Privacy Policy

Last updated: 7 January 2026

Quick Summary

Find A Helpline helps you access free mental health and crisis support resources. It is operated by ThroughLine Limited.

For the core service, we collect minimal Personal Data (IP addresses, device and browser details, city-level location) which is immediately anonymized before storage. We use Cookieless Analytics that do not track individual users.

When you use our contact form, we collect the information you provide to respond to your inquiry.

Some features, such as reviews or enhanced functionality, may involve additional data collection. When you use these features, specific privacy information will be provided.

We recognize that accessing mental health resources is sensitive and apply enhanced protections.

External resources linked from Find A Helpline have their own privacy policies and practices.

1. About This Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how data is handled when you use Find A Helpline.

• Find A Helpline is operated by ThroughLine Limited.
• This policy applies to data collected by ThroughLine through Find A Helpline.
• Some features may involve additional data processing with specific disclosures provided when you use those features.
• We may update this policy from time to time. The most current version will be posted here.

2. What We Collect

Core Service: Data We Collect (and process before Anonymization)

For the core Find A Helpline service (browsing and accessing mental health and crisis resources), we collect the following Personal Data, which is anonymized before storage:

• IP addresses (processed for routing and security, then immediately Anonymized by removing the most identifying portions)
• Device, operating system and browser details (stored for analytics)
• Location data (city-level, derived from IP address before Anonymization)
• User interactions, pages visited and resources accessed
• Time and date of access

Technical note: Full IP addresses are received and temporarily processed as part of standard internet communication (routing your requests to and from our servers and security filtering). This receipt is unavoidable for service delivery. Before any storage occurs, IP addresses are anonymized by removing the two most significant bytes. This anonymized data cannot identify you personally. No full IP addresses are retained.

Core Service: Data We Don't Collect

We do not collect or store:

• Your name, email address, phone number, or contact details
• Any user-submitted content or messages
• Registration, account, or login data
• Persistent identifiers or tracking cookies
• Cross-site or cross-session data

Contact Form: Data We Collect

When you use our contact form, we collect the following Personal Data:

• Your name and email address (as provided by you)
• Your message content
• Date and time of submission

You can choose not to provide Personal Data through our contact form, but this may limit our ability to respond to your inquiry.

3. Legal Basis for Processing

Core Service: Personal Data

We collect the Personal Data listed above based on our Legitimate Interest in operating the Service securely and improving it. This processing is necessary to:

• Deliver the service (routing requests to and from your device)
• Provide security (DDoS protection and threat detection)
• Improve functionality, reliability, speed, and usability
• Identify which resources are most helpful to users
• Understand usage patterns and improve resource accessibility

We have implemented strong privacy safeguards—including immediate Anonymization before storage, no tracking cookies, and no cross-site tracking—so your privacy interests are protected.

Contact Form: Personal Data

We process Contact Form Information based on our Legitimate Interest in responding to your inquiries and improving our services based on user feedback.

4. How We Use Your Information

Core Service Data

We use anonymized Personal Data from the core service to:

• Understand user interactions with Find A Helpline
• Improve functionality, reliability, speed, and usability
• Identify the most accessed resources
• Share aggregated, non-identifiable insights to improve mental health resource accessibility

Contact Form Information

We use Contact Form Information to:

• Respond to your inquiries
• Improve our services based on feedback
• Comply with legal obligations

Retention: Contact form submissions are retained for as long as necessary to respond to your inquiry and for our legitimate business purposes.

What We Don't Do

• Build user profiles from usage data
• Track users across sessions or websites
• Combine anonymized Personal Data in ways that could identify individuals
• Use Contact Form Information for marketing purposes

5. Features with Additional Data Processing

Some features on Find A Helpline may collect additional information or use advanced technologies, including AI, to enhance functionality. This includes features like reviews, smart topic selection, and self-help experiences. When you use these features:

• Specific privacy information will be provided before you use the feature
• Additional data processing may occur beyond what's described in this main policy
• You will have the opportunity to review and consent to such processing

6. Information Sharing and Disclosure

Personal Data (anonymized before storage)

We may share aggregated, anonymized Personal Data:

• In research or statistical analysis (on an anonymized basis)
• In aggregated reports that cannot identify individual users
• With hosting, analytics, and technical service providers who support our operations

The service providers we work with include (but are not limited to):

• Matomo for analytics and analysis
• Cloudflare for security and content delivery
• Other technical service providers for hosting and monitoring

All service providers have Data Processing Agreements in place confirming they protect your Personal Data with encryption and access controls.

Contact Form Information

We only share Contact Form Information with third parties:

• When required by law or legal process
• To protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of others
• With your explicit consent
• With service providers who assist in responding to inquiries (under strict confidentiality agreements)

7. External Resources

Find A Helpline links to helplines, mental health services, and other third-party support resources. These are not operated or controlled by ThroughLine.

• Each service has its own privacy policy
• They may collect Personal Data when you contact them
• Review their privacy policies before sharing any Personal Data

8. Security Measures

We implement industry-standard security measures designed to protect Personal Data throughout its lifecycle:

• Anonymization of IP addresses before storage
• Encryption in transit: TLS
• Encryption at rest: AES (Matomo, BigQuery, Rollbar)
• Limitations on who can access data
• Use of privacy-vetted service providers
• Access controls and staff training

9. Your Privacy Rights

Your Rights Regarding Contact Form Information

If you have provided Personal Data through our contact form, you may have rights regarding that information, which may include:

• Access: Request a copy of your Personal Data
• Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate information
• Erasure: Request deletion of your information
• Portability: Receive your data in a portable format
• Objection: Object to our processing of your data

Data Anonymization as privacy protection

We minimize the Personal Data we collect through the Core Service and anonymize it immediately (within the same request). Once anonymized, your data cannot be identified as belonging to you or linked back to your device.

Your rights regarding Personal Data

Since Personal Data from the Core Service is stored in anonymized form with no way to isolate individual users, standard data access and deletion rights do not apply. Your privacy is protected through the Anonymization process itself and our technical architecture, which prevents re-identification.

Your right to object

You may object to our collection and processing of data. To do so, contact us at privacy@findahelpline.com. You may also contact your local data protection authority.

Exercising your rights

To exercise privacy rights regarding Contact Form Information, email us at privacy@findahelpline.com with:

• Evidence of your identity
• Details of your specific request
• Reference to the contact form submission if applicable

10. International Data Transfers

Contact Form Information may be processed by service providers located outside New Zealand and the EU. When this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place through:

• Adequacy decisions
• Standard contractual clauses
• Other appropriate transfer mechanisms

Our servers and data processing providers are located in New Zealand and may include service providers in other countries including Australia and the United States.

11. Children's Privacy

Find A Helpline is intended for general audiences. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under 16.

12. Legal Information and Contact

Governing Law: This Privacy Policy is governed by New Zealand law.

Compliance: ThroughLine complies with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and other applicable international privacy standards.

Contact us: privacy@findahelpline.com

13. Definitions

Anonymization means processing Personal Data so it cannot be attributed to a specific individual without additional information, which we do not possess or maintain.

Contact Form Information means Personal Data you provide when contacting us, including name, email address, and message content.

Core Service means the core Find A Helpline functionality of browsing and accessing mental health and crisis support resources.

Cookieless Analytics means a privacy-focused method for measuring usage patterns without tracking cookies, persistent identifiers, or cross-site tracking.

Data Processing Agreement means a contract between ThroughLine and external service providers (data processors) that confirms they will process Personal Data only according to our instructions, maintain appropriate security measures, and comply with applicable privacy laws.

External Resources means third-party helplines or mental health services linked from Find A Helpline but not operated by ThroughLine.

Find A Helpline means the mental health resource directory and support tool available at findahelpline.com, developed and owned by ThroughLine Limited.

Legitimate Interest means a legal basis under privacy laws for processing Personal Data when necessary to operate Find A Helpline, balanced against privacy rights and subject to strong privacy safeguards.

Personal Data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This includes direct identifiers (names, email addresses, full IP addresses) and quasi-identifiers (when combined, device type, browser, location data, pages visited, and time of access can create a unique fingerprint that could reasonably identify an individual). We apply a conservative approach: if information could potentially identify someone when combined with other data sources, we treat it as Personal Data.

ThroughLine Limited means a New Zealand-based company that develops technologies that connect people with mental health and crisis support services.