Last updated: April 2026
Who we are
Mulembe Nation (mulembenation.co.ke) is published by Lwandaz Tales Media, based in Nairobi, Kenya. We are the data controller for personal data collected through this website and its subsites. Contact for all privacy matters: privacy@mulembenation.co.ke
What data we collect
Data you give us
Contact forms: name, email address, and message content. Used only to respond to your enquiry.
Comments: name, email address, and IP address. Your email is not published. Used to notify you of replies and to prevent spam.
Newsletter: email address only. You may unsubscribe at any time from any newsletter email.
Data and knowledge submissions: if you contribute data, documents, linguistic material, genealogical records, or traditional knowledge to any Mulembe Nation index or database, we collect the submission itself, your contact details, and a record of our verification process. We do not publish your identity without your explicit consent. Cultural and traditional knowledge submissions are subject to additional governance protocols described below.
Data collected automatically
Analytics: We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site. This collects anonymised data including pages visited and approximate location at country and city level. We do not use it to identify individuals.
Advertising: We display advertisements through Google AdSense. Google may use cookies to serve advertisements based on your browsing history. You may opt out at google.com/settings/ads.
Cookies: We use session cookies to operate the site and analytics cookies via Google Analytics. You may decline non-essential cookies through our cookie consent tool.
Server logs: Our hosting provider (AWS Lightsail) records standard access log data including IP addresses and pages requested. Retained for 30 days for security purposes.
How we use your data
To respond to your enquiries. To send newsletters you have requested. To moderate comments. To verify data and knowledge submissions. To build and maintain our indices. To improve our content and site performance. To comply with legal obligations. To detect and prevent fraud and abuse.
We do not sell your data. We do not use it for purposes beyond those listed here without your explicit consent.
Community knowledge and indigenous data
Mulembe Nation handles community-contributed knowledge in accordance with the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics), as published by the Global Indigenous Data Alliance (Carroll et al., 2020, Data Science Journal). These principles establish that:
- Collective Benefit: data use must generate value for the communities the data comes from, not only for the platform or external users.
- Authority to Control: communities retain the right to govern how their knowledge is collected, stored, accessed, and used.
- Responsibility: we are accountable for demonstrating that community data is used in ways that support self-determination and collective benefit.
- Ethics: ethical standards are defined in relation to the values and rights of the communities themselves.
Traditional knowledge and cultural material submitted to /bukusu and /enyanga is subject to additional protocols agreed with knowledge holders before publication. Sensitive material is not published without the explicit agreement of the relevant community or knowledge holder. We do not commercially license community-contributed cultural knowledge without documented, specific consent.
Genealogical data submitted to /findyourfamily is held in accordance with contributor preferences. Records submitted for private research are not published without written agreement from the contributor.
Your rights
Under the Kenya Data Protection Act 2019 and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate data
- Request deletion of your data
- Object to or restrict processing of your data
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
- Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner of Kenya
To exercise any of these rights, contact privacy@mulembenation.co.ke. We will respond within 30 days.
Data retention
Contact form data: 12 months. Comment data: retained while the relevant article is published. Analytics data: 26 months (Google Analytics default). Newsletter subscriber data: until you unsubscribe. Data submission records: retained as part of our editorial and research archive with access restricted to editorial staff.
Third parties
We share data only with providers we use to operate this site: Google (Analytics, AdSense, reCAPTCHA), AWS (hosting), Cloudflare (CDN and security), and UpdraftPlus (backup storage via Google Drive). Each operates under their own privacy policy. We maintain data processing agreements with each where required by law.
We do not share personal data with any other third party without your consent, except where required by Kenyan or applicable international law.
International data transfers
Some of our service providers process data outside Kenya, including Google and AWS. Where data is transferred internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with the Kenya Data Protection Act 2019 and applicable data transfer regulations.
Changes to this policy
We update this policy when our practices change. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent update. Continued use of the site after an update constitutes acceptance. Contact: privacy@mulembenation.co.ke
Regulatory authority
If you believe your data rights have been violated, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner of Kenya at odpc.go.ke. EU residents may also contact their national data protection authority.