Terms of Service

1. About MyVaak

MyVaak is a free, browser-based clinical communication aid developed and operated by MyMate Limited (NZBN: 9429052964442), a company registered in New Zealand and based in Auckland.

MyVaak enables clinicians to conduct structured clinical assessments with patients who cannot communicate in English. The tool presents clinical questions in the patient's native language using text-to-speech, and records yes/no responses to generate a live clinical note. It is designed for use across GP, emergency department, pharmacy, and specialist settings.

MyVaak is provided entirely free of charge. No account, subscription, or registration is required.

2. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and MyMate Limited, governing your use of MyVaak at myvaak.co.nz (and its current URL at mymate.co.nz/myvaak).

By accessing or using MyVaak, you confirm that you have read and understood these Terms, are at least 18 years of age or are accessing the service in a professional clinical capacity, agree to use MyVaak only for its intended purpose, and accept the limitations described in these Terms and in the Disclaimer.

If you are using MyVaak on behalf of a healthcare organisation, you represent that you have authority to bind that organisation to these Terms.

3. What MyVaak Is and Is Not

What MyVaak is

• A structured, yes/no clinical communication aid for use in medical consultations
• A tool that speaks clinical questions aloud in the patient's language using Web Speech API
• A generator of a live, formatted clinical note based on recorded yes/no responses
• A Progressive Web App designed to function on any device, including offline

What MyVaak is NOT

• Not a qualified medical interpreter. MyVaak does not replace a trained, accredited interpreter under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994 or any applicable standard.
• Not a clinical decision support system. MyVaak does not diagnose, advise, or direct clinical treatment. All clinical judgement remains with the treating clinician.
• Not a legal medical record system. The clinical note generated by MyVaak is a communication aid output, not an authoritative clinical record under the Health Information Privacy Code 2020.
• Not an emergency response service. MyVaak is not monitored. Never use it to report or manage a medical emergency in place of calling 111.
• Not a guaranteed translation service. Question sets are reviewed for clinical accuracy but cannot guarantee precision across all dialects and regional variations.
• Not a replacement for clinical training. The tool assumes the user is a trained clinician conducting a clinical assessment.

4. Permitted Use

Intended users

MyVaak is intended for use by registered nurses, enrolled nurses, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, GPs and medical officers, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals conducting clinical assessments. It may also be used for clinical training, demonstration, and evaluation.

Prohibited uses

You must not use MyVaak to substitute for a qualified interpreter when time and circumstances permit, to make autonomous clinical decisions without applying your own professional judgement, to reverse engineer or reproduce the codebase or question sets without written permission, to attempt unauthorised access to any part of the MyVaak system, or for any unlawful purpose.

5. No Account Required - Data and Privacy

MyVaak requires no account, login, or registration. No personal information about the clinician or the patient is collected or transmitted to MyMate Limited's servers in the ordinary operation of the tool.

All session data - including patient name, date of birth, triage responses, and the generated clinical note - is held exclusively in your device's sessionStorage and is automatically cleared when the browser tab is closed. Nothing is retained on MyVaak's servers.

Anonymous, aggregate usage statistics (language selected, assessment completed, timestamp) may be logged for service improvement. These logs contain no patient-identifying information. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

6. Intellectual Property

MyVaak, including its code, design, clinical question sets, note templates, logo, and all related materials, is the intellectual property of MyMate Limited and is protected by New Zealand and international copyright law.

"MyVaak" and "MyMate" are trademarks of MyMate Limited. Common law trademark rights are claimed.

You may not copy, modify, distribute, reverse engineer, or create derivative works from any part of MyVaak without prior written consent. The clinical note generated during a session belongs to the clinician or healthcare organisation conducting the assessment. MyMate Limited claims no ownership over session outputs.

7. Limitation of Liability

MyVaak is provided free of charge as a clinical communication aid. To the maximum extent permitted by New Zealand law, and subject to your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993:

• MyMate Limited is not liable for any adverse clinical outcome where MyVaak was used as part of a clinical assessment. All clinical responsibility rests with the treating clinician.
• MyMate Limited is not liable for any loss arising from reliance on a MyVaak-generated clinical note as a formal medical record.
• MyMate Limited is not liable for translation imprecision, dialect variation, or text-to-speech rendering errors in any language.
• MyMate Limited is not liable for service unavailability or technical failure during a clinical encounter.

Your statutory consumer rights under New Zealand law are not affected. If you are using MyVaak in a professional or organisational capacity, the guarantees in the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 are excluded to the maximum extent permitted by law.

8. Emergency Situations

9. Service Availability

MyVaak is provided on a reasonable-efforts basis. Text-to-speech quality depends on the voices available on the user's device. MyVaak is designed as a PWA and can be installed for offline use, but technical failure may cause temporary unavailability. Clinicians should maintain awareness of alternative communication strategies in the event of technical failure.

10. Modifications to the Service and Terms

MyMate Limited may modify, update, or discontinue MyVaak or any of its features at any time, including adding or removing supported languages and updating question sets for clinical accuracy. These Terms may be updated from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. Continued use constitutes acceptance.

11. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand. Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand. Contact us first at info@myvaak.co.nz - most issues can be resolved informally. For unresolved consumer disputes under NZD $30,000, the Disputes Tribunal provides a low-cost pathway. For privacy complaints, contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.

12. Contact Information

See also: Privacy Policy | Disclaimer