Privacy Policy
Last updated: March 2026
1. Overview
PatternMD is an anonymous symptom reporting and pattern discovery platform. We are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your data.
2. Information We Collect
When you create an account, we collect your email address solely for authentication purposes. We also collect profile information required to use PatternMD during onboarding. This includes: birth year, biological sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, country, ZIP code, height, weight, smoking and drinking status, physical activity level, diet type, sleep habits, stress level, employment status, relationship status, chronic conditions, current medications, and allergies. This information is required as a condition of using the platform. Some fields — specifically gender identity, sexual orientation, and health conditions — are sensitive categories under applicable privacy law. By completing onboarding and agreeing to our terms, you explicitly consent to our collection of these sensitive categories. We also collect symptom posts, trigger notes, ME TOO interactions, community thread replies, follow-up notes, personal journal notes, Care Thread messages, and environmental data (weather, air quality, and pollen captured silently at log time using your ZIP code). For users who identified as female during onboarding, we offer an optional menstrual cycle tracking feature that collects period dates, flow levels, pain severity, physical symptoms, emotional moods, sexual activity and intimacy data, libido levels, and personal notes. This menstrual and sexual health data is stored with the highest level of privacy — it is NEVER shared with connected healthcare providers, other users, or any third party, and is used solely for your personal tracking. We do not collect your name or any information that directly identifies you. If you choose to upload a provider photo, it is stored securely and only accessible to your connected provider — it is never shown to the community or other users.
3. Your Anonymous ID
Upon registration, you are assigned a unique anonymous ID (e.g. PMD-XXXXXXXX). This ID is used to identify your contributions within the platform. Your email address is never associated with your anonymous ID in any public or shared context. Other users only ever see your PMD-ID, never your email.
4. How We Use Your Information
We use your information to operate and improve the PatternMD platform, to identify health patterns across our community, and to communicate with you regarding your account. Environmental data captured at log time is used solely to help you identify personal environmental triggers on your Patterns page. We do not use your information for advertising purposes.
5. Environmental Data
When you log a symptom, PatternMD silently captures weather conditions (barometric pressure, humidity, temperature), air quality index, and pollen levels using your ZIP code. This data is stored with your post and used only on your personal Patterns page. It is never shared with other users, never used for advertising, and never included in community pattern analysis.
6. Community Replies & Visibility
When you ME TOO a post and add a trigger note, that note is automatically posted as a reply in the post's community thread, visible to all users tied to your PMD-ID only. You can delete your own replies at any time.
7. Private Messaging (DMs)
PatternMD includes an optional direct messaging feature. You may only send a message request to another user with whom you have previously interacted. The recipient must explicitly accept your request before any conversation opens. Message content is automatically and permanently deleted after 24 hours. DM content is never used for analytics, advertising, or any purpose other than delivering the message.
8. Provider Data Access
PatternMD offers an optional Connect to Provider feature. If you choose to connect with a healthcare provider, you explicitly consent to that provider accessing your symptom posts, Care Thread messages, medication list, and health data logged on PatternMD. Your personal journal notes (My Notes tab) are always private and are never shared with any provider. Your real identity — including your email address — may be visible to your connected provider as part of the clinical relationship. You may disconnect from a provider at any time through Settings, which immediately revokes their access to your future data. Providers may also remove patients from their account at any time.
8b. Provider Photo
You may optionally upload a photo to help your connected healthcare provider identify you. This photo is stored securely and is accessible only to your connected provider. It is never displayed in the community feed, search results, or to any other users. You can remove your photo at any time from Settings. Your photo is permanently deleted when you delete your account.
9. Provider Responsibilities
All verified providers on PatternMD are required to use patient data solely for legitimate clinical purposes. Providers are prohibited from sharing, selling, or distributing patient data to any third party. If you believe a provider has misused your data, please contact us immediately at contact@patternmd.app.
10. Data Sharing
We do not sell your data. Your email address is never sold, shared, or disclosed to any third party under any circumstances — except to your connected provider if you have chosen to connect. Anonymized, aggregated community pattern data may be used internally to improve the platform.
11. Mobile Health App Data
If you have a connected mobile health app on your device, PatternMD may request read access to health metrics such as sleep duration, heart rate, and steps to provide health context alongside your symptom logs. This data is never stored on our servers beyond what you log as health context, and is never shared with third parties or used for advertising. If you have a connected provider, health context logged alongside posts will be visible to that provider. You can revoke this access at any time from your device settings.
12. Moderation & Reporting
Users can report any post or reply using the ••• menu. Reports are reviewed by our moderation team within 24 hours. Users can also block other users, which removes all their content from your feed permanently.
13. Data Security
We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections, secure authentication, and row-level security on our database. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.
14. Data Retention
We retain your data for as long as your account is active. You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time. Upon full account deletion, your email, profile, posts, replies, personal journal notes, Care Thread messages, and all associated data will be permanently removed within 30 days. Direct messages are automatically deleted after 24 hours regardless of account status.
15. Children's Privacy
PatternMD is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
16. Your Rights
You have the right to access your personal data, correct inaccurate data, delete individual replies, request full deletion of your account and data, disconnect from any provider at any time, and opt out of data sharing at any time. To exercise these rights, please contact us at contact@patternmd.app or use the options within the app.
17. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting a notice on the platform. Continued use of PatternMD after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
18. Contact
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at contact@patternmd.app.
19. Data Breach Notification
In the event of a data breach affecting your personal information, PatternMD will notify affected users within 30 days of discovering the breach via the email address associated with your account or through in-app notification. We will describe the nature of the breach, the types of data involved, steps we are taking to address the breach, and steps you can take to protect yourself. PatternMD's total liability for any data breach shall not exceed the limitation of liability set forth in our Terms of Service.
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