Jilinde Privacy Policy

Effective date: 01 July 2026

Jilinde Platform Ltd ("we", "us", or "our") operates the Jilinde mobile application and the websites at https://jilinde.com and http://www.jilinde.co.ke (the "Service").

Jilinde is an emergency response and alerting service. It allows you to raise an emergency alert, be located, and have a medical, security, roadside or towing responder dispatched to you. Because of what the Service does, it necessarily handles some of your most sensitive information — where you are, and in medical emergencies, your health.

This policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights you have over it. It is issued in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2019 of Kenya and the Data Protection (General) Regulations, 2021.

Jilinde Platform Ltd is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy and is registered with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. If you use the Linda app as a responder or guard, that use is covered by the separate Linda Privacy Policy.

Information we collect

Account information

  • Full name, phone number and email address
  • Password (stored in encrypted form — we never see it)
  • Home or default address, where you provide one
  • Profile photograph, where you choose to add one
  • National identification or passport number, where required to verify a subscription or cover

Location data

Jilinde collects your device location. This is the core of the Service: it is used to establish where you are when you raise an alert, to find the nearest available responder, to guide that responder to you, and to let you and your trusted contacts follow the response as it happens.

Location is collected when you open the app, when you raise an alert, and while a response is in progress. Where you have enabled geofenced community alerts, location is also used in the background to determine whether an alert nearby is relevant to you. You can turn location permission off in your device settings at any time, but the Service cannot dispatch help to you without it.

Health information

Your personal health record in Jilinde may include blood group, allergies, chronic conditions, current medication, disabilities, and your preferred hospital or doctor. Providing this is entirely optional. It exists so that a responder attending to you has the information they need in an emergency, including when you are unable to speak.

Health information is sensitive personal data. It is stored encrypted, is not visible to other Jilinde users, and is released to a responder only when you raise a medical alert and that responder is assigned to you.

Emergency alert and incident data

  • The alert you raised, its category, and the time and place it was raised
  • Your location trail for the duration of the response
  • The responder assigned, arrival and completion times
  • Photographs, audio or notes you attach to an alert
  • Calls and messages exchanged through the app with a dispatcher or responder
  • The incident report produced at the end of the response

Subscription and payment data

Where you hold a cover or subscription, or pay for an on-demand response, we record your plan, its status and renewal date, and a record of each transaction. Mobile money and card payments are processed by our payment providers — we receive confirmation of payment and a transaction reference, but we do not store your full card number or your mobile money PIN.

Connected devices

If you link a panic button, tracker or 4G smartwatch to your account, we receive that device's identifier, its location, battery and connection status, and any alert it raises. This data is treated the same way as location and alert data raised from your phone.

Device and usage data

  • Device model, operating system version and unique device identifiers
  • App version, crash reports and diagnostic logs
  • Login times, IP address and session records

Information you give us about other people

Some features involve you providing personal data about people other than yourself.

  • Trusted contacts and security groups. When you add someone to your trusted circle, you provide their name and phone number, and you enable them to be notified and shown your location when you raise an alert. Please add someone only if they have agreed to it. We will tell a person who has been added that they are on your circle, and they can remove themselves at any time.
  • Dependants on a family cover. If your plan covers other members of your household, you provide their details, and where they are children, you do so as their parent or guardian. See the section on children below.
  • Community and crime map reports. A report you submit may describe an incident involving other people. Submit only what you witnessed, keep it factual, and do not name or identify individuals or post images of them. Reports are reviewed before publication and are shown to other users without your identity attached.

Why we process your data, and our lawful basis

  • To create and operate your account — necessary for the performance of our agreement with you.
  • To receive your alert, locate you and dispatch a responder — necessary for the performance of the Service, and to protect your vital interests or those of another person in an emergency.
  • To release your health information to an attending responder — your explicit consent, given when you add the information and confirmed when you raise a medical alert, and where you cannot consent at the time, the protection of your vital interests.
  • To notify your trusted contacts and share your location with them — your consent, given when you set up your circle.
  • To send geofenced community alerts — your consent, given when you enable the feature.
  • To manage covers, subscriptions and payments — necessary for the performance of our agreement with you, and to comply with tax and accounting obligations.
  • To keep the platform safe, prevent false or malicious alerts, and investigate misuse — our legitimate interest in a service that people can rely on in an emergency.
  • To improve the Service and fix faults — our legitimate interest, using diagnostic data.

Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time in the app. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that took place before you withdrew it, and some features will stop working — for example, removing your health record means responders will attend without it.

Who we share your data with

  • The responder assigned to you. When a responder accepts your alert they receive your name, phone number, location and the nature of the emergency. For a medical alert they also receive your health record. Responders are bound by the Linda Privacy Policy and by confidentiality obligations.
  • The dispatch centre. Dispatchers coordinating your response see your alert, your location and the responder's progress.
  • Your trusted contacts. When you raise an alert, the people on your circle are notified and can see your location for the duration of the response.
  • Service providers. Cloud hosting and database services (Google Cloud Platform and Firebase), SMS and push notification providers, mapping providers, and payment processors including mobile money and card acquirers. These providers act on our instructions and are bound to protect your data.
  • Lawful authorities. Where we are required by law, court order or lawful request, or where disclosure is necessary to protect a life or to investigate a serious incident.

We do not sell your personal data. We do not share your health information, your location or your alert history with advertisers, insurers, employers or landlords.

Transfer of data outside Kenya

Our infrastructure is hosted on Google Cloud Platform and Firebase, with data stored in data centres located in Europe. Some support and analytics providers may also process data outside Kenya.

Where personal data is transferred outside Kenya, we do so on the basis of appropriate safeguards — contractual commitments with our providers requiring an equivalent standard of protection to that required under the Data Protection Act, 2019 — and we remain accountable for that data.

How long we keep your data

  • Account and profile data — for as long as your account is active, and deleted after you close it, subject to the exceptions below.
  • Health record — until you change or remove it, or close your account.
  • Location trails — retained for 90 days, then deleted, unless the trail forms part of an incident record.
  • Alert and incident records — retained for 7 years, reflecting the period during which they may be needed for legal, insurance or investigative purposes.
  • Payment and subscription records — retained for 7 years to meet tax and accounting obligations.
  • Community and crime map reports — retained for 24 months, then removed from the map.
  • Diagnostic and log data — retained for 12 months.

Security of data

We protect your data using encrypted connections, encryption of your health record and other sensitive data at rest, access controls so that responders see only the information relevant to the alert they are attending, and audit logging of every access to a health record.

No system can be guaranteed completely secure. You help protect your data by keeping your password confidential, using a screen lock on your device, and reviewing who is on your trusted circle from time to time.

Data breaches

If a breach affecting your personal data occurs, we will notify the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner within 72 hours of becoming aware of it, and we will notify you without undue delay where the breach is likely to result in real risk of harm to you.

Your rights

Under the Data Protection Act, 2019 you have the right to:

  • Be informed of how your personal data is being used
  • Access the personal data we hold about you
  • Have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected
  • Have your data deleted, subject to records we are required to retain
  • Object to processing, or request that processing be restricted
  • Receive a copy of your data in a portable format
  • Withdraw consent, where processing is based on consent

Most of these can be exercised directly in the app under Settings. Otherwise, contact our Data Protection Officer at the details in the Contact Us section. We will respond within 30 days. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we act on a request.

Data deletion

You may request deletion of your personal data and account at any time directly within the Jilinde mobile app. Deleting your account permanently removes your profile, personal data and health information from our active systems, subject to any data we are legally required to retain.

How to delete your account — Jilinde app

  1. Open the Jilinde app and log in to your account.
  2. Tap the menu icon (☰) in the top-left corner to open the navigation drawer.
  3. Tap Settings.
  4. Scroll down to the Delete Account option.
  5. Tap Delete Account and enter your account password to confirm your identity.
  6. Confirm the deletion when prompted. Your account and associated personal data will be permanently deleted.

Alternatively, you may submit a data deletion request by emailing info@jilinde.com with your registered phone number, and we will process the request within 30 days.

Deleting only part of your data

If you do not want to close your account, you can remove your health record, clear your trusted circle, turn off geofenced alerts, or unlink a connected device, all under Settings in the app.

What deletion does not remove

So that you know what to expect:

  • Records of emergencies we attended — an incident record is kept for the period set out above, because a response involved other parties and may be needed for legal, insurance or investigative purposes. Your name and contact details are masked in these records where doing so does not defeat that purpose.
  • Payment and subscription records — retained to meet tax and accounting obligations.
  • Community reports you submitted — these are already published without your identity attached, and remain on the map until their retention period ends. You can ask us to remove a specific report.

If you also use the Linda app, these are separate accounts. Deleting one does not delete the other.

Children

You must be at least 18 to hold a Jilinde account. We do not knowingly allow anyone under 18 to register.

A child may be enrolled as a dependant on a family cover, or given a connected panic button or smartwatch, only by their parent or guardian. In that case:

  • The parent or guardian holds the account, provides consent on the child's behalf, and controls the child's information.
  • We collect only what is needed to respond to an emergency involving that child — name, age, location, and any health information the parent chooses to provide.
  • A child's location is visible to the parent or guardian who enrolled them, and to a responder attending an alert involving that child. It is not shared with anyone else.
  • The parent or guardian may remove the child, unlink the device, or delete the child's data at any time in the app.

If you believe a child has registered an account without a parent or guardian, contact us and we will remove it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Where a change materially affects how we use your personal data, we will notify you in the app and by email or SMS before it takes effect, and update the effective date above. Continued use of the Service after a change takes effect means you accept the updated policy.

Contact us

For any question about this policy, or to exercise your data protection rights:

  • Data Protection Officer, Jilinde Platform Ltd
  • General enquiries: info@jilinde.com
  • By phone: +254 717 834488
  • Website: https://jilinde.com

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal data or your request, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Britam Tower, Hospital Road, Upper Hill, Nairobi — complaints@odpc.go.ke — or through the ODPC complaints portal at https://www.odpc.go.ke.