Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This privacy policy explains how the Pediatric Autoimmune Encephalitis Severity Score App (“the App”) for iOS, intended exclusively for licensed healthcare professionals, handles data and ensures user and patient privacy in alignment with the strictest standards of medical confidentiality.

2. Information Collection

2.1 Personal Information

The App does not collect or require any personally identifiable information (PII) from healthcare professionals. No account registration, phone number, name, or institutional affiliation is necessary to use the App.
The App access is open to any user who downloads the software from the App Store.

2.2 Patient and Health Data

The App is designed specifically to avoid collection, storage, or transmission of patient-identifiable health information.
No fields within the App request or permit entry of personal patient details such as names, initials, medical record numbers, birthdates, or contact information.
All clinical data input into the App are used locally and exclusively for generating a severity rating during the active session.
Session-based data is maintained only in memory (RAM) and deleted irretrievably upon session termination. No data is written to device storage, databases, or cloud servers.

2.3 Device and Usage Information

The App passively collects anonymized technical data, including:
- Device model and iOS version
- Crash and error logs
- Frequency of feature use
No device identifiers, IP addresses, or geolocation data are collected, ensuring fully anonymized analytical information.

3. Data Use and Purpose

App Functionality: Entered assessment data is processed solely to generate and display the severity score for the user’s internal clinical reference.
App Improvement: Aggregated, non-identifiable usage analytics may be reviewed to guide App improvements, debugging, or performance enhancements.
No data is ever used for marketing, profiling, or any non-clinical purpose.

4. Data Storage and Security

All App operations are processed locally on the user’s device, with no requirement for cloud connectivity.
The App does not retain clinical input or results after the current session is closed.
Standard iOS security protocols are observed, including:
- App sandboxing
- Encryption-in-transit for any error reporting (which contains no PII or PHI)
End-users are responsible for maintaining appropriate device-level security as mandated by their institution.

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

The App will never transmit or share any PII, PHI, or clinical data with third parties.
The App does not include integration with external services, EHR/EMR systems, or ad networks.
Users may export anonymized summary scores; this export function explicitly omits all personal or patient-identifying fields.
All exports are user-initiated and fully anonymized; subsequent usage is the user’s institutional responsibility.

6. Legal Compliance

HIPAA (USA): No PHI is collected, transmitted, or stored.
GDPR (EU): No user profiles or identifiers are created; analytics are anonymous.
Local Regulations: The App adopts a “data minimization” approach recommended by most healthcare privacy standards.

8. User Controls and Rights

Right to Information: This policy is accessible from within the App and on the App Store.
Right to Delete: No request is needed to delete information as the App does not store data beyond the active session.
Contact: For privacy-related questions, contact the developer via the email listed on the App Store.