Privacy policy in the Health Village hubs and self-care programs

If you provide feedback using either the Give feedback or Report a technical issue forms and leave your contact information (optional), the Health Village’s privacy policy for personal data provided on the forms will apply.

If you use a separate service that requires authentication, such as a Health Village hub chat, the specific privacy policy for that service shall apply. Please note that not all standalone services require authentication. If the service requires authentication, this is mentioned separately on the service’s introduction page.

Users are strongly authenticated in the service through the Hela authentication service, which maintains the link between the personal identifier and the Hela identifier. Thanks to this, users can be uniquely identified based solely on the Hela identifier. Hela is a shared healthcare authentication and authorization service used as the identification solution for eHealth services. The service is available in various healthcare applications.

• Processing of Personal Data – HELA Authentication and Authorization Service (healthidp.fi)

The information you provide to the service (including data related to your health status) is processed according to the purpose of the self-care program. Providing this information is voluntary, and its scope varies depending on the content of the program. The answers you give to questionnaires are visible only to you. They are not processed, and no one else can view them. The answers cannot be linked to an identifiable person.

We do not disclose your data to third parties without your separate consent or request. However, we use service providers for system maintenance, and these parties have limited access only to the data necessary for technical maintenance. We do not transfer your data outside the EU/EEA.

Using the website

The Health Village hubs operate on the most commonly used terminals and internet browsers. The hubs are freely accessible without registration or authentication. Some hubs offer chat services that may require authentication, for example with your banking codes. The service may contain links to services on different platforms that require you to log in to use the service.

Cookies

The Health Village follows the principle of using third-party services without cookies whenever possible. Only the information that is necessary is collected, and it is always anonymized.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small text file that is stored on the user’s terminal device. Cookies allow the service to work in a technically designed way. The cookie information may also be used to improve the website’s interface and user experience, as well as to monitor user statistics.

What cookies does the service use?

When you access the Health Village, you can choose whether to accept all cookies or only the essential cookies.

Essential cookies: Some cookies are necessary to provide the core functionality of the website. The website will not function properly without these cookies. These cookies are enabled by default and cannot be disabled.

Preferences: Preference cookies allow a website to store information to tailor the look and feel or behaviour of a website to the user. Preference cookies can include saving the selected currency, region, language or colour theme.

Analytical cookies: Analytical cookies are used to improve the website by collecting and reporting information about the use of the website.

For more information about cookies in the Health Village hubs, click on the Cookie Settings option in the cookie notification message.

If you have already accepted either option, you can view your cookie settings by clicking on the cookie settings icon.

The Health Village follows the principle of using third-party services without cookies whenever possible. Only the information that is necessary is collected, and it is always anonymized.

Matomo Analytics is an open-source analytics solution used to collect technical measurement data from Terveyskylä’s websites for the purpose of monitoring and ensuring service usage and performance. For Terveyskylä and Päivystyshelppi, the system stores only pseudonymised technical metrics about site visits. Matomo Analytics is configured so that it does not store cookies, which means visits related to an individual user are not linked together. The browser recognizes only a randomly generated session-specific identifier, which is not retained for subsequent visits. IP addresses are anonymized before data is stored, according to the default settings, by removing the last two blocks, and users cannot be directly identified.

Google Tag Manager is a tool provided by Google that allows website tracking codes to be managed and updated centrally. Google Tag Manager itself does not store cookies or collect user data; it operates solely as a management system for loading other tracking tools. At Terveyskylä, the CookieHub service (a cookie management tool) is implemented via Google Tag Manager. Google Tag Manager is also used to deliver user surveys on Terveyskylä. User surveys are shown only to visitors who have accepted analytical cookies. No personal data is collected through Terveyskylä’s user surveys, and participation is entirely voluntary.

Microsoft Application Insights is a monitoring service offered through Microsoft Azure for tracking the performance and usage of applications. It enables the collection of information about application functionality, errors, and response times. The service currently uses a necessary cookie for precise monitoring and diagnostics related to application functionality, availability, and error management.

Askem is a system used to collect user feedback and monitor information accessibility and findability. Askem operates entirely without cookies; no cookies or comparable data are stored in the user’s browser, and the service does not use any third-party cookies. User feedback is fully anonymized, and no personal data is collected in connection with it.

ReadSpeaker is a text-to-speech (TTS) service that allows website and application content to be listened to in natural-sounding speech. The service improves accessibility, particularly for users with visual impairments, reading difficulties, or other barriers to reading text. ReadSpeaker operates without cookies; no cookies or comparable data are stored in the user’s browser, and the service does not use third-party cookies. The service does not collect personal data; it only converts the displayed text into speech.

CookieHub is a cookie management tool (Consent Management Platform, CMP) that enables website users to accept or decline non-essential cookies. The service automatically blocks non-essential cookies before consent is given and adjusts the site’s operation based on the user’s choices. CookieHub identifies and categorizes the cookies used on the site (e.g., necessary, statistical, marketing) and provides a clear consent banner for the user. The service uses one necessary cookie for managing and storing consents so that the user’s choices can be implemented and verified in accordance with data protection legislation. CookieHub does not collect personal data in connection with consent management, but stores only the technical information related to the user’s cookie preferences.

If you are a researcher and interested in conducting research related to the Health Village, please fill in the 'Are you interested in doing research related to the Health Village?' Webropol form.

In the case of a request for publication of a completed study or article, you can submit a request for publication using the ‘Submit your research to the Health Village Research Bank’ Webropol form.

In both cases, personal data is collected from the researcher or the submitter. The processing of personal data is governed by the Health Village’s privacy policy for contact requests related to research activities.

If you are a social welfare or health care professional and want to keep up to date with new content and services published in the Health Village, you can subscribe to the Health Village newsletter for professionals. The processing of personal data related to the newsletter is described in the Health Village's privacy policy for service newsletters.

The Health Village services sometimes organise ad hoc surveys, competitions and research or interview recruitments that require the respondent’s contact details. You can find the privacy policy and data protection statement related to a survey, competition or recruitment in the context of the survey, competition or recruitment.