Privacy Policy
Last updated: 7 August 2026
1. Who we are
BetterCall.ie ("BetterCall", "we", "us") provides clinical reference tools and workflow features for qualified healthcare professionals in Ireland and the United Kingdom. That includes educational topics and calculators, personal tasks and portfolio-style tracking, team tasks and team chat, rota and calendar helpers, personal time tracking, jobs and agency recruitment surfaces, and a housing marketplace for doctors.
Contact: conor@bettercall.ie.
2. What this policy covers
This policy applies to the BetterCall.ie website, the BetterCall mobile apps (iOS and Android) when they communicate with our services, and Progressive Web App behaviour where applicable. Read it together with our GDPR information sheet, Terms of Use, and Medical disclaimer.
3. Categories of personal data
Depending on which features you use, we may process:
- Account and authentication: identifiers from your sign-in method (email/password, Google, or Sign in with Apple), such as user ID, display name, and email address. With Sign in with Apple you may use Apple's private relay email; we receive only what Apple provides for account operation.
- Clinical reference usage (signed-in): activity that supports in-app features (for example topics viewed, personal topic notes, tasks, or similar product data tied to your account). Guest topic notes may be stored only on your device until you sign in.
- Doctor / locum profile and documents: information and files you upload (for example CV, training certificates, referee contact details, professional identifiers).
- Portfolio and CPD: entries and evidence files you create or upload for portfolio-style and continuing professional development tracking.
- Jobs and applications: application materials, shared profile or documents where you opt in, and interview-related contact metadata submitted through BetterCall jobs or agency flows.
- Calendar and rota-style features: events and metadata you save or sync for scheduling or on-call tracking. On mobile, with your permission, we may read or write calendar events to display shifts alongside your personal calendar.
- Personal time tracking and location (optional, mobile): if you enable workplace auto clock-in, we process precise location (and, where the OS requires it, approximate location) so the app can detect arrival at or departure from a workplace you choose, auto clock you in, and prompt or clock you out when you leave. Workplace coordinates and related settings are stored on your device. Timesheet entries may include a location label you set or that is derived from that workplace. This feature is for your own personal timesheet; organisations and agencies cannot view your live location or timesheet through BetterCall.
- Team tasks and chat: shared ward or job lists, minimal patient labels, and related task data entered by team members. Team chat message content is end-to-end encrypted (stored as ciphertext); limited metadata (for example sender identifiers, timestamps, and task links) may still be processed for delivery and abuse prevention. Chat photos are stored as encrypted objects on our platform (not in your device photo library). Messages and chat photos are removed after 7 days. Hospital discovery (if you opt in) shows peers at your hospital your name, grade, specialty, and regulator number, never your phone.
- Housing marketplace: listing and seeker post content, photos, approximate location near hospitals, private address details where you provide them, and housing message threads between users.
- Reference requests: referee email addresses and related request metadata; transactional email may be sent through our email provider when configured.
- Support and feedback: content you send when contacting us or suggesting edits to clinical content.
- Push notifications (mobile): device push tokens stored to deliver shift, task, team, or product notifications you opt into.
- Technical data: standard server and security logs (IP address, user agent, timestamps) generated when you use the site or APIs.
4. Mobile app: device permissions
The mobile app may request device permissions only for features you use. You can deny permissions in system Settings; some features will not work without them.
- Camera and photos: for housing listing photos and other features you choose that need images from your device.
- Microphone: for voice input in features that support it (for example team chat on supported devices). Speech may be processed on-device by Apple or Google before text is used in the app.
- Location (including background access when enabled): used only for the optional personal timesheet workplace feature described above. We do not use location for advertising, analytics, or employer monitoring. You can pause or turn the feature off, and revoke location access, at any time in system Settings.
- Calendar: to sync shifts, on-call, and leave with your device calendar when you enable that feature.
- Face ID / Touch ID (optional): to lock the app locally after sign-in; biometric data stays on your device and is not sent to BetterCall.
5. Purposes and legal bases (summary)
We process personal data to provide the service you request, maintain security, improve reliability, and meet legal obligations. Typical bases include: contract (providing the platform to account holders), legitimate interests (securing accounts, debugging, proportionate product improvement, abuse prevention), and consent where we ask for it. Special category (health) data that may appear in team tasks or patient labels should only be processed with an appropriate Article 9 basis obtained by the responsible clinician or organisation. See the GDPR information sheet.
6. AI-assisted features
Some features (for example reference topic helpers, portfolio document checks, and job-related helpers) may use third-party AI services to generate suggestions. Those tools are not intended for identifiable patient information. Do not paste names, medical record numbers, dates of birth, or other patient identifiers into general AI helpers. Outputs may be incomplete or incorrect; you must review them before relying on them.
7. Advertising and tracking
BetterCall does not sell your personal data. We do not use your app activity for third-party advertising or cross-app tracking. We do not request Apple's App Tracking Transparency permission for advertising purposes. We may use first-party analytics (for example on the website and in the mobile app) to understand product reliability and usage at an aggregate level. We do not intentionally include patient health information in analytics events.
8. Recipients and subprocessors
We use infrastructure and service providers who process data on our instructions, including:
- Google: authentication, database and file storage, and AI services used for non-clinical helpers described above.
- Website and API hosting providers: delivery of the website and APIs, and related technical logs.
- Transactional email providers: emails such as referee invitations, account messages, and job-related notices when those features are enabled.
- Apple: when you use Sign in with Apple, Apple processes authentication according to their privacy policy; we receive tokens and account identifiers needed to operate your BetterCall account.
- Feedback form providers: when you submit topic suggestions or product feedback through our forms.
- Maps and geocoding providers: when housing or workplace map features need to place or display a location you provide.
Team task and related collaboration data is stored in the European Economic Area (or the United Kingdom where applicable under UK GDPR). Providers may process some technical or support data outside those regions; where required we rely on appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses) offered by the relevant vendor.
9. Retention
We keep information for as long as your account exists and as needed to provide features, comply with law, resolve disputes, and enforce our terms. Operational and security logs are kept for a limited period. Team chat messages and chat photos (encrypted on our platform) are retained for 7 days and then removed. Temporary on-device caches used only to display chat media are pruned on the same schedule and are not saved to your photo library. Team task and patient-label content may be subject to longer retention under healthcare law; teams and organisations using BetterCall remain responsible for statutory medical records retention where applicable.
10. Security
We apply technical and organisational measures appropriate to the nature of the service, including encryption of data in transit. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. You should protect your device and account credentials.
11. Your rights and account deletion
Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, port, or object to certain processing, and to withdraw consent where processing is consent-based. To exercise rights against BetterCall-held account data, contact conor@bettercall.ie.
You may delete your account and associated BetterCall account data from the mobile app (Profile → Close account permanently) or by contacting us. Residual copies may remain in backups for a limited time. If personal data remains in housing or similar features after account closure, contact conor@bettercall.ie and we will assist. For patient labels or team-task content entered by a hospital team, the healthcare organisation or clinician is typically the controller for clinical decisions and subject access requests; we will assist where we are permitted.
You may lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) at www.dataprotection.ie, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk if you are in the United Kingdom, or your local supervisory authority.
12. Children
BetterCall is intended for qualified healthcare professionals. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect children's personal data.
13. Changes
We will update this policy when practices change materially. The "Last updated" date reflects the latest revision. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance where permitted by law.