Privacy Policy

Effective date: 24/06/2026 Last updated: 24/06/2026

1. Introduction

Welcome to SokoMix. We are a Kenyan digital platform operated by Surrey Support Services, based in Nairobi, Kenya. SokoMix consists of two connected services published under one brand:

• The SokoMix Blog: a news and editorial publication at sokomix.com covering finance, real estate, business, lifestyle, politics, and entertainment for a Kenyan audience.
• SokoMix Classifieds: a free peer-to-peer marketplace at sokomix.com/app/ where individuals and small businesses post ads to buy and sell goods and services across Kenya.

This Privacy Policy applies to both services. Where a particular section applies to only one of them, we say so clearly. Together in this document we refer to both services as “SokoMix,” “the Platform,” “we,” “us,” or “our.” We refer to you (the person reading this) as “you,” “your,” “the user,” or “data subject.”

This Privacy Policy is part of a set of legal documents that govern your use of SokoMix. Please also read our Cookie Policy, which sets out in detail every cookie we and our partners use, and our Terms and Conditions. Where this policy and the Cookie Policy both touch on cookies, they are intended to be read together and to say the same thing.

As a Kenyan platform primarily serving Kenyan users, we process personal data in accordance with the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019 (KDPA) and the regulations made under it. Where SokoMix content is accessed by visitors outside Kenya, we apply the same standards to their data.

We encourage you to read this policy in full. If you have questions, contact us at mail@sokomix.com or through the contact form on our website.

2. Key Definitions

To make this policy clear, a few terms are worth defining up front.

Personal data means any information that identifies you, or that could reasonably be used to identify you, either on its own or combined with other information. Your name, email address, phone number, and IP address are all examples of personal data.

Data controller means the person or organisation that decides how and why personal data is processed. For the purposes of this policy, the data controller is SokoMix, operated by Surrey Support Services.

Data processor means a third party that processes personal data on our behalf, under our instructions. Examples include our payment gateway (Paystack), our email delivery service (Brevo), and Google Analytics (which processes aggregate usage data on our behalf when you consent).

Processing means anything done with personal data — collecting it, storing it, reading it, sharing it, or deleting it.

Visitor means anyone who browses the Blog or Classifieds without a registered account.

Registered user means anyone who has created an account on SokoMix Classifieds.

Seller means a registered user who has posted one or more listings on SokoMix Classifieds.

Buyer means anyone — with or without an account — who browses listings and contacts a seller.

3. Information We Collect

Information collected automatically from all visitors

Whenever you visit the Blog or Classifieds, our servers and infrastructure collect certain technical information automatically. This happens whether or not you have an account and whether or not you interact with any forms. The information collected includes:

• Your IP address and the country or city it is associated with
• The type of browser you are using (e.g. Chrome, Safari) and its version
• Your device type (mobile, tablet, or desktop) and operating system
• The URL of the page that referred you to SokoMix, and the URL you go to when you leave
• The pages you visit on SokoMix, and the date and time of those visits
• How long you spend on each page and how you interact with it
• Search queries you type into the Blog search bar or the Classifieds search
• Security signals collected by Cloudflare, our infrastructure provider, to distinguish genuine users from automated bots — including request headers and connection fingerprints

This automatic collection is necessary to serve pages correctly and to protect the platform from abuse. We do not use this information to build individual marketing profiles about you.

Analytics information (only with your consent)

If you accept the Analytics category in our cookie consent banner, Google Analytics (installed through the Google Site Kit plugin) collects information about how you use the Blog and the Classifieds — which articles and listing categories are most popular, how readers arrive at the site, how long they stay, and how they move between pages. This data is aggregated and is used to understand overall usage patterns; it is not used to identify you personally. If you decline the Analytics category, Google Analytics does not set its cookies and does not collect this information about your visit. The specific analytics cookies, their names, and their durations are listed in full in our Cookie Policy.

Information you provide on the Blog

The Blog has two places where you actively provide information:

Newsletter subscription. If you enter your email address in the newsletter sign-up form to receive the SokoMix Brief, we collect your email address. Nothing else is required.

Contact form. If you send us a message through the contact form at sokomix.com/contact/, we collect your full name, email address, the subject of your message, and the message body. This information is used solely to respond to your enquiry.

Information you provide when creating a Classifieds account

To post a listing or message a seller on SokoMix Classifieds, you need to register an account. During registration we collect:

• Username — this becomes your public seller handle, visible on your listings and profile page
• Email address — used for account communications and login; never displayed publicly
• Password — stored as a one-way cryptographic hash. We never see or store your plain-text password, and it cannot be recovered — only reset

After registration you are asked to verify your mobile number via a one-time passcode (OTP) sent by SMS. We record whether your number has been verified, but we do not store the OTP itself after it is used.

Information you add to your Classifieds seller profile

Once registered, you can build out your seller profile. This information is partly public (see Section 9) and is collected only because you choose to provide it:

• Display name or business name
• Kenyan mobile phone number (the number linked to your account and displayed on your listings by default)
• WhatsApp number (optional; can be a different number from your primary phone if you prefer)
• Profile picture or avatar
• County and general location within Kenya
• A short bio or description of your business or what you sell

Information contained in your listings

When you post a listing on SokoMix Classifieds, everything you include in that listing becomes part of your personal data that we process, and — importantly — becomes publicly visible. This includes:

• Listing title and written description
• Asking price
• Category and sub-category
• County and town or sub-county location
• Photos you upload
• The contact details displayed on the listing — by default these are drawn from your profile, but you may optionally override them for a specific listing with a different phone number or WhatsApp number
• The status of the listing (active, expired, sold, deleted)

Please read Section 9 carefully before posting, as it explains in detail what becomes public the moment you publish a listing.

Classifieds activity and transaction data

As you use SokoMix Classifieds, we also collect data about your activity on the platform:

• Messages. Private messages you send or receive through the in-platform chat system are stored on our servers so both parties can access the conversation. They are not visible to anyone other than you and the person you are messaging.
• Saved listings. Listings you save or “favourite” are linked to your account. This list is private and only you can see it.
• Listing view counts. We track the total number of times each of your listings is viewed and display this in your seller dashboard. We do not record who specifically viewed your listing — sellers see aggregate counts, not individual viewer identities.
• Boost and promotion history. If you purchase a paid promotion (a Featured listing or Top Ad), we record which listing was promoted, which package was purchased, the amount paid, and the date — so you have a full history in your account.
• Payment transaction records. See Section 8 for full details of what payment data we receive from Paystack.
• Login and security logs. We record successful and failed login attempts to detect and block unauthorised access attempts.

Information we receive from third parties

In most cases, we collect personal data directly from you. Two third parties share limited information with us:

Cloudflare provides our content delivery and security infrastructure. It shares aggregate security reports and firewall event summaries with us. It does not provide us with individual user profiles.

Paystack processes payments when you purchase a boost or promotion. After a transaction is completed, Paystack sends us a transaction reference number, the amount, the payment status, and your email address. It does not send us your card number, CVV, or M-Pesa PIN. See Section 8 for more.

4. How We Use Your Information

To operate and deliver the platform

The primary reason we collect data is to run SokoMix. Specifically, we use your information to serve blog articles, category pages, and search results to the Blog; to display Classifieds listings, seller profiles, and search results; to create and maintain your registered account; to enable listing creation, editing, in-place renewal, and deletion; and to power the seller dashboard, including your listing analytics, My Listings management, and profile completion status.

To facilitate connections between buyers and sellers

The Classifieds exists to connect people who want to buy and sell things. We use your data to enable the in-platform messaging system between buyers and sellers; to display your chosen contact details (phone number, WhatsApp) to buyers on your listing pages; and to send you alerts about your listings — posting confirmations, expiry reminders, renewal confirmations, and new message notifications.

To verify identity and protect the platform from abuse

We use Cloudflare Turnstile — a bot-detection tool — on our login, registration, and listing-submission forms to distinguish real users from automated scripts. We use Mobile Number Verification (OTP) to confirm that the phone number you provide is real and belongs to you. We limit the number of failed login attempts permitted from any one IP address, to protect accounts from brute-force attacks. We use Wordfence to monitor the Blog for security threats. And we review listings for content that violates our policies — spam, prohibited items, fraudulent ads, and so on.

To process payments

When you purchase a boost or promotion, we route your payment request to Paystack, match Paystack’s payment confirmation to the correct listing and account, and record the transaction in your promotion history so you can see what you have paid for.

To communicate with you

We send transactional emails — account verification, password reset, listing expiry reminders, renewal confirmations, and new message alerts — as a necessary part of running the platform. If you subscribed to the newsletter, we send you the SokoMix Brief, our weekly email digest. Every newsletter email includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom. We also respond to enquiries submitted through the contact form.

To serve advertising

The Blog is designed to carry display advertising through Google AdSense, which uses cookies and browsing signals to show relevant ads. We may also display banner ads sold directly to Kenyan businesses. SokoMix Classifieds carries paid Featured and Top Ad placements purchased by sellers. Section 15 explains each of these in detail, including the consent choices available to you.

To improve SokoMix

Where you consent to analytics cookies, we use Google Analytics to understand how people use the Blog and Classifieds — which topics are most read, which categories get the most listings, where users drop off in a flow — so we can make the platform better. This analysis relies on aggregate patterns rather than tracking you as an individual.

To comply with our legal obligations

We retain certain records — particularly financial transaction records — for the period required by Kenyan law. We cooperate with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) and, where lawfully required, with other Kenyan government authorities.

5. Legal Bases for Processing

The Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019 requires us to have a lawful basis each time we process personal data. The bases we rely on are:

Consent. We rely on consent for: sending the newsletter (you opted in); enabling Google Analytics (covered by the Analytics category of our CookieYes consent banner, which is off by default); placing advertising cookies through Google AdSense (covered by the Advertisement category of our CookieYes consent banner, which is off by default); and collecting optional profile information beyond what is strictly required to register an account. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time — see Section 12.

Performance of a contract. When you create a Classifieds account, post a listing, message a seller or buyer, or purchase a boost promotion, we process the data necessary to fulfil those services. Without this data, we cannot provide them.

Legitimate interests. We process some data where we have a legitimate business interest that does not override your rights. This covers: securing the platform against bots, fraud, and abuse; delivering your public listing data to potential buyers (the core purpose of a classified ads platform); and running Cloudflare’s security layer across all traffic.

Legal obligation. Some processing is required by Kenyan law — for example, maintaining financial records and cooperating with regulatory authorities.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

What cookies are

Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your browser when you visit. They are used for a variety of purposes: keeping you logged in, remembering your preferences, measuring traffic, and serving advertising. Some cookies are set by SokoMix; others are set by third-party services whose code runs on our pages.

This section summarises how we use cookies. Our Cookie Policy contains the complete, itemised inventory — every cookie name, who sets it, its purpose, and how long it lasts. Where the two documents overlap, they are intended to say the same thing.

Managing your consent — CookieYes and Google Consent Mode

When you first visit the Blog or the Classifieds, a consent banner powered by CookieYes appears and lets you accept or decline each category of non-essential cookies. The categories are:

• Necessary — always on; these cannot be declined through the banner because the site cannot function without them.
• Analytics — off by default; turns on Google Analytics only if you accept it.
• Advertisement — off by default; turns on Google AdSense personalised-advertising cookies only if you accept them.
• Functional — off by default.

We have also enabled Google Consent Mode, which links your choices on the banner directly to Google’s analytics and advertising scripts. If you decline Analytics or Advertisement, Google’s scripts run in a restricted mode that sets no cookies and does not identify you; they may still send an anonymous, aggregate signal to Google that carries no cookies and no personal data. You can change your choices at any time using the cookie-settings link in the site footer, and you can block all Google scripts entirely with a browser extension such as uBlock Origin.

The Blog and the Classifieds keep separate consent records, so a choice you make on one does not automatically apply to the other.

Strictly necessary cookies

These are essential for the platform to function, and you cannot opt out of them through the banner. They include the WordPress authentication and session cookies that keep you logged in to SokoMix Classifieds; the CookieYes cookie that remembers your consent choice; the Cloudflare security cookies (__cf_bm, cf_clearance) set on all visits for bot management and DDoS protection; the Cloudflare Turnstile verification used on our login, registration, and listing-submission forms; and the LiteSpeed Cache cookie that determines which cached version of a page to serve you.

Analytics cookies (only with your consent)

When you accept the Analytics category, Google Analytics — installed via the Google Site Kit plugin — sets cookies (such as _ga and _gid) on both the Blog and the Classifieds to measure aggregate usage. The Blog and the Classifieds report to separate Analytics properties, and we do not combine them into a single view. These cookies are off by default and are not set unless you consent. The full list is in our Cookie Policy.

Advertising cookies — Google AdSense (Blog only)

The Blog is being prepared to carry advertising served by Google AdSense. AdSense is not yet active — it will begin serving only once our AdSense account is approved. When it is active and you accept the Advertisement category, Google sets advertising cookies that are used to show you ads relevant to your interests, and Google may combine these signals with data from your activity on other websites and Google products. If you decline advertising cookies, you may still see contextual ads based on the content of the page, but they will not be personalised to you. The specific advertising cookies and their durations are listed in our Cookie Policy.

Other third-party requests

Google Fonts. Our pages load fonts from Google’s CDN (fonts.googleapis.com). When your browser requests a font file, Google logs the request, which includes your IP address. This happens on every page load and is governed by Google’s privacy policy. Google Fonts does not set a persistent tracking cookie.

Cloudflare. Cloudflare sets the strictly necessary security cookies described above on all visits to SokoMix.

Managing cookies in your browser

In addition to the CookieYes banner, you can manage cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers let you view and delete existing cookies, block all future cookies, or block cookies from specific sites. Instructions vary by browser — search for “manage cookies” plus your browser name for the relevant help page. To opt out of Google’s personalised advertising across all websites (not just SokoMix), visit adssettings.google.com; to learn more about how Google uses advertising data, see policies.google.com/technologies/ads. Note that blocking strictly necessary cookies may affect your ability to stay logged in to SokoMix Classifieds or use certain features.

7. How We Share Your Information

Public listing data on SokoMix Classifieds

When you post a listing on SokoMix Classifieds, a significant portion of that listing — including your contact details — becomes publicly visible to anyone who visits the site, including people who do not have an account. This is not a side effect; it is the purpose of a classifieds platform. Section 9 gives a detailed, plain-English breakdown of exactly what is public and what is private. Please read it before posting your first listing.

Other Classifieds users

Private messages you send through the in-platform chat are visible only to you and the person you sent them to. Your list of saved or favourited listings is visible only to you. Your payment history is visible only to you.

Our service providers

We share personal data with a small number of trusted third-party companies that process it on our behalf, under our instructions. Each provider receives only the data they need to provide their specific service, and is contractually required to protect it.

For analytics, Google acts as a data processor under our instructions. For AdSense advertising, Google acts as an independent data controller — meaning Google, not SokoMix, decides how the advertising data it collects is used, under Google’s Privacy Policy.

Legal disclosures

We may disclose personal data to a third party if we are required to do so by a court order, subpoena, or other binding legal process under Kenyan law, or by a legitimate request from a Kenyan government body including the ODPC, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, or the Kenya Revenue Authority. We will notify you of such a disclosure if we are legally permitted to do so.

Business transfers

If SokoMix is acquired by another company, merges with one, or transfers its assets in whole or in part, your personal data may be among the assets transferred. In that event, we will give all registered users advance notice by email and post a notice on the website before the transfer occurs.

What we do not do

We do not sell your personal data to any third party, full stop. We do not share your private messages with advertisers. We do not pass your name, phone number, or contact details to Google — AdSense receives anonymised browsing and interest signals at the browser level only, not your identity. We do not use your data for any purpose not described in this policy without first obtaining your consent.

8. Payment Processing and Paystack

How Classifieds payments work

When you purchase a boost or promotion on SokoMix Classifieds — such as a Featured listing or a Top Ad — the payment is handled entirely by Paystack, our third-party payment gateway. SokoMix does not operate its own payment infrastructure. When you proceed to payment, you are interacting with Paystack’s secure checkout environment, not directly with SokoMix’s servers.

What SokoMix does not receive

SokoMix never receives, processes, or stores your credit or debit card number, card CVV, card expiry date, or M-Pesa PIN. These details are entered directly into Paystack’s secure system and are processed and stored by Paystack under their own security standards.

What SokoMix does receive from Paystack

After a transaction is completed, Paystack sends SokoMix the following confirmation data only:

• A transaction reference number (to identify the payment)
• The amount paid and the currency
• The payment status: successful or failed
• Your email address (to match the payment to your SokoMix account)
• For M-Pesa payments: the name and phone number registered to the M-Pesa account used, to confirm who made the payment

Paystack’s privacy policy

Your payment data is processed and protected under Paystack’s own privacy policy, which you can read at paystack.com/privacy. We encourage you to read it before making a payment.

No automatic recurring charges

SokoMix does not support automatic recurring payments or subscriptions. Every boost purchase is a one-off, manually initiated, prepaid transaction. We do not store any payment card details for future use, and we will never automatically deduct money from your M-Pesa or card without your explicit approval for each transaction.

9. What Becomes Public When You Post a Listing

This section is one of the most important in this policy for sellers. Please read it carefully before posting your first ad.

What is always public

The moment you publish a listing on SokoMix Classifieds, the following information is immediately visible to anyone who visits the site — including people who do not have an account and people you have never met. There is no way to make a listing “semi-public” or visible to registered users only.

• Your listing title, full description, asking price, category, and location (county and town)
• All photos you uploaded with the listing
• The phone number and/or WhatsApp number attached to the listing (either your profile default or a per-listing override, if you set one)
• Your seller display name and profile picture
• Your seller profile page at sokomix.com/app/[your-username]/, which shows your total listing count and when you joined SokoMix

What stays private

The following information is never shown publicly and is not visible to other users:

• Your email address
• Your account password
• The private messages in your in-platform inbox
• Your list of saved or favourited listings
• Your payment history and boost purchase records

Your phone number is visible to buyers

In Kenya, a phone number is far more than a contact detail — it is often your M-Pesa identity. We want to be very clear: the phone number shown on your listing is visible to every visitor, not just registered users. If you are not comfortable with a particular number being public, use the per-listing contact override feature to display a different number on specific listings, or omit the phone field and use messaging only.

Your responsibility as a seller

Do not include information in your listing title, description, or photos that you want to keep private — for example, your home address, national ID number, or any financial account details. Once a listing is live, buyers may have already seen or copied that information. Deleting the listing removes it from our platform but cannot undo what others may have recorded. SokoMix is not responsible for the consequences of information you voluntarily make public in a listing.

10. How Long We Keep Your Information

We keep personal data only for as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected, or for as long as required by law. The table below sets out our standard retention periods.

At the end of a retention period, personal data is permanently deleted or anonymised so that it can no longer be linked to any individual.

11. How We Protect Your Information

Technical measures

SokoMix takes the security of your personal data seriously. The measures we have in place include:

• HTTPS encryption. All data transmitted between your browser and SokoMix is encrypted in transit using TLS (HTTPS). This applies to both the Blog and the Classifieds.
• Cloudflare security. All traffic to SokoMix passes through Cloudflare, which provides DDoS protection, a web application firewall, and bot filtering before requests even reach our servers.
• Password hashing. Your password is stored as a one-way cryptographic hash. We never store or see your plain-text password, and it cannot be recovered — only reset.
• Cloudflare Turnstile. Our registration, login, and listing-submission forms are protected by Turnstile bot detection to prevent automated credential attacks and spam.
• Login attempt limiting. Repeated failed login attempts from the same IP address result in a temporary lockout, protecting accounts from brute-force attacks.
• Wordfence. The Blog WordPress installation is monitored by Wordfence, which detects and blocks malicious traffic and file modifications.
• Regular backups. We maintain rolling automated backups of the platform using UpdraftPlus, allowing us to restore data in the event of a technical failure.

Limitations

No internet-connected system can be made completely secure against all possible threats. While we take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures, we cannot guarantee that your personal data will never be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed as a result of a security incident beyond our control. We therefore encourage you to use a strong, unique password for your SokoMix account and to keep it confidential.

If a data breach occurs

If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to result in risk to your rights or freedoms, we will notify you without undue delay and will report it to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) within 72 hours of becoming aware, as required by the KDPA. Our notification to you will explain what data was affected, what likely consequences may follow, and what steps we are taking to address the breach.

12. Your Rights Under Kenyan Law

As a data subject under the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data. To exercise any of them, email us at mail@sokomix.com or use the contact form. We will respond to your request within 21 days. If the nature of your request requires more time, we will tell you within that period and keep you updated on progress.

Right of access

You have the right to ask us whether we hold personal data about you, and to receive a copy of that data together with an explanation of how and why we use it. Many registered Classifieds users can see most of their own data directly in their account dashboard. For anything not visible there, contact us and we will provide it.

Right to rectification

You have the right to ask us to correct personal data that is inaccurate or to complete data that is incomplete. For registered users, many corrections — your display name, phone number, profile picture, and bio — can be made directly in your account profile without contacting us. For data that cannot be self-corrected, email us and we will update it.

Right to erasure

You have the right to ask us to delete your personal data. You may delete your Classifieds account at any time from within your account settings. On receiving a deletion request, we will remove your profile and listing data within 30 days. Note that some data must be retained regardless of a deletion request — specifically, financial transaction records required by law (see Section 10). We will tell you if this applies.

Right to object

Where we process your personal data based on our legitimate interests, you have the right to object to that processing. If you object, we will consider your request and either cease the processing or explain why our legitimate interests override your objection in the particular circumstances.

Right to data portability

Where we process your personal data based on your consent or a contract with you, and that processing is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, and to transmit it to another service.

Right to withdraw consent

Where we rely on your consent to process personal data — for example, for the newsletter, analytics cookies, or advertising cookies — you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of any processing that took place before your withdrawal. To unsubscribe from the newsletter, use the unsubscribe link in any newsletter email. To withdraw consent for analytics or advertising cookies, update your preferences using the cookie-settings link in the site footer, or opt out of personalised ads through adssettings.google.com.

No automated decision-making

SokoMix does not make any decisions about you using solely automated processing — including profiling — that produces legal or similarly significant effects. A human is involved in any material decisions affecting your account.

Complaining to the ODPC

If you believe we have handled your personal data unlawfully, or if you are not satisfied with our response to a rights request, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC), the Kenyan authority responsible for enforcing the KDPA. You can find the ODPC at odpc.go.ke. We would appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns directly before you approach the ODPC, but that is entirely your choice.

13. Children’s Privacy

Age restriction on SokoMix Classifieds

SokoMix Classifieds is intended for users aged 18 and over. By creating a Classifieds account, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If we discover that a registered user is under 18, we will suspend and permanently delete that account and its associated data.

Blog content

The SokoMix Blog publishes news and editorial content and has no age restriction on reading. However, the newsletter sign-up and contact form are intended for users aged 13 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 through these forms.

If you think a child’s data was submitted

If you are a parent or guardian and believe that a child in your care has submitted personal data to SokoMix without your consent, please contact us at mail@sokomix.com. We will investigate and delete the data promptly.

14. Third-Party Links, Affiliate Links, and External Services

Links in blog articles

SokoMix blog articles regularly link to external websites — news sources, government portals, bank websites, company pages, and others. Clicking one of these links takes you to a site that we do not operate and over which we have no control. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external sites and we encourage you to read each site’s own privacy policy before sharing personal information with them.

Affiliate links

Some blog articles contain affiliate links — links to products or services where SokoMix receives a small commission if you click through and complete a qualifying action (such as signing up or making a purchase). We only affiliate with companies whose products we believe are genuinely relevant to our readers. Articles containing affiliate links are disclosed accordingly. The affiliate company’s own privacy policy governs any personal data they collect when you interact with their service.

WhatsApp sharing

Classifieds listings include a “Share on WhatsApp” button. Tapping this button opens the WhatsApp application on your device and passes the listing URL to WhatsApp for you to share. This interaction is governed by Meta Platforms’ privacy policy. SokoMix does not receive any data from this interaction.

Social media embeds

If the Blog publishes content that includes social media embeds (such as a video or a post), the platform that provided the embed — for example, YouTube or X/Twitter — may set its own cookies and track your interaction with that content under its own privacy policy.

15. Advertising on SokoMix

Google AdSense on the Blog

The SokoMix Blog is being prepared to carry display advertising served by Google AdSense. AdSense is not yet active and will begin serving only once our AdSense account is approved. When it is live, Google uses cookies, device identifiers, and browsing signals to show you ads that are relevant to your interests, and Google may combine the signals it collects on SokoMix with data from your activity on other websites and across Google’s own products and services.

SokoMix does not pass your name, contact details, or any directly identifying information to Google in connection with advertising. Google receives signals from your browser — not your identity.

Advertising cookies are governed by the Advertisement category of our CookieYes consent banner, which is off by default. Google’s advertising cookies are not set unless you accept that category. If you decline, you may still see contextual ads based on the content of the page, but they will not be tailored to your interests. You can opt out of Google personalised advertising entirely at adssettings.google.com. For full details of how Google uses data in advertising, see policies.google.com/technologies/ads.

Direct banner advertising

SokoMix may also display advertising banners sold directly to Kenyan businesses — such as a real estate company, a bank, or a retailer whose products are relevant to our readers. These ads are served as static image or HTML banners placed contextually (for example, a finance advertisement on a finance article). They do not use behavioural tracking or profiling. We do not share any of your personal data with these advertisers.

Sponsored content

From time to time, SokoMix may publish sponsored articles — branded editorial content paid for by a business partner. All sponsored content is clearly and prominently labelled as “Sponsored” or “Promoted Content” before you read it. Sponsored articles are subject to our editorial standards. We do not share any reader personal data with sponsors in connection with sponsored content.

Classifieds boost placements

Featured Ads and Top Ads on SokoMix Classifieds are paid placements purchased by sellers to increase the visibility of their own listings. They appear at the top of category or search results pages. They are not targeted advertisements and do not involve tracking, profiling, or any sharing of buyer data.

16. International Data Transfers

SokoMix is based in Kenya, our primary audience is in Kenya, and our data storage is on servers provided by our hosting provider. However, certain third-party service providers we rely on are based or operate infrastructure outside Kenya:

• Cloudflare operates data centres globally, including in Africa, Europe, and North America. Your requests may be processed by the nearest available data centre to optimise delivery speed.
• Paystack is headquartered in Nigeria and processes payment data internationally.
• Google (Analytics, AdSense, Fonts) primarily processes data in the United States, with servers around the world.

When personal data is transferred outside Kenya, the KDPA requires that adequate protections are in place. Under Section 48 of the KDPA, such transfers are permissible where the receiving party ensures an adequate level of protection or where appropriate safeguards — such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) — are in place. Each of our third-party service providers maintains its own data protection standards consistent with internationally recognised frameworks. We review the adequacy of these safeguards and will update this section if our service-provider arrangements change.

17. Changes to This Policy

How we notify you

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time as the platform evolves, as our practices change, or as the law requires. When we make material changes — changes that meaningfully affect how we use your data or your rights — we will:

• Post a prominent notice on sokomix.com for at least 30 days before the new version takes effect
• Send an email notification to all registered SokoMix Classifieds users
• Update the “Last updated” date at the top of this policy to the date the new version takes effect

For minor, non-material changes — such as correcting a typo, clarifying a sentence, or updating a provider’s name — we will update the policy and the “Last updated” date without a formal notification.

Your continued use

Your continued use of SokoMix after a material update takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with an update, you may delete your account before the update takes effect by following the account deletion process in your Classifieds account settings.

18. Contact Us

Data controller

The data controller for personal data processed by SokoMix is:

SokoMix Operated by: Surrey Support Services Location: Nairobi, Kenya Website: sokomix.com

Privacy enquiries

For any questions about this policy, to exercise your rights, or to report a concern about how we have handled your personal data, please contact us:

• By email: mail@sokomix.com
• By contact form: sokomix.com/contact/

We will provide a full response to all privacy enquiries within 21 days. If the nature of your request requires more time, we will let you know within that period and keep you updated on progress.

Office of the Data Protection Commissioner

If you are not satisfied with our response to a privacy complaint or rights request, you have the right to escalate to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC), the Kenyan supervisory authority responsible for enforcing the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019.

ODPC website: odpc.go.ke