At Understand Health, we respect your privacy and explain clearly how we collect, use and protect information when you read our health news and wellness guidance.
1. Introduction
Understand Health (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates understandhealth.co, a Singapore-based health information website. We publish articles and news on health topics for general (lay) readers and offer a free newsletter.
This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect from visitors, subscribers, and anyone who contacts us, how we use and protect it, and what rights you have, in accordance with Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA). It applies to understandhealth.co and any related services we operate (such as our newsletter). By browsing the site, subscribing, or submitting a form, you acknowledge the practices described in this policy.
2. Information We Collect
Information you give us directly
- Name and email address, when you subscribe to our newsletter
- Name, email address, and message content, when you use our Contact Us form
- Any name, email, or comment text you submit if commenting is enabled on an article
Information collected automatically
- IP address, browser and device type, operating system
- Pages viewed, time on page, referring website, and general (city/country-level) location
- Interactions with our newsletter, such as opens and link clicks, where our email platform reports this
We do not ask for or knowingly collect sensitive personal data (such as NRIC/FIN numbers, financial account details, or health records) through the site. Please do not include this kind of information in a contact form message or comment.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information described above to:
- Send newsletter issues and health content updates to subscribers, who may unsubscribe at any time via the link in every email
- Respond to enquiries submitted through our Contact Us form
- Understand how visitors use the site, so we can improve our content, navigation, and user experience
- Measure traffic and engagement through analytics tools
- Serve advertising through our advertising network partners, which helps keep our content free to read
- Maintain the security and proper functioning of the site
- Comply with legal obligations, and respond to lawful requests from public authorities
4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Like most websites, we use cookies and similar technologies (such as web beacons and local storage) to run the site and understand how it is used. These generally fall into three groups:
- Essential cookies – needed for core site functionality, such as remembering your cookie preferences or keeping a form submission working
- Analytics cookies – such as Google Analytics, which help us see how many people visit, which pages they read, and how they found the site
- Advertising cookies – set by our ad network partners (see Section 5) to show ads and measure their performance
You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings, and most browsers let you block cookies from specific sites. Blocking cookies may affect how parts of the site work, such as remembering your preferences. Where required, we will show a cookie consent banner on your first visit so you can choose which non-essential cookies to allow.
5. Advertising and Third-Party Ad Networks
We display advertising to support free access to our articles. Ads are delivered through one or more third-party advertising network partners. These partners, and the advertisers and ad exchanges they work with, may:
- Use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your visit to this and other websites
- Collect information about your device and browsing activity for ad measurement and personalisation
- Allow you to opt out of personalised advertising through their own tools and industry opt-out pages (such as the Digital Advertising Alliance or Your Online Choices)
6. Third-Party Service Providers
We use a small number of service providers to run the site, each of which processes personal data on our behalf under their own privacy terms:
| Provider | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Hostinger | Website hosting |
| Google Analytics / Search Console | Site traffic and performance analytics |
| Email service provider | Newsletter delivery and subscriber management |
| WPForms | Contact form submissions |
| Advertising network | Advertising delivery and measurement |
We choose providers that offer appropriate safeguards for personal data, and we only share what each service needs to perform its function.
7. Data Sharing and Disclosure
We do not sell your personal data. We disclose it only:
- To the service providers listed in Section 6, so they can perform the functions we use them for
- When required by law, regulation, court order, or a lawful request from a public authority
- To protect the rights, property, or safety of Understand Health, our readers, or the public
- In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, in which case we will notify you before your data is transferred or becomes subject to a different privacy policy
8. Data Retention
We keep personal data only for as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected, or as required by law:
- Newsletter subscriber details are kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them
- Contact form messages are kept for as long as needed to handle the enquiry, then archived or deleted within a reasonable period
- Analytics data is retained according to our analytics provider’s default settings (Google Analytics currently defaults to 14 months for user-level data)
9. Your Rights Under Singapore’s PDPA
Under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012, you have the right to:
- Ask what personal data we hold about you and how it is used
- Ask us to correct inaccurate or outdated personal data
- Withdraw your consent to our collection, use, or disclosure of your personal data (for example, by unsubscribing from the newsletter)
- Ask us to stop collecting, using, or disclosing your personal data, subject to any legal or contractual restrictions that may apply
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 13. We will verify your request and respond within a reasonable time, as required by the PDPA. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of anything we did with your data before the withdrawal.
10. Children’s Privacy
Understand Health is intended for a general adult audience and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can remove it.
11. Data Security
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction, including HTTPS encryption on the site and restricted access to systems that hold subscriber or contact data. No method of transmission or storage over the internet is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, tools, or legal requirements, including our Editorial Policy and Terms of Use, which this document should be read alongside once published. The “Last Updated” date at the top of the page will show when it was last revised. Continuing to use the site after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.
13. Contact Us
If you have questions, requests, or complaints about how we handle personal data, contact us at:
Email: team@understandhealth.co