.
- Address: 11 Nmai Street, Adenta SSNIT Flats, Accra, Ghana
- Email: info@aetconference.com (please put "Privacy" in the subject line)
- Phone: +233 (0) 53 084 5646
What We Collect and Why
When You Visit the Website
Like every website, ours receives your IP address, the type of browser and device you use, the page you asked for and the time. Our hosting provider keeps these server records briefly so we can keep the site secure and find faults. When a page fails, we record the error, the page address, your browser type and the time, so we can fix it; we do not record what you typed into a form.
We count visits with Vercel Web Analytics, which records the page you asked for, the country you are in, the site that referred you and the kind of device you use. It sets no cookies and keeps nothing that identifies you. We use no advertising or social media tracking tools. The Cookie Notice lists everything the site stores on your device.
Our forms are protected by Cloudflare Turnstile, which checks that a person, not an automated program, is sending them. To do that it processes your IP address and technical details about your browser.
Your Account
You sign in with a one-time code sent to your email address, so we hold your email address and never a password. You can add your name, phone number, organisation, job title, industry, organisation type, seniority, country and preferred language. We use these to recognise you, fill in your forms and passes, and tell you about your booking.
When You Buy Passes
We record who placed the order (name, email address, phone number, organisation and country), what was bought, the prices, the VAT and levies charged, the order reference and whether it has been paid, refunded or cancelled. We use this to issue your passes, send your receipt and VAT invoice, and keep the accounts the law requires.
Card and mobile money. Payment is taken by Paystack on its own secure page. Paystack tells us that a payment succeeded, the amount, the method used (for example card or mobile money), its reference and its fees. We never receive or store your card number or mobile money PIN.
Invoice and bank transfer. If you ask to pay by invoice, we issue a proforma invoice in the name you give us. If you upload proof of your bank transfer, our finance team uses it to match your payment, and it becomes part of the order's financial record.
Your Pass
A pass admits one named person, so we hold the delegate's name and email address, and their phone number, organisation, job title and country if given. If a buyer names a delegate, or a pass moves from one person to another, we record who it moved from and to, when, and who made the change.
The QR code on your pass is digitally signed. It carries the pass's identifier, the edition and its validity, and nothing about you.
At the Conference
When your pass is scanned we record which pass, the zone or door, the time, the result (for example admitted, or already used), and which member of staff and which device scanned it. We use this to control access, keep the venues safe and within capacity, and understand attendance.
Forms and Applications
When you send us a form (a speaker proposal, an abstract, a pitch entry, an award nomination, a media accreditation request, a visa letter request, a partnership, sponsorship, exhibition or advertising enquiry, a volunteer offer, a Deal Room application, a student verification or a general enquiry), we hold your contact details, your answers and any files you attach, together with our reviewers' notes and our decision. We use them to consider your application or answer your enquiry, and to contact you about it.
Visa Letters
If you ask for a visa invitation letter, we collect the passport details and documents the letter needs. Only the staff who prepare letters can see them, every time a request is opened it is logged, and the details and files are deleted 30 days after the conference ends. A letter is issued only to a registered delegate and does not guarantee that a visa will be granted.
Registration Details and Your Needs
If you tell us about dietary requirements, accessibility needs or other special requests, we use them only to arrange support with the venues and caterers, and we share them only as far as that requires. Because accessibility needs can reveal something about your health, we collect them only if you choose to give them.
Newsletter and Emails
If you sign up for our newsletter, we hold your email address and your confirmation, and we only start sending once you confirm by clicking the link we email you. Every newsletter and announcement has an unsubscribe link, including one-click unsubscribe in mail programs that offer it.
For every email we send we record the recipient, the subject, and whether it was sent, delivered or bounced. We switch off the open and click tracking that email providers offer, so we do not know whether you opened a message or followed its links.
Surveys and Feedback
We hold your answers, and your name and email address if you give them. We use them to improve the conference. Your name and email address are removed from your response 180 days after the conference.
The Photo Wall
If you share a photo on the conference photo wall, we remove the location and camera details stored inside the file before anyone sees it, and our team approves each photo before it is shown. We hold the photo, the name you choose to show under it (or none) and your confirmation that everyone in it is happy to appear.
Elorm, Our Assistant
Elorm answers questions about the conference on our website. It is an artificial intelligence system, and a member of our team can join a conversation or take it over.
When you chat with Elorm we hold your messages and Elorm's replies, the language you write in, the page you started from, any rating you give, and your name and email address if you leave them so the team can reply. To keep the service fair and stop abuse, we place a random identifier in a cookie (we store only a scrambled version of it) and count messages from your IP address for a day.
To answer you, your messages are sent to Anthropic, which generates Elorm's replies, and your question is sent to Voyage AI, which turns it into a form we can search our published information with. Elorm is not used to make any decision about you. Its answers can be wrong, so please check anything important with the team, and do not share passport numbers, payment details or other sensitive information in a chat.
Consent Records
When you give or withdraw a consent (for example to receive our newsletter, or to accept these documents when you book), we record what it was, when, how, and the version of the document you saw. That record is how we can show you later exactly what you agreed to.
Records of What Our Staff Do
Our staff console records every change made to business records and who made it, every download of personal data, and every time a visa request is opened. These records exist to keep your data accountable, and only a small number of people can read them.
If You Attended AETC 2026
We replaced the platform that ran AETC 2026 in September 2026. Your 2026 account, orders, passes and registration details were carried over, so you can sign in with the same email address and our financial records stay complete. The other records of the old platform are kept in an archive that only authorised staff can read.
What We Do Not Collect
We do not ask for your date of birth, your home address or your travel plans, because nothing we do needs them. We do not knowingly collect data about children through the website.
Why We Are Allowed to Use It
We only use your data where the law allows it:
- To carry out our agreement with you: registering you, issuing and checking your pass, taking payment, sending your receipt and invoice, and delivering the conference you booked.
- Because the law requires it: keeping financial and tax records, and answering lawful requests from the authorities.
- For our legitimate interests, having weighed them against yours: keeping the platform and the venues secure, preventing fraud and abuse, answering enquiries, reviewing applications, photographing the conference, and improving future editions.
- With your consent: the newsletter and other marketing, the photo wall, and information about your health or accessibility needs. You can withdraw consent at any time, and doing so does not affect what happened before.
Who Else Sees It
We never sell your data. We use a small number of suppliers, each doing one job for us, each bound by a contract that stops them using your data for their own purposes.
| Supplier | What they do for us | Where the data is processed |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Our database, sign-in and private file storage | London, United Kingdom |
| Vercel | Runs the website and the staff console, and counts visits | London, United Kingdom, with a global delivery network |
| Cloudflare | Our domain, delivery of images and files, file storage and form protection | Global network |
| Twilio SendGrid | Sends our emails | United States |
| Paystack | Takes card and mobile money payments | Ghana and Nigeria |
| Anthropic | Generates Elorm's replies | United States |
| Voyage AI | Helps Elorm search our published information | United States |
| Google Workspace | Our email inboxes, when you write to us |
Anthropic does not use conversations sent through its commercial service to train its models.
We also share personal data:
- with the venues, caterers and security teams, only as far as they need it to run the conference safely, for example a delegate list for access control or your dietary needs;
- with a sponsor or exhibitor, only if you choose to share your details with them at the conference;
- with our professional advisers, auditors and the Ghana Revenue Authority, as tax and accounting law requires;
- with the police, courts or other authorities, where the law requires us to;
- publicly, where you are a speaker, award nominee or winner: your name, title, organisation, photograph and biography as they appear in the programme.
Sending Data Outside Ghana
Some of our suppliers process data outside Ghana, as the table shows. When your data leaves Ghana we make sure it stays protected, through our contracts with each supplier and the safeguards the law requires. Where UK or EU data protection law applies to you, we rely on the standard contractual clauses approved for that purpose, or on a decision that the destination protects data adequately.
How Long We Keep It
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| Your account and profile | Until you ask us to delete it |
| Orders, payments, invoices, receipts and refunds | At least six years, as Ghana's Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915) requires |
| Proof of bank transfer | The period our finance team sets for financial records, and never less than six years after the conference or the upload, whichever is later |
| Passes, pass transfers and check-in records | Kept with the order they belong to |
| Visa letter passport details and documents | Deleted 30 days after the conference ends |
| Other applications and enquiries | Kept on record so we can refer back to them; ask us and we will delete what we do not need to keep |
| Newsletter subscription | Until you unsubscribe; a sign-up never confirmed is deleted after 30 days |
| Records of the emails we send you | 400 days |
| Survey responses | Your name and email address are removed 180 days after the conference |
| Photo wall photos | 30 days after the conference if never shown, 400 days if approved |
Your Rights
You can ask us:
- for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, and how we use it;
- to correct anything that is wrong or incomplete;
- to delete your data, where we no longer need it or have no other lawful reason to keep it;
- to stop or limit using it, or object to how we use it, including at any time to direct marketing;
- for a copy of the data you gave us in a common, machine-readable format;
- to withdraw a consent you gave.
To use any of these rights, write to info@aetconference.com from the email address we hold for you, or tell us how we can confirm it is you. We answer within 30 days, and it costs nothing. If we cannot do what you ask, for example because the law requires us to keep financial records, we will tell you why.
When we delete your account we remove your profile and your contact details from our working records. Orders, invoices and payments stay for the period the law requires, and forms you already sent stay on record, marked as coming from a deleted account.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to Ghana's Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.org.gh). If you live in the UK or the European Union, you can complain to the data protection authority where you live.
How We Protect It
- There are no passwords to steal: you sign in with a one-time code sent to your email address.
- Staff sign in with a code and an authenticator app, and each person sees only what their role needs.
- The database itself enforces who can read and change each record, and every change to a business record is logged.
- Data is encrypted between your device and our services, and our suppliers encrypt it where it is stored.
- Private files, such as proof of payment, visa documents and photo wall pictures, are kept in private storage and opened only through links that expire.
- Pass QR codes are signed, so they cannot be forged, and carry no personal details.
If a security incident puts your personal data at risk, we will tell the Data Protection Commission and, where the law requires, you, as quickly as we can.
Photography and Filming at the Conference
The conference is photographed, filmed and sometimes streamed live, and the pictures are used to report on the event and promote future editions. If you would rather not be photographed, tell the registration desk or one of our photographers and we will do our best to leave you out. We do not publish a photograph of a child without their parent's or guardian's consent.
Children
AETC is a professional conference for adults. Young people take part only in dedicated programmes such as Next-Gen in Energy, and we ask a parent or guardian before we collect anything about them.
Other Websites
Our pages link to other organisations, such as hotels, venues and our partners. Their privacy notices apply once you leave our site.
Changes to This Notice
When this notice changes we publish a new version rather than editing the old one, so the wording that applied at any time stays readable. The version number and the date it came into force are shown at the top of this page, and earlier versions are listed at the bottom. If a change affects how we use data you have already given us, we will tell you before it applies.