Privacy Statement for ANCHOR for Mpox in Sierra Leone - GOAL Global Skip to content

Privacy Statement for ANCHOR for Mpox in Sierra Leone

GOAL is committed to protecting the privacy of your information and takes its obligations under the general data protection regulation EU 2016/679 seriously. 

Who We Are 

GOAL is a humanitarian and international development organisation committed to working with the most vulnerable communities.  

Data Controller: GOAL Global
Data Protection Officer: Delara Sheridan  

Email: dpo@goal.ie
Phone: 0035312809779
Address: GOAL, PO Box 19, Dun Laoghaire, A96 C7W7, Ireland 
 

What We Have Done 

We have developed the ANCHOR (Activating Neighbourhoods and Communities for Holistic Organised Response) chatbot to support disease surveillance, health communication, and community response coordination.  Please note that this chatbot does not diagnose diseases nor confirm disease outbreaks. 

 

This Statement 

This Privacy Statement explains how GOAL uses information when you interact with the ANCHOR chatbot on WhatsApp. The chatbot provides public health information and can help identify trends (e.g., symptoms, rumours, concerns) to support outbreak response. It does not provide medical diagnosis. 

Using the chatbot is voluntary. You can stop at any time by ending the conversation or blocking the WhatsApp number. 

If you do not agree with any part of this Privacy Statement, you do not have to use the chatbot. You can stop using it at any time without any negative consequences. 

 

What Information We Collect 

When you use the ANCHOR chatbot via WhatsApp, we collect and process the following information: 

Personal Data: 

  • Mobile phone number (collected temporarily and deleted immediately after secure transfer to GOAL’s EU-hosted Monday.com environment) 
  • Conversation content with the chatbot 

Special Categories of Personal Data: 

Because this chatbot provides health-related services, your conversations may contain health information, including: 

  • Symptoms you report 
  • Health concerns or questions 
  • Information about disease outbreaks or rumours in your community 

We automatically extract and retain only: 

  • Information about symptoms reported 
  • Disease-related rumours 
  • Disease-related concerns shared 

All other conversation content is permanently deleted immediately after this extraction process. 

Important: Your phone number is used by WhatsApp and Twilio to deliver messages during a conversation. GOAL does not retain your phone number in Monday.com and does not link stored extracts (symptoms/rumours/concerns) to an identifiable profile. 

 

Legal Basis for Processing 

We process your information for different purposes under different legal bases: 

  • Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR): tooperate the chatbot service (e.g., message routing, service security, and producing anonymised, aggregated insights for outbreak response). 
  • Explicit consent (Articles 6(1)(a) and 9(2)(a) GDPR): if you choose to share health information (such as symptoms or health concerns) during a conversation. We ask for your consent at the start of each chat.

Withdrawing consent: You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting GOAL Sierra Leone via the Community Feedback Mechanism at feedback@sl.goal.ie or by phone/WhatsApp/SMS (078444509 / 078444519 / 078444518). 

 

How We Use Your Information 

We use your information to: 

  • Provide health information and guidance through the chatbot 
  • Monitor disease trends and support early warning systems 
  • Identify health concerns and rumours in communities 
  • Coordinate public health responses 
  • Improve health communication and disease surveillance 
  • Generate anonymized insights for public health decision-making 
  • Support the national disease early warning and response system in Sierra Leone 

 

Who We Share Your Information With 

Your data is processed and may be shared with the following partners: 

Technology Service Providers: 

  • WhatsApp - Communication platform  
  • Twilio - Message routing and processing  
  • Monday.com – Data processing, storage, and aggregate reporting  
  • Humanity Link - System development and management  

Government and Health Authorities: 

Anonymised and aggregated data (with no personal identifiers) may be shared with: 

  • National Public Health Agency of Sierra Leone 

This supports national disease surveillance, early warning systems, and public health response coordination. 

We ensure all third-party processors comply with GDPR and have appropriate data protection agreements in place. 

 

How We Protect Your Information 

We implement robust security measures to protect your data: 

  • Immediate deletion of mobile phone numbers after secure transfer 
  • Automatic deletion of all non-essential conversation content 
  • Encrypted storage in Monday.com data centers located in the European Union 
  • Access controls limiting who can view your information 
  • Data processing agreements with all technology partners 
  • Regular security audits and assessments 
  • Anonymisation and aggregation of data before sharing with health authorities 

 

How Long We Keep Your Information 

  • Mobile phone numbers: Deleted immediately and permanently after transfer to GOAL's database 
  • Non-essential conversation content: Deleted immediately after automated extraction 
  • Extracted health data (symptoms, rumours, concerns): Retained for 12 months to support disease surveillance and trend analysis 
  • Anonymised aggregated totals: May be retained indefinitely for research and public health purposes 

 

Your Rights 

Under GDPR, you have the right to: 

  • Access your personal data 
  • Rectification of inaccurate data 
  • Erasure of your data (right to be forgotten) 
  • Restrict processing of your data 
  • Object to processing 
  • Data portability (where applicable to consent-based processing) 
  • Lodge a complaint with your data protection authority 
  • Withdraw consent at any time via email (feedback@sl.goal.ie) or via phone, WhatsApp, or SMS on any of these numbers (078444509 / 078444519 / 078444518).   

Please note: because we delete identifiers and do not retain conversation histories linked to individuals, some rights may be limited in practice where we cannot identify you (see GDPR Article 11). We will always explain what we can and cannot do when you contact us. 

To exercise your rights, contact us: via email (feedback@sl.goal.ie) or via phone, WhatsApp, or SMS on any of these numbers (078444509 / 078444519 / 078444518).   

 

International Data Transfers 

WhatsApp and Twilio may process message data through infrastructure in the United States. GOAL’s Monday.com environment is EU-hosted. Where transfers occur, appropriate safeguards are used (including Standard Contractual Clauses and supplementary technical and organisational measures), and GOAL maintains a Transfer Impact Assessment where required. 

 

Automated Decision-Making 

We use automated data extraction to identify and save information about symptoms, rumours, and health concerns. This process does not involve automated decision-making that produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects you. The automated extraction is solely for public health surveillance, preparedness and response purposes. 

  • day.com data centers located in the European Union 
  • Access controls limiting who can view your information 
  • Data processing agreements with all technology partners 
  • Regular security audits and assessments 
  • Anonymisation and aggregation of data before sharing with health authorities 

 

How Long We Keep Your Information 

 

Children and Minors 

This service is not directed at children. If you are under 18, please do not share personal or health information via the chatbot. Instead, contact GOAL through the Community Feedback Mechanism (via email (feedback@sl.goal.ie) or via phone, WhatsApp, or SMS on any of these numbers (078444509 / 078444519 / 078444518) or speak with a parent/guardian or local healthcare provider. 

 

Your Consent 

When you first interact with the ANCHOR chatbot, you will receive this privacy notice and be asked to consent to our processing of your data. By continuing to use the chatbot, you confirm that: 

  • You have read and understood this privacy notice 
  • You consent to the collection and processing of your personal data, including health information, as described 
  • You understand that you can withdraw your consent at any time 

 

How to Stop Using the Service 

You can stop using the ANCHOR chatbot at any time. No opt-out is necessary because engagement is initiated by you. However, you have the option to block the WhatsApp number if you would like. 

If you wish to have your data deleted before the 12-month retention period, please contact us via email (feedback@sl.goal.ie) or via phone, WhatsApp, or SMS on any of these numbers (078444509 / 078444519 / 078444518).   

Please note that due to our immediate deletion protocols, there may be limited data remaining to delete. 

 

Changes to This Privacy Notice 

We may update this Privacy Statement from time to time. The most recent version will always be available via the link provided in the chatbot. If we make material changes, we will highlight this at the start of a chatbot conversation. 

Last updated: 18/01/2026 

 

Contact Us 

If you have questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your data: 

GOAL Data Protection Officer
Email: dpo@goal.ie
Phone: 0035312809779
Address: GOAL, PO Box 19, Dun Laoghaire, A96 C7W7, Ireland 

 

Acknowledgment 

By using the ANCHOR chatbot, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to this privacy notice.