Privacy Policy

Sanaa Thrumylens (“we”, “us”, or “our”) operates the website www.sanaathrumylens.co.ke (the “Site”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you visit our Site, subscribe to our newsletter, or engage with our content.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019, and any other applicable data protection laws.

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following types of information:

• Newsletter subscriptions: When you subscribe to The Weekly Dispatch, we collect your email address and optionally your name.
• Comments: When you comment on an article, we collect your name, email address, and the content of your comment. Your first comment requires moderation approval before it appears.
• Reader accounts: If you create an account to comment, we store your email address, name, and an optionally-set password (stored as a bcrypt hash).
• Google Sign-In: If you use Google to sign in, Google shares your name, email address, and profile picture URL with us. We store your Google ID to link your account. We do not share your data with Google beyond what is required for authentication. Google's privacy policy applies to the authentication process — see Google's Privacy Policy.
• Analytics data: We may use analytics tools to understand how visitors use our Site. This includes aggregate, anonymised data such as page views, reading time, and general location.
• Recently read articles: We use your browser's localStorage to track which articles you've read, so we can show a “Recently Read” section. This data stays on your device and is never sent to our servers.
• Cookies: We use essential cookies for authentication (admin, editor, and reader sessions) and may use analytics cookies. See our Cookie Policy for details.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Send you The Weekly Dispatch newsletter (only if you've subscribed)
• Notify you when your comment is approved or when someone replies to your comment
• Send you a magic link to log in and comment
• Improve our content and understand which stories resonate with readers
• Comply with legal obligations

We never sell your personal information to third parties. We do not share your email address with advertisers.

3. Legal Basis for Processing

Under the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019, we process your personal data based on:

• Consent: You voluntarily provide your email when subscribing or commenting
• Legitimate interest: We use analytics to improve our service
• Legal obligation: We may retain data as required by law

4. Data Retention

We retain subscriber data for as long as you remain subscribed. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email or at /unsubscribe. Comment data is retained indefinitely as part of the article's comment thread. Reader account data is retained until you request deletion.

5. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”)
• Unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time
• Object to the processing of your data

To exercise any of these rights, email us at hello@sanaathrumylens.co.ke.

6. Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your data, including encrypted password hashing (bcrypt), secure cookies, HTTPS connections, and restricted database access. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.

7. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may process your data:

• Email delivery: Our SMTP mail server for sending newsletters and magic links
• CDN: Our content delivery network for serving images
• Hosting: Our web hosting provider for database and file storage

If we introduce Google AdSense, Google may set cookies and collect data as described in their privacy policy. We will update this policy if that happens.

8. Children's Privacy

Our Site is not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have collected data from a child, please contact us and we will delete it.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify subscribers of significant changes via email. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised.

10. Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us at hello@sanaathrumylens.co.ke.