Terms of Service

Last Updated: January 2025

Effective Date: January 2025

Welcome to The Online Kenyan, operated by The Online Knowledge Company Limited ("The OK Company," "we," "us," or "our"). These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of our website at https://www.theonlinekenyan.com and related services.

1. About Our Service

The Online Kenyan is a news aggregation platform that curates and presents news content from various Kenyan and international news sources. We enhance this content with AI-powered features including:

• Automated news summaries and daily briefs
• Text-to-speech audio conversion for accessibility
• Topic-based content organization
• Breaking news alerts and weekly analysis
• Related content recommendations

2. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using our service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use our service.

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify users of material changes by posting a notice on our website. Your continued use of the service after such changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

3. User Accounts and Social Login

You may use our service without creating an account. However, some features (such as bookmarking favorite stories) require user registration through social authentication providers like Google or Twitter.

When you create an account through social login:

• We only collect the minimum information necessary to provide our services
• We use your social media account information solely to identify you and store your preferences
• We do not post to your social media accounts or access additional data without permission
• You remain responsible for maintaining the security of your social media accounts

4. Acceptable Use

You agree to use our service only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You may not:

• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our systems or other users' accounts
• Use automated tools (bots, scrapers) to access our content without permission
• Interfere with the proper functioning of our service
• Violate any applicable laws or regulations
• Use our service to distribute malware, spam, or other harmful content
• Attempt to reverse engineer or copy our proprietary AI algorithms or features

5. Content and Intellectual Property

5.1 Aggregated News Content

We aggregate news content from various sources under fair use principles. All aggregated content remains the property of its original publishers. We provide:

• Brief excerpts and headlines for preview purposes
• Attribution and direct links to original sources
• Thumbnail images for identification purposes

Important: We encourage users to visit the original source websites to read full articles and support the journalists and publishers who create this content.

5.2 Our Original Content

Our AI-generated summaries, audio content, topic analyses, and platform features are proprietary to The OK Company. You may use this content for personal, non-commercial purposes but may not redistribute or republish it without permission.

5.3 Copyright Compliance

We respect intellectual property rights. If you believe any content on our platform infringes your copyright, please contact us at info@theok.co.ke with:

• Identification of the copyrighted work
• Location of the infringing content on our site
• Your contact information
• A statement of good faith belief that use is unauthorized
• A statement of accuracy under penalty of perjury

6. AI Services and Third-Party Processing

Our platform uses artificial intelligence to enhance content delivery. This includes:

• Content summarization using AI models from OpenAI and Google Gemini
• Text-to-speech conversion for audio content
• Content categorization and topic analysis

When we process content through AI services, we send only the news content itself, not personal user data. Generated audio files may be cached on our servers for performance.

7. Privacy and Data Protection

Your privacy is important to us. Please review our Privacy Policy for detailed information about how we collect, use, and protect your data. Key points:

• We collect minimal personal data and never sell user information
• We use analytics to improve our service, not for profiling
• We comply with applicable data protection laws including GDPR where relevant
• Essential cookies are used only for site functionality

8. Advertising and Monetization

We may display advertisements to support our service. Our advertising approach:

• Non-intrusive, contextual advertising that doesn't disrupt the reading experience
• No behavioral tracking or detailed user profiling for advertising purposes
• Clear labeling of sponsored or promotional content
• Users are never the "product" - we monetize through advertising, not data sales

9. Content Disclaimers

9.1 News Content Accuracy

We aggregate content from reputable sources but do not verify the accuracy of individual news stories. Always refer to original sources for the most current and complete information.

9.2 AI-Generated Content

Our AI summaries and analyses are generated automatically and may contain errors or omissions. They are intended to supplement, not replace, reading the original articles.

9.3 Sensitive Content

News content may include coverage of sensitive topics including violence, politics, and other mature themes. While we use automated systems to filter inappropriate content, parental guidance is advised for younger users.

10. Service Availability

We strive to maintain continuous service availability but cannot guarantee uninterrupted access. We may suspend or modify our service for maintenance, updates, or other operational reasons.

We reserve the right to terminate or suspend access to our service at our discretion, particularly for violations of these Terms.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by Kenyan law:

• Our service is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind
• We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages
• Our total liability shall not exceed KES 10,000 for any claim
• We are not responsible for the accuracy of third-party news content
• We are not liable for any decisions made based on AI-generated summaries

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless The OK Company and its officers from any claims, damages, or expenses arising from your use of our service or violation of these Terms.

13. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of Kenya. Any disputes shall be resolved in the courts of Kenya, with jurisdiction in Nairobi County.

We encourage users to contact us directly at info@theok.co.ke to resolve any issues before pursuing legal action.

14. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full effect.

15. Contact Information

The Online Knowledge Company Limited
Address: Langata Road, Langata, Jamhuri Heights Apartment
Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Email: info@theok.co.ke
Website: https://theok.co.ke

For questions about these Terms or our service, please contact us at info@theok.co.ke.