These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the Hovatek website (www.hovatek.com), forum, blog, file archive, online tools, courses, and all paid and unpaid services offered by Hovatek (“Hovatek”, “we”, “us”, “our”). Hovatek is based in Lagos, Nigeria. You can reach us at contact@hovatek.com or +234 704 992 7303.
By using the website or any service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy at www.hovatek.com/privacy. If you do not agree, do not use the website or services. If you use our services on behalf of an organisation, you confirm you are authorised to bind that organisation.
You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live, to book paid services. Minors may use free resources only with the supervision of a parent or guardian. You must give accurate information when booking a service, and you must be the owner of the device, or have the owner’s clear permission, before asking us to work on it.
Hovatek offers the following, as described on the website:
Supported brands, chipsets and device types are listed on the website, but listing a brand or chipset is not a promise that every model, firmware version or fault can be fixed. We may decline or stop any job that we consider unsafe, unlawful, or technically unachievable.
Firmware and files on our archive and forum are offered free of charge and without passwords. Unless stated otherwise:
Private Support is a paid, one-on-one remote service. The process is:
Remote repair depends on your device, its condition, the tools available, and factors outside our control (including manufacturer security updates and server-side locks). We do not guarantee a particular outcome, a fix within a particular time, or that a device will be recoverable. Where a result cannot be achieved, we will tell you as early as we reasonably can.
If we are unable to meet the acceptance criteria agreed with you for a Private Support session, you are entitled to a full refund of the fee you paid for that session. The acceptance criteria are the outcome or deliverable agreed between you and your assigned agent before work begins. This refund policy applies to Private Support and does not limit any refund rights that the law gives you.
Before we carry out any lock-related service (including account lock, network unlock, bootloader unlock, root or IMEI repair) we may require proof that the device is yours or that you are authorised to service it (for example a purchase receipt, a box label, or account details). We may refuse any job where proof is missing or inconsistent, where the device appears to be stolen, lost, blacklisted or the subject of a dispute, or where the work would be unlawful.
Private Support does not include any of the following:
We will decline requests for these services during a Private Support session.
For drop-off and pickup and delivery services:
Courses are for your personal learning. You may not copy, resell or share course content, recordings or logins. Course content is educational and does not authorise you to use the techniques on devices you do not own or have permission to service. Hovatek does not issue certificates for its training or courses. Refunds for courses are handled by the platforms on which the courses are hosted. Course access is determined by the hosting platform.
Pattern or PIN bypass, MDM bypass, FRP bypass and IMEI changing are not part of Private Support (see section 5.8). This section applies to the services Hovatek does offer and to any guides, tools and files we provide.
Rooting, bootloader unlocking, jailbreaking, custom recoveries and ROMs, network unlocking (including of phones, MiFis, routers and modems), FRP and MDM removal, and IMEI repair each involve bypassing a protection that a manufacturer, carrier, employer or other party put in place. The legality of each of these varies by country, by device type, and by who owns or controls the device. You, not Hovatek, are responsible for making sure that what you ask us to do, or do yourself using our guides, tools and files, is lawful where you live and for the device in question. We do not provide legal advice.
By requesting or performing any of these services, you confirm that:
Several categories of law commonly apply, and more than one may apply to the same task:
Laws change, and courts and regulators interpret them differently. The summaries below are general overviews, not complete statements of the law.
United States. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 1201) prohibits circumventing technical measures that control access to copyrighted works. Every three years the Copyright Office reviews exemptions. Jailbreaking and rooting of smartphones for lawful purposes has been exempted in successive reviews since 2010 and was maintained in the 2024 review. The exemption has been narrower for other device types such as tablets and game consoles. The exemption protects the person who modifies their own device; it does not protect those who sell or distribute circumvention tools, who can face separate liability under § 1201(a)(2) and (b)(1).
Nigeria. The Copyright Act 2022 (Act No. 8 of 2022), in sections 50 to 52, prohibits knowingly circumventing a technological protection measure that effectively protects access to a protected work, and creates offences and civil remedies for doing so and for making, importing, selling or distributing circumvention devices in the course of business. Section 50 also states that it does not prohibit lawfully authorised investigation, protection, information security, intelligence activity or computer security measures. Nigeria does not have a published, device-specific exemption equivalent to the United States smartphone exemption, so the position for rooting and jailbreaking should be confirmed with a Nigerian lawyer before you proceed.
Other countries. Many countries have implemented anti-circumvention rules under the WIPO Copyright Treaty, with varying exceptions. Check the rules where you live before proceeding.
Warranty and contracts. Even where rooting or jailbreaking is legal, it may void the manufacturer’s warranty, disable certain apps (for example banking, payments, streaming or enterprise apps), block official updates, and breach your agreement with an employer or device-management provider.
Unlocking a bootloader is usually done through a manufacturer-provided or manufacturer-tolerated process, but some manufacturers restrict, delay or withdraw it, and some carriers lock it. Flashing a custom recovery or ROM replaces manufacturer software. The legal considerations are those for rooting above, plus the terms of the manufacturer’s unlock programme and any carrier or finance agreement. Unlocking a bootloader typically erases device data and may permanently affect warranty, secure features and some content protections. Hovatek will not unlock a bootloader on a device that appears to be stolen or whose owner cannot be established.
Network unlocking removes a carrier lock so a device, MiFi, router or modem can be used on other networks.
United States. The Copyright Office has granted and renewed exemptions allowing individuals to unlock lawfully acquired phones, and the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act of 2014 addressed the matter. Carriers may still lawfully refuse to unlock until contract, payment or eligibility conditions are met.
Nigeria and elsewhere. Nigerian law has no single statute dedicated to carrier locks. Applicable rules include the Copyright Act 2022 for access-control circumvention, telecommunications and consumer rules under the Nigerian Communications Commission, and the contract between you and your carrier or seller. Rules in other countries vary widely, and some require carriers to unlock after a set period.
You must not unlock a device to avoid paying an outstanding balance, to use a device reported lost or stolen, or in breach of an agreement you accepted.
The IMEI identifies a device to mobile networks and is used to block lost and stolen devices. In many countries it is an offence to change or interfere with it, to possess equipment for doing so, or to offer to do so. For example, in the United Kingdom the Mobile Telephones (Re-programming) Act 2002, as extended by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, makes such acts criminal, with a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, subject to limited exceptions for manufacturers and their authorised agents. Nigeria has been developing device-identity controls through the NCC, including IMEI registration and checking for technicians, aimed at curbing counterfeit and stolen devices.
Hovatek does not provide IMEI changing services. Hovatek will only carry out IMEI repair to restore an original, genuine IMEI that was lost or corrupted (for example after a failed flash), where this is lawful in the jurisdiction concerned and ownership is shown. We will not change an IMEI to a different identity, clone an IMEI, or help hide a device’s identity.
Factory Reset Protection, MDM enrolment, and brand account locks (for example Mi, Transsion, Huawei and Samsung accounts) exist to prevent use of stolen or managed devices. Pattern or PIN bypass, MDM bypass and FRP bypass are not included in Private Support. Outside Private Support, we service these only where you can show the device is yours (for example, you forgot your credentials and cannot recover them) or where you have the authority of the organisation that owns the device. Bypassing such protections on a device you have no right to is likely to be a crime under computer misuse, theft and receiving laws in most countries. We will refuse and may report suspected stolen devices to the authorities where the law allows or requires.
You accept that these services and any guides or tools used for them can result in: data loss; a bricked or unstable device; voided warranty; loss of access to apps, payments, DRM-protected media, or manufacturer support; exposure to security vulnerabilities; refusal of official updates; blocking of the device by a manufacturer, carrier or service; and, in some places, legal exposure. Back up your data and read the risk warnings in each guide before proceeding.
We may refuse, pause or end any service if we suspect it is unlawful, or that the device is stolen, blacklisted, or under finance or employer control, or if you cannot give satisfactory proof of ownership. We may cooperate with law enforcement and rights holders where required by law.
Online builders and tools we provide (for example TWRP and OFRP builders and MiFi and router management tools) are for lawful use on devices you own or are authorised to service. You must not use them to infringe third-party rights, to access networks or devices without permission, or to supply circumvention tools to others commercially where that is unlawful.
In Nigeria, the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015, as amended in 2024, applies alongside the Copyright Act. The Act does not mention rooting, jailbreaking or unlocking by name, and it defines a computer system broadly enough to include mobile phones. Its general offences can apply when these services are misused. The main ones are:
These offences generally require that the act be done without lawful authority or with fraudulent or other criminal intent. Servicing a device you own, or that its owner has asked us to service, is different from bypassing a lock on a device or account that you have no right to access. That conduct may expose you, and anyone who helps you, to criminal liability.
You must not:
We may suspend or terminate access for breach of these rules.
The Hovatek name, logo, website design, courses, original tutorials and tools are owned by Hovatek or its licensors. You may use them for personal, non-commercial purposes unless we agree otherwise in writing. Third-party names, logos, firmware and trademarks belong to their owners. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of any intellectual property to you.
Our website links to and uses third-party services such as payment processors, instant messengers, remote access tools, social networks, and Google reCAPTCHA (subject to Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service). We do not control and are not responsible for their content, availability or practices. Your use of them is governed by their own terms.
Our collection and use of personal data is described in our Privacy Policy at www.hovatek.com/privacy.
To the fullest extent permitted by law:
Nothing in these Terms excludes rights you have under consumer protection law that cannot be excluded.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Hovatek, its owners, employees, agents and contractors are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, including loss of data, profit, business or use, arising from your use of the website or services. Our total liability for any claim relating to a paid service is limited to the amount you paid for that service. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.
You agree to indemnify and hold Hovatek harmless from claims, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your breach of these Terms, your breach of any law, your use of a device you were not entitled to have serviced, or any inaccurate statement you made about ownership or authority.
We may suspend or end your access, or cancel a service, if you breach these Terms or if we reasonably suspect unlawful use. You may stop using our services at any time. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including payment obligations, intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity and governing law) will survive.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Disputes should first be raised with us at contact@hovatek.com so we can try to resolve them informally. If they are not resolved within 30 days, the parties will submit to the courts of Lagos State. If you are a consumer in a country whose mandatory consumer laws give you rights that cannot be waived, those rights are not affected.
We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the updated version on the website with a new “last updated” date. Continued use after the change means you accept the updated Terms. For paid services already booked, the Terms in force at the time of booking apply unless the law requires otherwise.
Hovatek, Lagos, Nigeria
Email: contact@hovatek.com
Phone: +234 704 992 7303
Website: www.hovatek.com
Official payments and support are handled only through Hovatek’s official channels. Please do not make payments to unauthorised individuals.