01Who we are
kemotives (www.kemotives.co.ke) is an online marketplace for buying and selling vehicles and spare parts in Kenya, based in Nairobi. We decide how and why your personal data is used, which makes us the data controller for it.
02What we collect
When you create an account
- Your first and last name, email address and password. We store only a scrambled (hashed) version of your password, never the password itself.
- If you sign in with Google instead: the name and email address on your Google account, and the ID Google gives your account. We never see your Google password.
- Whether you have confirmed your email address.
When you become a seller
- Your seller profile: display or business name, phone number, location, profile photo, account type, and whether you offer financing or accept trade-ins.
- Your listings: vehicle details, price, location and photos, including the vehicle's registration number.
- If you apply for verification (KYC): your full name, KRA PIN, business registration date, permit number, address, a photo of your identity document and a selfie.
When you pay for a plan
- The plan, amount, currency, payment method (M-Pesa or Paystack), transaction reference and payment status.
- The name, phone number and email address used for the payment.
- We never see or store your M-Pesa PIN or your full card number. Those go straight to Safaricom or Paystack.
While you are signed in
- Sign-ins, sign-outs and failed sign-in attempts.
- Changes you make, such as creating or editing listings, updating your seller profile, submitting KYC, choosing a plan or starting a payment.
- Listings you open and sellers you contact (revealing a phone number, tapping to call, or opening WhatsApp), and which listing you contacted them from.
- The IP address and the type of device and browser used for each of these.
We only record this for signed-in members. If you browse without signing in, none of it is linked to you.
When you contact us
What you tell us by email, phone or WhatsApp, so we can help you.
03How we use it
- To run your account and the marketplace: signing you in, publishing your listings, showing buyers how to reach sellers, and passing buyers' enquiries on to sellers who are on the free plan (see section 4). We do this to provide the service you signed up for.
- To verify sellers: our team reviews KYC submissions and, if approved, shows a verified badge on your profile. We do this with your consent, which you give by applying.
- To take payments and manage plans: confirming payments with M-Pesa or Paystack and keeping billing records. This is part of the service, and we keep payment records to meet our accounting obligations.
- To keep the marketplace safe: spotting stolen accounts, fake or duplicate listings and misuse, using the activity records described above. This is in our legitimate interest, and in yours.
- To contact you: email confirmation links, account deletion steps, and updates about your seller profile, listings and plan.
- To improve the site: understanding which pages are used and how the site performs, through analytics (see section 6).
- When the law requires it: for example, responding to a lawful request from a Kenyan authority.
We do not sell your personal data.
04What other people can see
- Anyone can see a seller's display name, location, profile photo and verified badge, and their listings with photos.
- A seller's phone number is shown to buyers only while the seller has an active paid plan. For sellers on the free plan, whether or not their identity has been verified, buyers see the kemotives support phone number and WhatsApp instead, and the seller's own number is not sent to buyers' browsers at all. Our support team passes buyers' enquiries on to the seller. We may change this for all sellers; if we do, we will update this policy.
- Sellers always see their own number when signed in, and our admin team can see every seller's number.
- Only the first part of a vehicle's registration number is shown. The rest is hidden, and number plates in photos are blurred (see section 5).
- Your email address, KYC details and payment details are never shown publicly.
05Automated checks on listing photos
When you upload vehicle photos, they are analysed automatically using Google Cloud Vision and Google's Gemini AI. The analysis finds and blurs number plates, flags possible duplicate listings, and suggests vehicle details and a condition grade for the listing.
This is only used to prepare and protect listings. No decision with legal or similarly significant effect on you is made by these checks alone, and our team can review any result.
08Data stored outside Kenya
Some of the services above, such as Google, Cloudinary and Vercel, store or process data outside Kenya. When that happens we rely on those providers' security and data protection commitments, as the Data Protection Act requires for transfers out of Kenya.
09How long we keep it
- Your account, seller profile and listings
- While your account is open, or until you delete them.
- Activity records (sign-ins, changes, listings viewed, sellers contacted, with IP address and device)
- 90 days, then deleted automatically.
- KYC details and documents
- Until your account is deleted.
- Payment records
- Kept for accounting even after your account is deleted, but with your name, phone number and email removed.
10Deleting your account
You can ask to delete your account from your dashboard: Settings → Danger Zone.
- Your listings are hidden from buyers straight away. You can cancel the request until it is complete.
- A member of our team approves the request, and you confirm it through a link we email you.
- Your account is then locked for 14 days. Contact us within that time if you change your mind and we can restore it.
- After 14 days we permanently delete your listings and photos, seller profile, KYC details and documents, and activity records, and remove your name and email address from your account.
Any active plan is cancelled when the deletion is scheduled, and unused days are not refunded. You are welcome to create a new account later with the same email address.
11Your rights
Under the Data Protection Act, 2019 you have the right to:
- be told how your personal data is used (this policy);
- get a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
- have inaccurate data corrected;
- have your data deleted (see section 10);
- object to how we use your data, including for analytics and ads;
- withdraw consent you gave, such as for seller verification;
- receive your data in a format you can move to another service.
To use any of these rights, email support@kemotives.co.ke from the address on your account. We may ask you to confirm your identity first. We will reply as soon as we can and tell you if we need more time.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. We would appreciate the chance to put things right first.
12How we protect it
- All connections to kemotives are encrypted (HTTPS).
- Passwords are stored only in hashed form.
- Your sign-in token is kept in a secure cookie that scripts on the page can't read.
- KYC documents can only be opened by our admin team, and actions by our staff are logged.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach puts your data at risk, we will tell you and the Data Protection Commissioner as the law requires.
13Children
kemotives is for adults. You must be 18 or older to create an account, and we do not knowingly collect data from children.
14Changes to this policy
When we change this policy we update the date at the top. If a change affects how we use your data in a significant way, we will also email you before it takes effect.
15Contact us
Phone support: Monday–Friday, 9 AM–5 PM (EAT).