Youth Mental Health Map

Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 2026

This privacy policy explains how the Youth Mental Health Map website (“we”, “our”, “us”) collects and uses information when you visit youthmentalhealthmap.com. This site is operated by the Hitchcock Lab at the University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia.

What data we collect

We do not collect any personally identifiable information unless you contact us via the contact form. If you do, we collect the name, email address, role, and message you provide solely in order to respond to your enquiry.

If you consent to analytics cookies, we collect usage data via Google Analytics. This may include information such as your IP address, device type, browser, and browsing behaviour.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your browser. We use two types:

  • Essential cookie — cookie_consent: stores your cookie preference (accepted or declined). This cookie is set regardless of your choice and expires after one year. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in complying with data protection requirements (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). It does not track you.
  • Analytics cookies — set by Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_*): these are only placed if you click “Accept” on the cookie banner. They collect information about how you navigate the site (pages visited, time on page, approximate location by country).

You can change your cookie preference at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer.

Google Analytics

With your consent, we use Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use this site. The information collected may include your IP address, device information, and interactions with the site. The data collected is aggregated — we cannot identify individual visitors. Google may transfer this data to servers in the United States. Where data is transferred outside the European Economic Area, appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses are used. For more information, see Google’s Privacy Policy.

The legal basis for this processing is your consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). You may withdraw consent at any time via Cookie settings in the footer.

Contact form data

Information submitted via the contact form is emailed directly to our team and is used only to respond to your enquiry. Longer messages are also stored in a private, access-restricted archive so that no content is lost in transit. We do not share this information with third parties other than the service providers described below. The legal basis is legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR), namely responding to enquiries and maintaining reliable communications.

Service providers

This website is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the Sydney (ap-southeast-2) region. AWS provides the hosting, content delivery, email delivery, and storage that powers the site, and acts as a data processor on our behalf under the terms of the AWS Data Processing Addendum.

AWS server logs may record your IP address, browser type, and request timing for security and operational purposes. These logs are retained for a limited period and are not combined with any other data we hold. The legal basis is legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR), namely ensuring the security and proper functioning of the website.

For more information, see the AWS Privacy Notice.

Data retention

Contact form submissions are retained only as long as necessary to respond to your enquiry. Google Analytics data is retained for 14 months, after which it is automatically deleted.

Your rights

Under GDPR you have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you
  • Request correction or deletion of your data
  • Object to or restrict our processing of your data
  • Withdraw consent at any time (for analytics cookies, use Cookie settings in the footer)
  • Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

Contact

For any privacy-related questions or to exercise your rights, please get in touch via our contact page.