Privacy Policy

Introduction

We take our responsibilities in looking after your data very seriously. This privacy notice explains what personal information we collect about you, how we, and our Group may use it and the steps we take to ensure that it is kept secure. We also explain your rights and how to contact us.

We have developed our systems and processes to ensure that we meet or exceed the standards set out both under data protection law and in line with the Caldicott principles.

Changes to this privacy notice

PharmacyX keeps its privacy notice under regular review and we may make changes to this notice at any time and will either contact you with the modified terms or by posting a copy of them on our website. Any changes will take effect 3 days after the date on which we post the updated terms. Your continued use of our services after that period expires means that you agree to be bound by the modified notice.

What types of information do we collect?

We collect information that you give us to process your order and to better understand how our services are used. We’ve outlined the main types of information that we handle below. There are some essential pieces of information that we require in order to process your prescriptions. If you fail to provide this information we will be unable to process your prescriptions for you or the person you are account holder for. If you are an account holder acting on behalf of another patient, you may be providing data on behalf of that patient. Before we can do this we will make sure that we have the right authorisation in place.

References to “your” or “you” in this privacy notice will refer to both you or the patient you are acting on behalf of as relevant.

• Personal information - such as name, address, date of birth and GP details.
• Contact information - including phone number and email address. Your email address will be shared with our live chat platform, Intercom. You can read about Intercom’s security credentials here.
• NHS Number
• Details regarding the medication you require - this includes information about your health that is considered sensitive.
• Exemption details - if you do not pay for your prescriptions.
• Electronic proof of your consent - so that PharmacyX can request prescriptions on your behalf.
• Payment details - for prescription charges if you pay for your medication. Please note that PharmacyX does not store your credit/debit card details, which are instead managed by our payment handler Stripe.
• Preferred delivery address information and contact details - which we pass on to Royal Mail to facilitate delivery. Please note that we will never share any other information with Royal Mail.

Using NHS Login

Please note that if you access our service using your NHS login details, the identity verification services are managed by NHS England. NHS England is the controller for any personal information you provided to NHS England to get an NHS login account and verify your identity, and uses that personal information solely for that single purpose. For this personal information, our role is a “processor” only and we must act under the instructions provided by NHS England (as the “controller”) when verifying your identity. To see NHS Login’s Privacy Notice and Terms and Conditions, please click here. This restriction does not apply to the personal information you provide to us separately.

Using CIS2

Please note that if you access our service using your NHS Care Identity credentials, the identity access and management services are managed by NHS Digital. NHS Digital is the controller for any personal information you provided to NHS Digital to get a national digital identity and authenticate your claim to that identity, and uses that personal information solely for that single purpose. For any personal information, our role is a “processor” only and we must act under the instructions provided by NHS Digital (as the “controller”) when verifying your identity. To see NHS Digital’s Privacy Notice and Terms and Conditions, please click here.

This restriction does not apply to the personal information you provide to us separately which is managed in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

PDS FHIR API

If you are receiving care from a health or care organisation, that organisation may share your NHS number with other organisations providing your care. This is so that the health and care organisations are using the same number to identify you whilst providing your care. By using the same number the health and care organisations can work together more closely to improve your care and support.

Your NHS number is accessed through an NHS Digital service called the Personal Demographic Service (PDS). A health or care organisation sends basic information such as your name, address and date of birth to the PDS in order to find your NHS number. Once retrieved from the PDS, the NHS number is stored in our case management system. These data are retained in line with our record retention policies and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, Government record retention regulations and best practice. Further information is available on our website.

We will share information only to provide health and care professionals directly involved in your care access to the most up-to-date information about you. Access to information is strictly controlled, based on the role of the professional, and where the user has a direct care relationship with you.

The use of joined up information across health and social care brings many benefits. One specific example where this will be the case is the discharge of patients into social care. Delays in discharge (commonly known as bed blocking) can occur because details of social care involvement are not readily available to the staff on the hospital ward. The hospital does not know who to contact to discuss the ongoing care of a patient. The linking of social care and health information via the NHS number will help hospital staff quickly identify if social care support is already in place and who the most appropriate contact is. Ongoing care can be planned earlier in the process, because hospital staff will know who to talk to.

You have the right to object to the processing of your NHS number in this way. This will not stop you from receiving care, but will result in the benefits outlined above not being realised. To help you decide, we will discuss with you how this may affect our ability to provide you with care, and any other options that you have.

If you wish to opt-out from the use of your NHS number in this way, you can contact us by emailing administrator@pharmacyx.com.

How do we collect your information?

We collect your information when you provide it to us through the PharmacyX website or when you communicate with us in other ways.

• Personal information - collected upon completing the registration to use PharmacyX
• Contact information - collected upon completing the registration to use PharmacyX.
• NHS Number
• Details regarding the medication you require - from your GP.
• Your registered GP practice, collected from you and verified against NHS Personal Demographic service when you place orders with us.
• Exemption details - collected upon completing the registration to use PharmacyX. If details are not entered during registration they will only be collected once the user enters them.
• Electronic proof of your consent - collected upon completing the registration to use PharmacyX.
• Payment details - collected at the point of payment or when you save your payment details to your account.
• Preferred delivery address information and contact details - collected at the point of the prescription request.
• Your GP’s address - collected upon completing the registration to use PharmacyX.
• Behavioural data - collected once you have completed the registration to use PharmacyX and throughout the time you use PharmacyX.
• Technical information - collected once you have completed the registration to use PharmacyX and throughout the time you use PharmacyX.

Why do we process your information?

In general, we only collect your information to provide you with our services – to help you order and keep track of your prescriptions and to dispense your prescriptions. We take our data protection responsibilities very seriously and will only process your information where we have a lawful basis for doing so. This will be the case if:

• You have given us your consent to process the data.
• We need to process the data to perform our contractual obligations or to take steps to enter a contract (for example, we need certain contact details and details of your prescription in order to provide the service to you).
• We have to process your information to meet our legal obligations as a data controller (such as VAT and tax accounting rules).
• We have a legitimate interest in processing your data (this includes things like improving our service by collecting behavioural information to see what actions are taken within the app, auditing and investigation of any issues).

We collect and process your information for a variety of purposes, but our main purpose is to provide the services you request. These include:

• Storing your data in databases so that we can create and maintain your account.
• Verifying your identity so that we can complete your registration
• Communicating with GP surgeries and internally so that your orders can be processed and your prescriptions dispensed.
• Auditing and analysis of your data, in particular to help us respond to issues and improve our services.
• Managing returns and confidential waste.
• Communicating to you via in-app messaging services and logging these communications to ensure we give you the best customer experience.
• Communicating to you via email, push alerts and in-app notifications so that you are fully updated with the progress of your order and any related communications.
• On the rare occasion, we may need to contact you by phone; this would only be in relation to your order or a query you have raised.

Please be aware if you are uncomfortable with the methods of communication we may use to send information to you that have been outlined directly above, please do not use this service.

Who your data is shared with

We do not sell, trade or rent your information to third parties. We will never share your information with any third parties for marketing or advertising without your consent.

We will share your information to service providers or third parties working on our behalf, or to meet certain other requirements, such as to comply with the law or with our regulators. There are three types of organisations we share with:

SERVICE RELATED: Sharing the minimum information necessary to provide a service to you, for example, we will need to share your address with Royal Mail to get your prescriptions delivered.

MARKETING: Sharing limited information with third parties to target advertising so that they reach the right people, for example with Google Ads.

ANALYTICS: Sharing statistical information to analyse and improve our services, for example with Google Analytics.

For further information about who your personal information is shared with, please get in contact with us using the details at the end of this notice.

How your data is kept secure

PharmacyX recognises the importance of keeping safe and secure the information collected about you. We have put in place effective security features. We use SSL encryption to transfer your information between your device and our servers. Access to this information is restricted to authorised people.

Do we transfer your data to other countries?

Given the worldwide nature of online communications and services, it is very common for users’ data on sites like ours to be transferred outside of the country in which it was collected. For example, the servers which host our sites could be located abroad. Where we transfer your data to countries outside of the UK to service providers and subcontractors in countries we check whether the data protection laws provide the same level of protection as those in the European Economic Area, such as the USA. Data transfers within the European Economic Area are covered by an adequacy decision of the European Commission (Article 45 GDPR). Where this is not the case, for example, when it comes to transfers to the USA, any data transfers are based on standard data protection clauses/standard contractual clauses in line with the templates adopted by the European Commission which puts into place the same safeguards as we have within the UK.

The same applies to external service providers who work on behalf of us (for example IT service providers or data centres) or third parties, insofar as they come into contact with your personal data and are based in third countries. Otherwise, we do not transfer your personal data to countries outside the EU or the EEA or to international organisations.

Retaining your data

We will not store or process your data for any longer than necessary. In general we only retain your data for as long as is necessary so that we can provide you the services you request, meet our legal obligations (such as rules on the retention of medical data) and defend claims made against us.

For more information about our retention periods, please contact us at admin@pharmacyx.co.uk

How we use cookies on our website

PharmacyX uses a technology called ‘cookies’ across all of its websites to deliver the best possible user experience. Cookies are files that are stored on your device every time you visit a website and enable us to understand your preferences and habits. Cookies do not contain person-identifiable information such as medical information, credit/debit card or personal contact details. Our websites are set to ‘allow cookies’ and if you browse our sites you consent to this. If you would prefer to deactivate cookies, you can do so by updating your browser settings. Please note that disabling cookies will limit the service that we can provide. For more information on how to update your settings, visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website here.

PharmacyX uses three types of cookies:

• Session cookies: These enable us to track your movement across our websites and save information to make life easier. For instance, a session cookie might save an item to your shopping basket, without which you would be forced to order each item separately.
• Persistent cookies: These enable us to remember your preferences and settings each time you visit our websites. This makes using the site faster and reduces the need to re-enter data.
• Third party cookies: These enable us to track user activity outside our websites and better optimise marketing campaigns and analytics.

Your data, your choice

At PharmacyX, we want to make sure you find it easy to access and amend the data we hold about you. Subject to limitations, you also have certain rights in relation to the data we hold.

The right to be informed: You have the right to be provided with clear, transparent and easily understandable information about how we use your information and your rights. One way we do this by providing you with the information in this Privacy Notice.

Right to make a subject access request: You have the right to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you. If you would like to do this you can write to the Data Protection Officer at admin@pharmacyx.co.uk. We may ask you to submit proof of your identity.

The right to rectification: You are entitled to have your information corrected if it is inaccurate or incomplete. You can update your profile by going to Setting > Personal information or otherwise by contacting us on admin@pharmacyx.co.uk

The right to withdraw consent: If you have given your consent to anything we do with your information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Please note that withdrawing your consent does not make unlawful what we have done with your personal data up to that point (when your consent was active) and you may not be able to benefit from certain features of the services we offer.

The right to restrict processing: You have rights to ‘block’ or suppress further use of your information. When processing is restricted, we can still store your information, but will not use it further.

The right to object to processing: You have the right to object to certain types of processing, including processing for direct marketing (like receiving information about products and services which may be of interest to you via email or post).

The right to erasure: This is also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’ and, in simple terms, enables you to request the deletion or removal of your information that we hold.

The right to data portability: You have the right to obtain and reuse your information for your own purposes across different services. To our best ability we will provide your information in an easily accessible format.

The right to lodge a complaint: We suggest that you contact us about any questions or if you have a complaint in relation to how we process your personal data so that we can help or put it right. However, you do have the right to contact the relevant supervisory authority directly. To contact the Information Commissioner’s Office, the supervisory authority in the United Kingdom, please visit the ICO website for instructions. https://ico.org.uk.

For more information on how to exercise your rights, you can email our Data Protection Officer at admin@pharmacyx.co.uk.

Exercising your rights is free and we will respond to any request as quickly as we can. Under current law, we have up to a calendar month to respond to any request. If we are not able to meet this, we’ll contact you to explain why and confirm when your request will be processed.

How to contact us

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, please contact us by email at admin@pharmacyx.co.uk