Privacy Policy

Members of the public can submit wildlife reports without creating an account. We do not ask public reporters for a name or email address. Reports can still contain personal data through their location, photos, descriptions, and technical records. Ranger accounts require identity, contact, profile, and operational location data.

Data we collect

Wildlife reports

We process the animal type, report time, location, photos, description, status, and shared activity log. Photos and descriptions may contain personal data about the reporter or other people.

Ranger accounts

We process ranger names, phone numbers, password hashes, profile details, work areas, base and recent device locations, assignment history, and push-notification tokens.

Security and device data

We process session identifiers, per-report access credentials, IP-derived rate-limit identifiers, access times, and security events. The app stores recent report access information on the reporter's device.

How we use this data

We use this data to:

• Create and route wildlife incident reports
• Give reporters access to case status and ranger updates for 30 days
• Support ranger assignments, shared activity logs, and notifications
• Operate, secure, moderate, and troubleshoot the service

Data minimisation

Public reporters are not asked for a name or email address, but reports are not guaranteed to be anonymous. Locations, photos, descriptions, and technical records may identify the reporter or another person. Do not include personal data that is not needed to describe the wildlife incident.

Service providers and sharing

We use hosting, database, bot-protection, and push-notification providers to run the service. Web verification uses Cloudflare Turnstile. Ranger notifications use Expo and device-platform push services and may include the animal type, report description, report ID, and coordinates.

We may also share report data with assigned rangers, administrators, and competent authorities when needed for operations, safety, or legal compliance, subject to applicable law.

No guarantee of response

Wanyama Watch does not guarantee that reports will be received or acted upon. Users should contact official authorities directly in urgent situations.

Independent platform

Wanyama Watch is not affiliated with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) or any government authority.

User responsibility

Users must not approach, handle, or attempt to treat wildlife themselves.

Legal basis and handling

We process personal data for service delivery, security, moderation, legal compliance, and public-interest wildlife coordination. We aim to handle personal data in line with applicable Kenyan data-protection requirements, including fairness, lawful use, relevance, and reasonable security safeguards.

Depending on the context, our legal basis may include your consent where requested on-device, steps you ask us to take by submitting a report or using a ranger account, legitimate interests in running and securing the platform, compliance with legal obligations, protection of vital interests, and public-interest or research-related processing permitted by law.

Where personal data is hosted, backed up, or accessed outside Kenya, we aim to use lawful transfer mechanisms, appropriate safeguards, or consent where required under Kenyan law.

Retention and deletion

Reporter access expires 30 days after a report is submitted. Ranger dashboards and the mobile reporter history show report cards from the last 30 days. These limits control access and visibility; they do not delete the underlying record.

We may retain reports, assignments, moderation records, and audit logs for operations, safety review, abuse prevention, legal claims, evidence preservation, or compliance with applicable law.

When a ranger deletes an account, we revoke active sessions and push tokens, remove the account from routing, and unassign its reports. We replace the active profile with a deleted-account record. The database retains the previous phone number in an internal deleted-account field, along with operational audit records.

Your choices

• Photo library and camera permissions are requested on-device when you attach a report photo
• Location permission is requested on-device and can be changed in system settings
• Rangers can update their profile and delete their account in-app
• Reporters can reopen report details and shared ranger updates for 30 days using a per-report access token stored on their device. Keep tracking links private

Your privacy rights and complaints

Subject to applicable Kenyan law, you may request information about the personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct inaccurate data, object to certain processing, or request restriction, deletion, or portability where those rights apply.

We may ask for reasonable information to verify identity and locate the relevant report or account record before acting on a request.

If you believe your privacy rights have been infringed and we do not resolve the matter, you may also contact the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in Kenya.

Children and data minimisation

The service collects wildlife incident reports, not personal profiles about children or other vulnerable people. Avoid including unnecessary information about children or other third parties. Children should use the service with help from a parent or guardian where possible.

Contact

For privacy questions or support requests, contact contact@wanyama.watch.

Related pages: Legal Hub · Support · Terms of Service

ODPC: www.odpc.go.ke