Privacy Policy

MaternAlert handles sensitive health information about pregnant women and healthcare workers. We take that responsibility seriously. This policy explains exactly what data we collect, why we collect it, how we store and protect it, and what rights you have over your information.

This policy applies to the MaternAlert website at maternalert.com.ng, the MaternAlert patient mobile application, and the MaternAlert health worker dashboard.

Our data principles

Who this policy covers

This policy covers three types of users:

• Patients — pregnant women using the MaternAlert mobile application
• Health workers — nurses, midwives, doctors, and CHWs using the health worker dashboard
• Facility administrators — hospital or PHC administrators managing facility accounts

What information we collect

From patients (mobile app)

• Email address or phone number (used for authentication only)
• Age range (not exact date of birth)
• Current gestational age (week of pregnancy)
• Whether this is a first pregnancy
• Known conditions (selected from a predefined list — no free-text medical history)
• Emergency contact phone number and relationship
• Blood pressure readings you log manually
• Symptoms you select from a predefined list
• Notification preferences and reminder times
• Expo push notification token (for sending alerts to your device)

From health workers (dashboard)

• Full name, email address, phone number
• Professional role (nurse, midwife, doctor, CHW)
• Facility affiliation
• ANC visit data entered on behalf of patients
• Referral records created

From facilities (through health workers)

• Patient registration information (name, phone, gestational age, address)
• ANC visit records (BP, weight, urine protein, fundal height, fetal heart rate, remarks)
• Appointment records
• Referral records and outcomes

Automatically collected

• Device type and operating system (for app compatibility)
• App version
• Error logs and crash reports (to improve reliability)
• We do not use third-party analytics trackers on the patient app

How we use your information

• To provide the MaternAlert platform and its features
• To run the clinical monitoring engine that identifies risk patterns
• To send you push notifications, reminders, and emergency alerts
• To generate HMIS reports for healthcare facilities
• To identify patients who have missed ANC visits (defaulter tracking)
• To improve the reliability and accuracy of the platform
• To communicate with you about your account or our service

We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or any purpose unrelated to maternal healthcare delivery.

Data storage and security

MaternAlert's backend is hosted on secure cloud infrastructure. We implement the following security measures:

• All passwords are hashed using bcrypt — we never store plain-text passwords
• Authentication uses short-lived JWT tokens with secure refresh token rotation
• All data is transmitted over HTTPS (TLS encryption)
• Role-based access control ensures health workers only access their facility's patients
• Database access is restricted and not publicly exposed

No method of electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but we implement industry-standard protections appropriate for health data.

Data sharing

We share data only in the following circumstances:

• With your healthcare facility — if you link to a facility via QR code, that facility's health workers can see your health records within the platform
• With emergency contacts — when you trigger an emergency alert, your name and phone number are shared with your registered emergency contact and linked facility via WhatsApp or SMS
• With infrastructure providers — our hosting provider and notification delivery service (Expo) receive technical data necessary to operate the service
• When required by law — we will comply with valid legal requests from Nigerian authorities where required

We do not share data with pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, advertisers, or data brokers.

Data retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service. If you delete your account, your personal data is deleted within 30 days. ANC visit records linked to a healthcare facility may be retained by that facility in accordance with Nigerian health record retention requirements.

Your rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access — you can request a copy of the data we hold about you
• Correction — you can request that inaccurate data be corrected
• Deletion — you can request deletion of your account and personal data
• Portability — you can request your data in a portable format
• Objection — you can object to specific processing of your data

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@maternalert.com.ng. We will respond within 30 days.

Children

MaternAlert is intended for use by pregnant women (typically adults) and qualified healthcare workers. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If a minor uses the service with parental or guardian consent in the context of a pregnancy, the same data protections apply.

Changes to this policy

We will update this policy as our platform evolves. We will notify registered users of material changes via the app or email. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.

Contact

For any privacy-related questions or requests, contact us at support@maternalert.com.ng.