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Privacy Notice

Your data, your rights. Learn how Wadata protects your privacy and empowers you with control.

Last updated: January 1, 2025

Welcome to Wadata (powered by Tectona Group). We are building Africa's ethical data and AI marketplace where your privacy is paramount.

At Tectona Group, we are committed to protecting your personal data and complying with the data protection laws and regulations, including but not limited to the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the Data Protection Act No.24 of 2019 of Kenya, where Tectona Group Limited is registered as Data Processor and Data Controller. This Privacy Notice outlines how we collect, use, share, and safeguard your personal data when you interact with our website and our services online and offline — in alignment with our commitment to ethical data practices, Ubuntu philosophy, and human dignity. Please take the time to read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal information.

Please take the time to read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal information.

1 Information We Collect

1.1 Personal Information You Provide

  • Account Information: Name, email address, phone number, profile photo, user type (Data Champ, Client, Partner, Impact Investor)
  • KYC Verification: Government-issued ID, proof of address for wallet withdrawals and payouts
  • Profile Data: Skills, languages, education, location, work experience, bio
  • Payment Information: M-Pesa number, bank account details, wallet addresses (stored securely and encrypted)
  • Communications: Messages, support tickets, feedback, survey responses

1.2 Data You Create or Submit

  • Job Data: Data collection tasks, annotations, surveys, audio recordings, images uploaded as part of jobs
  • User-Generated Content: Ratings, reviews, community forum posts
  • Consent Records: Explicit consent for data usage, licensing agreements

1.3 Automatically Collected Information

  • Device & Browser Data: IP address, device type, browser type, operating system
  • Usage Analytics: Pages visited, features used, time spent, interaction patterns
  • Location Data: GPS coordinates (with your permission) for job matching and local opportunities
  • Cookies & Tracking: Session cookies, preferences, analytics (see our Cookie Policy)

2 How We Use Your Information

We use your data ethically and transparently to provide, improve, and personalize the Wadata platform:

Platform Services

Facilitate job matching, process payments, enable training, and power the ethical data marketplace.

Security & Verification

Verify identities, prevent fraud, ensure payment security, and maintain platform integrity.

Analytics & Improvement

Analyze usage patterns, improve user experience, optimize job matching algorithms, and measure impact.

Communications

Send job notifications, payment alerts, platform updates, training reminders, and support messages.

Ethical AI & Research

With your explicit consent, we may use anonymized and aggregated data for ethical AI research, bias detection, algorithm auditing, and advancing fair AI systems for Africa.

3 Data Sharing & Disclosure

🔒 We DO NOT sell your personal data. Ever.

We only share data in limited, transparent circumstances:

With Clients (Job Matching)

When you apply or are matched to a job, we share your profile, skills, ratings, and relevant work history with the Client. You control what's visible in your profile settings.

With Partners & Trainers

If you enroll in a training program via a Partner organization, we share progress and completion data to support your learning journey and enable certification.

With Payment Processors

To process M-Pesa, bank transfers, and crypto payouts, we securely share payment details with trusted providers (M-Pesa, Flutterwave, Stripe, PayPal) using encrypted channels.

Service Providers

We use trusted third-party services for hosting (cloud infrastructure), analytics, customer support, and email. All providers are bound by strict data protection agreements.

Legal Compliance

We may disclose data if required by law, court order, or to protect rights, safety, and security (e.g., fraud investigations, law enforcement requests).

4 Your Privacy Rights

Under GDPR, Kenya Data Protection Act, and our ethical commitment, you have the following rights:

Right to Access

Request a copy of all personal data we hold about you in a portable format.

Right to Rectification

Correct or update inaccurate or incomplete personal information at any time.

Right to Erasure

Delete your account and personal data (subject to legal retention requirements).

Right to Object

Opt-out of marketing communications, analytics tracking, or certain data processing.

Right to Restrict Processing

Limit how we process your data while disputes or verifications are ongoing.

Right to Data Portability

Export your data in a structured, machine-readable format (JSON, CSV).

How to Exercise Your Rights

Contact us anytime at: privacy@wadata.africa

We will respond within 30 days in compliance with GDPR and Kenya Data Protection Act requirements.

5 Data Security & Protection

We implement industry-leading security measures to protect your data:

End-to-End Encryption

HTTPS + AES-256 encryption for all data in transit and at rest

Secure Authentication

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) and secure session management

Secure Infrastructure

Cloud hosting with firewalls, DDoS protection, and regular backups

Additional Security Measures:

  • Role-based access control (Data Champ / Client / Partner / Impact Investor / Admin)
  • Regular security audits and penetration testing
  • Immutable activity logs for accountability and auditing
  • Payment data tokenization (never store full card or M-Pesa PIN)
  • 24/7 monitoring and incident response team

Data Breach Notification

In the unlikely event of a security breach affecting your personal data, we will notify you within 72 hours as required by law, along with remediation steps.

6 Data Retention & Deletion

We retain your data only as long as necessary and legally required:

Active Account Data

Stored while your account is active and for 3 years after account closure (for audit, legal, and dispute resolution purposes).

Transaction & Payment Records

Kept for 7 years to comply with tax, financial, and legal regulations in Kenya and internationally.

Anonymized Analytics

Aggregated, anonymized usage statistics may be retained indefinitely for research and platform improvement (no personal identifiers).

Account Deletion

You can delete your account anytime. We will permanently erase your personal data within 30 days, except where legal retention is required.

7 Children's Privacy

Wadata is designed for users 18 years and older. For youth aged 16-17, we require parental consent to create an account. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 16 without verified parental permission.

If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a minor without proper consent, please contact us immediately at privacy@wadata.africa and we will delete it promptly.

8 International Data Transfers

Wadata operates across Africa and may transfer data internationally for hosting, payment processing, and partnerships. We ensure all transfers comply with GDPR, Kenya Data Protection Act, and use Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or equivalent safeguards.

Data Localization Commitment:

Where possible, we store African users' data on African servers or servers with strong data protection frameworks. We are committed to building data sovereignty for the continent.

9 Changes to This Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice periodically to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or platform features. We will:

  • Post the updated Privacy Notice on this page with the revised "Last Updated" date
  • Notify you via email or in-app notification for material changes
  • Request your explicit consent for significant policy changes affecting your rights

Your continued use of Wadata after updates constitutes acceptance of the revised Privacy Notice.

10 Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding your privacy or this Privacy Notice, please reach out:

Tectona Group (Parent Company)

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Email: karibu@tectonagroup.com

Data Protection Officer: For GDPR and Kenya Data Protection Act inquiries, contact our DPO at privacy@wadata.africa

Your privacy is our priority. At Wadata, we are not just building a platform — we are building trust, dignity, and ethical data stewardship for Africa's digital future. Thank you for being part of this movement.

BY PROCEEDING TO USING WADATA PLATFORM, YOU HAVE READ AND AGREED TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY.