Privacy Policy | Somali Origin

1. Who We Are

Somali Hub (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a website that publishes Somali culture, tourism and community content, and provides creator tools (such as profiles and payout requests).

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, how we share it, and the choices you have.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in three main ways: (a) information you provide, (b) information collected automatically, and (c) information from third parties.

2.1 Information you provide

Account details: When you create an account or use member-only features, we process your name, email address, and other account-related information.
Creator profile: If you use Creator Studio features, you may provide social profile links and a short bio. Your profile photo/avatar may also be stored and displayed.
Payout and payment profile information: If you request payouts, we process the payout amount, your chosen payout method, and the payment details you submit (for example: mobile money number, bank transfer details, or PayPal address). This is used to review and process payout requests.
Contact messages: If you contact us via the contact page, we collect the name, email, subject, and message content you submit so we can respond.
User-generated content: If you publish or submit content (such as posts, images, listings, or other contributions), we process the content itself and associated metadata (such as author/creator and publication status).

2.2 Information collected automatically

Usage and device data: We may collect information such as pages viewed, approximate timestamps, device/browser type, and referrer URLs.
Log data: Like most websites, our servers log technical information (for example IP address and request metadata) to help secure and operate the service.
Cookies and similar technologies: We use cookies for core functionality (for example: keeping you signed in, security, and language/session preferences). See Section 6.

2.3 Information from third parties

Advertising and measurement partners (if enabled): If we display third‑party ads (such as Google AdSense), those partners may collect information via cookies or similar technologies in accordance with their own privacy policies.
Third‑party links: If you include links to your social profiles (or click external links), those external sites operate under their own policies.

3. How We Use Information

We use personal data for the following purposes:

Operate the website: Provide pages, features, and user accounts.
Creator Studio features: Maintain your creator profile, show creator statistics, and enable creator workflows.
Payout processing: Review, approve/reject, and process payout requests; prevent fraud and enforce platform rules.
Communications: Respond to inquiries, support requests, and important service notices.
Safety and security: Protect against spam, abuse, unauthorized access, and other harmful activity.
Improve and measure: Understand how the site is used (for example via aggregated view counts or performance monitoring) so we can improve content and reliability.
Legal compliance: Meet applicable legal, accounting, and regulatory obligations.

4. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information in the following circumstances:

Public content and profile information: If you publish content, your author name (and optionally your bio) may be visible to the public. Do not include sensitive personal data in public profile fields or content submissions.
Service providers: We use vendors to help run the service (for example, hosting and email delivery). They process information on our instructions and only as needed to provide services to us.
Advertising partners (if enabled): If ads are shown, advertising partners (such as Google) may collect and process data as described in their policies.
Legal and safety: We may disclose information if required by law or if we believe it is necessary to protect rights, safety, and security, investigate fraud, or respond to lawful requests.

5. Legal Bases (Where Applicable)

Depending on your location, we process personal data under one or more of these bases:

Contract: to provide requested services (for example account access and creator/payout features).
Legitimate interests: to secure, operate, and improve the website.
Consent: where required (for example certain cookies/advertising technologies, if enabled).
Legal obligation: to comply with applicable laws and recordkeeping requirements.

6. Cookies & Advertising

We use cookies and similar technologies for essential website functionality and security. Some cookies may be set by third parties if embedded services or ads are enabled.

Essential cookies: help the site function (for example session/login and security protections).
Preferences: may store settings such as language or display preferences.
Advertising cookies (if ads are enabled): third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies to serve ads based on prior visits to this or other websites.

If we use Google AdSense, you can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy. For example, we may retain contact messages and payout records for operational, security, and legal/accounting reasons.

8. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal data. However, no security method is perfect, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Your Rights & Choices

You may have rights to access, correct, export, object to, or delete certain personal data, depending on your location.

Account/profile: you can update certain information via your account or Creator Studio.
Deletion requests: you can request deletion of your account or other personal data by contacting us.
Marketing/cookies: you can control cookies via your browser settings; if advertising is enabled, you can use the opt-out tools linked above.

10. Children’s Privacy

Somali Hub is not intended for children under the age of 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal data, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page.