Privacy Policy

Darul Quranul Karim ("DQK", "we", "us", or "our"), a registered Kenyan non-governmental organization (Reg. No. NGO-ABUJEJP), is committed to protecting and respecting the privacy of all individuals who interact with our organization — whether as donors, volunteers, beneficiaries, website visitors, or partner organizations.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the choices and rights available to you. It applies to information collected through our website (darulquranulkarim.org), donation channels, and all other organizational activities.

By using our website or providing us with your personal information, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us, including when you:

• Make a donation (name, email address, phone number, M-Pesa transaction code, amount)
• Register as a volunteer (name, contact details, skills, availability)
• Subscribe to our newsletter (email address)
• Contact us via email, phone, or our contact form (name, email, message)
• Participate in surveys, events, or programs
• Apply for grants or partnerships (organization name, representative details)

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain technical data, including:

• Browser type and version, operating system
• IP address and approximate geographic location
• Pages visited, time spent on each page, referring URL
• Device identifiers and cookie data (see Section 6)

2.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information from payment processors (such as M-Pesa / Safaricom, or Paystack) to verify and process your donations. This information is limited to what is necessary to complete the transaction.

We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:

• Processing donations — verifying, recording, and acknowledging your contribution; issuing receipts
• Communication — responding to enquiries, providing program updates, and sending newsletters (where you have opted in)
• Program delivery — coordinating volunteer activities, assessing beneficiary needs, and running our programs effectively
• Legal and regulatory compliance — meeting obligations under Kenya's NGO Coordination Act, KRA requirements, and other applicable laws
• Impact reporting — producing anonymized statistics for annual reports and donor communications
• Website improvement — analyzing usage data to improve our online services
• Fraud prevention and security — detecting and preventing unauthorized or fraudulent transactions

We will never sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for commercial marketing purposes.

We process your personal data under one or more of the following lawful bases:

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your information with trusted third parties only in the following circumstances:

• Payment processors — Safaricom (M-Pesa) and Paystack process donation payments on our behalf and are bound by their own privacy and security policies
• Partner organizations — We may share anonymized program data with our strategic partners (such as HWPL and Sharjah Charity International) for reporting purposes only
• Regulatory authorities — We may disclose information as required by the NGO Coordination Board, Kenya Revenue Authority, or any competent court of law
• Service providers — Trusted IT and email service providers who process data solely on our behalf and under strict confidentiality obligations

Our website may use cookies — small text files stored on your device — to improve your browsing experience. The cookies we use include:

• Essential cookies — necessary for the website to function correctly (e.g., session management)
• Analytics cookies — help us understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it (e.g., Google Analytics in anonymized mode)
• Preference cookies — remember your settings and preferences across visits

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of some parts of our website. We do not use cookies for advertising or tracking purposes across third-party sites.

We take the security of your personal information seriously and have implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect it against unauthorized access, accidental loss, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

• HTTPS encryption on all web pages
• Secure, access-controlled systems for storing personal and financial data
• Limited staff access on a need-to-know basis
• Regular security reviews and updates

While we strive to protect your data, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. If you believe your information has been compromised, please contact us immediately at info@darulquranulkarim.org.

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Our general retention periods are:

• Donation records — 7 years (KRA and NGO Coordination Board requirements)
• Volunteer records — 3 years after the end of the volunteer relationship
• Newsletter subscriptions — until you unsubscribe
• Website analytics data — up to 26 months in anonymized form
• General correspondence — 2 years from last contact

After the applicable retention period, personal data is securely deleted or anonymized.

Depending on applicable law, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right to access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Right to correction — request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure — request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention obligations)
• Right to object — object to our processing of your data for legitimate interests or direct marketing
• Right to restrict processing — ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances
• Right to withdraw consent — where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting past processing
• Right to portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format where technically feasible

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@darulquranulkarim.org. We will respond within 30 days.

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. In our field programs, any data relating to children (such as beneficiary records) is handled with additional safeguards — stored securely, shared only where necessary for program delivery, and protected in accordance with child safeguarding best practices.

If you believe we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child, please contact us immediately so we can delete it promptly.

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, including social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, YouTube, TikTok), payment gateways (Paystack), and partner organizations. This Privacy Policy applies only to darulquranulkarim.org.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external site you visit before providing personal information.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or operational needs. When we make significant changes, we will:

• Update the "Effective Date" at the top of this page
• Post a notice on our website homepage
• Notify registered newsletter subscribers by email where appropriate

We encourage you to review this page periodically. Your continued use of our website or services after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

Darul Quranul Karim is the data controller responsible for your personal information. If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or the way we handle your data, please contact: