This policy explains how the South South Media & Entertainment Awards (“SSMEA”, “we”), operated by Oga Sammy Media Productions, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, collects and uses personal data on this platform. It is written to comply with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.

What We Collect

• To vote: your name and your email address.
• Verification data: one-time passcodes sent to your email address to confirm each voter is a real, unique person.
• Contact enquiries: the name, email, subject and message you submit through our contact form.
• Technical data: basic device and connection information used for security and to prevent voting fraud.

Why We Collect It

• To verify votes and enforce each category’s voting limit — either one vote per day or one vote for the whole voting period, as stated on that category’s ballot.
• To detect and remove fraudulent or automated voting.
• To respond to enquiries you send us.
• To publish aggregate voting statistics, such as vote counts per nominee.
• To publish a public voter roll in categories where that is switched on — see below.

The Public Voter Roll

Some categories publish a roll of who voted, shown beneath each nominee on the ballot. Where this is switched on — and the ballot tells you before you vote — we publish:

• your first name only, and
• the date and time your vote was recorded.

We do not publish your surname, your email address, your phone number, your location or your device details. The roll exists so that results can be scrutinised independently rather than taken on trust.

Because the roll is listed under the nominee you chose, it does reveal how you voted in that category. If you would prefer not to appear, please do not vote in that category. Ask us and we will remove your entry, though we cannot recall copies others have already seen or saved.

OTP Verification

When voting opens, each vote is confirmed with a one-time passcode sent to the phone number (or email) you provide. OTP codes are short-lived, used only for verification, and are not used for marketing.

Retention

Voting records are kept for the duration of the 2026 award season and for a limited audit period after winners are announced, after which personal identifiers are deleted or anonymised. Contact enquiries are retained only as long as needed to resolve them.

Sharing — and Sponsor Opt-In

We do not sell your personal data. We do not share your details with sponsors or partners unless you give explicit, separate opt-in consent at the point of collection. Trusted technical providers (such as SMS and email delivery services) process data on our behalf under contract, solely to operate the platform.

Your Rights

Under the NDPR you may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data, and you may withdraw consent at any time. To make a data request, contact hello@ssmeawards.com with the subject “DATA REQUEST”. We respond within the timelines the regulation prescribes.

Changes

This draft will be updated following legal review and before public voting opens. Material changes will be announced on the newsroom.