Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Mental Health in Men (mentalhealthinmen.com) is a free mental health awareness and support website for men in the UK. We are not a medical provider. References to "we", "us", or "our" refer to the operators of this website.

For privacy enquiries, contact us via our contact page.

2. What data we collect

We collect only the data you actively provide or that is generated by your use of the site:

• Newsletter sign-up: your email address and optional first name, used solely to send you our newsletter. We use a third-party email service to deliver these messages.
• Contact form: your name, email address, and message content, used to respond to your enquiry.
• Forum posts: any content you submit to our community forum. Posts may be anonymous. We store the text of posts and replies.
• Donations: payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe. We do not store your card details. We may receive a transaction reference and donation amount for our records.
• Analytics: we use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors use the site. GA4 collects anonymised data including pages visited, time on site, and approximate location (country level). Analytics are only loaded with your consent via our cookie banner.
• Cookies: we use essential cookies required for the site to function, and optional analytics cookies (GA4) loaded only with your consent.

3. Legal basis for processing (UK GDPR)

• Newsletter: consent (you opted in).
• Contact form: legitimate interests (responding to your enquiry).
• Forum: consent (you chose to post).
• Analytics: consent (via cookie banner).
• Donations: contract performance (processing your donation via Stripe).

4. How we use your data

We use your data only for the purpose it was collected:

• To send you our newsletter (if you subscribed).
• To respond to your contact form enquiry.
• To display your forum posts to other users.
• To process your donation via Stripe.
• To improve the site using anonymised analytics data.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

5. Third-party services

We use the following third-party services that may process your data:

• Stripe payment processing.
• Google Analytics 4 site analytics (consent-gated).

6. Data retention

• Newsletter subscribers: retained until you unsubscribe.
• Contact form messages: retained for up to 12 months.
• Forum posts: retained indefinitely unless you request deletion.
• Analytics data: retained per Google Analytics default settings (14 months).

7. Your rights (UK GDPR)

You have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate data.
• Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten").
• Withdraw consent at any time (e.g. unsubscribe from the newsletter).
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Lodge a complaint with the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) at ico.org.uk.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us.

8. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data. However, no internet transmission is completely secure. Please do not share sensitive personal or medical information via our contact form or forum.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact

For any privacy-related questions, please use our contact page.