Last updated: 21 April 2026

Bugwatch is a public‑health intelligence project designed to help communities understand patterns of infectious illness. We take your privacy seriously. This notice explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the steps we take to protect your anonymity.

1. About Bugwatch

Bugwatch is an anonymous symptom‑reporting platform that produces aggregated infection trends and heatmaps. It operates solely for public‑health purposes.

Bugwatch does not provide medical diagnosis or personalised clinical advice.
If you are unwell or concerned about your symptoms, please seek medical help.

2. What Information We Collect

Bugwatch collects only the minimum information required for population‑level surveillance.

2.1 Information you provide

• Symptoms you select
• Date of your report
• Approximate location (e.g., town, region, or fuzzed coordinates)
• Optional free‑text notes (automatically sanitised to remove personal identifiers)

2.2 Information we do not collect

Bugwatch does not ask for or store:

• Your name
• Your address
• Email or phone number
• NHS number
• Exact GPS location
• Device identifiers
• Cookies for tracking or advertising
• Any information that directly identifies you

Standard server logs (e.g., IP address) may be processed for security purposes but are not linked to symptom reports.

3. How Your Data Is Used

Your anonymised data is used to:

• Update the public infection heatmap
• Monitor trends in symptoms and illness
• Support early detection of outbreaks
• Inform public‑health research and planning
• Improve the Bugwatch service

Your data is never used for:

• Marketing
• Advertising
• Profiling
• Automated decision‑making about you
• Selling to third parties

4. Location Privacy

Protecting your location is a core design principle.

Bugwatch uses:

• Fuzzed coordinates (rounded or offset before storage)
• Regional aggregation (no individual points shown on the map)
• Minimum necessary precision (e.g., city or region, not street level)

We never display or store exact locations.

5. Red‑Flag Symptoms and Safety

If you report symptoms that may indicate a medical emergency, Bugwatch will:

• Display an urgent safety message
• Provide guidance on seeking appropriate care
• Not log the report as an infectious illness
• Not include the report in the heatmap or dataset

This protects both your safety and the integrity of the public‑health data.

6. Legal Basis for Processing

Bugwatch processes data under the following lawful bases:

• Public Task – supporting population‑level health surveillance and early detection of unusual illness patterns.
• Legitimate Interests – improving the accuracy, safety, and usefulness of the Bugwatch service.
• Scientific and Statistical Research – analysing anonymised trends to support public‑health understanding.

Because Bugwatch does not store identifiable data, many individual data‑protection rights (such as access or deletion of specific reports) cannot be applied.

7. Data Retention and Deletion

• Bugwatch collects no personal data and stores no information that can identify you.

• Symptom reports are fully anonymous and cannot be linked back to any individual.

• Because reports cannot be associated with a person, individual deletion is not possible – there is no way to know which report belongs to whom.

• Anonymous symptom reports are retained indefinitely, as long‑term data is essential for tracking seasonal patterns, monitoring trends, and supporting public‑health research.

• Free‑text notes are automatically sanitised to remove any accidental identifiers before storage.

• You may request deletion of any associated technical data (such as security‑related logs), and we will remove all information that can reasonably be identified within 30 days.

• This approach follows the standard model used by anonymous public‑health surveillance systems, where GDPR retention limits do not apply because no personal data is processed.

8. Sharing Your Data

Bugwatch may share aggregated, anonymised data with:

• Public‑health bodies
• Academic researchers
• Local authorities
• NHS partners
• International health organisations

We do not share raw, individual‑level reports.
We do not share data with advertisers or commercial partners.

9. Security Measures

We use industry‑standard security practices, including:

• Encrypted connections (HTTPS)
• Secure UK/EU‑based servers
• Strict access controls
• Regular privacy and security reviews
• Data minimisation by design

Only aggregated, anonymised data is publicly visible.

10. Children and Young People

Bugwatch is suitable for people aged 13 and over.
Younger users should submit reports with the support of a parent or guardian.

11. Your Rights

Because Bugwatch does not store identifiable information, we cannot:

• Retrieve your past reports
• Delete individual entries
• Provide copies of your data

You have the right to:

• Understand what we collect
• Understand how we use it
• Decline to submit a report
• Contact us with concerns
•  

12. Changes to This Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time.
Significant changes will be highlighted on the Bugwatch website.