Effective Date: March 2, 2025
Who we are
Welcome to Chai254.co.ke ("we," "our," or "us"), Kenya's leading trending news blog. We are committed to delivering the latest and most relevant news, trending topics, viral content, and cultural commentary to our Kenyan audience. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our trending news platform.
Information We Collect
Information You Provide
We may collect the following personal information that you voluntarily provide to us:
- Full name and username
- Email address
- Social media handles (when linking accounts)
- Profile pictures and biographical information
- Comments and reactions to news stories
- User-generated content including tips, photos, and videos
- Poll and survey responses
- Content sharing preferences
- Information provided when participating in contests or giveaways
- Story submissions and eyewitness accounts
Information Automatically Collected
When you visit Chai254.co.ke, we automatically collect certain information about your device and browsing actions, including:
- IP address and approximate location (city/region level)
- Browser type and version
- Mobile device information including model and operating system
- Time and date of your visit
- Articles, videos, and trending topics viewed
- Time spent on different content pieces
- Engagement metrics (likes, shares, comments)
- Referral sources and social media platforms
- Connection speed and network information
- Cookies and similar tracking technologies
How We Use Your Information
We use your personal information for the following purposes:
- To curate and deliver trending news content relevant to Kenyan audiences
- To personalize your news feed based on your interests and reading habits
- To enable commenting and community engagement features
- To distribute breaking news alerts and trending topic notifications
- To measure content popularity and trending patterns
- To improve our content strategy and user experience
- To moderate user-generated content and maintain community standards
- To facilitate social sharing of our trending stories
- To conduct polls and gather public opinion on trending topics
- To verify user-submitted news tips and content
- To prevent spam, fake news, and abusive behavior
- To analyze traffic patterns and optimize content delivery
- To enable targeted advertisements relevant to your interests
Legal Basis for Processing
We process your personal data based on the following legal grounds:
- Your consent, which you may withdraw at any time
- Our legitimate interests as a trending news platform (including freedom of expression and information)
- Performance of a contract when you subscribe to our services
- Compliance with the Media Council of Kenya guidelines and Kenyan data protection laws
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Chai254.co.ke uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience and track trending content. These technologies help us understand which stories are gaining traction.
Types of Cookies We Use
- Essential cookies: Required for basic website functionality
- Preference cookies: Remember your content preferences and settings
- Analytics cookies: Track trending stories and content performance
- Advertising cookies: Enable relevant advertisements from our partners
- Social media cookies: Support easy sharing of trending content
You can manage cookie preferences through our cookie banner or your browser settings.
Embedded content from other websites
Suggested text: Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Data Sharing and Disclosure
We may share your personal information with:
Service Providers
- Content delivery networks
- Cloud hosting services
- Analytics and trending content tracking tools
- Social media integration services
- Comment management platforms
- Email and notification delivery services
- Mobile app development partners
Business Partners
- Advertising networks focused on Kenyan audiences
- Media monitoring and trend analysis companies
- Sponsored content and native advertising partners
- Event promotion partners for trending Kenyan events
Legal Requirements
- In response to lawful requests by public authorities
- To comply with Media Council of Kenya regulations
- To enforce our community guidelines and terms of service
- To protect sources as permitted by journalistic ethics
- To verify information in public interest stories
We do not sell your personal data to third parties.
Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:
- Secure and encrypted connections
- Regular security updates and vulnerability testing
- Access controls for our content management systems
- Two-factor authentication for administrative access
- Staff training on data protection and source protection
While we strive to protect your information, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.
Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law.
Specific retention periods:
- User accounts: Until deletion or after 24 months of inactivity
- Comments: For as long as the associated article remains published
- Trending content metrics: In aggregate form for up to 24 months
- Breaking news subscriptions: Until unsubscription plus 14 days
- User-submitted content: As long as editorially relevant or newsworthiness persists
Your Privacy Rights
Under the Kenyan Data Protection Act of 2019, you have the right to:
- Access your personal data
- Correct inaccurate or incomplete data
- Request deletion of your data (with exceptions for legitimate journalistic purposes)
- Restrict or object to processing
- Data portability
- Withdraw consent at any time
- Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner
To exercise these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 13.
International Data Transfers
As a Kenyan trending news blog, your information may be transferred to and processed in countries outside Kenya where our service providers operate. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in compliance with the Data Protection Act of 2019.
Children's Privacy
Chai254.co.ke covers trending topics for a general audience and is not directed at children under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information without parental consent, please contact us to have it removed.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this privacy policy as our trending news platform evolves. The latest version will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. For significant changes, we will provide a prominent notice on our website or through our notification system.
Contact Information
If you have questions or concerns about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:
Chai254 Editorial Team
- Email: news@chai254.co.ke
- News Tips: news@chai254.co.ke
Governing Law
This privacy policy is governed by the laws of Kenya, including the Data Protection Act, 2019, and the Media Council of Kenya guidelines.