Akua Privacy Policy

Effective Date: April 28, 2026  ·  Last Updated: April 28, 2026

Akua is a mental health support service that talks with you over WhatsApp. Because we handle conversations about your wellbeing, we take your privacy seriously. This policy explains, in plain language, what information we collect, how we use it, who can see it, and what rights you have. If anything here is unclear, please contact us. You can also ask Akua to explain any part of this policy.

1. Who We Are #

Akua is operated by OKB Hope Foundation ("Akua", "we", "us", or "our"), a non-profit organization with registered address at 9 S Grosser Pl, Somerset, NJ 08873, United States of America. We provide the Akua service to users in Ghana. For the purposes of Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), we are the data controller of the personal information described in this policy.

2. What Information We Collect #

We collect the following categories of information:

2.1 Information You Give Us Directly

  • Your WhatsApp phone number — this is how Akua reaches you and how we recognise you between conversations.
  • Your name — only if you choose to share it. You may use a nickname or pseudonym.
  • Demographic information — such as your age, gender, region in Ghana, or language preference, when you choose to share these.
  • The content of your conversations with Akua — the messages you send and the responses we generate.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

  • Message metadata — timestamps, message IDs, and delivery status provided by WhatsApp.
  • Usage data — how often you use Akua and the length of conversations, used to improve the service.

2.3 Special Personal Data

Your conversations with Akua may include information about your mental or physical health, emotional state, religious or philosophical beliefs, or other sensitive matters. Under Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), this is classified as "special personal data" and is given heightened legal protection. We process this data only with your explicit consent, which you provide by choosing to use Akua after reading this policy.

3. Why We Use Your Information #

We use your information for the following purposes:

  • To provide the service — generating supportive, contextually appropriate responses to your messages.
  • To maintain conversation continuity — so Akua can remember context across sessions and offer coherent support over time.
  • To ensure your safety — detecting signs of crisis (such as suicidal ideation or risk of harm) so we can direct you to appropriate emergency resources.
  • To improve Akua — analysing aggregated, de-identified usage patterns to make the service more helpful and culturally appropriate.
  • To meet legal obligations — complying with applicable laws and lawful requests from Ghanaian authorities.

We do not use your conversations to train large language models, sell your data to advertisers, or share your information with employers, insurers, family members, or anyone else without your consent — except as required for safety or by law (see Section 5).

4. Our Legal Basis for Processing #

Under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), we rely on the following legal bases:

  • Your explicit consent — for processing the content of your conversations and any special personal data they contain.
  • Performance of a service — for processing your phone number and basic identifiers to deliver the service you requested.
  • Vital interests — in rare emergency situations where we believe your life or safety, or someone else's, is at serious risk.
  • Legal obligation — where we are required by Ghanaian law to retain or disclose information.

5. Who We Share Your Information With #

Akua is built on third-party services. The following parties may process your information:

5.1 WhatsApp / Meta Platforms, Inc.

Your messages travel through WhatsApp. WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption between your phone and Akua's servers, but Meta (WhatsApp's owner) processes message metadata (such as your phone number, timestamps, and delivery information). Meta's handling of this data is governed by WhatsApp's own privacy policy, which we encourage you to read.

5.2 AI Model Providers

To generate responses, the content of your messages is sent to Anthropic and Gemini, who provide the underlying AI model. These providers act as our data processors and are contractually bound to:

  • process your data only on our instructions
  • apply appropriate security safeguards
  • not use your conversation content to train their models (under our enterprise/API agreement)
  • retain data only for the period necessary to deliver the service and meet abuse-monitoring obligations (typically 30 days, then deleted)

These providers are based in the United States, which means your data is transferred internationally. See Section 8 on international transfers.

5.3 Infrastructure and Hosting Providers

We use Google Cloud to host our servers and database. These providers process data only as necessary to keep the service running and have no independent right to access or use your information.

5.4 Emergency and Legal Disclosures

We may disclose your information without your consent only when:

  • we believe in good faith there is an imminent risk of serious harm to you or another person, in which case we may contact emergency services
  • we are required to do so by a valid order of a Ghanaian court or by law
  • disclosure is necessary to defend our legal rights

6. How Long We Keep Your Information #

We keep your data for the following periods:

  • Conversation history: 24 months from your last interaction, after which it is deleted or fully anonymised.
  • Account information (phone number, name, demographics): until you ask us to delete it.
  • Safety-related records (crisis detections, escalations): 10 years, in line with health-information record-keeping norms.
  • Aggregated, de-identified analytics: indefinitely, as this data can no longer be linked to you.

7. Your Rights Under Ghanaian Law #

The Data Protection Act, 2012 gives you the following rights. You can exercise them at any time by contacting us:

  • Right to access — ask for a copy of the information we hold about you.
  • Right to correction — ask us to fix information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • Right to deletion — ask us to delete your information (subject to legal retention requirements).
  • Right to object — object to certain processing, including processing for service improvement.
  • Right to withdraw consent — at any time, by sending the message "STOP" or "DELETE MY DATA" to Akua. Withdrawing consent will not affect processing that already happened.
  • Right to lodge a complaint — with the Data Protection Commission of Ghana (see Section 12).

8. International Data Transfers #

Because OKB Hope Foundation is based in the United States, and our AI providers and some infrastructure are also based outside Ghana, your information will be transferred internationally. Under Section 47 of the Data Protection Act, 2012, we ensure such transfers are protected by:

  • contractual safeguards (data processing agreements with each provider)
  • the providers' own security certifications (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001)
  • encryption of data in transit and at rest

By using Akua, you consent to this international transfer.

9. How We Protect Your Information #

We apply technical and organisational safeguards including:

  • encryption of data in transit (TLS) and at rest
  • access controls limiting staff access to a need-to-know basis
  • logging and monitoring of access to personal data
  • regular security reviews and staff training

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach occurs that puts your rights at risk, we will notify the Data Protection Commission of Ghana and affected users without undue delay, as required by law.

10. Children and Young People #

Akua is intended for users aged 18+ or 16+ with parental consent. We do not knowingly collect information from children below this age. If we learn that we have collected information from someone below the minimum age, we will delete it. If you believe a child has used Akua, please contact us.

11. Important Limitations You Should Know #

  • Akua is not a replacement for licensed mental health care. It is a supportive tool. If you are in crisis, please contact emergency services on 112 or the Mental Health Authority of Ghana.
  • Confidentiality has limits. We will keep your conversations private except where we believe there is a serious and immediate risk to life, or where the law compels us to disclose.
  • AI is imperfect. Akua may occasionally produce inaccurate or unhelpful responses. We work continuously to improve, but you should always use your own judgment.

12. Contact and Complaints #

To exercise your rights, ask questions, or raise concerns:

OKB Hope Foundation — Akua Data Protection Contact
Email: heyyakua@gmail.com
Postal: 9 S Grosser Pl, Somerset, NJ 08873, United States of America

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to:

The Data Protection Commission of Ghana
Website: www.dataprotection.org.gh

13. Changes to This Policy #

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through Akua before the changes take effect and ask for renewed consent if the law requires it. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy shows when it was last revised.