A buyer-side data-protection checklist for Kenyan organizations evaluating SaaS: roles, access, hosting, subprocessors, retention, exports, breach handling and cross-border processing.

Know the data and the roles

ODPC publishes guidance covering data controllers and processors, consent, impact assessments, cross-border transfers and sector-specific processing. Start procurement by identifying what personal data the SaaS will process, why it is needed, who determines the purpose of processing and which suppliers or subprocessors will handle it.

Do not treat a generic privacy policy as the complete answer. Ask for the contractual data-processing terms that apply to your organization and compare them with how the product is actually configured.

SaaS due-diligence checklist

  • List personal and sensitive data fields the system will store or receive.
  • Define administrator, staff, contractor and support access, including how access is revoked.
  • Identify hosting regions and any cross-border transfers relevant to your deployment.
  • Review subprocessors and how material changes to them are communicated.
  • Confirm backup, encryption, logging and incident-notification responsibilities.
  • Define retention and deletion rules for active and closed accounts or records.
  • Test export capability before purchase, including attachments and audit history where important.
  • Ask whether a data-protection impact assessment is appropriate for the intended processing rather than assuming every SaaS use case carries the same risk.

Security features should be tested in the purchased plan. Single sign-on, audit logs, data residency or advanced retention controls may exist only on higher tiers, so compare the contractual entitlement rather than the marketing feature catalogue.

Plan the exit before onboarding

A vendor exit plan should state how data is exported, how long the supplier retains backups, when deletion occurs and which integrations or API credentials must be revoked. This is easier to agree before the organization becomes operationally dependent on the platform.

Revisit the assessment when the purpose, data types, deployment region or major integrations change. Procurement approval is a point-in-time decision; responsible data governance continues throughout the service relationship.

How TrustRiva can help

Use TrustRiva profiles to compare product fit, supported platforms, deployment model, integrations, support options, pricing evidence and published Riva Reviews. Use Riva Compare for side-by-side evaluation and Ask Riva when you need a shortlist based on your own requirements. A listing's presence in this guide does not change its Riva Score or Riva Picks position.

Sources & further reading

Regulatory and platform facts in this guide were checked against the following first-party sources on 12 September 2026.