Community Guidelines, Data Privacy & Chat Moderation Policy
Governing the three exclusive member channels on n3mh-algonplace.com. Effective August 7, 2026.
Last updated:
Preamble
The National NGO Network for Mental Health (N3MH), in partnership with AlgonPlace, operates three exclusive real-time chat channels on n3mh-algonplace.com: the Full Members Lounge, the Associate Members Hub, and the Community Forum. These channels are designed to facilitate professional collaboration, peer supervision, referral coordination, and mental health advocacy among practitioners, civil society organizations, and community advocates across the Philippines.
All participants are bound by this Policy, the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173), the Mental Health Act (Republic Act No. 11036), and the ethical standards of their respective professional regulatory bodies. Participation in any N3MH channel constitutes acceptance of these terms.
Channel-Specific Codes of Conduct
Full Members Lounge
Access: Licensed mental health practitioners, psychiatrists, neurologists, addiction medicine specialists, and staff of DOH-accredited Acute Psychiatric, Chronic Psychiatric, and Custodial Care Facilities with active Full Member status and a valid subscription.
- Discussions must remain within the scope of professional practice. Clinical case consultations are permitted only in anonymized form — no patient names, contact details, birthdates, addresses, or any other personally identifiable information (PII) may be shared.
- Dual-diagnosis case consultations must follow the N3MH Dual-Diagnosis Triage Protocol. Participants must not provide definitive diagnoses or prescribe treatment plans for cases they have not personally assessed.
- Peer supervision discussions are confidential. Content shared in this channel may not be reproduced, screenshotted, or shared outside the platform without the express written consent of all parties involved.
- Promotion of non-evidence-based treatments, unregistered pharmaceuticals, or services not aligned with DOH clinical practice guidelines is strictly prohibited.
- Members must disclose any conflict of interest when discussing referral pathways, treatment modalities, or service providers.
Associate Members Hub
Access: Mental health advocates, social workers, community health workers, and allied health professionals with active Associate Member status.
- Discussions are limited to professional development, referral coordination, network updates, and mental health advocacy. Clinical case discussions are not permitted in this channel.
- Members may share publicly available resources, research summaries, and policy updates. All shared content must be properly attributed to its original source.
- Members must not represent themselves as licensed clinicians or provide clinical advice to other members or the public through this channel.
- Referral coordination discussions must use only anonymized case identifiers. No patient PII may be shared under any circumstances.
- Commercial solicitation, recruitment, or promotion of services unaffiliated with N3MH is prohibited without prior written approval from N3MH-AlgonPlace administration.
Community Forum
Access: All registered Free Members, including community advocates, caregivers, students, and interested members of the public.
- This channel is a general mental health advocacy space. Members may share mental health awareness content, ask general questions, and participate in community discussions.
- No clinical case information, patient stories, or health-related personal information about third parties may be shared, even in anonymized form.
- Members in crisis or who are supporting someone in crisis are directed to the HOPELINE (1553) or the nearest DOH-accredited mental health facility. This channel is not a crisis intervention service.
- Stigmatizing language, derogatory terms related to mental health conditions, substance use, or disability are strictly prohibited.
- Misinformation about mental health treatments, medications, or services is prohibited. Members who share unverified health claims may be subject to immediate removal.
Universal Rules — All Channels
- Harassment, bullying, threats, hate speech, or discrimination based on gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate account suspension.
- Spam, unsolicited advertising, phishing links, or malicious content is prohibited.
- Impersonation of N3MH staff, AlgonPlace administrators, DOH officials, or any other person or organization is prohibited.
- Automated scraping, data harvesting, or use of bots in any channel is prohibited and constitutes a violation of RA 10173.
- All messages are logged and retained for a minimum of 12 months for compliance and audit purposes, in accordance with RA 10173 §12 (Security of Personal Information).
Data Privacy Policy (RA 10173 Compliance)
Personal Information Controller
N3MH, in partnership with AlgonPlace, acts as the Personal Information Controller (PIC) for all data processed through the chat platform. The Data Protection Officer (DPO) may be contacted at dpo@n3mh.org.ph.
Data Collected
The platform collects: (a) account identifiers (email address, membership tier, RBAC role); (b) message content and timestamps; (c) moderation action records; (d) connection metadata (IP address, user agent — hashed and not stored in plaintext). No patient PII is collected or stored by the platform. Members are solely responsible for ensuring they do not introduce PII into chat messages.
Lawful Basis and Consent
Data is processed on the basis of contractual necessity (membership agreement) and legitimate interest (platform security and compliance). By registering and using the chat platform, members provide informed consent to the processing of their account and message data as described in this Policy.
Data Retention
Chat messages are retained for 12 months from the date of posting. Moderation audit logs are retained for 36 months. Account data is retained for the duration of membership plus 24 months. Members may request deletion of their personal data by contacting dpo@n3mh.org.ph, subject to legal retention obligations.
Security Measures
All data is transmitted over TLS 1.3. Messages are stored in an encrypted MySQL database. Moderation audit logs are cryptographically signed (HMAC-SHA256) to ensure integrity. Access to raw message data is restricted to N3MH-AlgonPlace system administrators and is logged. The platform does not use third-party analytics services that process message content.
Data Subject Rights
Members have the right to: (a) access their personal data; (b) correct inaccurate data; (c) object to processing; (d) request erasure (subject to legal retention obligations); (e) data portability. To exercise these rights, contact dpo@n3mh.org.ph with the subject line 'RA 10173 Data Subject Request'.
Prohibition on Unauthorized Data Scraping
Any automated collection, scraping, harvesting, or systematic extraction of data from the chat platform — including message content, user lists, or metadata — is strictly prohibited under RA 10173 §25 (Unauthorized Processing) and may constitute a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment of up to 6 years and a fine of up to ₱5,000,000.
Chat Moderation Policy
Automated Moderation
The platform employs automated filters to detect and flag: (a) messages containing potential PII patterns (Philippine mobile numbers, email addresses, national ID formats); (b) messages exceeding 4,000 characters; (c) repeated identical messages (spam detection). Flagged messages are held for admin review and are not delivered until cleared.
Incident Escalation Protocol
Level 1 — Warning
First-time minor violations (off-topic content, mild incivility). Admin issues a formal warning via system message. Warning is logged in the moderation audit trail.
Level 2 — Temporary Mute
Repeated minor violations or a single moderate violation (sharing unverified health claims, mild harassment). Admin applies a timed mute (30 minutes to 7 days). Mute is logged with reason and duration.
Level 3 — Channel Kick
Serious violations (sharing PII, clinical misinformation, targeted harassment). Admin removes the user from the specific channel. User may re-enter after 24 hours unless escalated.
Level 4 — Account Suspension
Severe or repeated violations (hate speech, threats, data scraping, impersonation, sharing patient PII). Account is suspended pending review by the N3MH Ethics Committee. Suspension is reported to the relevant professional regulatory board where applicable.
Level 5 — Permanent Ban & Legal Referral
Criminal violations (unauthorized data processing under RA 10173, credible threats of violence, child exploitation material). Account is permanently banned. Incident is referred to the National Privacy Commission and/or law enforcement.
N3MH-AlgonPlace Administrator Powers
- •Broadcast system-wide announcements to all channels simultaneously.
- •Pin important messages in any channel.
- •Mute users for a specified duration with a logged reason.
- •Remove (soft-delete) messages that violate this Policy.
- •View the full moderation audit log for any channel.
- •Suspend or ban accounts in coordination with the N3MH Ethics Committee.
All administrator actions are logged in an immutable, cryptographically signed audit trail. Administrators may not use their powers for personal benefit, to suppress legitimate professional discourse, or to discriminate against members based on protected characteristics. Abuse of administrator powers is subject to the same escalation protocol as member violations.
Contact & Reporting
To report a policy violation, contact moderation@n3mh.org.ph. To exercise data privacy rights, contact dpo@n3mh.org.ph. For urgent matters involving patient safety or criminal activity, contact the National Privacy Commission at info@privacy.gov.ph or call the DOH hotline at 1555.