Privacy Policy

Malawi College of Health Sciences collects information to provide better services to our students, faculty, and website visitors. We collect information in the following ways:

• Direct Information: Personal details provided during application, registration on the SARIS Student Portal, or Moodle enrollment (e.g., name, NRC number, email, and contact info).
• Automated Technical Data: When you visit our website, our servers automatically log certain non‑identifiable technical information, including your IP address, browser type (user agent), the pages you access, and the time of your visit. This is done purely for website analytics and performance monitoring. No cookies are used for this tracking.

We use the data collected for the following academic and administrative purposes:

• Processing admissions and maintaining academic records.
• Facilitating online learning through Moodle and skill‑based tracking.
• Communicating essential college announcements and emergency alerts.
• Analyzing website traffic to improve content, navigation, and the overall user experience.
• Monitoring site performance and ensuring security (e.g., detecting malicious bots or unusual activity).

Our website automatically logs page visits for internal analytics. Specifically:

• We record your IP address, the page visited, your browser type, and the time of visit.
• This data is used solely to count unique visitors, measure page popularity, and diagnose technical issues.
• We do not use cookies, local storage, or any client‑side tracking for this purpose.
• IP addresses are stored in their original form to allow us to distinguish unique daily visitors. However, we do not attempt to link IP addresses to individual identities except as required to protect the security of our systems.
• Logs are automatically deleted after 90 days from the date of collection.

No personal information is sold, shared, or traded with third parties. The analytics data is visible only to authorised MCHS administrators.

We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information. Your sensitive data is contained behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have special access rights to such systems (Registrar's Office and IT Administration).

All sensitive information you supply is encrypted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.

Visitor logs are stored on our secure server and are regularly purged (every 90 days) automatically. Only authorised staff can view these logs for the purposes outlined above.

Our website uses minimal "cookies" only where necessary for the operation of secure areas (such as the student portal). These cookies help remember your login session and preferences. You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies via your browser settings.

Note: Our general website visitor tracking does not use any cookies. The analytics system is cookie‑less and relies solely on server‑side logs.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act of Malawi, you have the right to:

• Request access to the personal data we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Withdraw consent for data processing where applicable (though this may affect your ability to use certain digital services).
• Request deletion of your IP‑based visit logs, subject to our legitimate interest in maintaining site security and analytics. Such requests will be honoured within 30 days.

To exercise these rights, please contact the IT Service Desk or the Office of the Registrar. For the visitor tracking system, you can also email registrar@mchs.mw and we will ensure your IP address is removed from any stored logs.