Terms of Use

1. Introduction and Scope

Welcome to the Nairobi Maps ("the Platform"). These Terms of Use govern your access to and use of the Platform, including all associated geospatial data, maps, layers, attributes, and analytical tools. The Platform is a private, subscription-based geospatial information service that provides access to curated datasets for Nairobi County, including parcels, wards, zoning, infrastructure, and demographic data.

By using the Platform, you agree to comply with these Terms, which are grounded in Kenya's legal framework for data protection and privacy, including the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 (particularly Article 31 on privacy), the Data Protection Act, 2019, and the Access to Information Act, 2016 where applicable to private entities.

2. Key Definitions

In these Terms, unless the context otherwise requires:

• "Personal Data" means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, as defined under section 2 of the Data Protection Act, 2019 .
• "Sensitive Personal Data" means data revealing a natural person's race, health status, ethnic social origin, conscience, belief, genetic data, biometric data, property details, marital status, or family details, as defined under section 2 of the Data Protection Act, 2019 .
• "Data Controller" means Nairobi Maps (the private entity operating this service), which determines the purpose and means of processing personal data .
• "Data Processor" means a third party that processes personal data on behalf of the Data Controller.
• "Data Subject" means an identified or identifiable natural person who is the subject of personal data .
• "Geospatial Data" means information that identifies the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on Earth, including but not limited to parcel boundaries, ward boundaries, infrastructure networks, and zoning classifications.
• "Government Data Sources" means public datasets obtained from government agencies, including but not limited to the Ministry of Lands, the National Land Commission, ArdhiSasa, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, and the Nairobi County Government. These sources are cited and attributed where used.
• "Subscription Plan" means the paid access tiers (Silver, Gold, Platinum) that unlock additional features and datasets.

3. Nature of the Service

3.1 Private Commercial Service

Nairobi Maps is a privately owned and operated commercial service. It is not a government entity and does not have any official or statutory authority over land records, planning decisions, or any government functions. The Platform aggregates and visualizes geospatial data from various public sources for informational, research, and planning purposes.

3.2 Data Aggregation and Curation

The Platform curates and presents geospatial data obtained from multiple sources, including government agencies. While we strive for accuracy, the data is provided "as is" and should not be used as the sole basis for legal, financial, or governmental decisions. For official land records, users should consult ArdhiSasa (the National Land Information Management System) or the Ministry of Lands directly.

3.3 No Government Affiliation

The Nairobi Maps is not affiliated with the Government of Kenya, the Nairobi County Government, the Ministry of Lands, the National Land Commission, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, or any other government body. Any use of official terminology (e.g., "ArdhiSasa", "NLIMS", "NSDI") is for reference purposes only and does not imply endorsement or official status.

4. Data Processing and Privacy

4.1 Lawful Basis for Processing

As a private data controller, the Platform processes personal data only on a lawful basis, primarily:

• Consent: Where you have given express, unequivocal, free, specific, and informed consent to the processing of your personal data .
• Performance of a contract: Where processing is necessary for the performance of a subscription contract to which you are a party.
• Legal obligation: Where processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the Data Controller is subject (e.g., tax compliance).
• Legitimate interests: Where processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the Data Controller, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject.

4.2 Data Subject Rights

Under the Data Protection Act, 2019, data subjects have the following rights in relation to their personal data :

• Right to be informed of the collection and use of their personal data.
• Right of access to their personal data, including confirmation of whether personal data is being processed.
• Right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten") in certain circumstances.
• Right to restriction of processing of personal data in specified circumstances.
• Right to data portability — the right to receive personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• Right to object to processing of personal data.
• Right to withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.
• Right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

4.3 Sensitive Personal Data

The Platform does not collect or process sensitive personal data as defined under section 2 of the Data Protection Act, 2019. This includes race, health status, ethnic social origin, conscience, belief, genetic data, biometric data, property details, marital status, and family details .

4.4 Data Security

The Platform implements appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk, including:

• Encryption of personal data in transit and at rest .
• Access controls to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to personal data.
• Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning.
• Incident response procedures for personal data breaches.

4.5 Personal Data Breach Notification

In the event of a personal data breach, the Data Controller shall notify the Data Commissioner without undue delay and, where feasible, not later than 72 hours after having become aware of the breach, as required under the Data Protection Act, 2019 (Section 23). Affected data subjects shall be notified without undue delay if the breach is likely to result in a high risk to their rights and freedoms .

4.6 Cross-Border Data Transfers

Some services the Platform relies on — including map tile and terrain rendering, and the optional AI assistant — are provided by infrastructure located outside Kenya. Where your personal data or usage data is transferred outside Kenya, the Data Controller ensures such transfers occur only where permitted under the Data Protection Act, 2019 (Section 48) — that is, where the recipient jurisdiction has adequate data protection safeguards, appropriate contractual or organizational safeguards are in place with the processor, or you have given explicit consent to the transfer after being informed of the possible risks.

4.7 Cookies and Similar Technologies

The Platform uses your browser's local storage to remember display preferences (such as light/dark theme) and a session cookie to keep you signed in. It also records basic, non-sensitive usage events (e.g. which layers are viewed, searches performed) to operate quotas, secure the service, and improve it. These are strictly necessary for the Platform to function and are not used for third-party advertising. You can clear cookies and local storage at any time through your browser settings; doing so will sign you out and reset saved preferences.

4.8 Data Protection Commissioner Registration

The Data Controller undertakes to register with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) as required under the Data Protection Act, 2019 and the Data Protection (Registration of Data Controllers and Data Processors) Regulations, 2021, to the extent that registration is mandatory for the nature and scale of processing carried out by the Platform. Users may confirm current registration status, or raise any data protection concern, by contacting the Data Protection Officer (see Section 13).

5. Geospatial Data — Access and Use

5.1 Data Sources and Attribution

The geospatial data presented on the Platform is curated from multiple public sources, including:

• Government open data portals and publications (attributed where used)
• Publicly available geospatial datasets (e.g., from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Lands, and county governments)
• Community-contributed and crowd-sourced data (verified and attributed)
• Proprietary datasets licensed by the Platform for distribution

All data is provided "as is" and should be verified against official government sources for legal or official purposes.

5.2 Open Data (Free Tier)

The following geospatial data is designated as open data and is freely accessible to all users without restriction:

• County and ward boundaries
• Major roads and transport networks
• Hydrology (rivers, water bodies)
• Population data at aggregated levels
• Basic zoning classifications
• Public facility locations (schools, hospitals, etc.)

5.3 Premium Data (Subscription Tiers)

The following geospatial data is designated as premium and is accessible only to paid subscribers (Silver, Gold, and Platinum):

• Attribute tables and metadata (Silver, Gold, Platinum)
• Custom layer uploads (Gold and Platinum)
• 3D terrain view, building extrusions, and the detailed 2D/3D parcel cadastre (Platinum only)
• Registry Index Map (RIMS) survey plan documents (Gold and Platinum — see Section 5.5)
• Exportable data in GeoJSON, CSV and PDF formats (Platinum)
• API access (Platinum)

5.4 No Official Records

The geospatial data provided by the Platform is not a substitute for official government land records. Users requiring official land registration, title searches, or planning approvals must consult the relevant government authorities, including:

• ArdhiSasa (National Land Information Management System) for official land records
• Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning for land administration and planning
• National Land Commission for land management and policy
• Nairobi County Government for county-specific planning and development control

5.5 Registry Index Map (RIMS) Documents

The Platform makes available, to Gold and Platinum subscribers, digitised copies of Registry Index Map ("RIMS") survey plan sheets for reference purposes. These documents originate from official cadastral survey records but the copies hosted on the Platform:

• are not certified copies and carry no evidentiary or legal weight for land transactions, court proceedings, or statutory filings;
• may not reflect the most current version of the official survey record, which can be amended, subdivided, or superseded by the Director of Surveys or relevant land registry at any time without notice to the Platform;
• must be independently verified against the official record before being relied upon for any legal, financial, or transactional purpose. Certified copies must be obtained directly from the Survey of Kenya, the relevant County Survey office, or ArdhiSasa.

Making a RIMS document available on the Platform does not constitute certification, endorsement, or verification of its currency or accuracy by Nairobi Maps.

6. User Obligations and Acceptable Use

By using the Platform, you agree to:

• Comply with all applicable laws, including the Data Protection Act, 2019, and the Access to Information Act, 2016 (where applicable to private entities).
• Use the Platform only for lawful purposes and in a manner that does not infringe the rights of, or restrict or inhibit the use and enjoyment of the Platform by, any third party.
• Not attempt to bypass or circumvent security measures or access data for which you do not have authorization.
• Not use the Platform to harvest personal data of other users or data subjects.
• Not engage in data scraping, data mining, or bulk extraction of geospatial data without prior written authorization.
• Respect intellectual property rights and not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from Platform data without proper attribution and authorization.
• Report any personal data breaches or security vulnerabilities to the Data Controller immediately.
• Not use the Platform to make automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on individuals, unless such decisions are authorized by law and subject to appropriate safeguards.
• Pay all applicable subscription fees for premium access.

7. Subscriptions and Payments

7.1 Subscription Plans

The Platform offers the following paid subscription plans:

• Silver – KES 500/month: Attribute tables, full parcel search, 5 prints/day, 100 AI queries/month
• Gold – KES 1,000/month: Everything in Silver, plus all map layers, RIMS survey plan documents, unlimited prints, custom layer uploads, 1,000 AI queries/month, priority support
• Platinum – KES 2,000/month: Everything in Gold, plus the 3D view and detailed parcel cadastre, unlimited AI queries, data exports, API access, and dedicated onboarding

7.2 Payment and Activation

Payments are made to Paybill 522522, Account Number 5249110088015828 (reference: nairobimaps). That Paybill is operated on the M-Pesa mobile money service, which is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya under the National Payment System Act, 2011. Nairobi Maps is not itself a payment service provider and does not receive or store your PIN or mobile money credentials. After payment, users must send a confirmation message via WhatsApp to +254 725 138 018 for account activation. The subscription itself is a private commercial arrangement between you and Nairobi Maps.

7.3 Refund Policy

Subscription fees are non-refundable except as required by law, including your rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2012 where a service is not delivered as described or a payment is processed in error. Users may cancel their subscription at any time, and access will continue until the end of the current billing cycle. Pro-rated refunds are not otherwise available. Report a payment or billing problem via WhatsApp (Section 13) as soon as possible so it can be corrected.

8. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Nairobi Maps provides geospatial data "as is" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. The Platform does not guarantee:

• The accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability of the geospatial data provided
• That the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure
• That any defects will be corrected
• That the data is free from viruses or other harmful components

Users are encouraged to verify critical data through official government channels, including ArdhiSasa/NLIMS and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Nairobi Maps, its data providers, and its affiliates shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or in connection with your use of the Platform, including but not limited to:

• Reliance on inaccurate or incomplete geospatial data for land transactions, property valuations, or planning decisions
• Loss of data, profits, or business opportunities resulting from system outages, data corruption, or unauthorized access
• Any actions taken or decisions made based on information obtained from the Platform
• Any third-party claims arising from your use of the Platform
• Any damages resulting from your failure to verify data against official government sources

10. Termination and Suspension

The Nairobi Maps reserves the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Platform, with or without notice, for any reason, including but not limited to:

• Violation of these Terms of Use, including the Data Protection Act and other applicable laws
• Engaging in unauthorized access, data scraping, or other prohibited activities
• Failure to pay subscription fees (for Silver, Gold, or Platinum plans)
• Engaging in conduct that disrupts or interferes with the Platform's operation

Upon termination, your access to restricted data and premium features will cease immediately. Your rights to any data you have lawfully accessed prior to termination shall be respected, subject to the Data Protection Act and other applicable laws.

11. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Kenya. Any disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Kenya.

Users have the right to lodge complaints with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner regarding the processing of their personal data, or with the Commission on Administrative Justice regarding access to information matters, where applicable to private entities .

12. Amendments to Terms

The Nairobi Maps reserves the right to amend these Terms of Use at any time. Notice of material changes shall be provided through the Platform or via email to registered users. Your continued use of the Platform after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

13. Contact Information

For any questions regarding these Terms of Use, data protection matters, or access to information, please contact:

Data Protection Officer
Nairobi Maps
Email: dpo@nairobimaps.com
WhatsApp: +254 725 138018