Medical App & Medical Advice with Hello Doctor

Privacy Policy

Hello Doctor is committed to respecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal data, traffic data and communications content. This Privacy Policy is designed to assist you in understanding how Hello Doctor uses and safeguards the information you provide in using Hello Doctor’s internet communications, Hello Doctor’s websites and/or Hello Doctor’s products.

Hello Doctor subscribes to the informational and data protection rights and protective mechanisms contained in and legislated for in The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996), as amended, the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (Act No. 68 of 2008), as amended, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002), as amended, the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act 56 of 1974), as amended, and the various guidelines and directives issued by the Health Professions Council of South Africa. This Privacy Policy takes into account the sensitive and unique nature of healthcare information which demands the highest standards of respect for the privacy and confidentiality of users’ information in a secure and trusted environment. This Privacy Policy covers Hello Doctor’s treatment of personally identifiable information, including without limitation, registration data (“personal information”) that Hello Doctor gathers when you access the site. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the use of your personal information by third-parties that Hello Doctor does not own or control, or to individuals that Hello Doctor does not control or manage. Hello Doctor is and will be the sole owner of information or data collected on the site. It does not nor will it share or sell your information or data with anyone without your authorisation or consent in ways different from what is disclosed in this Privacy Policy. Any and all information provided by you and other users of the site, newsletter subscribers, events registrants, survey respondents and all other persons consuming any product and/or service on or through this site is kept strictly confidential and never sold, re-used, rented, loaned or otherwise disclosed. Hello Doctor will, from time to time, analyse the site logs principally to strive to constantly improve the value of the site’s content. These logs are not personally identifiable and no attempt will be made to link them with the individuals that browse the site, unless there has been a breach of the Code of Conduct.
Hello Doctor tracks your and other users’ Internet Protocol addresses to:

  • help diagnose problems with its server; and
  • gather broad demographic information about the site’s users in general.
  • This information tracked and obtained does not contain anything by which you or other users can be personally identified.

Hello Doctor may, from time to time, combine demographic information supplied by you or other subscribers at registration (if applicable) with site usage data to provide profiles, in aggregate form, about the site’s users and their preferences for content and advertising. This composite information may be shard, from time to time, with advertisers to help them better understand the site’s products, services and user demographics, but never, at any time, will Hello Doctor ever disclose information about you or other individual users, unless you participate in public forums or other question and answer facilities which may require such disclosure or unless Hello Doctor is legally obliged to do so.

To prevent unauthorised access, maintain data accuracy and ensure the correct use of information, Hello Doctor has put in place reasonable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information collected or obtained online.
For services that require payment, use is made of a secure online payment facility. All credit card information collected or obtained is used for billing purposes only and is otherwise kept strictly confidential. Hello Doctor may provide you with the opportunity to participate in competitions. If you participate, you will be requested to supply certain personal information. Participation in these competitions is completely voluntary and you, therefore, have a choice whether or not to disclose your personal information. This information is only used internally to determine eligibility, notify competition winners and to measure the success of the competition as a marketing or advertising tool.

The site will, from time to time, use cookies to enhance your online experience and improve the quality of the site, by delivering content specific to your interests and preferences. You can set your browser to disable cookies. However, some features or services may not function properly without cookies.

Hello Doctor may, from time to time, provide a newsletter or news flash to keep you and other uses abreast of the latest news, developments, research and events. This service is and will initially be free, but you must request to join the mailing list by signing up through a form on the site. You will be required to give your contact information (such as your first names and surname, electronic mail address and telephone number) as well as demographic information (such as company, job title and position). This information will be used to enhance the value of the site’s content, the experience of the site and to better serve the needs of the site’s target audience.

You and other recipients of the site’s newsletter or news flashes can unsubscribe using the instructions provided at the top and at the bottom of the newsletter or news flash, as the case may be.

Hello Doctor will not sell, rent, loan, trade or lease the addresses on the site’s mailing list to anyone under any circumstances. In addition, the site’s list server software is configured to refuse to divulge your and other users’ electronic mail addresses to anyone, except to authorised staff members.

Hello Doctor may, from time to time, conduct online surveys. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary and you are given a choice whether to disclose requested contact and demographic information. Contact information may be requested to avoid duplicate entries of data and alert you and/or other respondents when the survey results are posted online, or to notify the winners of prizes. Subject to your prior permission, such information may be shared with third-party sponsors of such surveys. All and any information about you and any other individual is kept strictly confidential and not sold, re-used, rented, loaned or otherwise disclosed. All responses collected in online surveys are completely confidential and no attempt will be allowed to link the responses to contact information provided, unless Hello Doctor is legally obliged to do so. Only the aggregate results of data analysis may be used and reported.

You may, from time to time, be afforded the opportunity to post comments and give feedback to articles published on the site. The site may run, from time to time, interactive forums where you may be invited to join a debate on a certain topic. You and other users, who wish to post a comment, may be requested supply your full names and a valid electronic mail address. You may remain anonymous or use a pseudonym, but are still requested to supply a valid electronic mail address. This information will never be used for any reason, other than verification, and will also not be released or published, unless Hello Doctor is legally obliged to do so.
Hello Doctor will be entitled to assume that any material submitted via the feedback, forum and letter-to-the-editor facility is for publication unless otherwise clearly indicated. Note that all personal information included in the messages sent or posted via such facilities become public information for which Hello Doctor is not responsible. The Code of Conduct may be strictly applied, in which event Hello Doctor may ban or remove content its finds in conflict with the Code of Conduct.
You consent to Hello Doctor collecting and processing your personal information for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

This personal information may include, without limitation, the following:

  • first names and surname;
  • contact details;
  • information about your business;
  • personal preferences;
  • non-personal browsing habits and click patterns;
  • electronic mail address; and
  • Internet Protocol address.

The personal information which is collected or obtained on or through the use of the site is either electronically gathered (for example, through the use of cookies) or is provided voluntarily by you and other users of or to the site.

You may request access to any personal information concerning you that Hello Doctor holds. The Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (Act No. 2 of 2000), as amended, sets out and regulates how such a request should be made and under what circumstances such access may be refused.

You may update or correct your personal information by electronically mailing [email protected]. You may also view your personal information that we hold and correct it if necessary on written request to [email protected].

Personal information collected from you may be deleted from the site and, if applicable, member databases when your account on the site is terminated for any reason whatsoever.

In the event Hello Doctor undergoes a business transition, including, without limitation, a merger, acquisition by another company or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your personal information will likely be among the assets transferred. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur and that any acquirer may continue to use your personal information subject to and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You hereby consent to Hello Doctor sharing your personal information under the above circumstances. Hello Doctor will, if you are registered with the site, contact you at the electronic mail address you provided to communicate any such transfer, in addition to posting a notice on the site within 30 (thirty) calendar days after such transfer of your personal information.

News and other Entertainment Media

All and/or any text, photos, graphics, audio and/or video materials belonging to news and other entertainment media, including without limitation, The Associated Press, Reuters Limited and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, may not directly or indirectly be published, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed in any medium. Neither of these materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. Copyright subsists with the owners thereof.