Patient Privacy Notice

Last updated 17 October 2026. Version 0.1.

1. Who this is for

This notice is for patients who register on the MediNect portal. It explains how we handle your health information. It adds to our Website Privacy Policy.

MediNect HealthCare is run by [registered company name], registration number [registration number], of [registered physical address]. In these pages, “MediNect”, “we” and “us” mean that company.

Health information is “special personal information” under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), and it is confidential under the National Health Act 61 of 2003. Our doctors are also bound by professional confidentiality rules. Our Information Officer is [Information Officer name].

2. What we collect

Account and contact details

Your mobile number, email address, password and how you want to be notified. Your password is stored in a form we cannot read.

Identity details

Your name and surname, your South African ID number or passport number, your date of birth and your sex at birth. We use these to identify you correctly and keep accurate records.

Address

Your physical address.

Medical aid details

Your scheme, member number, plan, dependant code and main member, if you have medical aid.

Health information

Why you want a consultation, your symptoms and medical history, and the doctor’s notes, diagnoses, prescriptions, sick notes, referrals and appointment history.

Your choices

That you agreed to our terms and when, whether you opted in to marketing, and how you heard about us.

3. Why we use it

• To book and carry out your consultations and give you care.
• To issue prescriptions, sick notes and referrals.
• To confirm who you are and keep your health record accurate.
• To contact you about your appointments, in the ways you chose.
• To deal with medical aid claims and payments.
• To keep health records as the law and professional rules require.
• To keep the service safe and to check the quality of care.

We may also use counts and trends that no longer identify you, for example how many consultations we run, to understand how the service is used.

4. Your consent

When you register, you tick a box to consent to us collecting and using your personal and health information to provide your care. You can take back your consent at any time by contacting us. If you do, we may not be able to keep caring for you through the portal. Withdrawing does not affect what we did before, and it does not stop us keeping records the law requires.

5. Who can see your information

• You. You can see your own information in your portal.
• Doctors and clinical staff who are involved in your care.
• Limited administrative staff, only as far as needed, for example to manage bookings.
• Our service providers who host and run the systems (see the Website Privacy Policy). They may not use your information for their own purposes.
• Your medical aid, only the information needed to process a claim.
• Other health professionals, when we refer you to them, with your knowledge.
• Authorities, when the law requires it, for example a court order or a notifiable medical condition.

If you ask for a sick note for your employer, we do not put your diagnosis on it unless you agree.

In a real emergency, we may share information where this is needed to protect your life.

6. Where it is stored and how we protect it

Your information is stored in our database, which is currently hosted in Europe. [Update if the hosting location changes] We only send information outside South Africa where the recipient is bound by law or agreement to protect it to a standard similar to POPIA, or where you have consented.

Access is limited by role, so patients can only see their own records. Our providers encrypt data in transit and in storage. If a security breach affects you, we will tell you and the Information Regulator as the law requires.

7. How long we keep it

Health records are kept for the period the law and professional guidelines require. For adults this is generally at least six years from your last consultation, and for children longer. [Lawyer to confirm retention periods] After that, we delete or de-identify them securely. Account and contact details are kept while your account is open.

If you ask us to delete your information, we will delete what we are allowed to. Records we must keep by law stay locked away and are not used for anything else until the period ends.

8. Your rights

You can ask us to:

• give you access to your information and a copy of your health record;
• correct anything that is wrong or incomplete;
• delete information we have no legal reason to keep;
• stop using your information in a particular way, or stop marketing;
• take back your consent.

Email hello@medinect.health with your name and registered mobile number. We may ask you to confirm who you are first, to protect your privacy. We will reply within a reasonable time and aim for 30 days.

9. Children

You must be 18 or older to register. Care for a child must be arranged with a parent or legal guardian, who gives consent for the child. Contact us before requesting care for a child.

10. The website assistant

If we switch on our AI assistant (Rosinah), it answers general questions about MediNect. It does not see your patient record, and it does not give medical advice. Please do not type your ID number or health details into the chat. See the Website Privacy Policy for more.

11. Complaints

Please contact us first so we can try to put things right. You may also complain to the Information Regulator about how your personal information is handled, or to the HPCSA about a doctor’s professional conduct.

12. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If a change is important, we will tell you by email or in your portal.

13. Contact

Email: hello@medinect.health
Phone or WhatsApp: [phone number]