Privacy policy

This policy explains how The T Cottage (“we”), run by Tony, handles your personal data when you use this website. We follow the principles of Kenya's Data Protection Act, 2019: we collect only what we need, use it only for the reason we collected it, and keep it only as long as necessary.

What we collect

• Your name and phone number, and your email address if you choose to give it.
• Your booking details: dates, number of guests, the estimated price and any note you write.
• A one-way scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address, kept for a short time to stop abuse such as spam requests. We cannot turn it back into your IP address.

We do not take payments on this website and never ask for card or M-Pesa details here.

Why we use it

• To reply to your booking request, confirm or decline it and arrange your stay (performing a contract you asked for).
• To keep basic records of stays (our legitimate interest and legal obligations).
• To protect the website from spam and misuse (our legitimate interest).

Who can see it

• The host and anyone helping them run the cottage.
• Our service providers, only to run the website: Supabase (database and file storage), Vercel (website hosting) and, if enabled, Resend (email notifications to the host). They process data on our behalf and may store it outside Kenya under appropriate safeguards.
• WhatsApp (Meta), when you choose to send your request on WhatsApp. Their own privacy policy applies.

We never sell your data or share it for advertising.

Cookies and analytics

Guests are not tracked with cookies. The only cookies this site sets are strictly necessary login cookies for the host's admin area. We do not use analytics.

The map on the home page only loads from OpenStreetMap when you press “Show map”; until then no request is made to the map provider.

How long we keep it

Requests that are declined, cancelled or never confirmed are deleted, and the personal details of completed stays are removed, after the retention period the host has set (12 months by default). Anti-abuse records are deleted after 2 days.

Your rights

You can ask us to tell you what data we hold about you, correct it, delete it, or object to how we use it. You can also complain to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) in Kenya.

Contact

For any privacy question or request, contact the host by WhatsApp +254 724 027781 or email thetcottages@gmail.com.