What RaiaNews is
RaiaNews is a free, non-commercial, public-interest news project — a gift to the public, starting with Kenya. It is built and operated by an independent developer, not a company, and it is funded by nobody. There are no ads, no trackers, and no data sales — and there never will be.
The platform matches the Kenyan conversation on X to verified headlines from Kenyan newsrooms, so every story you read has been crowd-checked. Reading the feed requires no account at all.
The short version
- Read everything without signing in — we learn nothing about anonymous readers.
- If you sign in (Google or X), we store only what is needed to run your account: your name, email, profile photo, saved stories, and the notes you write.
- We never sell, rent, or advertise against your data. Ever.
- You can delete your saved items and your account at any time — one email, gone.
What we collect
If you sign in, the platform stores:
- Account basics — your name, email address, profile photo, and the account identifier your provider (Google or X) returns, handled through Clerk, our authentication provider.
- Saved stories and notes — the stories you save and any research notes you attach to them. Private to you.
- Onboarding state — whether you have seen the introduction cards, so we don't show them twice.
- X connection token — if you connect your X account, its access token is stored encrypted at rest and used only for the research features you trigger. It is deleted when you disconnect your account or delete your account.
We collect nothing from anonymous readers. We run no analytics, no tracking pixels, and no advertising technology. Standard hosting and security logs (kept by our hosting provider) are the only trace a visit leaves.
Google sign-in and your Google data
Google sign-in is used for one purpose only: verifying who you are so your saved stories follow you across devices. RaiaNews' use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Your Google data is not transferred to advertisers, not used for advertising, and not sold.
X sign-in and your X token
Connecting X is optional. The access token is encrypted with a key held only by the platform operator and is never displayed, sold, or shared. It exists solely to power the research features you personally invoke, and it is destroyed when you disconnect or delete your account.
Who helps run RaiaNews
A small set of processors keeps the lights on, each under its own privacy policy:
- Vercel — hosting this website.
- Neon — hosting the database.
- Clerk — authentication (sign-in, account lifecycle).
- Cloudflare — network and DNS.
Story summaries are generated by AI providers (such as Groq or OpenRouter) processing public news content only — never your personal data. The classification model that separates news from slop runs on the operator's own hardware; your data does not touch it.
Keeping and deleting your data
Your saved stories and notes live only as long as your account does. Deleting your account removes your account record, saved stories, notes, and any encrypted X token — this happens automatically the moment your sign-in provider reports the account deleted. For any deletion, correction, or export request, email raianews-support@khonsu.me and it will be actioned by a human, promptly.
Kenya, and the law we hold ourselves to
RaiaNews is built for Kenyans first. We handle personal data in the spirit of the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019 — data minimisation, purpose limitation, and respect for your rights over your own information.
Children
RaiaNews is a news research tool and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect data from children.
Changes to this policy
If the platform's data practices ever change, this page will be updated and the date at the top will change with it. Material changes will be announced in the app before they take effect.
Contact
Questions, requests, or complaints about privacy: raianews-support@khonsu.me