How Ophtha Club collects, uses and protects personal data.
Effective and updated 1 October 2026Ophtha Club is operated by Sultan Abdulrahman Alhassan in Saudi Arabia. For the personal data described in this notice, Ophtha Club acts as the service operator/controller. Privacy questions or requests can be sent to Sultan.Alhassan@hotmail.com.
We limit collection to data reasonably needed for the service. Account registration includes your display name, username, email, current region, current city, professional role, university and WhatsApp phone number. We may also process communication preferences and consent records, authentication information handled by our authentication provider, saves and follows, announcement submissions and source files, problem reports, moderation and audit records, security logs, and limited technical or product-event metadata.
Region, city, university and professional role help us understand who uses Ophtha Club, prefill relevant application information and support geographically or professionally relevant communications, such as informing consenting users about an ophthalmology event in their city or region. They may also be used for internal audience summaries and service planning. We do not require an institution, subspecialty interest or career-stage field during registration.
Some announcements allow you to apply directly through Ophtha Club. For those applications, we may use account information such as your name, email, WhatsApp number, professional role, city, region and university. A specific opportunity may also request a 10-digit Saudi National or Iqama ID, relevant experience, activity-specific answers, attendance or eligibility information, and supporting files or documents. We store a National/Iqama ID and uploaded application files as restricted application data. A National/Iqama ID may be retained in your private application profile so it can be prefilled on a later Ophtha Club-managed application. Each submitted application keeps the information submitted at that time, a snapshot of the questions asked, its status and a record of your application-data acknowledgement. Application answers and files are not public and are available only to you where applicable and to authorized Ophtha Club administrators for legitimate application administration and review.
Authorized administrators can export the participants or applicants for a specific Ophtha Club-managed announcement to an Excel file for legitimate application administration. An export may include account information, National/Iqama ID, activity-specific answers, application status and protected references to supporting files submitted with the application. Uploaded files remain in private storage and are accessed through authenticated administrator controls rather than being made public through the spreadsheet. Exported files should be protected and not shared beyond people who need them for the relevant application process. Ophtha Club may use the contact details in the application to communicate about its review, selection or related administrative steps.
Some announcements link to an organizer or other third-party registration page instead of collecting an application through Ophtha Club. In that case, Ophtha Club does not receive the information you enter on the external form unless the organizer separately provides it to us under an appropriate arrangement. The external site's own privacy terms apply to its collection and processing.
We use data to create and secure accounts, provide requested features, receive and review submissions and applications, support the human moderation workflow, prevent abuse, investigate reports, maintain security and reliability, and understand limited product usage. We do not use account data for unrelated purposes without an appropriate basis or notice.
Account creation requires acceptance of the Terms of Use and acknowledgement of this Privacy Policy. We record the applicable legal-document versions and acceptance time so that the registration agreement can be verified later. An Ophtha Club-managed application also requires a separate acknowledgement covering the use of the application data submitted for that opportunity.
A valid WhatsApp phone number is required during account registration even if you choose not to receive WhatsApp updates. Optional Ophtha Club email updates and optional WhatsApp updates remain separate Yes or No communication choices and are separate from acceptance of the Terms. You can later change or withdraw those optional communication choices. Essential account, verification, security, moderation, application and service emails may still be sent when needed to operate your account or process a request you made.
If you send content to Ophtha Club through WhatsApp, the platform may receive the sender identifier or phone information supplied by the WhatsApp Business Platform together with the message, link, image or document you send and delivery-related metadata. We use it to receive the submission, prevent exact duplicates, maintain the review trail and send status replies. A copy of a valid submission and its source media may also be emailed to the designated Ophtha Club review mailbox so it can be checked by a human before publication.
Submitted source content may be processed by configured AI service providers to classify relevance or extract structured announcement details. This processing is optional assistance to the announcement review workflow. If an AI attempt fails, the submission can still proceed to human review. Automated processing cannot publish an announcement by itself. Internal applicant selection is not delegated to this announcement-extraction automation.
Ophtha Club currently uses limited first-party product-event analytics to understand actions such as views, searches and registration-link clicks. The event recorder is designed to store restricted event, route and non-identifying metadata and to reject or remove common identifying fields. We do not currently use advertising cookies, behavioral-advertising pixels, cross-site tracking cookies or third-party analytics SDKs. Essential authentication and preference storage is described in our Cookie Policy.
We use service providers needed to run the platform, including Supabase for database, authentication and storage, Vercel for website hosting, Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform for WhatsApp messaging, Resend for transactional and review email delivery, and configured AI providers such as OpenRouter for optional classification or extraction. A provider may process data in another country as part of its service. Where Saudi personal-data transfer rules apply, we are responsible for using the service subject to the applicable transfer requirements and safeguards.
Announcements can link to official organizer websites, registration services, calendar services or other third-party destinations. Visiting those destinations is governed by their own privacy practices. Ophtha Club does not control their independent collection or tracking.
A National/Iqama ID and supporting files collected for an Ophtha Club-managed application are treated as restricted application data and should be provided only through the designated application fields. Do not upload files containing unrelated sensitive information. Ophtha Club is not a patient-care or medical-record system. Do not submit patient names, medical record numbers, clinical images that identify a patient, health records or other confidential clinical data. If such material is reported or detected, we may restrict or delete it as appropriate.
We keep personal data only for as long as reasonably needed for its stated purpose, security or audit needs, dispute resolution, or applicable legal requirements. Internal application records, including identity data, activity-specific answers, supporting files and selection information, are retained only as reasonably needed to administer the opportunity, document decisions, resolve disputes or meet applicable requirements. Account deletion removes application records and associated application files linked to the account where deletion is permitted, subject to applicable exceptions or records that must lawfully be retained. Temporary WhatsApp intake images and documents stored in Ophtha Club's Supabase storage are automatically deleted after seven days. Copies delivered to the designated review mailbox may remain there until deleted under that mailbox's retention practices.
We use access controls, role separation, protected server-side operations, signed media access, security headers, audit records and other technical and organizational measures appropriate to the platform. Internal application data and files are protected by role-based access controls and private storage and are not exposed on public announcement pages. No internet service can guarantee absolute security, so we also limit the data we collect and the access granted to it.
Subject to the Saudi Personal Data Protection Law and other applicable requirements, you may have rights to be informed about processing and to request access, correction, deletion or destruction, or other actions concerning your personal data. Your account export includes your internal application records and private application profile where available. You can also request deletion of account data using the available account privacy controls. Consent can be withdrawn where processing relies on consent, subject to applicable exceptions.
We update this notice when data practices materially change. Questions, access, correction or deletion requests, or privacy concerns can be sent to Sultan.Alhassan@hotmail.com. You can also use the account privacy page or Report a problem where applicable.
