Some of what people send us is the hardest thing they have told anyone. We have written this in plain language, because a policy nobody can read protects nobody. If anything here is unclear, ask us and we will explain it.

Who is responsible for your information

Broken Souls and Healing Network is the data controller for information collected through this website. We are a public benefit organisation registered in Kenya, with our registered office in Nairobi. You can reach us at info@brokensoulsnetwork.org about anything in this policy.

What we collect

When you use the contact form, we receive the name you give us, your email address, the topic you select, and the message you write. That is all. We do not ask for your identity document, your location, your date of birth or your phone number, and you do not have to give us your real name if you would rather not.

Two other things happen automatically. Your browser stores whether you prefer the dark or light version of this site, which stays on your device and never reaches us. And our server briefly notes the network address of anyone submitting the form, purely to stop automated abuse. That note is held in memory for fifteen minutes and then gone.

We do not use cookies for advertising or analytics. We do not run trackers. There are no third party scripts on this site at all.

Why we hold it, and on what basis

We use what you send us for one purpose: to reply to you and to help with what you asked about. We rely on your consent, which is why the form asks you to tick a box before it will send. Withdrawing that consent is as simple as telling us, and it costs you nothing.

The short term abuse prevention described above rests on our legitimate interest in keeping this site working for the people who need it.

Who can read your message

Three people, and no more: our Chairperson, our Treasurer and our Secretary. They are the organisation's officials and each is bound to keep what they read confidential. Nobody else in the organisation has access to that inbox, and access is reviewed whenever those roles change.

We do not share your information with any other organisation, government body, employer, family member or funder. We do not sell it. We do not use it for marketing. The only circumstance in which we would pass information to anyone else is where a person's life is at immediate risk, or where a court or Kenyan law requires it of us. If that ever happened, we would tell you unless we were legally prevented from doing so.

The companies that handle it on our behalf

Running a website means relying on a few specialist services. Each of these processes information strictly on our instructions and cannot use it for their own purposes.

• Cloudflare hosts and delivers this website.
• Zoho Mail provides the mailboxes our officials read.
• Mailgun carries your completed form into that mailbox.

These providers operate servers outside Kenya, so your message may be stored or processed abroad. We chose providers who commit contractually to appropriate safeguards for transfers of this kind, as required by the Data Protection Act.

How long we keep it

Enquiries sent through this website are deleted twelve months after we have finished dealing with them. We keep them that long so that if you come back to us we have the context of what you told us before, and not a day longer than that is useful to you.

If you ask us to delete your message sooner, we will do it, and we will not ask you to justify the request.

If you go on to receive counselling or another service from us, the notes kept about that care are separate records, held under the rules that govern health information in Kenya. Those are not covered by this policy, and we will explain them to you at the time.

Keeping it safe

This site is served only over an encrypted connection. The contact form is protected against automated abuse, and the site is built so that no third party can load code into it. Access to the inbox is limited to the three officials named above and protected by two step verification.

No system is perfect. If information is ever exposed in a way that puts someone at risk, we will report it to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner within seventy two hours and tell the people affected without delay.

Your rights

Under the Data Protection Act 2019 you can:

• ask what information we hold about you, and get a copy;
• ask us to correct anything that is wrong;
• ask us to delete it;
• ask us to stop or limit what we are doing with it;
• object to how we are using it;
• ask us to send it to you in a portable form; and
• withdraw your consent at any time.

Write to us at info@brokensoulsnetwork.org and we will respond within thirty days. There is no charge.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your request, you can complain to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, which regulates this area in Kenya. Doing so costs you nothing and you do not need a lawyer.

If you are under eighteen

You are welcome here and we will not turn you away. Where the law requires it, we may need the agreement of a parent or guardian before we can hold your information or provide certain kinds of support. If that applies, we will explain it to you first rather than acting behind your back. If asking a parent is not safe for you, tell us and we will talk through what else is possible.

Please do not send us an emergency

Nobody watches this inbox overnight. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call one of the numbers on our Get help page rather than writing to us, because those are answered around the clock and we may not be.

Browsing safely

Every page of this site has a quick exit button at the top, which leaves immediately and replaces this page in your browser history. It is not perfect. If someone else can see the device you are using, a private or incognito window gives you better cover, and clearing your history afterwards is worth doing.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle information, we will update this page and change the date at the top. If the change is significant and we hold a way of reaching you, we will tell you directly rather than letting you discover it.

Talk to us

Questions, corrections and complaints all go to the same place: info@brokensoulsnetwork.org, or through our contact page. We would rather hear from you than have you wondering.