Privacy policy

Your privacy matters. We designed this service with privacy as a core principle. Last updated: 24 January 2026.

No cookies

We do not use cookies of any kind

No tracking

No analytics, pixels, or user tracking

No accounts

No registration or login required

Privacy first

Educational service with minimal data

About this privacy policy

How we protect your privacy

This privacy policy explains how findmeds.uk™ ("Website", "Service", or "we"/"us"/"our") handles information when you use our service.

findmeds.uk™ is a free, non-commercial, educational service that provides information about medicines available in the United Kingdom. We have designed this service with privacy as a fundamental principle, meaning we collect the absolute minimum amount of information necessary to provide the service.

This policy complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

Cookies: We don't use them

This website does not set any cookies

Cookie-free by design

findmeds.uk™ does not use cookies. This includes:

No first-party cookies
No third-party cookies
No tracking cookies
No analytics cookies
No advertising cookies
No session cookies

Because we do not use cookies, we do not need to display a cookie consent banner or seek your consent for cookie use under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

Tracking: We don't do it

No analytics, no profiling, no surveillance

Tracking-free by design

findmeds.uk™ does not track users. We do not use:

Google Analytics or any other analytics service
Tracking pixels or web beacons
Fingerprinting technologies
Social media tracking scripts
Advertising networks
User behaviour monitoring tools
Heat mapping or session recording services

We do not build profiles about you, we do not track your browsing behaviour, and we do not share any data with advertisers or data brokers.

Browser storage

What we store in your browser and why

Local storage (your browser only)

We use your browser's local storage to save your preferences locally on your device. This data is never sent to our servers and remains entirely under your control.

Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), this storage falls under the "strictly necessary" exemption because it is essential for providing features you explicitly request.

Theme preference

findmeds-theme

Remembers your dark/light mode preference

Data stored: 'light' or 'dark' text value

Purpose: To maintain your visual preference across page loads

Retention: Until you change it or clear browser data

Bookmarked medicines

findmeds-bookmarks

Medicines you've saved for quick access

Data stored: Medicine IDs, names, and bookmark timestamps

Purpose: To let you save medicines for future reference

Retention: Until you remove them or clear browser data

Recent searches

findmeds-recent-searches

Your last 10 search queries

Data stored: Search text and timestamps (max 10 entries)

Purpose: To help you quickly repeat recent searches

Retention: Until you clear them or browser data

Feature preference

findmeds-preferred-feature

Your preferred homepage feature

Data stored: 'medicines' or 'pharmacies' text value

Purpose: To show your preferred search type by default

Retention: Until you change it or clear browser data

Session storage (temporary)

We also use your browser's session storage for navigation features. This data is automatically deleted when you close your browser tab and is never sent to our servers.

Search return URL

findmeds-search-return

Remembers your search when viewing a medicine

Data stored: The URL of your last search (path and query params only)

Purpose: To return you to your search results when clicking the 'Medicines' breadcrumb

Retention: Cleared when used or when you close the browser tab

Scroll positions

findmeds-scroll:*

Remembers how far you scrolled in search results

Data stored: Scroll position (pixels) and timestamp for each search URL

Purpose: To restore your scroll position when returning to search results

Retention: Limited to 20 most recent, cleared when used or tab closed

Search results cache

findmeds-search-cache:*

Temporarily caches your search results

Data stored: Search results, total count, and timestamp

Purpose: To instantly display previous results while fetching fresh data

Retention: Expires after 5 minutes or when tab closed

How to clear this data: You can clear all locally stored data at any time by clearing your browser's site data for findmeds.uk™, or by using your browser's "Clear browsing data" feature.

This data never leaves your device. It is not transmitted to our servers and is not accessible to us.

Server-side data

What our servers process and store

Anonymous search logging

When you search for medicines, we log the following anonymous, non-personal information:

The search query text (e.g., "paracetamol")
The number of results returned
The search response time (for performance monitoring)
A timestamp of when the search occurred

We do NOT log or store:

Your IP address
Your browser or device information
Any personally identifiable information
Any data that could be used to identify you

This data cannot be linked back to any individual and is used solely to understand what medicines people commonly search for and to monitor the performance of our search function.

Rate limiting

To protect our service from abuse, we implement rate limiting that temporarily stores IP address information in memory (not in any database) to count requests. This data is:

Stored only in server memory (RAM)
Automatically deleted every 5 minutes
Never written to any persistent storage
Never logged or recorded
Used solely to prevent service abuse

Server logs

Our web server may create standard server logs that contain technical information such as:

IP addresses
Pages requested
HTTP status codes
Timestamps

These logs are a standard part of web server operation and are used for security monitoring and troubleshooting. They are not used for tracking or analytics purposes.

Location data

How we handle your location for pharmacy searches

Geolocation for pharmacy finder

When you use the "Find nearby pharmacies" feature, you may choose to share your location. Here's how we handle this data:

Permission-based: Your browser will ask for your permission before sharing location. You can deny this request.
Processing only: Your coordinates are sent to our server to calculate distances to nearby pharmacies.
Not stored: Your location is processed in memory only and is never stored in any database.
Not logged: We do not log or record your location coordinates.
Alternative available: You can search by postcode instead of sharing your precise location.

Postcode searches

If you search for pharmacies by postcode, the postcode is sent to postcodes.io (a free, open-source postcode lookup service) to convert it to coordinates. We do not store the postcodes you search for.

Third-party services

External services we interact with

To provide medicine and pharmacy information, our servers communicate with the following third-party services. No personal data about you is shared with these services - only the technical requests necessary to retrieve medicine data.

Service	Purpose	Data sent
Postcodes.io	Postcode geocoding	Postcode string only
NHS Terminology API	Medicine code lookups	Medicine names/codes
Wikidata SPARQL	Wikipedia links, molecular data	ATC codes, medicine identifiers
SPS (NHS)	Medicine shortage information	Medicine names
MHRA Products	Regulatory documents	Medicine names

These services have their own privacy policies. We only send the minimum data required to retrieve medicine information. No data about you personally is ever shared with these services.

Your data protection rights

Your rights under UK GDPR

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), you have certain rights regarding your personal data. However, because we do not collect personal data that identifies you:

Right of access: We cannot provide a copy of "your data" because we don't hold any data that identifies you.
Right to rectification: There is no personal data to correct.
Right to erasure: We hold no personal data to delete. You can clear your local browser storage at any time.
Right to restrict processing: We don't process personal data beyond basic server logs.
Right to data portability: We have no personal data to export.
Right to object: We do not profile you or make automated decisions about you.

If you have any questions about your data protection rights, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

Children's privacy

Our approach to protecting minors

This website is intended for general educational use and does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children under the age of 13.

Because we do not collect personal data, we do not have any special provisions for children's data. However, the medical information on this website is provided for educational purposes and should not be used by children without adult supervision.

Parents and guardians should consult healthcare professionals for any questions about medicines and their children's health.

Changes and contact

How we update this policy and how to reach us

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date.

We encourage you to review this privacy policy periodically. Your continued use of the Website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at contact@findmeds.uk.

For concerns about data protection in the UK, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office: