Introduction

Welcome to Embu Online’s privacy policy.

Embu Online respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy will inform you as to how we look after your personal data when you visit our website (regardless of where you visit it from) and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

1. Important information and who we are

Purpose of this privacy policy

This privacy policy aims to give you information on how we collect and processes your personal data through your use of our platform (website, mobile phone applications or third-party solutions), including any data you may provide us through the platform when you sign up to our services. Please note that where third-party solutions are offered, such third-parties may have their own policies that you must consider prior to using their respective services that we rely on to offer our services.

This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.

It is important that you read this privacy policy together with any other privacy policy or fair processing policy 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. This privacy policy supplements other notices and privacy policies and is not intended to override them.

Controller

Embu Online is the controller and responsible for your personal data (collectively referred to as Embu Online, "we", "us" or "our" in this privacy policy).

We have appointed a data protection officer (DPO) who is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy policy. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact the DPO using the details set out below.

Contact details

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, please contact our DPO in the following ways:

Full name of legal entity: Embu Online

Email address: info@embuonliine.co.ke

Postal address: [P.O. Box 2099 – 60100,

Embu, KE.]

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC), the Kenyan regulator for data protection issues (www.odpc.go.ke). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ODPC so please contact us in the first instance.

Changes to the privacy policy and your duty to inform us of changes

We keep our privacy policy under regular review.

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

Third-party links

This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our platform, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every third-party website you visit. It is essential to note that some of the third-parties are not located in Kenya.

2. The data we collect information about you

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:

a)     Identity Data includes first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, title, date of birth and gender.

b)     Contact Data includes billing address, delivery address, email address and telephone numbers.

c)     Financial Data includes bank account and payment details.

d)     Transaction Data includes details about payments to and from you and other details of products and services you have purchased from us.

e)     Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.

f)       Profile Data includes your username and password, purchases or orders made by you, your interests, preferences, feedback and survey responses.  

g)     Usage Data includes information about how you use our website, products and services.

h)     Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.

We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data could be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health, and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences save where we encounter such information when vetting you for purposes of offering products for sale through our platform or a person shares such information with us for purposes of enquiries or conducting an investigation.

In as much as we do not intentionally collect information about your health, any listing, search or purchase of any medicinal product via our platform will result in such information being linked to you or your profile save where such information is anonymized or presented as an aggregated data.

If you fail to provide personal data

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you.

3. How is your personal data collected?

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

a)     Direct interactions. You may give us your Identity, Contact and Financial Data (like payment details but not passwords, or pins) by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you apply for our products or services;

b)     create an account on our platform;

c)     purchase any product on our platform;

d)     initiate a purchase but fail to complete a transaction on our platform;

e)     subscribe to our service or publications;

f)       request marketing to be sent to you;

g)     enter a competition, promotion or survey; or

h)     give us feedback or contact us.

i)        Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our platform, we will automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies and other similar technologies.

j)        Third parties or publicly available sources. We will receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:

Technical Data from the following parties:

a)     analytics providers;

b)     advertising networks; and

c)     search information providers.

d)     Contact, Financial and Transaction Data from providers of technical, payment and delivery services.

e)     Identity and Contact Data from data brokers or aggregators.

f)       Identity and Contact Data from publicly available sources.

g)     Financial reports from Credit Bureaus.

4. How we use your personal data

a)     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:

b)     Where we need to perform the contract, we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.

c)     Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

d)     Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.

Generally, by continuing to use our services you have consented to the marketing solutions that we have as a company. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by unsubscribing from the marketing solutions.

Purposes for which we will use your personal data

Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground, we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out in the table below.

Marketing

We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising.

Promotional offers from us

We may use your Identity, Contact, Technical, Usage and Profile Data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which products, services and offers may be relevant for you (we call this marketing).

You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us or purchased goods or services from us and you have not opted out of receiving that marketing.

Third-party marketing

We will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes.

Opting out

You can ask us or third parties to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by logging into the website and checking or unchecking relevant boxes to adjust your marketing preferences, by following the opt-out links on any marketing message sent to you or by contacting us at any time.

Where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal data provided to us as a result of a product/service purchase, warranty registration secured through the sellers on our platform, product/service experience or other transactions.

Cookies

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.

Change of purpose

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.

If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

5. Disclosures of your personal data

a)     We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the intended contract or compliance with a legitimate legal purpose.

b)     Internal Third Parties.

c)     External Third Parties.

d)     Specific/special third parties (like government agencies investigating a matter).

e)     Third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy policy.

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.

6. International transfers

We share your personal data within the corporate structure of the company. This will involve transferring your data outside Kenya.

We ensure your personal data is protected by requiring all our group companies to follow the same rules when processing your personal data.

Whenever we transfer your personal data out of Kenya, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:

• We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data.

• Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved for use in Kenya which give personal data the same protection it has in Kenya.

Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of Kenya.

7. Data security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

8. Data retention

How long will you use my personal data for?

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.

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 of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.

In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data; however, it is not an absolute right as per the Data Protection Act.

In some circumstances we will anonymize your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

9. Your legal rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws that you can exercise per the law.

No fee usually required

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 could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

What we may need from you

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 may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

Time limit to respond

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could 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.

Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.