This Privacy Policy explains how the Sickle Cell Disease Patients Community of Tanzania (“SCDPCT”, “we”, “us”, “our”) handles your information when you use the SCDPCT mobile application (the “App”) and our website. We are committed to protecting your privacy — especially your health information, which we treat with the highest level of care.

By creating an account or using the App, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the App.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only what we need to provide and improve the App:

Account information: your name, email address, mobile number, gender, date of birth, and a password (stored only as a secure one-way hash).
Health profile & logs: information you choose to record, such as your blood type, sickle cell genotype, daily symptom check-ins (pain, fatigue, hydration, mood), crisis episodes, medication adherence, and personal notes.
Emergency contact: a contact name, phone, and email if you add one.
Location: with your permission, your approximate device location, used only to show nearby clinics and pharmacies and to sort them by distance. You can decline this and still use the App.
Community content: stories, questions, poll votes, challenge participation, and any photos or YouTube links you submit. Submitted stories are reviewed before publishing.
Profile photo & story covers: images you upload.
Device & usage data: device model, operating system, app version, and basic analytics about how features are used, to keep the App stable and improve it.

2. How We Use Your Information

To create and secure your account and verify your email with a one-time code.
To provide core features — symptom tracking, trends, reminders, the care directory, community, meal plans, articles, and the rewards/points system.
To show you nearby clinics and pharmacies (when you grant location access).
To send important emails such as verification, password reset, and (for the website) contact and waitlist confirmations.
To moderate community submissions and keep the community safe.
To understand usage and improve performance, reliability, and content.

3. Your Health Information

Health data you enter (symptoms, genotype, medications, notes) is private to your account. We do not sell it, and we do not share it with advertisers. It is used to power your personal tracking, trends, and the care features you choose to use. You may export or delete it at any time (see Section 8).

4. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only as follows:

Service providers who operate the App on our behalf, under confidentiality obligations:
- Mailgun — to deliver transactional emails.
- Google AdMob — to display advertising in the free version of the App.
- Google / Firebase — for app analytics and stability.
- YouTube (Google) — when a community story includes a video, it is played through the embedded YouTube player, which is subject to Google’s privacy policy.
- Cloud hosting and infrastructure providers.
Doctors, pharmacies, and clinics listed in the App are independent third parties. Viewing a listing does not share your health data with them; if you contact them, that interaction is governed by their own privacy practices.
Legal reasons — if required by law or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users or the public.

5. Advertising

The free version of the App shows ads via Google AdMob. AdMob may use device identifiers to provide and measure ads. You can limit ad personalization in your device settings. Subscribing to the premium plan removes ads. We never share your health data for advertising.

6. Data Retention

We keep your information for as long as your account is active. If you delete specific entries or your whole account, the associated data is removed from our active systems (some records may persist briefly in secure backups before being overwritten).

7. Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, and access controls. No system is perfectly secure, but we work hard to safeguard your information and to respond quickly to any issue.

8. Your Rights & Choices

Access & correction: view and edit your profile and logs in the App at any time.
Account & data deletion: you can request deletion of your account and associated personal data by emailing [email protected] from your registered email. We will action verified requests promptly.
Location & notifications: manage permissions in your device settings at any time.
Marketing: we only send service emails; any optional updates include an opt-out.

9. Children’s Privacy

The App is intended for users aged 18 and over, or for minors used under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who manages the account and consents to this Policy. We do not knowingly collect data from children without such supervision.

10. International Transfers

We are based in Tanzania. Some service providers may process data on servers in other countries. Where this happens, we take steps to ensure your information remains protected.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. We will revise the “Last updated” date above and, for significant changes, notify you in the App or by email.

12. Contact Us

Questions about this Policy or your data? Contact us at [email protected] or through our contact form.
Sickle Cell Disease Patients Community of Tanzania — Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.