Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how the practice of Dr. Kauthar Jeaven ("we", "us", or "our") collects, protects, processes, and stores your personal information, in compliance with the South African Protection of Personal Information Act (Act 4 of 2013), commonly referred to as POPIA.

Dr. Kauthar Jeaven is registered with the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA), Registration Number A12834. As a healthcare practice, we process special personal information regarding your health to provide traditional Chinese medicine and related therapy services.

2. Personal Information We Collect

When you book an appointment or visit the practice, we collect information necessary to schedule, diagnose, and treat you. This information includes:

• Contact & Personal Details: Full name, Date of Birth (DOB), gender, mobile number, emergency contact details, and relationship.
• Guardian Details: In the case of minors under the age of 18, we collect the guardian's name, relationship, and contact details.
• Special Personal Information (Health Data): Your main medical complaints, treatment history, and diagnostic notes which are crucial for safe acupuncture and cupping therapy.

3. Purpose of Processing Data

We process your personal and health information solely for the following clinical and administrative purposes:

• Managing and scheduling consultation appointments.
• Clinical diagnostics and executing treatments (e.g. Acupuncture, Electro-acupuncture, Cupping).
• Sending appointment confirmation emails and notifications.
• Managing invoicing, payments, and record keeping.
• Complying with statutory medical records retention requirements under South African law.

4. Information Security

We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your health and personal data. We implement technical and administrative safeguards to protect your personal information against loss, theft, unauthorized access, or disclosure:

• All writes to our database are protected via secure API routes using database row-level security (RLS) policies.
• Database data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
• Only authorized clinical staff have access to administrative patient files.

5. Data Retention

We retain patient files in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the AHPCSA and statutory requirements under South African law (such as the National Health Act). In South Africa, medical records are generally retained for a minimum of 6 years from the date they became inactive, or longer in the case of minors (until they reach 21 years of age).

6. Your Rights under POPIA

Under POPIA, you have the right to:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Request the correction, updating, or deletion of your personal information (subject to statutory clinical record retention requirements).
• Object to the processing of your personal information.
• Lodge a complaint with the South African Information Regulator if you believe your rights have been infringed.