Who We Are
Shanduko AI is a non-commercial WhatsApp sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information service designed for young people in Zimbabwe, aged 10–24. It is operated by Cyprian Tinashe Masvikeni, an independent developer and public health researcher based in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Shanduko AI is developed in partnership with Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) as part of a collaborative effort to improve adolescent SRH access in Zimbabwe. ZNFPC is a statutory body under the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
Shanduko AI provides general health information and education only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. For medical emergencies, call 994 or go to your nearest hospital immediately.
What Information We Collect
When you interact with Shanduko AI via WhatsApp, we receive and process the following information:
| Data | Why we need it | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Phone number | Route responses back to you; maintain session continuity | 30 days |
| Message content | Generate relevant health information responses via AI | 30 days |
| Age group (10–14, 15–19, or 20–24) | Tailor responses to be age-appropriate and relevant | 30 days |
| Language preference (English or Shona) | Respond in the language you are most comfortable with | 30 days |
| Country code (derived from phone number) | Provide Zimbabwe-specific service information and statistics | 30 days |
| Health topic categories (anonymised) | Aggregate public health research — no individual identification possible | Anonymised |
We do not collect your full name, home address, ID number, GPS location, or any financial information. We do not track you across other apps or websites.
Why We Collect This Information
- To generate accurate, contextually relevant health information tailored to your age group and language
- To maintain conversation continuity so the AI can understand follow-up questions within your session
- To send welfare check-in messages if you have indicated a crisis situation — these occur at 24 and 48 hours after a crisis trigger, and are limited to two follow-ups
- To produce anonymised, aggregated public health insights (e.g. most common topics asked about by age group) for research purposes
The legal basis for this processing is legitimate interest in providing a public health education service, and consent by virtue of you initiating contact with the service and selecting your age group.
Age Groups and Minors
Shanduko AI serves young people across three age groups: 10–14, 15–19, and 20–24. When you first use the service, you are asked to select your age group. This information is used strictly to ensure responses are age-appropriate — for example, users aged 10–14 receive simpler language, puberty-focused information, and are always encouraged to speak to a trusted adult, parent, or teacher.
We recognise that users in the 10–14 age group are minors. We handle their data with the highest level of care:
- No explicit contraceptive details or clinical procedures are described to users aged 10–14
- Their conversation data is subject to the same 30-day automatic deletion as all users
- No data from any age group is used for advertising or profiling
We do not knowingly collect data from children under 10. If you believe a child under 10 has used this service, please contact us and we will delete the relevant data immediately.
Crisis Follow-Up Messages
Shanduko AI includes a welfare follow-up feature for users who have expressed a crisis — such as experiences of gender-based violence, suicidal ideation, or serious emotional distress. If you trigger a crisis response, our system may send you up to two check-in messages: one at approximately 24 hours and one at 48 hours after the initial conversation.
These check-ins ask only "Are you safe?" and require a YES or NO reply. They are automated and not monitored by a human in real-time. If you reply NO, the full crisis support information is resent. The follow-up system is automatically cleared after 72 hours.
This feature is designed purely for your welfare. No record of your crisis disclosure is shared with any third party, including ZNFPC, government agencies, or law enforcement.
You can stop receiving these check-ins at any time by sending the word reset.
Sensitive Health Information
Shanduko AI operates in the domain of sexual and reproductive health, which involves sensitive personal information. We treat all health-related conversations with the highest level of discretion.
- No conversation content is used for advertising, marketing, or commercial profiling
- No conversation content is sold, licensed, or disclosed to any commercial entity
- Conversations are not reviewed by human staff unless required for a verified safety concern
- Anonymised, aggregated patterns (e.g. most common topics by age group) may be used for public health research, with no ability to identify individual users
- ZNFPC may receive aggregated, anonymised usage statistics for programme evaluation — never individual conversation data
Data Retention
Conversation history, age group, and language preference are retained on our secure server for up to 30 days to maintain context across sessions. After 30 days, all records linked to your phone number are automatically and permanently deleted.
You may delete your data at any time by sending the word reset to the chatbot. This will immediately and permanently erase your stored history, age group setting, and language preference.
Anonymised, aggregated statistics (with no link to any individual phone number) may be retained indefinitely for public health research purposes.
Third-Party Infrastructure
To operate the service, your messages pass through the following infrastructure providers. Each is governed by their own privacy policy. We choose providers that do not use your message content for training their own AI models or for advertising.
We do not share your information with any other third parties, including advertisers, data brokers, governments, or law enforcement, except where required by applicable Zimbabwean law.
Data Security
We take the following technical measures to protect your data:
- All data in transit is encrypted via HTTPS/TLS using a valid SSL certificate
- The server uses firewall rules to restrict all ports except 443 (HTTPS) and 22 (SSH)
- The database is stored on-server and is not exposed to the public internet
- Access credentials and API keys are stored as environment variables, never in source code
- The source code is version-controlled and access is limited to authorised developers
No system is 100% secure. In the unlikely event of a data breach affecting your information, we will notify affected users as soon as reasonably possible via the WhatsApp number used to contact us.
Your Rights
Under the Zimbabwe Data Protection Act (2021) and applicable international frameworks, you have the following rights:
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at tynashmasvikeni@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days.
Cookies and Tracking
Shanduko AI operates via WhatsApp and does not use cookies, tracking pixels, session storage, or web analytics tools on this website or within the chatbot service. This privacy policy page itself loads no external scripts, fonts, or trackers.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this privacy policy as the service evolves. When we make significant changes — such as collecting new types of data or sharing data with new partners — we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.
Continued use of Shanduko AI after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy. For major changes, we will post a notice on the landing page for 30 days.
Governing Law
This privacy policy is governed by the laws of Zimbabwe, including the Data Protection Act (Chapter 11:22, 2021). Any disputes relating to this policy shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Zimbabwe.
For users outside Zimbabwe accessing this service, we make reasonable efforts to comply with applicable data protection law in your jurisdiction.
Questions or Concerns?
Get in touch — we respond within 30 days to all data-related requests.