Draft - pending legal review. This is the customized template from our policy pack. The highlighted [items] await the clinic's details, and the final wording should be confirmed by a qualified UAE legal adviser before launch.
About the clinic
- Legal entity
- Alter Health LLC
- Trading name
- Alter Health
- Licence / authority
- 4866695 · DHA (Dubai Health Authority)
- MOHAP advertisement approval
- Pending regulatory review
- Address
- Beach Park Plaza, Jumeirah 2, Dubai, UAE
- Telephone
- +971 54 223 7400
- +971 54 223 7400
- [Email]
- Website
- alterhealthclinic.com
1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how Alter Health (“the Clinic”) handles personal information in connection with our website and the ways you contact us.
We have deliberately kept the amount of information we collect small. Our website is an information resource. It does not have contact forms, online booking, a patient portal, or online payments. Any personal information we hold about you is information you chose to give us when you called, messaged or emailed the Clinic.
This Policy covers our website and digital contact channels. It does not replace our separate legal, professional and ethical obligations of patient confidentiality, which continue to apply to your medical records and your care.
2. What we collect
When you contact the Clinic by telephone, WhatsApp or email, we typically collect:
- Your name
- Your telephone number and, if you email us, your email address
- The reason you are contacting us, in general terms - for example the service you are asking about
- Your appointment preferences, such as preferred date, time or practitioner
Some people choose to include health information in a message to us - for example describing symptoms. See section 4 below.
When you simply browse our website, our hosting provider automatically records standard technical information such as your IP address, browser type, device type, the pages you viewed and the time of your visit. Cookies may also be used. This is covered in our Cookie Policy.
3. What we do not collect
To be explicit, because it matters:
- We do not operate contact forms or enquiry forms on the website
- We do not offer online booking or a patient portal
- We do not take payments through the website
- We do not require you to create an account
- We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for advertising purposes
4. Contacting us by WhatsApp
WhatsApp is one of the main ways patients reach us. We use it for appointments, general questions and, where you ask us to, for sending documents such as test results or reports.
WhatsApp is operated by Meta. Messages are carried and may be stored on infrastructure outside the United Arab Emirates. WhatsApp applies end-to-end encryption to message content, but it is not a clinical system and it sits outside the Clinic's control. We want you to understand that before you use it.
Messages you send us. Many patients describe symptoms or send photographs when they message us. If you do, that information is treated as confidential health information, is seen only by authorised staff, and is added to your records where it is clinically relevant. Our team cannot assess a condition over WhatsApp, so we will arrange for a clinician to speak with you.
Documents we send you. We will send test results, reports or scans over WhatsApp only if you have asked us to, and only to the number you have confirmed with us. If you would prefer to receive results by telephone, by email, or by collecting them in person, tell us and we will do that instead. You can change this preference at any time.
Only authorised Clinic staff have access to the Clinic's WhatsApp account. We keep conversation history for approximately 12 months.
If you would rather not use WhatsApp at all, please call or email us instead.
5. Why we use your information, and on what basis
We use the information you give us to:
- Respond to your enquiry
- Arrange, confirm, reschedule or cancel appointments
- Contact you about an appointment you have made
- Keep basic administrative records of enquiries and bookings
- Meet our legal, regulatory and professional obligations as a licensed healthcare provider
We rely on one or more of the following: your consent; the fact that processing is necessary in order to take steps you have requested, such as booking an appointment; and compliance with a legal obligation that applies to us.
Where we hold information about your health, we treat it as sensitive and process it only where you have clearly provided it to us for the purpose of your care or your enquiry.
6. Marketing
We will only send you promotional messages, newsletters or health campaign updates if you have asked to receive them. Appointment reminders and administrative messages are not marketing and will be sent regardless.
You can opt out of marketing at any time by replying to any such message, or by contacting us at [Privacy email]. We will action it promptly and without penalty.
7. Who else sees your information
We share personal information only where it is necessary, and only with:
- Service providers who operate systems on our behalf, such as our website hosting provider, telephony provider and IT support
- Our professional advisers, where necessary and under a duty of confidentiality
- Health authorities, regulators, insurers or law enforcement, where we are legally required or permitted to do so
Service providers act on our instructions and are not permitted to use your information for their own purposes.
8. Information leaving the UAE
Some of the services we rely on are provided by companies based outside the United Arab Emirates. In particular, WhatsApp messages are processed by Meta outside the UAE, and our website hosting or analytics providers may be located abroad.
Where information is transferred outside the UAE, we take reasonable steps to ensure it remains protected, including using established providers and appropriate contractual protections.
Health information generated in the course of your care is handled separately from the website, in accordance with the healthcare data requirements that apply to licensed providers in the UAE.
9. How long we keep it
We keep enquiry and appointment contact information for approximately 24 months from your last contact with us, after which it is deleted or anonymised.
WhatsApp conversation history is kept for approximately 12 months.
Website server logs are kept for a short period for security and troubleshooting purposes.
If you become a patient of the Clinic, your clinical records are kept separately and for longer, because healthcare regulations require it. That retention is governed by those regulations, not by this Policy.
10. Keeping information safe
We use appropriate organizational and technical measures to protect personal information, including restricting access to staff who need it, using access controls on Clinic devices and accounts, and training our team on confidentiality.
No method of electronic communication or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we take our responsibilities here seriously.
If a security incident occurs that affects your personal information and is likely to cause you harm, we will notify you and the relevant authority as required by law.
11. Your rights
Subject to applicable law, you may ask us to:
- Give you a copy of the personal information we hold about you
- Correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete
- Delete information we no longer need
- Stop or limit how we use your information
- Withdraw your consent, where we relied on it
- Object to how we are using your information
To make a request, contact us at [Privacy email] or +971 54 223 7400. We will respond within one month. If your request is complex and we need longer, we will tell you and explain why.
There is no charge for making a request. We may need to verify your identity before we act on it.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first and we will try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the UAE Data Office.
12. Children
Where an enquiry or appointment concerns a child under 18, we expect it to be made by a parent, guardian or other authorised adult. Our website is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect information directly from them.
13. Other websites
Our website may link to other websites, such as health authority pages or social media. We are not responsible for how those sites handle your information. Please read their privacy notices.
14. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy from time to time. The current version is always published on our website with the date it took effect. If we make a change that materially affects how we use your information, we will take reasonable steps to bring it to your attention.
15. Contact us
If you have any questions about this Policy or about how we handle your information, contact us at [Privacy email], call +971 54 223 7400, or write to us at Beach Park Plaza, Jumeirah 2, Dubai, UAE.