Supportal Health

Supportal Health Privacy Policy

We are Supportal Health Limited. We’re a company registered in England. In this privacy notice we will refer to ourselves as ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’.

You can get hold of us by emailing info@supportal.health.

We take the privacy, including the security, of personal information we hold about you seriously. This privacy notice is designed to inform you about how we collect personal information about you and how we use that personal information. You should read this privacy notice carefully so that you know and can understand why and how we use the personal information we collect and hold about you.

We may update this privacy notice from time to time. This version was last updated on 10 April 2026.

Key Definitions

The key terms that we use throughout this privacy notice are defined below, for ease:

Data Controller: under UK data protection law, this is the organisation or person responsible for deciding how personal information is collected and stored and how it is used.

Data Processor: a Data Controller may appoint another organisation or person to carry out certain tasks in relation to the personal information on behalf of, and on the written instructions of, the Data Controller. (This might be the hosting of a site containing personal data, for example, or providing an email marketing service that facilitates mass distribution of marketing material to a Data Controller’s customer-base.)

Personal Information: in this privacy notice we refer to your personal data as ‘personal information’. ‘Personal information’ means any information from which a living individual can be identified. It does not apply to information which has been anonymised.

Sensitive Information - certain very sensitive personal information requires extra protection under data protection law. Sensitive data includes information relating to health, racial and ethnic origin, political opinions, religious and similar beliefs, trade union membership, sex life and sexual orientation and also includes genetic information and biometric information.

Our role in processing personal information

Supportal Health acts as a Data Controller in relation to the personal information processed through the Supportal Health platform.

Our platform is designed and operates as a standardised service, and we determine the core purposes and means of processing personal information, including how the platform functions, what data is collected, and how it is stored and secured.

Organisations (such as healthcare providers, charities, or patient support organisations) that use the Supportal Health platform to provide services to their users may also act as independent Data Controllers in relation to personal information processed within their programmes.

In particular, these organisations may determine:

which users are invited to participate in the platform;
how they engage with users through the platform; and
the content and purpose of any surveys, questionnaires, or feedback requests they create.

Where organisations create surveys or collect information through the platform, they are responsible for determining the purpose of that data collection and how the results are used within their services.

Supportal Health and the organisation may therefore act as independent Data Controllers in relation to the same personal information, each with their own responsibilities under applicable data protection laws.

Supportal Health may also process personal information to:

operate, maintain, and improve the platform;
analyse anonymised and aggregated data;
ensure platform security and safeguard users; and
manage our direct relationship with users and customers.

Details of personal information which we collect and hold about you

3.1 Set out below are the general categories and in each case the types of personal information which we collect, use and hold about you:

General Category	Types of Personal Data in that category	Retention Periods
Identity Information	This is information relating to your identity such as your name, date of birth, location/address, profile picture, gender.	We shall keep this data as long as it is relevant to our business unless you request for it to be deleted. We will delete the data after 5 years with no activity on your account.
Contact Information	This is information relating to your contact details such as email address.	We shall keep this data as long as it is relevant to our business unless you request for it to be deleted. We will delete the data after 5 years with no activity on your account.
Account Information	[This is information relating to your account with us (including username and password)]	We shall keep this data as long as it is relevant to our business unless you request for it to be deleted. We will delete the data after 5 years with no activity on your account.
Website, Device and Technical Information	[This is information about your use of our website and technical data which we collect (including your IP address, the type of browser you are using and the version, the operating system you are using, details about the time zone and location settings on the device and other information we receive about your device)]	We shall keep this data as long as it is relevant to our business unless you request for it to be deleted. We will delete the data after 5 years with no activity on your account.
Survey and Feedback Information	This is information you provide when responding to surveys, questionnaires, or feedback forms within the Supportal platform. This may include health-related information, wellbeing data, demographic information, and free-text responses.	We shall keep this data as long as it is relevant to our business or the organisation operating the Supportal service, unless you request deletion. We will delete the data after 5 years with no activity on your account, unless a longer retention period is required by the organisation operating the service.

Details of sensitive information which we collect and hold about you

(a) religion
(b) health
(c) ethnicity

4.2 Where we do hold the above sensitive information our retention periods are as follows:

Type of Sensitive Information	Retention Periods
Religious Beliefs	We store religious belief data of mentors so that patients can be matched with mentors of the same religion if that is important to them. We will retain this information with your consent and will remove this data 5 years after your account is deactivated.
Health Information	Health information such as the disease a patient or mentor have had is core to the Supportal Platform. We will retain this information with your consent and will remove this data 5 years after your account is deactivated.
Ethnicity Information	We store ethnicity data of mentors so that patients can find support from mentors of specific ethnicities if that is important to them. We will retain this information with your consent and will remove this data 5 years after your account is deactivated.

4.3 We do not collect information from you relating to criminal convictions or offences.

Details of how and why we use personal information

(a) Contract Reason: this is in order to perform our obligations to you under a contract we have entered into with you;
(b) Legitimate Interests Reason: this is where the use of your personal information is necessary for our (or a third party’s) legitimate interests, so long as that legitimate interest does not override your fundamental rights, freedoms or interests.
(c) Legal Obligation Reason: this is where we have to use your personal information in order to perform a legal obligation by which we are bound; and
(d) Consent Reason: this is where you have given us your consent to use your personal information for a specific reason or specific reasons.

(a) We have your explicit consent;
(b) Where it is necessary in relation to legal claims;
(c) Where you have made the personal data public.

5.3 So that we are able to provide you with our services, we will need your personal information. If you do not provide us with the required personal information, we may be prevented from supplying our services to you.

5.4 It is important that you keep your personal information up to date. If any of your personal information changes, please update your information on your account or contact us as soon as possible to let us know.

5.5 Where we rely on consent for a specific purpose as the legal reason for processing your personal information, you have the right under data protection law to withdraw your consent at any time. If you do wish to withdraw your consent, please contact us using the details set out at the beginning of this notice. If we receive a request from you withdrawing your consent to a specific purpose, we will stop processing your personal information for that purpose, unless we have another legal reason for processing your personal information, in which case, we will confirm that reason to you.

5.6 Sometimes we may anonymise personal information so that you can no longer be identified from it. We may also combine your information with that of other users to create aggregated datasets.

We may use such anonymised and aggregated information to:

analyse trends across user groups;
evaluate the effectiveness of the Supportal platform;
improve our services and features; and
develop insights into patient support and community engagement.

This information does not identify you and cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

5.7 Under data protection laws we can only use your personal information for the purposes we have told you about, unless we consider that the new purpose is compatible with the purpose(s) which we told you about. If we want to use your personal information for a different purpose which we do not think is compatible with the purpose(s) which we told you about then we will contact you to explain this and what legal reason is in place to allow us to do this.

5.8 Survey and Feedback Data

Supportal Health may provide functionality that allows organisations (such as healthcare providers, charities, or patient support organisations) to create surveys, questionnaires, or feedback forms within the platform.

Where you choose to participate in such surveys:

(a) your responses may include personal information, including sensitive information such as health or wellbeing data;
(b) your responses will be shared with authorised administrators of the organisation operating the Supportal service you are part of;
(c) that organisation is responsible for how it uses your survey responses in accordance with its own privacy policies.

Supportal Health processes survey data only where necessary to:

operate and maintain the platform;
provide the service to the organisation;
ensure platform quality and performance;
provide technical support; or
address safeguarding concerns or risks to user safety.

Supportal Health does not use identifiable survey responses to contact users for external marketing purposes.

5.9 Safeguarding

We may process personal and sensitive information where necessary to protect the vital interests of a user or another person, including where there are concerns relating to health, safety, or wellbeing.

Details of how we collect personal information and sensitive information

6.1 We usually collect Identity Information, Contact Information and sensitive Information directly from you on your account creation. This includes the personal information which you provide to us.

6.2 We may receive Website, Device and Technical Information automatically from technologies such as cookies which are installed on our website.

6.3 We may collect personal and sensitive information through surveys, questionnaires, or feedback forms that you choose to complete within the platform. These may be created by the organisation providing your Supportal service.

Details about who personal Information may be shared with

(a) Other companies in our group (who may might act as joint data controllers or as data processors on our behalf) and who describe the services they provide which require them to have access to personal information, e.g. IT services, or describe the reasons it may be shared with them, e.g. for management reporting.
(b) Third parties who may include:
(i) Suppliers: such as IT support services, payment providers, administration providers and marketing agencies.
(ii) Government bodies and regulatory bodies: such as HMRC, fraud prevention agencies
(iii) Our advisors: such as lawyers, accountants, auditors, insurance companies
(iv) Our bankers
(v) Credit Reference Agencies
(vi) Email platforms
(c) any organisations which propose to purchase our business and assets in which case we may disclose your personal information to the potential purchaser.
(d) Where necessary, user data may be shared with client organisation(s) offering the Supportal support service in order for the support services to be provided appropriately and safely.

7.2 Depending on the circumstances, the organisations or people who we share your personal information with will be acting as either Data Processors or Data Controllers. Where we share your personal information with a Data Processor we will ensure that we have in place contracts, which set out the responsibilities and obligations of us and them, including in respect of security of personal information.

7.3 We do not sell or trade any of the personal information which you have provided to us.

7.4 Organisations operating the Supportal service

Information you provide within the Supportal platform, including survey responses, may be accessible to authorised administrators of the organisation providing your Supportal service.

These organisations may act as Data Controllers in respect of your information and are responsible for how they use that information within their programmes and services.

Details about transfers to countries outside of the EEA

If any transfer of personal information by us will mean that your personal information is transferred outside of the EEA then we will ensure that safeguards are in place to ensure that a similar degree of protection is given to your personal information, as is given to it within the EEA and that the transfer is made in compliance with data protection laws (including where relevant any exceptions to the general rules on transferring personal information outside of the EEA which are available to us – these are known as ‘derogations’ under data protection laws).

Details about how long we will hold your personal information

9.1 We will only hold your personal data for as long as is necessary. How long is necessary will depend upon the purposes for which we collected the personal information (see section 5 above) and whether we are under any legal obligation to keep the personal information (such as in relation to accounting or auditing records or for tax reasons). We may also need to keep personal information in case of any legal claims.

9.2 We have set out above the details of our retention periods for different types of data. You can find them in section 3 and section 4.

YOUR RIGHTS UNDER DATA PROTECTION LAW

(a) Right to request access: (this is often called ‘subject access’). This is the right to obtain from us a copy of the personal information which we hold about you. We must also provide you with certain other information in response to these requests to help you understand how your personal information is being used.
(b) Right to correction: this is the right to request that any incorrect personal data is corrected and that any incomplete personal data is completed.
(c) Right to erasure: (this is often called the “right to be forgotten”). This right only applies in certain circumstances. Where it does apply, you have the right to request us to erase all of your personal information.
(d) Right to restrict processing: this right only applies in certain circumstances. Where it does apply, you have the right to request us to restrict the processing of your personal information.
(e) Right to data portability: this right allows you to request us to transfer your personal information to someone else.
(f) Right to object: you have the right to object to us processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes. You also have the right to object to us processing personal information where our legal reason for doing so is the Legitimate Interests Reason (see section 5 above) and there is something about your particular situation which means that you want to object to us processing your personal information. In certain circumstances you have the right to object to processing where such processing consists of profiling (including profiling for direct marketing).

10.2 In addition to the rights set out in section 10.1, where we rely on consent as the legal reason for using your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent. Further details about this are set out in section 5.5.

(a) we may need certain information from you so that we can verify your identity;
(b) we do not charge a fee for exercising your rights unless your request is unfounded or excessive; and
(c) if your request is unfounded or excessive then we may refuse to deal with your request.

Marketing

11.1 You may receive marketing from us about similar goods and services, where either you have consented to this, or we have another legal reason by which we can contact you for marketing purposes.

11.2 However, we will give you the opportunity to manage how or if we market to you. In any email which we send to you, we provide a link to either unsubscribe or opt-out, or to change your marketing preferences. To change your marketing preferences, and/or to request that we stop processing your personal information for marketing purposes , you can always contact us on the details set out at the beginning of this notice.

11.3 If you do request that we stop marketing to you, this will not prevent us from sending communications to you which are not to do with marketing (for example in relation to services which you have purchased from us).

11.4 We do not pass your personal information on to any third parties for marketing purposes.

11.5 Supportal Health will not use your survey responses or sensitive personal information to contact you for external marketing purposes.

Complaints

If you are unhappy about the way that we have handled or used your personal information, you have the right to complain to the UK supervisory authority for data protection, which is the Information Commissioner’s Office(ICO). Please do contact us in the first instance if you wish to raise any queries or make a complaint in respect of our handling or use of your personal information, so that we have the opportunity to discuss this with you and to take steps to resolve the position. You can contact us using the details set out at the beginning of this privacy notice.

Third Party Websites

Our website may contain links to third party websites. If you click and follow those links then these will take you to the third party website. Those third party websites may collect personal information from you and you will need to check their privacy notices to understand how your personal information is collected and used by them.