Our Core Privacy Pledge
We recognize that living with HIV involves deeply sensitive personal information. HIVSupportUK.com will never sell, rent, monetize, or publicly disclose your personal identity or health data. We apply privacy-by-design principles across all server architecture, messaging, and community interactions.
1. Who We Are (Data Controller)
For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, the data controller for your personal information is HIVSupportUK.com (referred to as "we", "us", or "our").
If you have any questions regarding your data rights or wish to exercise statutory erasure or access rights, you may contact our appointed Data Protection Officer at: bond@hsvbuddies.com.
2. Special Category Data (Health Status)
Under Article 9 of the UK GDPR, data concerning health is classified as Special Category Data requiring heightened safeguards. By creating an account on HIVSupportUK.com, you provide your explicit, informed, and revocable consent for us to process your community interaction preferences and communication history for the sole purpose of peer connection and support.
You may withdraw this consent at any moment by closing your account through your account settings or emailing our compliance team.
3. Information We Collect
- Account Credentials: Pseudonymous screen name, email address, and hashed/salted passwords (we never store plain text passwords).
- Profile Attributes: Approximate UK city/region (e.g. London, West Midlands, Scotland), age bracket, personal passions/interests, and lifestyle bio snippets that you voluntarily share.
- Privacy Visibility Settings: Your choice of full portrait photos, half-face privacy masks, or private password-locked photo albums.
- Technical Telemetry: Minimal session timestamps, IP addresses (stored in encrypted temporary logs for abuse prevention), and browser user agents solely for platform stability and bot protection.
4. What We NEVER Do With Your Data
- We do not sell, broker, or syndicate member data to third-party advertisers, insurance providers, or data aggregators.
- We do not embed invasive third-party cross-site advertising tracking pixels (such as Meta Pixel or TikTok pixels).
- We do not share your identity with employers, NHS clinical databases, or government agencies unless legally compelled by a binding UK court order.
5. Data Security & Storage
All traffic to HIVSupportUK.com is encrypted in transit using modern TLS 1.3 encryption with strict HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS). All user databases are encrypted at rest using industry-standard AES-256 bit encryption hosted in secure, UK-based data centers.
6. Your UK GDPR Statutory Rights
Under UK data protection laws, you retain full ownership of your data, including:
Right to Erasure ("To Be Forgotten")
Permanently purge your account, photos, and messages within 48 hours of request.
Right of Access (Subject Access Request)
Receive a complete, machine-readable export of all personal data held about you.
Right to Rectification
Update or correct any inaccurate profile information instantaneously.
Right to Object & Restrict
Restrict processing of specific communication preferences or features.
7. Cookie Policy & Local Storage
HIVSupportUK.com strictly uses essential session cookies and local storage tokens required to keep you securely signed in and preserve your theme and privacy preferences. We do not use third-party behavioral advertising cookies.
8. Supervisory Authority (ICO)
If you believe your data protection rights have been infringed, you have the right to lodge a formal complaint with the UK supervisory authority:
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113 | Website: ico.org.uk