MyUSE (My Understanding Substance Use Experiences) is a go-to support and harm-reduction web-based application for higher education students, providing confidential, always-on support to students who want to understand their illicit substance use experiences and access relevant resources. MyUSE is led by Student Health at University College Cork.

MyUSE is a web-based application which you can access either through our website ucc.myuse.ie or through the MyUSE App. MyUSE uses a series of multiple-choice questions, which you can complete anonymously about your illicit substance use. Depending on the answers you provide, you will be directed to guidance and supports.

At University College Cork (UCC), we treat your privacy seriously. Any data you provide via the MyUSE Application will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, in accordance with Irish and European Data Protection legislation.

This Notice is intended to provide clear information about the purpose of the MyUSE application and how UCC will collect, process and use the data collected by MyUSE. This Notice is kept under review and may be modified at any time. If we make material changes to the Notice, we will post the changed Notice on the following website: ucc.myuse.ie.

The MyUSE application allows users to anonymously report their personal experiences about drug use and to access supports. It also enables UCC to collect statistical data regarding user engagement with the MyUSE application. This will help us to gain an understanding of illicit substance use which will inform the supports and guidance offered to users via the MyUSE application. It will also help us to improve the application in the future.

The data you enter into the MyUSE app is anonymous. This means you will never be asked to enter your name or any other personal information that may identify you. UCC will not use the information you provide via the application to identify you or to contact you and UCC will not take any specific action as a result of your anonymous answers regarding illicit substance use. The MyUSE application will direct you to support resources and guidance based on the answers you provide.

Should you contact us using the MyUSE email address with a query or to report a problem with the MyUSE App, we will only use the contact details you provide to respond to your query. UCC will not link your contact details to any data that has been inputted by you on the MyUSE application. All personal data provided by you is processed by us on the basis of your consent and you are free to withdraw your consent at any time.

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. To prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect.

Your data will be stored in a secure server within University College Cork’s Amazon Web Services & Microsoft Tenancy.

Only designated MyUSE administrators, with existing roles at University College Cork, have access to the collected data. This is limited to a) The MyUSE Principal Investigator b) Technical Lead, who is responsible for implementing and maintaining security and data management best practices and c) Nominated MyUSE team members, who are permitted to view a portion of the data for the purposes of the research and development of the MyUSE platform. Data will not be shared with any other parties.

The data is not subject to any cross-border transfer.

In keeping with the data protection principles, we will only store your data for as long as is necessary and for the purpose it was collected for.

Archiving of ‘user engagement’ data will take place periodically. This will be carried out by consolidating specific data over a given period, storing only what is deemed necessary for further research and development of the MyUSE platform. This anonymised data is archived within UCC for ten years.

If a user decides to opt-in to Google Analytics, data will be retained for 26 months (about 2 years). If a user has opted in while using the app, the collected Analytics data may be deleted on request.

Once deletion is requested, data associated with this user identifier will be removed from the Individual User Report within 72 hours (about 3 days), and then deleted from Analytics servers during the next deletion process. Deletion processes are scheduled to occur approximately every two months.

You have various rights under data protection law, subject to certain exemptions, in connection with our processing of your personal data, including the right:

• to find out if we use your personal data, access your personal data and receive copies of your personal data;
• to have inaccurate/incomplete information corrected and updated;
• in certain circumstances, to have your details deleted from systems that we use to process your personal data or have the use of your personal data restricted in certain ways;
• to object to certain processing of your data by UCC;
• to exercise your right to data portability where applicable (i.e. obtain a copy of your personal data in a commonly used electronic form;
  where we have relied upon consent as a lawful basis for processing, to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time;
• to not be subject to solely automated decision;

If you wish to avail of these rights, please write to: The Information Compliance Manager, University College Cork, at gdpr@ucc.ie.

If you have any queries in relation to the MyUSE platform, please contact a member of the MyUSE admin team on admin@myuse.ie.

If you have any queries or complaints in connection with our processing of your personal data, you can contact UCC’s Information Compliance Manager by email at: gdpr@ucc.ie

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission if you are unhappy with our processing of your personal data. Details of how to lodge a complaint can be found on the Data Protection Commission’s website (www.dataprotection.ie), or by telephoning 1890 252 231.

Cookies are small files that are created and saved on your device when you visit a website or web application. They store information about how you use the website, such as the pages you visit and how you interact with the content on some of those pages. Cookies do not take up much space and are not viruses or computer programs. We use cookies to make our website work.

Some cookies we use are essential for you to browse the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the site, or running the application in “App” mode. These are called ‘strictly necessary cookies and are activated by default.

We also use ‘session cookies’, which are used to save your progress. Such cookies are optional and may be configured within the cookie preferences section. The user may also opt-in to these cookies by enabling ‘remember me’ on page load. By opting in, user data is stored within the browser. Session cookies are not activated by default and if you wish to opt in you can do so by clicking Manage in the cookie banner.

When “App Mode” is activated, the application will be converted to a Progressive Web App (PWA). This feature places a shortcut upon the device desktop, after which MyUSE will be presented as an application native to the device. PWA mode requires session cookies. The user will be explicitly made aware of this before the feature is activated.

Lastly, we use ‘analytics cookies’ to enable Google Analytics services throughout the site. These are important in measuring performance, and to determine the application is working as it should. Such cookies are opt-in only, and may be disabled at any time via the cookie preferences section. Analytics cookies are not activated by default and if you wish to opt in you can do so by clicking Manage in the cookie banner.