Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide

• Account information: name, email address, phone number, password, role (student, preceptor, or school coordinator).
• Profile information: license number, license state, credentials, specialty, practice setting, city/state, years of experience, bio, and other profile fields you choose to fill in.
• Payment information: processed by Stripe. We do not store credit card numbers on our servers. We retain Stripe session IDs and payment timestamps.
• Messages: if you use Privacy Messaging, message content is stored on our servers to deliver the in-platform inbox experience.

Information from public sources

• NPI Registry (NPPES): we ingest publicly available provider data from the CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System, including NPI numbers, names, taxonomy classifications, and practice addresses.
• State licensing boards: we reference publicly available license verification pages (e.g. California DCA, Nursys QuickConfirm) to verify license status. We do not scrape or store bulk data from these sources beyond what is publicly searchable.

Information collected automatically

• Log data: IP address, browser type, pages visited, timestamps.
• Cookies: session cookies for authentication. We do not use third-party tracking cookies or advertising pixels.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To operate and improve the Platform
• To match students with preceptors based on program requirements
• To process payments via Stripe
• To send transactional emails (match notifications, password resets, messaging alerts)
• To verify license status using public data sources
• To respond to support requests

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not use your data for advertising.

3. Information Sharing

We share your information only in these circumstances:

• With matched users: when a student and preceptor are matched, each party sees the other's profile information necessary for the clinical placement (name, credentials, practice location, contact info — or alias if Privacy Messaging is active).
• With school coordinators: school admins can see match status and student/preceptor pairings for their program.
• With Stripe: for payment processing.
• With email providers: for transactional email delivery (we use Brevo/SMTP relay).
• With MeCentral: if you have activated the optional Document Vault, the documents and metadata you choose to upload, plus a vault identifier and the name and email address needed to associate the vault with you. See Section 5 below.
• As required by law: in response to legal process or to protect rights and safety.

4. Privacy Messaging

Preceptors who activate Privacy Messaging receive a masked pn_ alias. Students see this alias instead of the preceptor's real email. Messages sent through the Platform are stored on our servers and are accessible only to the participants in the thread. We do not read, analyze, or share message content except as required by law or for the administrative support of the Platform.

5. Document Vault (MeCentral)

The Document Vault is an optional, opt-in feature that lets you store credential and clinical documents (for example: license cards, immunization records, BLS/ACLS certifications, TB tests, HIPAA/OSHA training records, malpractice coverage, transcripts, and CVs) in a personal vault, and selectively share specific documents with a matched counterparty.

The vault is operated by MeCentral, Inc. (mecentral.org), an independent document storage service ("MeCentral"). When you activate your vault, Preceptor.Network provisions it on your behalf via the MeCentral Partner API. Documents you upload through Preceptor.Network are forwarded to MeCentral and stored on MeCentral's infrastructure.

Preceptor.Network does not retain copies of the document files themselves. We keep only a local mirror record of each document's metadata — for example, filename, size, content type, upload timestamp, and the MeCentral document identifier — solely to enforce the per-match, per-document sharing gate described below.

The data Preceptor.Network shares with MeCentral is strictly limited to what is required to support the Document Vault feature:

• A vault identifier and the name and email address needed to associate the vault with you
• The document files and accompanying metadata (filename, content type, document type tag) that you choose to upload

We do not share clinical placement details, match history, payment information, message content, profile bio fields, or any other personal data with MeCentral.

Document sharing is per-document, per-match, and revocable. A document is visible to a matched counterparty only when (a) you explicitly grant access to that specific document, and (b) the underlying match has been paid. You may revoke a share at any time. Documents are never visible to a counterparty outside of an active paid match.

You may take direct ownership of your vault and its contents at mecentral.org at any time. Your use of MeCentral is also governed by MeCentral's own terms and privacy policy.

6. Data Retention

We retain your account and profile data for as long as your account is active. If you request account deletion, we will remove your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate business purposes (e.g. payment records for tax compliance).

7. Data Security

We use industry-standard security measures including HTTPS encryption, hashed passwords, CSRF protection, and access controls. No system is 100% secure — we cannot guarantee absolute security but we take reasonable measures to protect your data.

All user data is stored, processed, and handled on servers located in the United States.

8. Your Rights

You may:

• Access, update, or correct your profile information at any time through your account settings
• Request a copy of your personal data
• Request deletion of your account and personal data
• Opt out of non-essential communications

To exercise these rights, contact support@preceptor.network.

9. Children's Privacy

The Platform is not intended for users under 18. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. Due to the nature of clinical healthcare education, it is expected that all students and preceptors using the Platform are adults aged 18 or older. By creating an account, you confirm that you meet this age requirement.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy at any time. We will post the updated version on this page with a new "Last updated" date.

11. Contact

Questions about this Privacy Policy? Email support@preceptor.network.