Privacy notice
Last updated 17 October 2026
Draft wording: not yet reviewed by a solicitor.
This explains how AppraisalPortal UK uses your personal information. We keep it short and specific. If anything is unclear, ask us.
Who is responsible for your information
The service is run by:
Doctor_4_U
Lancashire ,UK
Email: info@doctorappraisal.co.uk
ICO registration number: ZA526555
We decide how and why your information is used for your account, your appraisal records and the CPD service, so we are the data controller for those. If your employer or designated body asks you to use the portal, they may also hold their own copy of what you share with them (for example a Responsible Officer's recommendation), and they are responsible for that copy.
What we collect
| Information | Why |
|---|---|
| Name, email, role, GMC number, designated body, password (stored only as a one-way hash) | To create and secure your account and show the right people who you are |
| Two-step verification: encrypted authenticator secret, passkey public keys, recovery code hashes | To protect your account |
| Appraisal content you enter: scope of work, declarations, CPD, quality improvement, significant events, complaints and compliments, PDP, reflections, uploaded documents | To prepare, review and sign off your appraisal |
| Appraiser comments, your replies, sign-offs, Responsible Officer recommendations | To run the appraisal and revalidation process |
| 360° feedback responses (anonymous: we do not record who responded) | To give you colleague and patient feedback for your appraisal |
| Learning progress, quiz results, reflections, orders and certificates | To provide and verify CPD certificates, and to take payment |
| Sign-in records: time, shortened IP address (last part removed), browser, result | To spot misuse and show you your own activity |
| An audit log of actions taken in the portal | To keep the record trustworthy and investigate problems |
Please do not put patient-identifiable information in the portal. Describe cases without names, dates of birth, NHS numbers or other details that identify a patient. Some of what you enter (for example health declarations and complaints) is special-category data; we protect it accordingly.
Our legal basis
- To provide the service you asked for (account, appraisal, CPD): performance of a contract, or our legitimate interest in running it securely.
- Health and complaints information you choose to record about yourself: your explicit consent, which you give by entering it, and which you can withdraw by deleting it where the law allows. Where appraisal supports your regulatory obligations to the GMC, the processing is also necessary for the purposes described in UK GDPR Article 9(2)(b) and (h) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
- Payment and tax records: legal obligation.
- Security, fraud prevention and the audit log: legitimate interests.
- Optional AI features: your consent each time you use them.
Who can see it
- You see all of your own information.
- Your appraiser sees your appraisal once it is submitted, and what they need to review it. They do not see other doctors.
- A Responsible Officer sees the status and sign-off of doctors for their designated body, and records a recommendation.
- Organisation administrators (for example a practice manager) see who belongs to their organisation and whether each appraisal is on track. They cannot read appraisal content. They can pair doctors with appraisers within their organisation, approve requests to join, remove people, and they receive a weekly email of counts (never names or content).
- Administrators manage accounts and assignments. They do not read appraisal content as a routine; any exceptional access is recorded in the audit log.
- Anyone can check that a CPD certificate code is genuine. That page shows the topic, date and hours; it shows your name only if you turn that on.
We do not sell your information and we do not use it for advertising.
Companies that handle it for us
We use these service providers (processors) under written contracts. We keep the list current here.
- Hosting and database (UK or European region where available).
- Email delivery: reminders, sign-in links and receipts.
- Payments: Stripe handles your card details. We never see or store your card number.
- Rate limiting: a short-lived counter keyed by shortened network address, with no personal content.
- AI drafting, only if switched on: your input to that feature is sent to the AI provider. Patient-identifiable information is never intentionally sent. AI output is always a draft you review.
If any provider processes information outside the UK, we rely on an adequacy decision or the UK addendum to standard contractual clauses.
How long we keep it
- Appraisal records: for as long as you keep your account, then for the period your designated body or the GMC requires (usually the revalidation cycle plus a further period). Ask us if you need a different arrangement.
- Orders and receipts: 6 years, for tax and accounting.
- Sign-in records: 12 months.
- Audit log: for the life of the record it relates to.
- If you ask us to close your account, we delete or anonymise what the law lets us, and tell you what we must keep and why.
Cookies
We use only the cookies the site needs to work. There are no advertising or analytics cookies, and no tracking pixels.
| Cookie | Purpose | Lasts |
|---|---|---|
| __Host-appraisal_session | Keeps you signed in (secure, not readable by scripts) | Up to 3 days; ends sooner if idle |
| __Secure-webauthn_challenge | Completes a passkey sign-in or set-up | 5 minutes |
How we protect it
Encryption in transit; passwords hashed with a memory-hard function; mandatory two-step verification (authenticator app or passkey); short idle timeouts; role-based access checked on every request; rate limiting; an audit log; and access by administrators to account recovery recorded and visible to other administrators. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach puts your rights at risk we will tell you and the ICO as the law requires.
Your rights
You can ask to see your information (there is a download in the portal), correct it, delete it, restrict or object to its use, and move it to another service. Where we rely on consent you can withdraw it. Write to us at the address above. We reply within one month.
If you are unhappy, tell us first. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113.
Changes
If we change this notice in a way that matters, we will tell you in the portal before it takes effect.