Today, the world celebrates Data Privacy Day! And at Tiko we would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm the importance of following strong privacy practices to foster an ethical and strong digital ecosystem. Privacy is not a once-a-year conversation for us. It is a principle embedded in our daily operations.
In an increasingly digital world, where emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence are rapidly expanding, safeguarding personal data is no longer a simple compliance exercise but a cornerstone of trust, ethics, and impact, allowing us to innovate without compromising our users’ fundamental rights.
Digital privacy matters across all sectors, but in the context of Tiko, it is a real asset in achieving our mission to support young people across sub-saharan Africa in accessing youth-friendly, quality healthcare within their communities. For this, Tiko relies on its tech first approach to bridge the gaps between young people, mobilisers, healthcare providers and local retailers, creating safe and efficient gateways to essential services.
In order to better deliver our services, Tiko has built effective measures to protect the privacy and security of everyone involved. We approach the collection of personal data with a strong sense of responsibility, designing our programmes with privacy by design and by default. A core principle guiding our programmes is data minimisation, we collect data only when necessary and avoid collecting direct identifiers, as an example, Tiko does not collect the names of users taking services at any point in the user journey. Individuals can choose to register with a phone number, but we also recognise that not everyone has access to a phone or feels comfortable sharing that information. To ensure inclusion without compromising privacy, we distribute Tiko Cards with unique identifiers, allowing us to follow a user journey and allocate miles without revealing unnecessary personal information. This approach allows us to generate meaningful insights while reducing privacy risks.
Where personal data must be processed, we heavily invest in securing our datasets, whenever possible data is detached from identifiable individuals so that we can generate insights and measure impact without exposing individuals. Access to personal data is limited based on clearly defined roles, data protection is encrypted at rest and our platforms are regularly tested to ensure we are protected against human errors or malicious actors.
The power of choice also plays a crucial role in our privacy design, every privacy practitioner is aware of the existing lawful grounds to process personal data, and while consent might not always be applicable, we do aim at ensuring our users are informed in clear and accessible terms about what data is collected, why is it needed, and how it will be used. Engagement in our platform is voluntary, and consent is often sought to ensure a fair use of personal data. We are also unequivocal about our stance on data sharing. Personal Data is never sold to third parties, and it is only shared with carefully selected partners or donors who require specific information for legitimate purposes, Tiko does however aggregate any data where possible to ensure the highest confidentiality standards.
Innovation remains central to Tiko’s mission, and this means we should also discuss the inclusion of responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). While we already leverage AI to enhance internal tools, we are also exploring additional use cases, such as strengthening risk-management through AI Agents capable of assisting with complex scenarios. Simultaneously, we conduct thorough Data Protection Impact Assessments before deploying any AI system which might process personal data. We are aware of privacy and ethical implications that accompany the scaling technologies and want to ensure new tools are proportionate, ethical, and aligned with our commitment to protecting users’ rights and dignity.
On this Data Privacy Day, we reaffirm our commitment to protecting personal data. It is not only a legal obligation but evidence of our respect, trust and accountability. At Tiko, technological innovation exists to serve people, not the other way around.