Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 2026

St. Mary's College of Health Sciences is committed to protecting the privacy of students, staff and other users of this online portal. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the rights you have over it. We process personal data in line with the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) of Ghana and the directions of the Data Protection Commission.

1. Who we are

The data controller is St. Mary's College of Health Sciences, [physical address], Ghana. For any privacy questions or requests, contact our Data Protection contact at stmaryss.edu@gmail.com or +233559380326.

2. Information we collect

• Identity & contact details: full name, student/index number, email address, phone number, department, programme and year of study.
• Academic records: course enrolments, assessment scores, grades, GPA and related results.
• Financial records: fee assessments, amounts paid and outstanding balances (for registration eligibility).
• Account & security data: your login username and a securely hashed password (we never store passwords in plain text).
• Usage data: basic technical information such as login times needed to keep the system secure and working.

3. How we use your information

• To register you for courses and manage your academic progress.
• To record, calculate and publish your assessment results and transcripts.
• To determine fee status and registration eligibility.
• To communicate important academic and administrative information to you.
• To secure the system, prevent misuse and meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

4. Legal basis for processing

We process your data because it is necessary to deliver the educational services you are enrolled for, to meet our legal obligations as an accredited institution, and, where applicable, on the basis of your consent. You may withdraw consent for any optional processing at any time.

5. Who can see your information

Access is restricted by role. Students see only their own records. Faculty see records for the courses they teach. Administrators and authorised examination staff access records to perform their official duties. We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with third parties except where required by law, by a regulator, or with service providers who help operate the system under confidentiality obligations.

6. How we protect your data

We use access controls and role-based permissions, store passwords using strong one-way hashing, and serve the portal over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. While no online system can be guaranteed 100% secure, we take reasonable technical and organisational measures to safeguard your information.

7. How long we keep it

Academic records are retained in line with the College's records-retention requirements and relevant accreditation rules. Account and security data is kept for as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards, after which it is securely deleted or anonymised.

8. Your rights

Under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) you have the right to:

• be informed about how your data is used;
• request a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
• object to or request restriction of certain processing;
• request deletion of data we are no longer required to keep.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 1. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission of Ghana.

9. Cookies & sessions

We use a session cookie strictly to keep you logged in while you use the portal. It is not used for advertising or tracking, and it expires when you log out or your session ends.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with a revised effective date.

11. Contact

St. Mary's College of Health Sciences
Baatsona 13th Street,Accra,Ghana
Email: stmaryss.edu@gmail.com
Phone: +233559380326