About this notice
This notice explains how personal data is handled when you use the Big Time Safaris website: browsing it, sending a general enquiry from the Contact page, or sending a request through Plan My Safari. It describes how the website itself works. How bookings are handled after you speak with our team will be covered once that process is confirmed (see “Safari bookings” below).
We refer to Kenya’s Data Protection Act, 2019 (“the Act”) because Big Time Safaris’ office is in Nairobi, Kenya. If you live elsewhere, the law where you live may give you further rights.
Back to contentsWho is responsible for your data
Big Time Safaris decides how and why the personal data described here is used. Under the Act this makes us the data controller. Our office is at St. Ellis House, 7th Floor, Wabera Street, opposite City Hall, Nairobi, Kenya, and our postal address is P.O. Box 7014–00300 GPO, Nairobi, Kenya.
To be confirmed by Big Time Safaris (P1)
The data controller’s registered legal name and registration number, if they differ from the trading name Big Time Safaris.
To be confirmed by Big Time Safaris (P2)
Registration with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC): confirm the registration status and certificate number. The Data Protection (Registration of Data Controllers and Data Processors) Regulations, 2021 list hospitality among the sectors that must register regardless of size; legal advice should confirm how this applies to Big Time Safaris.
Contact for privacy questions
For any question or request about your personal data, email info@bigtimesafaris.co.ke or write to Big Time Safaris, P.O. Box 7014–00300 GPO, Nairobi, Kenya. Please say that your message is about privacy.
Back to contentsWhat we collect
We only collect what you choose to give us in our forms, plus a small amount of information about how the enquiry reached us. We do not ask for passport numbers, payment details or children’s names on this website.
| When | What | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| General enquiry (Contact page) | Your name and email address | Required, so we can reply |
| General enquiry (Contact page) | Phone or WhatsApp number | Optional |
| General enquiry (Contact page) | The topic you choose and your message; the safari you are asking about, if any | A message is required |
| Plan My Safari | Your name and email address | Required, so we can reply |
| Plan My Safari | Phone or WhatsApp number and the country you live in | Optional |
| Plan My Safari | Travel plans: destinations and specific places, safari style, interests, approximate month or dates, trip length, comfort level and budget band | Optional |
| Plan My Safari | Who is travelling: number of adults and children, the type of group, and children’s ages | Optional (children’s ages especially) |
| Plan My Safari | Anything else you choose to tell us in the notes | Optional |
| Every enquiry, automatically | The page you sent it from, the date and time, a reference number, the website that linked you to us (its address only) and any campaign tags in the link you followed | Added by the website |
If you do not give a name and a valid email address, we cannot send your enquiry, because we would have no way to reply. Everything else is up to you, and leaving it out simply means we ask you later if we need it.
Back to contentsChildren and sensitive details
The planner can record how many children are travelling and, if you choose, their ages, because age affects which camps, vehicles and activities are suitable. We never ask for children’s names. Please share children’s ages only if you are their parent or guardian, or have their permission. The website is meant for adults planning travel.
Information about health, such as mobility, medical or some dietary needs, is “sensitive personal data” under the Act. The planner asks you not to include medical details in the notes. If you do mention a need that affects your trip, we use it only to plan your trip.
Back to contentsWhy we use it, and on what basis
| Purpose | Legal basis under section 30 of the Act |
|---|---|
| Replying to your enquiry and preparing a safari proposal or quotation you asked for | Steps taken at your request before entering into a contract |
| Keeping the website secure and preventing spam and abuse of the forms | Our legitimate interests |
| Knowing which website or campaign brought an enquiry | Our legitimate interests |
This website does not send marketing messages and does not ask for marketing consent. Sending an enquiry does not sign you up for anything. If we ever offer news by email, it will be a separate, optional choice.
Back to contentsSafari bookings
This website does not take bookings or payments. Sending an enquiry does not make a booking.
To be confirmed by Big Time Safaris (P8)
What personal data is needed once a traveller books (for example passport details for park permits and border crossings, travel insurance, dietary and medical information, emergency contacts), how it is collected, who it is shared with (lodges, camps, park and immigration authorities, airlines) and how long it is kept.
Cookies and browser storage
This website does not set cookies. It keeps a little information in your browser so the planner and the safari list work smoothly, including your optional analytics choice when that feature is enabled. Your contact details, children’s ages and notes are never written to your device. Full details are on our Cookies page.
| Item | Where | What it holds | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| bts-analytics-choice-v1 | sessionStorage | Accepted or declined only; no identity or form answers. | Until you close the browser tab; change it through Analytics preferences. |
| bts-plan-draft-v2 | sessionStorage | Your planning choices only: the safari you are asking about, destinations and any specific places you chose, safari style, interests, travel month or dates, trip length, number of adults and children, who is travelling, comfort level, budget band, the step you reached and when you started. | Until you close the browser tab, choose “Clear my answers”, or your request is sent. |
| bts-safari-return | sessionStorage | The safari you opened and the filters you had chosen. | Deleted as soon as you return to the list, and in any case when you close the tab. |
| Contact details in the planner | Page memory | Your name, email, phone, country, children’s ages and anything you write in the notes. | Never written to your device. Gone when you reload the page or close the tab. |
| Visit source | Page memory | The website that linked to us (its address only, not the page) and any campaign tags (utm_…) in the link you followed. | Never written to your device. Gone when you reload the page or close the tab. |
You can remove the planner’s saved choices at any time with “Clear my answers” in the planner, or by closing the tab.
Back to contentsAnalytics
Optional Vercel Web Analytics measures visits and public-page interactions; Vercel Speed Insights measures loading and responsiveness, including LCP, INP and CLS. Activation is pending the analytics retention decision below. When enabled, these tools run only after you choose Allow analytics. Declining does not restrict the website. Analytics preferences lets you withdraw consent. Your choice lasts only for the current browser tab. We remove query strings and fragments from analytics page URLs and exclude unknown paths. Custom events contain only public catalogue identifiers and bounded interface labels, never form answers or enquiry references. A WhatsApp click records an intention, not a sent message or booking. A successful enquiry event requires the website’s confirmed delivery response. Vercel may derive device, browser, referrer and approximate location information from requests; no advertising profile or cross-site tracking is intended. Speed measurement samples 10% of consenting page loads. Plan availability and consent mean these statistics are not a complete count of every visitor.
Back to contentsInternational transfers
The website’s hosting provider operates infrastructure outside Kenya, so the details you send may be processed in other countries, including the United States. Google, which receives and stores enquiries for our team through Google Apps Script and Google Sheets, may also process them on servers outside Kenya.
Big Time Safaris confirms that it has documented the international-transfer basis and safeguards it relies on for processing through Vercel and Google. That company record is confidential and was not supplied to, read by or stored in the website project. This notice therefore does not name a specific transfer mechanism. No independent or legal review of the record is claimed. You may contact us using the privacy contact above if you want more information about the safeguards relevant to your data.
Back to contentsHow long we keep it
- The website does not keep a database of enquiries. Once your enquiry is delivered, it is held in our team’s Google Sheets spreadsheet (see “Who we share it with”), and the website keeps no copy.
- To stop abuse, the website counts enquiries from each network address for up to 10 minutes. The count is held in server memory and is never written to storage.
- Server logs about enquiries record only the outcome, a reference number, the type of enquiry and timings. They never include your name, contact details or message.
- Browser storage lasts as described above, at most until you close the tab.
To be confirmed by Big Time Safaris (P11)
Retention periods for enquiries in the team’s inbox or CRM (enquiries that do not lead to a booking, and those that do), for booking records, and for hosting logs, and for Vercel analytics and performance measurements. The Act requires keeping data no longer than reasonably necessary (section 39).
How we protect it
- Enquiries are sent over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection.
- The server checks every enquiry. It accepts only answers the forms offer, limits the length of what you type, and rejects enquiries sent from other websites.
- Spam protection and rate limits block automated abuse.
- Passwords and keys for our service providers are held only on the server, never in the website code your browser downloads.
- Each enquiry the website sends to our spreadsheet is signed, so the spreadsheet service accepts only enquiries that come from this website.
- Logs leave out names, contact details and messages.
- Your contact details are not saved in your browser.
- Only the director and designated authorised staff can access enquiries and the relevant inbox. Two-step verification is enabled for those accounts.
To be confirmed by Big Time Safaris (P17)
The personal data breach procedure, including notifying the Data Commissioner within 72 hours where required (section 43).
Your rights
Under the Act you have the right to:
- be told how your personal data will be used (section 26), which is what this notice is for;
- see the personal data we hold about you (section 26);
- ask us to correct inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete or misleading data, and to delete data we no longer have a reason to keep (sections 26 and 40);
- object to our use of your data (sections 26 and 36);
- ask us to restrict how we use your data, for example while we check its accuracy (section 34);
- receive your data in a commonly used, machine-readable format, or have it sent to another organisation (section 38);
- not be subject to decisions made solely by automated means that significantly affect you (section 35). This website makes no such decisions;
- withdraw any consent you have given, at any time (section 32).
A parent or guardian may exercise these rights for a child (section 27).
Back to contentsHow to exercise your rights
Contact us using the privacy contact above. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request, so that we do not give your data to someone else.
To be confirmed by Big Time Safaris (P13)
Who at Big Time Safaris handles rights requests, and the response time committed to (the Act sets 30 days for data portability requests, section 38(6)).
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please tell us first so we can try to put it right. You can also complain to Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (opens in a new tab). Under section 56 of the Act, a complaint can be made orally or in writing. If you live outside Kenya, you may also be able to complain to the data protection authority where you live.
Back to contentsVisitors from outside Kenya
Many of our travellers live outside Kenya. Where another country’s privacy law applies to how we handle your data, you have the rights that law gives you too.
Back to contentsChanges to this notice
We will update this notice when the website or our practices change, and show the date of the latest change at the top of this page.
This version takes effect on 20 October 2026, the date the director of Big Time Safaris approved it. Details still marked “To be confirmed” will be added as they are settled, and the date of each change shown at the top of this page.
Back to contents