At Alike, we're here to take the loneliness out of cancer through the power of community. Our app and website are spaces built for connection, where you can find others who understand what you’re going through and share your experiences safely.
This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, and protect the personal information you give us. It also outlines your rights and how to contact us if you have questions or concerns.
Alike is a UK-based charity, and all our data handling is governed by UK data protection law. While our work and partnerships sometimes reach international audiences, the Alike app itself is designed for people in the UK and is only distributed through UK app stores. We don’t actively promote or make the app available outside the UK.
We review and update this Privacy Notice regularly to keep it clear and to make sure it reflects any changes in what we do, how we handle data, or updates in the law. You’re always welcome to check back for updates, and if we make any significant changes that might affect you or your rights, we’ll do our best to let you know as soon as possible.
This Privacy Notice and our Terms of Use (EULA) apply to your use of:
The Alike app is designed for adults aged 18 and over. If you are under 18, you must not use the App, as it is not designed for you. We don’t knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.
Alike is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1181848). We act as a data controller under UK data protection law.
When we say “Alike”, “we”, “us” or “our” in this notice, we’re referring to the charity itself.
We’ve appointed a Data Privacy Manager, who oversees how we handle and protect your information. You can contact us by email or post if you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, want to exercise your data rights, or wish to make a complaint.
Email: privacy@alike.org.uk
Address: Data Privacy Manager, Alike, Soho Works, 180 The Strand, London, WC2R 1EA
Most of the information we collect comes straight from you. For example, when you sign up to use the Alike app, visit our website, make a donation, subscribe for updates, complete a survey, enter a competition, or get in touch with us.
We sometimes collect information from publicly available sources, like websites or LinkedIn. In some cases, we might also hear from other app users. For instance, if someone contacts us to raise a concern or report inappropriate behaviour or messages.
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to help us give you the best experience and to improve how our website works. These may collect information about your device, how you interact with our site, and your cookie preferences.
Where the law requires it, we’ll always ask for your consent before using cookies or similar technologies. You can manage your cookie preferences at any time.
The personal information we collect and use about you will depend on how you interact with us, for example, whether you visit our website or register as a user of our app.
In some cases, we need certain information so you can use our services or engage with us. In other situations, sharing your information is optional, and we’ll always make this clear. We’ll also let you know if choosing not to share specific details affects how you can use our services.
The types of personal information we collect, use, and store can include:
Under data protection law, some personal information is considered more sensitive and is given extra protection. This is known as ‘special category data’. It can include details about your health, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or political opinions.
Because Alike is designed for people living with or beyond cancer, we ask you to actively agree (give your consent) to share information about your cancer diagnosis when you register to use the app. This helps us create meaningful connections between people with similar experiences and is a key part of how our community works.
We also invite you to share information such as your ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation to help us make Alike as inclusive as possible. It is entirely your choice to share this information, and it will never appear on your public profile.
When using the Alike app, you can choose whether to share your location. If you select “Allow location access,” we collect a one-time-only latitude and longitude coordinate, which is immediately converted into the name of your town or city (for example, Manchester, Truro, or London).
We only store the name of your town or city, not your exact coordinates. This location will appear on your profile and can be changed or removed at any time.
Messages sent through the Alike app are encrypted. We encourage you to think carefully about the personal information you share with others in our community, and to follow our Acceptable Use and Content Standards, which are explained in our Terms of Use (EULA).
In rare situations, we may need to access encrypted messages if we are legally required to do so, or if it’s necessary to protect someone’s safety or investigate a serious concern.
We collect, use, and share aggregated information that may be based on personal data but does not identify you directly or indirectly. For example, we might look at how many users are accessing a particular feature on our app or website.
If we ever combine or link aggregated data in a way that could identify you, we’ll treat it as personal information and handle it in line with this Privacy Notice.
We only use your personal information when we have a lawful reason to do so. In most cases, this will be for one of the following reasons:
It’s important to us that you know we don’t sell, rent, or share your personal information for advertising or commercial purposes. We take our responsibility for the information you share seriously.
The table below explains in more detail how we use your information and the lawful basis we rely on for each activity.
Purpose / activityLawful basis under UK GDPRTo register you as a user and provide our services to you.To fulfil a contract with you. To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations. For our legitimate interests (to minimise the risk of account or identity theft or fraud).To manage our relationship with you, including your use of our website or app, and to notify you of changes.To fulfil a contract with you. Necessary for our legitimate interests. Necessary to comply with legal and regulatory obligations.To send you updates about our community and services.With your consent.To administer and protect our organisation, website, and app — including troubleshooting, data analysis, and system testing. To customise our website and its content based on your preferences or usage. To analyse how people use our website and ensure it works as intended.With your consent, where required by law. Necessary for our legitimate interests (for running our organisation, providing administration and IT services, maintaining network and website security, safeguarding our users, and testing or upgrading our services).To protect the security of systems and data used to provide our services.To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations. We may also do so beyond our legal obligations, where it’s in our legitimate interests to protect systems and data and to prevent and detect criminal activity.To enable you to take part in a prize draw, competition, or survey.To fulfil a contract with you. Necessary for our legitimate interests.To enable our staff to provide helpline and customer support services.Necessary for our legitimate interests.For research and analysis to help improve our app, website, and services.Necessary for our legitimate interests.To enforce legal rights or handle legal proceedings.To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations. In other cases, for our legitimate interests (to protect our business, interests, and rights).To carry out disclosures and other activities required to comply with legal or regulatory obligations (e.g. keeping a record of your consent).To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.
If you’ve given us your consent, we’ll use your information to send you updates about our community, events, opportunities, and activities. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails or by contacting us at privacy@alike.org.uk.
We’ll always treat your information with respect and will never share it for marketing or commercial purposes without your consent.
If you choose to make a donation to Alike, we’ll direct you to JustGiving to complete your payment. We don’t collect or store any of your financial details.
We keep records of donations received in line with our legal and regulatory requirements.
You have a number of rights under UK data protection law. These give you more control over your personal information and how it’s used.
You have the right to:
If you’d like to exercise any of these rights or have a question about how we use your information, please email privacy@alike.org.uk.
We may need to ask for proof of identity to make sure we’re speaking to the right person. We’ll respond as soon as possible, and always within one calendar month.
If you’re worried about how we’ve handled your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it together. If you’re still unhappy, you have the right to raise a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
You can contact the ICO online at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or by calling 0303 123 1113.
We work with trusted service providers who help us run Alike. This includes partners who support our app and website, send email communications, produce analytics, or help us run surveys.
These service providers only handle your personal information when it is relevant to the services they provide and only ever on our behalf. We have appropriate contracts in place to make sure your information stays protected.
Where a service provider is based outside the UK, we take steps to ensure your information is safeguarded to UK standards. This may include using a recognised adequacy decision or EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) with the UK Addendum. If you would like more information about this, please email privacy@alike.org.uk.
We only share personal information when it is necessary and appropriate. This may include sharing limited information with professional advisers who help us operate responsibly, such as lawyers, bankers, auditors, insurers, or regulators like the Charity Commission and HM Revenue & Customs.
We may also disclose personal information to law enforcement agencies, courts, or regulators if required to meet legal or regulatory obligations.
If Alike were ever to merge, restructure, or transfer part of its operations, we may need to share relevant information with prospective or new partners as part of that process. Any new organisation would be required to handle your information in line with this Privacy Notice.
App users can choose to log in using Apple ID or Google Sign-In. These are managed by Apple and Google, who process authentication data according to their own privacy notices.
Our website and app may include links to other websites or services. Once you leave Alike’s website or app, this Privacy Notice no longer applies. We encourage you to read the privacy notices of any other organisations you interact with to understand how they handle your information.
We take the security of your information seriously. All personal details you provide to us are stored on secure cloud servers.
If we give you (or you create) a password to access certain parts of the website or app, please keep it private and do not share it with anyone.
Once we receive your information, we use strict procedures and security features to protect it from being accidentally lost, accessed, or used in an unauthorised way.
We have clear processes in place to respond to any suspected data breach. If a breach occurs, we will notify you and the relevant authorities when required by law.
We keep your personal information for as long as it’s needed for the purposes we collected it for. The length of time we keep it depends on your relationship with us and our legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, and reporting obligations.
We may keep your information for longer if there’s a complaint or if we reasonably believe there could be a legal dispute relating to our relationship with you.
When your information is no longer required, we delete or securely dispose of it in line with our data retention policy.
If you stop using the Alike app for an extended period, we may consider your account inactive and delete your personal information.
If you’d like to know more about how long we keep specific types of information, please email privacy@alike.org.uk.
Thank you for taking the time to read our Privacy Notice. We know data protection can be a maze, but we wanted to lay it out clearly for you. Your trust means everything to us, and we take it seriously.
If you ever have a question or want to talk to us about how we handle your information, please email privacy@alike.org.uk. We’re always happy to help.