Privacy
Privacy policy: what we collect, why, and your rights.
We collect very little. This site has no accounts and no payment forms. If you contact us, we use your details to reply. With your permission, we also use Google Analytics to see how the site is used, and Google Ads to measure and show our adverts. This page explains what happens to your data, who else may see it, and how to ask us to correct or delete it. It is written to follow Kenya’s Data Protection Act, 2019.
Last updated: 19 October 2026
The plain-language version
What we collect
What you send us when you email or message us, plus visit data from Google Analytics and Google Ads cookies, if you allow them.
What we don’t do
We don’t sell your data. We don’t take payments on this site. Checkout happens on Shamba Mtaani, which has its own rules.
What you can do
Refuse or withdraw cookies at any time. Ask to see your data, correct it, delete it, or object to how we use it. Write to shop.essentiakanan@gmail.com.
Who is responsible for your data
Essentia Kanan (essentiakanan.com) decides why and how the personal data described on this page is used. In the Act’s words, we are the data controller. We are a knowledge, training and advisory organisation based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Our online shop, Shamba Mtaani (shambamtaani.com), is a separate website. When you buy there, your order details are handled under Shamba Mtaani’s own privacy information, not this page.
The data we handle, and why
| When | What we receive | What we use it for |
|---|---|---|
| You email us | Your name and email address, and whatever you write. This may include your farm, crop or location. | To reply, give advice, and quote for training or consulting. |
| You message us on WhatsApp | Your phone number, your WhatsApp profile name, and your messages. | To reply, and to arrange training or consulting. |
| You book or take part in training or consulting | Contact details, and details you give us about your farm or organisation. | To deliver and follow up the service. |
| You visit this website | Technical data such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you open. This is recorded by our hosting provider and by the web software that runs the site. | To show you the pages, keep the site secure and fix faults. |
| You allow analytics cookies | Google Analytics records how you use the site: pages viewed, how you arrived, device and browser, and approximate location. It uses an identifier stored in a cookie. | To learn which guides people read, so we can improve them. |
| You allow advertising cookies, or arrive from one of our adverts | Google Ads records that you clicked an advert and what you did on the site afterwards. It may also add you to an audience so we can show you adverts again. | To measure whether our adverts work, and to show adverts to people who may be interested. |
Please don’t send us ID numbers, bank details or health information. We don’t need them to answer farming questions.
Our lawful reasons
We use your details to answer the question you asked, which is why you sent them. We keep a record of the conversation so we can follow up. We use analytics and advertising cookies only with your consent, which you give by choosing to accept them in our cookie banner. If we ever want to send you something you did not ask for, such as a newsletter, we will ask your permission first.
Cookies and tracking
Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. We use three kinds.
| Kind | What it does | Do we ask first? |
|---|---|---|
| Necessary | Basic cookies from the website software, needed to make the site work and keep it secure. | No. The site can’t work without them. |
| Analytics | Google Analytics cookies, such as one that gives your browser a random identifier, so we can count visits and see which pages are read. | Yes. They stay off until you accept them. |
| Advertising | Google Ads cookies and similar identifiers that record advert clicks and visits, and can be used to show you adverts again on other sites. | Yes. They stay off until you accept them. |
Your choices
- Refuse or change your mind. You can decline analytics and advertising cookies in the cookie banner. You can change your choice at any time, and withdrawing is as easy as giving consent.
- Block them in your browser. You can delete or block cookies in your browser settings. Some features may stop working.
- Control Google’s use of your data. You can manage the adverts Google shows you in your Google account’s ad settings.
We don’t use your data to make decisions that affect you, and we don’t pass your name or email address to Google through our tags. Links to other websites, such as Shamba Mtaani, WhatsApp and the sources we cite, have their own privacy and cookie practices.
How long we keep it, and how we protect it
- Retention. The Act says personal data may be kept only as long as reasonably necessary for its purpose, unless the law requires or allows longer. We keep enquiries only while we need them to help you or to keep our records, then delete or anonymise them. Google Analytics keeps visit-level data for a limited period, which we set in our account and which can be at most 14 months.
- Security. We use password-protected accounts for our email, WhatsApp and website, and limit access to the people who need it.
- If something goes wrong. If your data is accessed by someone who shouldn’t have it and there is a real risk of harm to you, the Act requires us to tell the Data Commissioner within 72 hours of becoming aware, and to tell you in writing within a reasonably practical period.
- Children. This site is for farmers and other adults. We do not knowingly collect children’s data. If you think a child has sent us their details, tell us and we will delete them.
What you can ask us to do
Under the Data Protection Act, 2019, you have the right to:
- Be informedKnow how your data will be used. That is what this page is for.
- Access your dataAsk for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- ObjectObject to us using all or part of your data.
- Correct itAsk us to fix data that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading, without undue delay.
- Delete itAsk us to delete data we no longer have a reason to hold, or that was unlawfully obtained. If we need it as evidence, we may restrict its use instead of deleting it, and we will tell you.
To use any of these, email shop.essentiakanan@gmail.com from the address you used before, or message us on WhatsApp. We may ask you to confirm who you are before we share or change anything.
If you are not satisfied
You can complain to Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC), at odpc.go.ke. The Act says the Commissioner must investigate and conclude a complaint within ninety days. We would like the chance to put things right first, so please write to us.
Questions people ask
Do you sell my data?
No. We don’t sell, rent or trade personal data. Advertising cookies do let Google use the visit data it collects, so refuse them in the banner if you prefer.
Why am I seeing your adverts again after I left?
If you accepted advertising cookies, Google may show you our adverts on other sites. Decline those cookies, or adjust your ad settings in your Google account.
Do you take payments on this site?
No. Checkout and delivery happen on Shamba Mtaani (shambamtaani.com).
Will you add me to a mailing list?
Not unless you ask. If we start a newsletter, you will be able to opt in and out.
Will this policy change?
It may, for example if we add a form or a new tool. We will change the date at the top when we do.