Provisional version — under legal review. Last updated: 15 October 2026.

Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal data NearDoctor collects when you use the patient app (NearDoctor), the doctor app (NearDoctor Médico) or the website neardoctor.pt, why we use it, who we share it with and what rights you have. If anything is unclear, write to us at suporte@neardoctor.pt.

In short

We use your data to connect patients with nearby doctors for home visits and to handle payments.
The symptoms you describe are health data. We process them only with your explicit consent, and only to arrange your visit.
Card payments are handled by Stripe. We never see your full card number.
We don't sell your data and we don't use it for advertising.
You can delete your account in the app at any time.

1. Who we are

The controller of your personal data is [RAZÃO SOCIAL / COMPANY LEGAL NAME] ("NearDoctor", "we"), NIF [NIF], with registered address at [MORADA DA SEDE / REGISTERED ADDRESS].

For any question about your data, contact us at suporte@neardoctor.pt.

We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer (DPO). If we appoint one, their contact details will be published here: [CONTACTO DO EPD / DPO CONTACT]. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]

2. Our role and the doctors' role

NearDoctor is an intermediary platform: patients use it to request home visits from nearby doctors and to pay for them. NearDoctor does not provide medical care. The doctors are independent professionals registered with the Ordem dos Médicos (the Portuguese Medical Association), and they are responsible for the care they provide.

This policy covers the personal data processed through the NearDoctor apps and website, for which NearDoctor is the controller. Clinical records that a doctor keeps about a visit, outside the app, are the doctor's responsibility. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]

3. The data we collect

3.1 Your account (patients and doctors)

Name, email address and password. Passwords are managed by our authentication provider (Supabase Auth) and stored only in hashed form, so we never see them.
Mobile number, which we may verify by sending you a code by SMS.
Profile photo. It is generally optional, but patients may be asked to add one before booking so the doctor can recognise them. Photos are kept in private storage and only shared through links that expire after a short time.
Account type (patient or doctor).

3.2 Patients: visit requests

Type of visit: urgent (as soon as possible) or scheduled.
The visit address, with optional notes such as floor or door, and your device's GPS coordinates when you create the request.
For scheduled visits, the date and time window.
The description of your symptoms. This is health data (see section 4).
The number of people to be seen, if the request is for more than one person.
The maximum price you authorise.
The progress of the visit (accepted, doctor on the way, arrived, in progress, completed or cancelled) and when each step happened.
Ratings and reviews you give doctors, and ratings doctors give you after a visit.
If there are no doctors in your area yet: the email address you give us to join the in-app waiting list, together with your district and location.

The patient app uses your device's location, only while the app is open and only with your permission, to find out which district you are in, check whether doctors are available there and set the location of the visit.

3.3 Doctors

Professional licence number (cédula profissional) and specialty.
Bio, services offered, the work regions you draw on the map and your prices (base price and any regional prices).
Verification status (pending review, verified or suspended).
Availability and location: while you are marked as available, and during a visit, the app sends your device's live location to NearDoctor. This only happens while the app is in use (in the foreground). During an active visit, from acceptance until the visit ends, your live location is shown to the patient of that visit. We also record when you were last online.
Payouts: to receive payments you set up a Stripe Connect account. Stripe verifies your identity and holds your bank details; NearDoctor only stores the account identifier, whether payouts are enabled and records of the transfers made to you.
Ratings and reviews you receive from patients, and the ratings you give them.

3.4 Payments

Card payments are processed by Stripe, through Stripe Checkout. NearDoctor never sees or stores your full card number.
When you request a visit, a pre-authorisation (hold) for your maximum price is placed on your card; what is then charged is explained in the Terms of Use.
We keep the payment references Stripe gives us (identifiers of the checkout session, the payment and the transfer), the amounts, our commission, the payment status and its dates.

3.5 Device and technical data

Push notification token, used to send notifications to your device through Expo's push service and the Apple Push Notification service (APNs). Notification texts are generic and don't include your symptoms.
The language you use in the app.
Technical and security logs, such as IP address, date and time, user ID and the action requested, and an audit trail of key actions (for example, accepting a request or capturing a payment).

3.6 Website

Waiting-list form: your email address, whether you are a patient or a doctor, and the language of the page. Submissions are processed by Formspree.
The website is hosted on GitHub Pages and loads fonts from Google Fonts. When you visit it, your browser connects to their servers, which receive your IP address and basic technical data (such as the browser type).
We don't use cookies for analytics or advertising. The site stores your language choice in your browser's local storage.

3.7 When you contact us

If you email suporte@neardoctor.pt, we use your message and contact details to reply.

4. Health data

The description of your symptoms, and any other health information you include in a request, is health data: a special category of personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

We process it only with your explicit consent (article 9(2)(a) GDPR), which you give when you create your account and again when you describe your symptoms in a request.
We use it only to arrange your visit: it is shared with the doctors who can take your request (section 6), so they can decide whether to accept it and prepare the visit.
Please write only what the doctor needs to know to assess the visit.
You can withdraw your consent at any time by writing to suporte@neardoctor.pt or by deleting your account. This does not affect processing that took place before. Without this consent you cannot request new visits, because doctors need this information to assess them.
If you request a visit for someone else (for example, a family member), make sure you are entitled to share their information and, where needed, that they agree. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]
Authorised NearDoctor staff only access request details when this is needed to give support, keep users safe or comply with the law.

5. Why we use your data and on what legal basis

Create and manage your account: performance of a contract (article 6(1)(b) GDPR).
Handle visit requests (send them to suitable doctors, share the details needed for the visit and show the doctor's live location during an active visit): performance of a contract; for health data, your explicit consent (article 9(2)(a) GDPR).
Handle payments (pre-authorisation, charging the visit, cancellation fees and transfers to doctors): performance of a contract.
Send notifications about your requests and your account: performance of a contract.
Check doctors' licences and patients' mobile numbers, prevent fraud and abuse, and keep the service secure, including security logs: our legitimate interest in a safe and secure service (article 6(1)(f) GDPR).
Show ratings and reviews: our legitimate interest in maintaining trust and quality on the platform.
Improve the service, using aggregated statistics where possible: our legitimate interest.
Keep accounting and tax records: legal obligation (article 6(1)(c) GDPR).
Manage the waiting lists (website and app) and send you launch news: your consent (article 6(1)(a) GDPR), which you can withdraw at any time. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]
Reply to your messages: our legitimate interest, or performance of a contract when your message is about your account.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, you can object (section 9).

Doctors. When you send a request, it goes to the verified doctors who are available, offer that type of visit and work in the area of the visit. They receive the request details (type, time, visit location, symptom description and maximum price) together with your name, profile photo, mobile number and rating, so they can decide whether to accept it. Once a doctor accepts, the request is assigned to that doctor and no longer appears to the others. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]
Patients. Patients can see doctors' public profiles: name, photo, specialty, bio, services, rating and reviews. When a doctor accepts your request, you also see that doctor's live location while the visit is active.
Other users. Reviews written by patients may be shown to other users on the doctor's profile.
The NearDoctor team. Authorised staff, only as far as needed: for example, to verify doctors, give support, handle payments or keep the platform safe.
Service providers that run parts of the service for us (section 7).
Authorities, such as courts or regulators, when the law requires it.

We don't sell your personal data and we don't use it for advertising.

7. Service providers and international transfers

We use the providers below to run NearDoctor. They process data on our behalf and following our instructions, except where they act as independent controllers: for example, Stripe for its own legal obligations, or Apple for TestFlight. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]

Supabase: database, user authentication, file storage (profile photos) and real-time updates. Location: London, United Kingdom.
Hostinger: server that runs the NearDoctor API. Location: Manchester, United Kingdom.
Stripe (Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd.): card payments, payouts to doctors (Stripe Connect) and identity verification of the doctors who receive payouts. Location: Ireland, with possible transfers to the United States under Stripe's safeguards.
[FORNECEDOR DE SMS / SMS PROVIDER]: sends the SMS verification codes, through Supabase Auth. Location: [LOCALIZAÇÃO / LOCATION]. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]
Expo (650 Industries, Inc.): delivery of push notifications and of app updates. Location: United States.
Apple: Apple Push Notification service (APNs), TestFlight (distribution of the beta) and the maps and address lookup built into iOS. Location: United States. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]
OSRM (public route service at router.project-osrm.org): calculates the route shown on the patient's map while the doctor is on the way, and receives the coordinates of the doctor and of the visit. Location: [LOCALIZAÇÃO / LOCATION]. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]
Amen: email hosting for suporte@neardoctor.pt. Location: [LOCALIZAÇÃO / LOCATION].
Formspree: the website's waiting-list form. Location: United States. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]
Google (Google Fonts): fonts used on the website. Location: United States.
GitHub (GitHub Pages): website hosting. Location: United States.

Our database and API server are in the United Kingdom, which benefits from an adequacy decision of the European Commission. Transfers to the United States rely on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, where the provider is certified, and/or on the standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL] You can ask us for more information about these safeguards.

8. How long we keep your data

Account data: while your account exists.
When you delete your account: "Delete account" in the app deletes your login and anonymises your profile, so that it no longer identifies you. Records of visits and payments are kept in anonymised form for as long as accounting and tax law requires: in Portugal, typically 10 years. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]
Visit requests, including expired or cancelled ones, stay in your history while your account exists, and are then treated as described above.
Security logs: [PRAZO DOS REGISTOS DE SEGURANÇA / SECURITY LOG RETENTION PERIOD], a short period, after which they are deleted.
Waiting lists (website and app): until you ask to be removed, or for at most [PRAZO DA LISTA DE ESPERA / WAITING LIST RETENTION PERIOD].
Support emails: [PRAZO DOS EMAILS DE SUPORTE / SUPPORT EMAIL RETENTION PERIOD].
Data held by Stripe (for example, doctors' identity and bank details) is kept by Stripe according to its own legal obligations.

9. Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have the right to:

access your personal data and receive a copy;
rectify inaccurate data (you can edit most of your profile directly in the app);
have your data erased: delete your account with "Delete account" in the app, or write to us;
restrict processing in certain cases;
receive the data you gave us in a structured, machine-readable format (data portability);
object to processing based on our legitimate interests;
withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting processing that took place before;
lodge a complaint with the Portuguese supervisory authority, the Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD): www.cnpd.pt.

To exercise your rights, email suporte@neardoctor.pt. It is free of charge. We reply within one month and may first ask you to confirm your identity.

We don't make decisions based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects on you. Choosing which doctors receive each request is automatic, based on the visit location, the type of visit and the doctors' availability. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]

10. Security

We protect your data with measures such as encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls so that each user can only reach their own data, private storage for profile photos, hashed passwords and restricted staff access. Card data is handled by Stripe, which is certified under the PCI DSS security standard. No system is completely secure: if there is a data breach, we will notify the CNPD and, if the breach is likely to result in a high risk to you, we will also inform you, as the law requires.

11. Age

NearDoctor is only for adults: you must be at least 18 years old to create an account.

12. TestFlight beta

The apps are currently in a beta test, distributed through Apple's TestFlight to a small group of invited people. During the beta:

payments run in Stripe's test mode, so no real charges are made: use only the test card details we give you, never your real card;
features may change;
Apple shares with us information about beta testers, such as the name and email address used for the invitation, crash reports and any feedback you choose to send. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL]

13. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when our services or the law change. The date of the latest update is shown at the top of this page. If the changes are significant, we will let you know in the app or by email.

14. Contact

For any question or request about your personal data: suporte@neardoctor.pt.