Privacy Policy

1. Overview

This Privacy Policy explains what information Akasha Integrative Health & Physiotherapy ("Akasha," "we," "us") collects through this website and through the Akasha Virtual Rehab app at rehab.akashaintegrativehealth.com, how it is used and protected, and the choices you have. For the purposes of India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, Akasha is the party that decides how and why your personal data is processed (the "Data Fiduciary").

By using this site or the Virtual Rehab app, or by submitting a form, you agree to the practices described here.

2. What we collect

Depending on which form or service you use, we may collect:

• Appointment requests: name, email, phone number, date of birth, time zone, and a description of your health concern.
• Confidential medical history form: health history information only. This form is intentionally designed to exclude your name, email, phone number, or any other directly identifying information — see our Confidential Medical History page for details on how this works.
• Virtual Rehab app: see section 5 below for the full list.
• Contact form / email: whatever information you choose to include when you email or message us directly.

We do not use tracking cookies, advertising pixels, or third-party analytics trackers on this site or in the Virtual Rehab app. The Virtual Rehab app uses one strictly necessary cookie to keep you signed in (see section 5).

3. How we use your information

• To review and respond to appointment requests and confirm eligibility for services.
• To assess your condition, check your safety for virtual care, and plan and deliver your physiotherapy.
• To communicate with you about scheduling, follow-ups, or your care.
• To maintain clinical records as reasonably required for continuity of care and professional record-keeping.
• To keep our services secure, including detecting misuse of sign-in.

We do not sell your information. We do not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

4. How information is stored

Appointment and contact form submissions are processed through the form-handling service in use on this website at the time of submission. Confidential medical history submissions are designed to be pseudonymous — they are not stored alongside your name or contact details, and are matched to your consultation only through a reference code that you generate and keep yourself. Virtual Rehab data is stored as described in section 5.

5. Akasha Virtual Rehab app

The Virtual Rehab app lets you complete a structured health questionnaire online and receive care from your physiotherapist remotely. Because it handles health information, we explain it in detail here.

What the app collects

• Account details: your email address, name and mobile number.
• Your questionnaire answers (health information): your symptoms, where and how they affect you, pain scores, activities you find difficult, relevant medical conditions and medicines, work and lifestyle factors, sleep, mood and concerns about movement, your goals, and your answers to safety-screening questions. It also records your confirmation that you are in India and your age.
• Clinical records: the results of the automatic safety screening, your physiotherapist's clinical notes, assessment, decisions and messages to you.
• Consent records: the consents you gave and when.
• Security records: sign-in times, sign-in code requests, your IP address and browser type, and a log of actions taken on your record (for example, when it was submitted, reviewed or changed).

Who can see it

• You can see the status of your assessments and the messages your physiotherapist sends you.
• Your treating physiotherapist can see your answers, safety-screening results and clinical notes. Clinical notes are private to your physiotherapist.
• No one else at Akasha, and no advertiser or data broker, has access. Our hosting and email providers (below) store the data on our behalf but do not use it for their own purposes.

Where it is stored and how it is protected

• Data is stored in a password-protected database on servers provided by our web hosting company, Hostinger. Their data centres may be located inside or outside India.
• All connections to the app are encrypted (HTTPS). You sign in with a one-time code sent to your email; no passwords are stored.
• Each patient can only ever access their own record. Access is checked on our server for every request.
• Backups: a backup of the database is made daily and encrypted (AES-256) before it leaves the server. Encrypted backups are kept on the server for 14 days and a copy is sent to the physiotherapist's own email account. Backups can only be opened with a passphrase held offline by the physiotherapist.

Automated safety screening — no automated clinical decisions

When you submit the questionnaire, a fixed set of safety rules checks your answers for signs that you may need urgent or medical care first. If your answers suggest an emergency, the app will immediately advise you to seek emergency care. This is a precaution only. All clinical decisions — whether virtual care is suitable, your assessment and your plan — are made by your licensed physiotherapist, never by the app alone.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI analysis is currently switched off. In future we may use an AI service to help prepare a draft summary of questionnaire answers for your physiotherapist. If we do: your name, email address, phone number and consent records will be removed before anything is sent; the draft will be seen only by your physiotherapist, who will review and decide on all care; and we will update this policy before it is switched on.

Camera-based exercise features

Camera-based exercise guidance is not yet part of the app. If added, we intend that video is processed on your own device to count repetitions and measure movement, and that video is not recorded or uploaded. We will update this policy and ask for your permission before any camera feature is used.

Cookies

The app sets one strictly necessary cookie that keeps you signed in for up to 14 days. It cannot be read by other websites and is not used for tracking. Signing out removes it.

Retention

• Clinical records (your answers, notes and messages) are kept for as long as required by applicable professional and legal record-keeping requirements, and then deleted.
• Sign-in codes are deleted within a day; sign-in sessions expire after 14 days.
• Server backups are deleted automatically after 14 days.

6. Data retention (website forms)

We retain appointment and consultation-related information only as long as reasonably necessary for your care and any applicable record-keeping obligations. You may request deletion of your information at any time, subject to any legal or professional record-keeping requirements that may apply.

7. Your rights

In line with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and applicable law, you may:

• Request a summary of the personal data we hold about you and how it is used.
• Request correction, completion or updating of your personal data.
• Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal and professional record-keeping requirements.
• Withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing already done, and may mean we cannot continue to provide virtual care.
• Nominate another person to exercise your rights in the event of your death or incapacity.
• Raise a complaint with us (see section 11) and, if unresolved, with the Data Protection Board of India.
• Decline to provide non-essential information on any form.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 11.

8. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information, including encryption in transit, encrypted backups, access controls and activity logs. However, no method of transmission or storage over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a personal data breach affects you, we will inform you and the relevant authorities as required by law.

9. Children's privacy

This site is not intended for use by individuals under 18 without the involvement of a parent or guardian. The Virtual Rehab app is for adults (18 and over) only. If you believe a minor has submitted personal information without appropriate consent, please contact us so we can remove it.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. If a change significantly affects how we use Virtual Rehab health data, we will tell you in the app.

11. Contact and grievances

Questions, requests or complaints about this policy or your information can be sent to virtualcare@akashaintegrativehealth.com or to the email address listed on our Contact page. Please include "Privacy" in the subject line.