Legal Document
Black Earth helps farmers build healthier soil and earn from it — through Black Earth Biochar and the Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) Program, which maps, monitors and verifies the carbon farmers build in their soil. To do this we need some information about you and your farm. This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with and how we protect it, in line with the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019.
1 Information We Collect
- Account data: Name, phone number, email address, location, SOC number and your role (Farmer, Contractor, partner or offtaker).
- Farm data: Farm boundaries and GPS location, farm size, crops and land use, farming practices, photographs, soil samples and field assessment records.
- Satellite and monitoring data: Satellite imagery and analysis of your enrolled farm, used to track changes in vegetation and soil carbon over time.
- Biochar order data: Products ordered, pickup shop or delivery address, and order history.
- Payment data: M-Pesa payment records and any carbon revenue or other payments made to you. We never collect your M-Pesa PIN.
- Identity data: National ID or passport details, where needed to verify your identity or your right to enrol land.
- Usage data: Pages visited, features used, and device and browser information.
2 How We Use Your Information
- To register you and your farm in the SOC Program and issue your SOC number.
- To map and monitor your farm, measure soil organic carbon and verify carbon outcomes.
- To prepare carbon projects and reports, and to share carbon-backed income with participating farmers.
- To process, deliver and support your Black Earth Biochar orders.
- To assign and manage Contractor field work.
- To process M-Pesa payments and refunds.
- To contact you about your account, your farm, your orders and program updates.
- To improve the platform and prevent fraud, including false farm or carbon data.
3 Sharing of Information
We do not sell your personal data. We share it only where needed:
- Carbon standards and independent verifiers — farm, monitoring and carbon data needed to validate projects and issue carbon credits.
- Carbon offtakers and project partners — farm-level carbon results and project information, limited to what is needed for them to buy credits or run the project.
- Contractors — the farm and contact details they need to carry out an assigned visit or mapping job.
- Pickup shops and delivery partners — the details needed to fulfil your biochar order.
- Safaricom / M-Pesa — for payment processing.
- Service providers — such as hosting and satellite imagery providers, under strict confidentiality agreements.
- Authorities — where required by Kenyan law.
4 Data Security
We use industry-standard security measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), secure database storage and access limited to authorised staff and Contractors. However, no online platform can guarantee absolute security.
5 Data Retention
We keep your personal data for as long as your account is active or as required by law. Carbon projects run over many years, and carbon standards require records to be kept for the life of a project and its credits, so farm and monitoring data linked to an active or past carbon project may be kept for that period. You may request deletion of your account and other data by contacting us, subject to these requirements.
6 Your Rights
Under the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019 you have the right to be informed about how your data is used, to access it, to correct it, to object to certain uses, and to request its deletion. To exercise these rights, contact us at support@blackearth.africa.
7 Cookies
We use session cookies to keep you logged in and improve your experience. We do not use third-party advertising cookies. You can disable cookies in your browser settings, but this may affect platform functionality.
8 Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify registered members of significant changes. Continued use of the platform after updates constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.