HOTPOINT APPLIANCES LIMITED (‘Hotpoint’) understands that your privacy is important to you and that we care about how your personal data is used. We respect and value the privacy of all our customers and users and we will only collect and use personal data in ways that are described here, and in a way that is consistent with our obligations and your rights under the Data Protection legislation (as defined hereinbelow).

This is Hotpoint Cookie Notice (“Cookie Notice”) which may be accessed from the webpage https://hotpoint.co.ke/ where you submit personal data to access the service or may be obtained as a hard copy when you submit personal data at our retail centres.

Hotpoint is the leading supplier of home and electrical appliances manufactured by leading companies - Von, Samsung, LG, Apple, Nikon, Panasonic, JBL, Bosch, Ariston, Kenwood, Nutribullet, Nutricook, Beurer, Delonghi and Others - with retail centres across various cities in the Republic of Kenya and a website for online sale of our products and services.

We are referred to in this Cookie Notice as “Hotpoint”, "we" or “our” or “us”. An individual who is the subject of the personal data is referred to as a “Customer”, “User” or “you”.

This Cookie Notice only covers users of our online services, specifically on our website. Hotpoint’s employees or third-party vendors personal details are handled in line with the terms of the employment agreement or contractual relationships, or our separate policies that we provide, as relevant, independent of this Cookie Notice.

1. Information about us

• HOT POINT APPLIANCES LIMITED a limited company registered in the Republic of Kenya.
• Registered address: Hot Point Building, Off Thika Highway, Kiambu, Ruiru.
• Postal Address: P.O. Box 402 - 00606
• Email address: info@hotpoint.co.ke
• Telephone number: +254 20 3699000
• Website: https://hotpoint.co.ke/

2. What are cookies

2.1 Cookies are small data files that a website places on your computer or mobile device which remember information about users and website usage, such as language preference or login information for a certain period of time. In this way, cookies can help a website deliver a more user-friendly service since users will not need to insert their details again and again when browsing around the site.

3. Use of Cookies

3.1 Types of Cookies

A cookie can be classified by its lifespan, purpose and the domain to which it belongs.

3.1.1 Session and Persistent Cookies

By lifespan, cookies can be either persistent cookies or session cookies.

A persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; while a session cookie will expire at the end of the user session when the web browser is closed.

We use both session and persistent cookies.

3.1.2 First-party cookies and third-party cookies

There are either first-party cookies, set by our website, or third-party cookies which are placed on your device through our website by external parties. Please refer to Section 4 of this policy for more details on the third-party cookies available on our website.

3.2 Why do we use the following cookies?

3.2.1 Strictly necessary/ essential cookies.

These are essential cookies enabled for the proper functioning of our website and used to perform basic functions. Without these cookies, our website may not function as intended. For this reason, they do not require your consent.

The list of strictly necessary/ essential cookies our website uses are:

3.2.2 Analytics/ Performance cookies

Performance and/ or analytics cookies usually collect aggregated information that does not personally identify individuals but instead provides statistical information about how visitors use our website. We use these purely for internal research on how we can improve the service we provide for all our users.

The list of performance/ analytical cookies our website uses are:

3.2.3 Targeting cookies

Targeting (advertising) cookies are set for the purpose of managing the performance of adverts, displaying adverts, and/or building user profiles. Typically, these cookies would be set by third parties that buy ad space on our website. They do not directly store personal information but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

4. Cookies used by our service providers/ Third-Party Cookie

The third-party service providers we have contracted use cookies and those cookies may be stored on your computer when you visit our website. They are required for some of the functions within our website as mentioned in the above table in section 3.2.2.

The third-party providers on our website are:

• Google Analytics Cookies - Tracks what pages, products, etc. are visited on the site by different users and feeding it back to google
• Facebook Meta Pixel Cookies - This cookie helps deliver the advertising (products) to people who have already visited the Hotpoint website when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook Advertising.
• SWS marketing Cookies - These cookies track your browsing habits to enable us to show advertising which is more likely to be of interest to you. These cookies use information about your browsing history to group you with other users who have similar interests.

5. Managing Cookies

Consent is always given by a clear affirmative action that is, through a positive opt-in option, which signifies agreement to the processing of your personal data by allowing our Cookies such as the “Accept all” button or checkboxes. Since consent must result from positive action, the cookie category checkboxes are unchecked by default, so users can expressly opt-in to cookie use.

Our consent mechanisms allow individuals to withdraw their consent at any time. We have ensured that withdrawing consent is as easy, clear and straightforward as giving it and is available through the opt-out option where you can enable or disable particular cookies as per as your choices in the ‘Cookie Settings’. Please note that even after getting valid consent, any site users still have the option to change their preferences by visiting the ‘Cookie Settings’. Consent withdrawal requests are processed immediately and without detriment. Opting out of all non-strictly cookies should not hinder any individual’s access to or usage of our website.

You can further manage cookies as you wish by changing your browser settings or by clearing your browsing history. If you disable performance and targeting cookies, it is possible that any advertising you receive will be less targeted as a result, but the site should function correctly. However, if you disable strictly necessary and/ or functional cookies, you may be unable to access certain areas of our website and certain functions or pages will not work in the usual way. You will also lose some saved information, for instance e.g., saved login details and site preferences.

Please note that any inaction or action other than a positive one is considered as refusal, and non-strictly necessary cookies cannot be placed. For instance, an action like scrolling does not mean implied consent since it does not constitute an adequate affirmative action which provides clear consent.

Consent is always verifiable. We have the following controls[1] in place to ensure that we can demonstrate consent in every case:

• run regular audits of consent collection methods on the website/application, which may be done by outsourcing the same to the third party responsible for consent collection for the website/application concerned.
• information on the implemented tools and configurations (such as CMPs) may be kept, in a time-stamped manner, by the third parties responsible for the tools themselves.
• the different versions of the code used by the subject collecting consent can be handed to a third party, or ‘hashed’ and then published in a time-stamped manner on a public platform for the purposes of proving its authenticity when needed.

We keep detailed records of consent through a consent log and can evidence at a minimum:

• that the individual was able to make an informed choice prior to giving consent. (Cookies’ purposes clearly defined);
• that the individual has consented to the use and processing of their personal data by expressly accepting our Cookies; and
• that the individual has been advised of our company name and any third party using the data.

6. Retention period of cookies

We have defined the duration for all the cookies used on our website under Section 3.2.

We ensure that the lifespan of cookies is not extended with every new visit and retention periods are periodically reviewed to ensure that their duration is limited to what is strictly necessary.

7. Cookie wall

A cookie wall is a feature which blocks access to a website or mobile application when the user does not give his consent. The implementation of a cookie wall may infringe the freedom of consent. Therefore, the lawfulness of using a cookie wall must be assessed.

Our website does not use cookie walls to uphold the rights and freedoms of our users.

8. Cookie Banner/Pop-up

A cookie pop-up or cookie banner appears when you visit a website. It also allows you to either accept or refuse cookies. It informs you that your personal data is being collected, how it is being collected and for which purposes it is being collected. It also collects your consent to use your data.

Our website uses cookie banner/pop-up to collect your consent for data collection and to inform you how your data is being processed.

9. Changes to this Cookie Policy

We keep our Cookie Policy under regular review, and we may update it from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes through automatic pop-ups on our website. However, we also encourage you to periodically review this policy so that you are informed of our use of cookies. This version was last updated on 7th September 2022.

10. Contact us

If you have any questions about our Cookie Policy, you can contact us by email at info@hotpoint.co.ke