Privacy notice
This notice explains how the Avoguard Android app handles personal data. Avoguard is the avocado farm-scouting app, package name com.avocado.android. It is provided by Strathmore University, acting through the Strathmore Agri-Food Innovation Center (SAFIC) (“we”, “us”). Strathmore University is the data controller.
We process personal data under the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019 and the Data Protection (General) Regulations, 2021. This notice covers the Avoguard app. It is published at avograde.africa/privacy.
Key points
- We collect your name, phone number, county, and the farm and scouting records you submit.
- Photos, voice notes and a profile picture are collected only when you choose to add them.
- If you allow location, a scouting record or problem report can include the precise GPS coordinates of that record.
- We use this information to run your account, keep your records, and show advisories and alerts. We do not sell it, and the app does not show advertisements.
- Crash reports and basic usage statistics go to Google Firebase so we can keep the app reliable.
- You can ask us to access, correct or delete your data. There is no delete button in the app yet. Email saficai@strathmore.edu, or follow the steps on the account deletion page.
1. Data we collect
| Category | What it includes | When |
|---|---|---|
| Account | First name, last name, phone number, county, and role (for example, farmer). | Required to create an account. You sign in with a one-time code sent by SMS. The app does not store a password. |
| Profile photo | A picture you upload in settings. | Optional. |
| Farms and blocks | Farm name, the location you type, farm size, and block details. | When you add or edit a farm or block. |
| Scouting records | Variety, traps, pests, beneficial insects, diseases, other production challenges, actions taken, remarks, and the dates of the record. | When you submit a weekly record. |
| Photos | Pictures of a crop, pest, disease, trap, or problem, from the camera or your device. | Optional, when you attach them to a record or report. |
| Voice | Voice notes you record in the app. | Optional, when you attach one to a record. |
| Precise location | GPS latitude and longitude. | Only if you grant location permission, and only for the scouting record or problem report you are submitting. |
| Problem reports | Problem type, urgency, description, a photo, and GPS coordinates. | When you send a problem report. |
| Diagnostics | Crash logs, app and device details, and an app-instance or advertising identifier collected by Firebase Crashlytics and Firebase Analytics. | Automatically while you use the app. This is used to find faults and see which parts of the app are used. It is not used to show ads. The current app does not offer a switch to turn this off. |
| On your phone | Sign-in tokens, and a local copy of your name, phone number, county and profile picture. | Stored on the device so you can stay signed in. |
We do not ask for health, ethnicity, religion or biometric data. Photos and voice notes should be of the crop and the orchard, not of other people.
2. How we use it
- Create your account and send the SMS sign-in code.
- Store farms, blocks, scouting records, photos and voice notes, and show them back to you.
- Prepare advisories and alerts for your account.
- Place a record on the right block when you include a location.
- Keep the service secure, fix crashes, and understand which features are used.
- Respond when you ask for access, correction or deletion.
Running your account and storing the records you submit is necessary to provide the service you requested. Security, crash reports and usage statistics are processed for our legitimate interest in a reliable app. We do not use your data for advertising, and we do not sell or rent it.
3. Who receives it
Your account and scouting data are sent over HTTPS to SAFIC’s servers for Avoguard. We also use:
- Google Firebase (Crashlytics and Analytics), which processes crash and usage data for us. Google may process that data outside Kenya.
- The SMS route that delivers your one-time sign-in code. The code is sent to the phone number on the account.
- SAFIC and Strathmore staff who operate the service and prepare advisories.
- A court, regulator or other authority when the law requires it, including the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
Scouting photos, voice notes and precise location are not shown to other farmers in the app. They are available to the team that operates Avoguard and prepares your advisories.
4. How long we keep it
Account details, farms, scouting records, photos, voice notes and problem reports are kept while your account is open. After you ask us to delete the account, we delete that data. We aim to complete deletion within 30 days. A copy can remain in a backup until that backup is replaced. Security logs are kept only as long as needed to investigate abuse or a fault.
5. How we protect it
The app sends data to our servers over HTTPS. Access to production records is limited to people who operate Avoguard. No system is perfectly secure. To report a security issue, email saficai@strathmore.edu.
6. Your rights
Under the Data Protection Act you can ask to:
- be told how your data is used;
- receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
- correct data that is wrong or incomplete;
- have data deleted when it is no longer needed or is processed unlawfully;
- object to processing based on legitimate interests;
- receive the data you provided in a common format.
Email saficai@strathmore.edu or the Data Protection Officer at dpo@strathmore.edu. Include the phone number on the account so we can verify the request. We respond within 30 days. You can also complain to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner at www.odpc.go.ke.
To close an account, use the account deletion page.
7. Children
Avoguard is for farmers and farm managers. It is not directed at anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.
8. Changes
When this notice changes, we will post the new version on this page with a new effective date. If a change materially affects how we use personal data, we will tell account holders in the app or by the contact details we hold before it takes effect.
9. Contact
Strathmore University, acting through the Strathmore Agri-Food Innovation Center (SAFIC)
Ole Sangale Road, Madaraka, P.O. Box 59857-00200, Nairobi, Kenya
Email: saficai@strathmore.edu
Data Protection Officer: dpo@strathmore.edu