Privacy Policy & Data Protection

BloodConnect ("we", "our", or "us") operates the BloodConnect mobile application and digital platform. Our core mission is to save lives during critical medical emergencies by rapidly connecting voluntary, unpaid blood donors with patients, hospitals, and licensed blood banks.

We recognize that medical, contact, and geographic data are deeply sensitive. We maintain the highest standards of digital confidentiality, data minimization, and regulatory compliance.

We collect information that you voluntarily submit when creating an account, registering as a donor, or submitting an emergency blood request:

• Account & Identity Data: Full name, mobile phone number, optional WhatsApp number, and secure hashed authentication credentials.
• Donor Profile Data: Blood group (A+, A-, B+, B-, O+, O-, AB+, AB-, Bombay group), date of birth / age, gender, and last blood donation date (used solely to compute clinical 6-month resting eligibility).
• Geographic Location Data: State, district, area / landmark, 6-digit postal pincode, and optional device GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude) provided during location searches.
• Emergency Blood Requests: Required blood group, units needed, patient/hospital name, contact person details, and clinical urgency level.

Because blood donations are inherently time-critical, location services are integral to finding immediate assistance. We disclose the following location practices in full compliance with Google Play Developer Policy:

• Purpose of Access: Location coordinates are used exclusively to calculate physical distance (in kilometers using Haversine algorithm) between the requester's hospital and nearby registered donors.
• Foreground / User-Initiated: Location coordinates are retrieved only when you actively trigger the "Use Current Location" or "Nearby Map Search" features in the app.
• No Continuous Background Tracking: The application does NOT run background location tracking or continuously log your geographic trajectory when the app is closed.
• Address Protection: Exact residential street names and house numbers are never publicly broadcast on public maps. Only the general area/district and calculated distance are displayed.
• User Control: You can revoke location permissions at any time via Android / iOS device settings without losing access to manual state/district searches.

Your data is used strictly to facilitate life-saving donor connections:

• Matching urgent patient blood requests with compatible, nearby donors.
• Determining medical donation eligibility based on the minimum 6-month interval from the donor's previous donation.
• Enabling direct calling and messaging via phone or WhatsApp when a patient is in immediate need.
• Sending critical emergency alerts and blood request notifications.
• Verifying phone numbers and mitigating spam or false requests.

We maintain an absolute NO-SALE policy: We will never sell, rent, monetize, or trade your personal, contact, or health data to advertisers, data brokers, or marketing networks.

• Peer-to-Peer Visibility: When you register as an available donor, your donor card (displaying your Name, Blood Group, District/Area, Distance, and Phone Number) is visible to registered users searching for compatible donors in your vicinity.
• Infrastructure Partners: We utilize trusted platform service providers (such as Google Maps API for map rendering and SMS gateways for OTPs). These entities process data solely on our behalf under strict confidentiality.
• Legal & Emergency Disclosures: We will disclose records only if strictly mandated by court subpoenas, applicable government regulations, or to prevent imminent danger to life or safety.

We implement robust technical and organizational security measures to protect your sensitive records:

• Encryption in Transit: All communications between the mobile application and our backend server are protected by industry-standard HTTPS / TLS 1.3 encryption.
• Credential Protection: Passwords and authorization tokens are hashed using secure cryptographic algorithms.
• Database Safeguards: All queries use parameterized prepared statements to eliminate SQL injection vulnerabilities, with strict access control firewalls.

You maintain complete control over your participation and information in BloodConnect:

• Availability Toggle: If you are busy, traveling, unwell, or recently donated, you can switch your availability status to "Unavailable" or "Busy" with one tap in your profile. You will not receive emergency alerts during this period.
• Profile Modification: You can edit your phone number, area, district, and donation history at any time.
• Account & Data Deletion: You have the absolute right to permanently delete your account and remove all personal information from our database. To request immediate deletion, email privacy@bloodconnect.org with your registered phone number, and records will be expunged within 48 business hours.

BloodConnect is an informational technological platform connecting voluntary donors and patients. We are not a medical testing facility, healthcare provider, or clinical diagnostic laboratory.

• Age Requirement: All registered donors must be at least 18 years of age in compliance with standard national transfusion guidelines.
• Clinical Verification: Blood recipients and hospital blood banks must conduct all mandatory medical safety screenings (e.g. cross-matching, blood grouping confirmation, HIV, Hepatitis, and infectious disease screenings) before proceeding with transfusion.
• Voluntary & Unpaid: Blood donation on BloodConnect is 100% voluntary. Buying or selling human blood is illegal and strictly prohibited on our platform.

For inquiries, clarification, feedback, or grievance redressal regarding your privacy, please reach out to our designated Data Protection & Grievance team: