Effective Date: May 17, 2025
Thank you for visiting Travel to Alkebulan (“we”, “us”, or “our”). Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal information when you use our website (https://traveltoalkebulan.com/) and related services. It also outlines your rights and choices regarding your information. By using our site, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please discontinue use of our website.

Information We Collect

We collect information from you in two main ways: (1) information you voluntarily provide to us, and (2) information collected automatically as you interact with our site.

1. Information You Provide Voluntarily:
You may choose to provide personal information in various ways, including:

Newsletter Sign-Up: If you subscribe to our newsletter or mailing list, we collect your email address (and possibly your name) to send you updates.
Comments: When you leave a comment on our articles, we may collect the data you enter into the comment form (such as your name, email address, and the comment itself). Note that if comments are public, other visitors may see your name and comment content.
Contact Forms or Inquiries: If you contact us via a contact form or email, you may provide your name, email, phone number, or other contact information so we can respond to you.
Contributions: If you pitch an article or photo essay or otherwise contribute content, you might provide additional information about yourself (like a bio or social media handle). We use this only for editorial purposes and attribution as agreed.

Providing this information is completely optional, but certain features (like receiving our newsletter or posting a comment) may not be available without it.

2. Information Collected Automatically:
When you visit Travel to Alkebulan, certain information is gathered automatically by our web analytics and other tools:

Log Data: Our servers may record basic data about your visit in log files. This log data can include your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring/exiting pages, date and time of visit, and pages viewed.
Device and Browser Information: We collect information about the device you use to access our site (e.g., whether you’re on a mobile phone or desktop, your device’s operating system, and browser type/version). This helps us ensure the site works well for all users.
Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies (small data files stored on your browser) and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience and gather information about how you navigate the site. Cookies might remember your site preferences (like dark mode or text size, if applicable) and track aggregate usage of our content. See the “Cookies & Tracking Technologies” section below for more details.
Analytics Data: We use third-party analytics services (such as Google Analytics) that use cookies and scripts to collect and analyze information about visitors. This includes data on what pages are visited, how long visitors stay, and what site referred them to us. This analytic information is mostly aggregated and does not typically identify you individually. It helps us understand our audience and improve our content.

We generally do not associate automatically collected data with specific individuals. However, IP addresses are considered personal data in some jurisdictions, so we treat all such information with care and ensure it’s handled according to applicable laws.

Cookies & Tracking Technologies

What Are Cookies? Cookies are small text files that websites store on your device to improve your user experience or to gather analytics. When you revisit our site, cookies allow us to recognize your browser. Other technologies similar to cookies include web beacons (tiny graphic images used to monitor site navigation) and pixels (code embedded on a page or email to track activity).

How We Use Cookies:
Travel to Alkebulan uses cookies and similar technologies for a few reasons:

Essential Cookies: These are necessary for the website to function correctly. For example, if our site has a login or comment feature, a cookie might keep you logged in or remember your comment input so it isn’t lost if you refresh.
Analytics Cookies: We use these to understand how visitors use our site. For instance, Google Analytics may set cookies to track which pages are popular, how users move through the site, and if they encounter errors. This data is aggregated and helps us optimize site structure and content.
Preference Cookies: These remember your choices, if applicable – like language preference or other settings – to provide a more personalized experience.
Affiliate and Referral Cookies: Since we participate in affiliate marketing programs (see our Affiliate Disclosure page), cookies may be used to track when you click an affiliate link. For example, if you click a hotel booking link or Amazon product link on our site, a cookie might be set on your browser by the third-party affiliate program to record that you came from Travel to Alkebulan. This ensures we receive credit if you make a purchase, and it does not reveal personal details to us.
Advertising Cookies (if any): Currently, we do not display third-party banner ads that set unique advertising cookies. If this changes, we will update this policy. These cookies would typically be used to tailor advertisements to your interests (for instance, through Google AdSense or similar).

Third-Party Cookies: Some cookies on our site are set by third parties we use. For example:

Google Analytics (to analyze traffic)
Social media plugins (if you share an article via Facebook/Twitter, those platforms may set a cookie to manage the share or count it)
Embedded content providers (if we embed a YouTube video or an Instagram post, those services may set cookies as if you visited their site directly).

We don’t control third-party cookies, but we want you to be aware they may be present when you interact with content from those providers on our site.

Your Choices for Cookies:
Upon your first visit to Travel to Alkebulan, you may see a notice about cookies. You have the option to accept or manage these. Even if you accept, you can always control cookies via your browser settings. Most web browsers allow you to refuse new cookies, delete existing cookies, or notify you when a new cookie is set. Please note, disabling cookies might affect certain features of our site (for instance, a preference might not be remembered).
If you want to opt-out of Google Analytics specifically, Google provides an opt-out browser add-on: Google Analytics Opt-out. For affiliate cookies, you can avoid clicking affiliate links, but that may limit your ability to take advantage of recommended products or deals.

How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for various purposes in operating and improving Travel to Alkebulan, including:

To Provide and Maintain Our Services: For example, using your email to send the newsletter you signed up for, or displaying your comments on the site.
To Improve User Experience: Information about how users navigate our site helps us optimize the layout, fix technical issues, and develop content that meets our audience’s interests.
To Personalize Content: If we know what region you are in (from your IP or choice), we might show you region-specific recommendations or language (e.g., showing prices in local currency if we had that feature, or content relevant to your region if we expand such services).
To Communicate with You: We may use your contact information to respond to inquiries you send us, to send confirmation or administrative emails (for example, if you sign up for an account or submit content), or to send newsletters if you subscribed. Each marketing or newsletter email will contain an easy way to opt out (unsubscribe) if you no longer wish to receive it.
To Manage Contributions and Content: If you become a contributor or submit content (like a photo essay), we’ll use your info to work with you on that content and give you proper credit.
To Enforce Our Terms and Protect Our Site: We may use data to prevent spam, detect fraudulent behavior, or security threats. For example, we might use IP addresses to block repeated abusive comments or hacking attempts.
To Analyze and Aggregate Data: We compile usage statistics (e.g., “X number of visitors viewed the travel guide section in March”) to understand trends and report on our performance (this is mostly internal, but we might share aggregate info with potential advertisers as part of audience statistics – it won’t include personal identifiers).
To Comply with Legal Obligations: If required, we might use and disclose information to comply with a legal obligation or valid legal process (e.g., responding to a court order), or to protect our rights and safety or those of our users.

We will not use your personal information for purposes other than those described in this policy without asking for your consent, unless otherwise permitted or required by law.

How We Share Your Information

We understand the importance of keeping your personal information private. We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties. However, we do share information in certain circumstances, as detailed below:

Service Providers: We work with third-party companies to operate our website and provide certain services. For example:
- Email newsletter distribution (using services like Mailchimp or similar) – your email address would be stored with them for the purpose of sending our newsletters.
- Website hosting and analytics providers (like Google Analytics) – they process log data and website usage information for us.
- If we have any customer support or contact form platform, they would handle the data you submit to reach us.
  These third-party service providers have access to personal information only as needed to perform their functions on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for other purposes. We strive to use reputable providers with their own strong privacy practices.
Affiliate Partners: When you click on affiliate links (like a link to book a hotel or buy travel gear), certain information (like a unique identifier and the fact you came from our site) is sent to the affiliate program. This allows the merchant to track sales originating from us. We do not get personal details of your transactions (for example, we might know that an anonymous user booked a hotel in June via our link, but we won’t know who that user is). However, the affiliate partner may collect personal data from you to process the purchase. Any personal information you provide on affiliate partner sites is governed by their privacy policies, not ours.
Embedded Content and Social Media: If our articles include embedded content (videos, images, tweets, etc.), interacting with that content might share data with the third-party providing it. For instance, watching an embedded YouTube video might share usage info with YouTube/Google. Similarly, clicking “Share” for a social media button will inform that social network of your action. These third parties may collect data according to their own policies.
Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court, government agency). We may also share information if we believe in good faith that such action is necessary to (a) comply with a legal obligation, (b) protect and defend our rights or property, (c) prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing (such as fraud or security issues) in connection with the site, (d) protect the personal safety of users or the public, or (e) protect against legal liability.
Business Transfers: In the unlikely event that Travel to Alkebulan undergoes a business transaction like a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or part of its assets, user information (including personal data) might be among the assets transferred. Should this happen, we will ensure that the new owner is bound to respect the terms of this privacy policy (or you’ll be given notice and a chance to opt out if the policy changes).

Importantly, any sharing of information is done with caution. We minimize what is shared to only what is necessary. For example, our analytics might share general usage stats but not your email or name. Our email provider gets your email address to send newsletters, but not your site usage history.

Affiliate Links & Third-Party Sites

Travel to Alkebulan contains links to third-party websites, including affiliate links to travel booking sites, retailers, or other resources. Please be aware that once you leave our site or click an external link, this Privacy Policy no longer applies. The collection and use of your information on external sites is governed by those sites’ own privacy policies.

Affiliate Links: As noted, if you click an affiliate link on our site (for example, a link that says “Book this hotel” or “Buy on Amazon”), you will be redirected to a partner’s site to complete your transaction. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any site you visit or do business with. They may collect personal data such as your name, payment information, etc., to process your booking or purchase. Any information you provide to them is not received by Travel to Alkebulan. The only information we get is a report of the transaction in aggregate form (for example, what was booked or bought and the date, for commission purposes).
Other External Links: Our content sometimes references external websites (like a national park’s official site or a news article source). Clicking those links will take you to third-party sites that we don’t control. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those sites. Again, please review their policies if you have concerns.
We include these links to enhance your experience and provide useful information, but their inclusion does not imply that we endorse their content or their privacy/security practices.

Data Retention

We only keep your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy or as required by law. Here are some general retention practices:

Email Addresses: If you subscribed to our newsletter, we will retain your email on our mailing list until you unsubscribe or until we discontinue the newsletter service. (If you unsubscribe, we may keep your email on a suppression list to ensure we honor your opt-out).
Comments: Any comments you post on the site and the personal info associated with them (name, email) are typically stored indefinitely, unless you request removal. We keep them so that discussions and feedback remain intact for future readers. If you want a comment removed, please contact us and we can anonymize or delete it.
Contact Form Messages: Information from inquiries (emails, contact forms) may be retained for a period (e.g., a year or two) to ensure we have a record of our communications, especially if they pertain to customer service or editorial collaborations. We will not use that information for marketing unless you explicitly opt in.
Analytics Data: Google Analytics retains collected website data for a certain period (often 26 months by default) before it is automatically deleted. We look at aggregated analytics reports, not user-level data in most cases.
Server Logs: Our web server logs (which include IP addresses) are typically rotated and deleted periodically (often within a few weeks or months) unless needed longer for security analysis.
Backups: Keep in mind that data might exist in our routine website backups for some time even after deletion in the live system, but those are stored securely and used only for restoration purposes.

When we no longer have a legitimate need to retain your personal information, we will securely delete or anonymize it. For example, if you request that we delete your data, we will remove or anonymize it in our active systems, though it might persist in encrypted backups until those expire.

Your Rights & Choices

Depending on your location and applicable privacy laws, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Access and Correction: You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to request corrections of any inaccuracies. For example, if you want to know if we have your email or want to correct a misspelled name in a comment attribution, you can ask us.
Deletion: You can ask us to delete or remove your personal data. For instance, you can request we remove your information from our mailing list (unsubscribe) or delete a comment you left. We will honor such requests to the extent possible (sometimes we have to keep certain records for legal reasons, but we will let you know if so).
Withdrawal of Consent: If we rely on your consent to process information (e.g., for sending a newsletter), you can withdraw that consent at any time. The easiest way is to click “unsubscribe” in any marketing email or contact us directly to be removed.
Objection or Restriction: You may object to or ask us to limit our processing of your information under certain circumstances. For example, you could request that we stop using your data for analytics purposes by blocking cookies (through your browser settings) or using an opt-out.
Portability: In some cases, you have the right to request a machine-readable copy of the personal data you have provided to us, so you can transfer it to another service. Given the limited amount of data we typically collect (mostly just email addresses for newsletters), this may not be widely applicable, but we will accommodate legitimate requests as required by law.
California Residents (CCPA): If you are a California resident, you have specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, such as the right to know what personal information is collected, used, shared, or sold (we do not sell personal info), the right to request deletion of your personal info, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights. This policy discloses the categories of information we collect and what we do with it, fulfilling the “right to know”. You can also contact us to exercise your “right to delete” or any other rights under CCPA. We do not sell personal data, so there is no need for an opt-out of sale mechanism.
EU/EEA Residents (GDPR): If you are in the European Union or European Economic Area, our processing of your personal data must have a lawful basis (as described above, our bases include consent for newsletter, legitimate interest for analytics/security, etc.). You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe we have infringed your privacy rights. We welcome the chance to address any issue directly, so please contact us first.

Exercising Your Rights: To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@traveltoalkebulan.com with your request. For security, we may need to verify your identity (for example, by confirming control of the email address associated with the data) before fulfilling the request. We will respond to requests within the timeframe required by law (typically within 30 days for most laws like GDPR, and 45 days for CCPA, etc., with possible extensions). There is generally no fee for making a request, though if a request is excessive or unfounded, we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse it (we would provide an explanation).

Cookies and Opt-Out: As discussed, you can manage cookies through browser settings. If you want to opt out of Google Analytics, use their opt-out tool. To opt-out of any interest-based advertising (if we ever have ads), you can use tools like the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out page. Right now, our site doesn’t have targeted ads, but if it did, those tools would apply.

We are committed to honoring your rights and ensuring you have control over your personal information.

Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect the security of your personal information. Our website uses industry-standard security protocols. For instance, our site is accessed over HTTPS, which encrypts data between your browser and our server. We also implement technical and organizational measures such as:

Keeping software and plugins updated to protect against vulnerabilities.
Using secure, reputable hosting with firewalls and monitoring.
Restricting access to personal data to only those on our team or service providers who need it to perform their duties.
Educating our team about privacy and data security best practices.

Despite our efforts, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data. There is always some risk that an unauthorized third party could find a way to thwart our security, for example via a zero-day exploit or by intercepting an unsecured transmission on your side. Therefore, you share information at your own risk. However, we will absolutely notify you and the relevant authorities of any data breach that we discover which compromises your personal information, as required by law.

If you have reason to believe that your interaction with our site is no longer secure (for instance, if you suspect a vulnerability or you receive suspicious communication purporting to be from us asking for personal info), please alert us immediately.

Children’s Privacy

Travel to Alkebulan is not directed toward children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 (or the applicable age of digital consent in your region). If you are under 13, please do not provide any personal information on our site. We encourage parents and guardians to monitor their children’s internet usage and to help enforce this rule by instructing their children never to provide personal information on websites without permission.
If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information promptly from our records. If you believe a child under 13 may have provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can investigate and remove the data if necessary.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update or revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. When we do, we will change the “Effective Date” at the top of this page. If the changes are significant, we may also provide more prominent notice, such as by posting an announcement on our homepage or notifying subscribed users via email.
We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information. Your continued use of Travel to Alkebulan after any modifications to this Policy will signify your acceptance of the changes.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us:

Email: info@traveltoalkebulan.com
Address: Vienna Court, State House Crescent Road, Nairobi, Kenya
Phone: +254 707 831 120

We will be happy to assist you and will do our best to address any issues. Your trust is important to us, and we are committed to safeguarding your privacy.

Thank you for visiting Travel to Alkebulan and taking the time to read our Privacy Policy. Happy travels and safe browsing!

Privacy Policy