Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what information HelloPharmacist (“we,” “us”) collects when you use HelloPharmacist.com, how we use it, what we publish, who can access it, how long we keep it, and the choices you have. HelloPharmacist is a free, advertising-supported health-information website where licensed pharmacists answer medication, drug-interaction, and supplement questions.

Information we collect

Information you provide

• Questions you ask a pharmacist. When you submit a question, we collect the text of your question, a public display name or nickname (which can be anonymous), your email address, any tags you add, and whether you choose to receive email updates. We also record the IP address your question is submitted from. Your question text and display name may be published; your email address and IP address are never published (see What we publish).
• Contact & feedback. When you use our contact or feedback forms, we collect your email address and the message you send so we can respond.
• Account information. If you create an account, we collect your name, email address, and password (passwords are stored in a hashed, non-readable form).

Information collected automatically

• Usage and device data. Like most websites, our servers and tools automatically log information such as your IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, referring page, and the date and time of your visit.
• Cookies and similar technologies. We and our partners use cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, remember preferences, measure traffic, and serve advertising (see Analytics & advertising).

What we publish

HelloPharmacist is a public question-and-answer library. When a pharmacist answers your question, your question and the pharmacist’s answer are published on our website — together with the display name (nickname) you provided, the category, and the date — so that others with the same question can learn from it. To protect your privacy:

• Your email address and IP address are never shown publicly. They are used only to send you your answer and to operate and protect the site.
• The name shown is the display name you choose when you ask, so you can stay anonymous (for example, a first name or a nickname). Please avoid putting details you don’t want made public into the question itself.
• You can ask us to edit or remove a published question at any time (see Your choices and rights).

Your questions and AI

A licensed pharmacist — not an AI — reviews and answers your question. We never send your name, email address, or IP address to any AI system, and we don’t use AI to decide or write the answer you receive.

We do use AI in a few limited, clearly separate ways, and we’re upfront about them:

• Working with your published Q&A. After your question and the pharmacist’s answer are published, we may use a third-party AI service (Anthropic) to create a short “quick answer” summary and a plain-language glossary, and to run automated editorial quality checks. These work only from the published question and the published answer — never from your email address, IP address, or anything we keep private.
• Optional AI tools. Some features are clearly labeled as AI — for example, our Pharmacist AI Chat, which is powered by Amazon Web Services. When you choose to use one, what you type into it is sent to that AI provider to generate a response. Please don’t enter personal or sensitive information into these tools that you wouldn’t want processed this way.
• AI transparency examples. To be open about how our AI works, we may publish a small number of real questions asked in our AI tools, with the AI’s answer, on our public AI Transparency page. These are hand-selected and reviewed by our team first, shown anonymously (never your name, email or IP address), and may be edited to remove any personal detail. We only feature general drug- and supplement-interaction questions. Ask us to remove any example at any time.

How we use your information

• To answer your questions and provide the information and tools you request.
• To publish pharmacist-reviewed questions and answers as described above.
• To operate, maintain, secure, and improve the website.
• To understand how the site is used so we can make it better (analytics).
• To display advertising that keeps the site free to use.
• To comply with legal obligations and protect against fraud, spam, or abuse.

Analytics & advertising

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the site (for example, which pages are popular). Google Analytics uses cookies and collects usage data on our behalf. You can learn about Google’s practices at policies.google.com/privacy and opt out using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

HelloPharmacist is supported by advertising served through our advertising partner Raptive (formerly AdThrive), its parent CafeMedia, and their advertising partners. These third parties may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your visits here and on other sites in order to provide advertising, including more relevant ads. We do not control the cookies these partners set. Advertising never influences our pharmacist-reviewed content — see our Advertising Policy.

We also use Google reCAPTCHA on some forms to prevent spam and abuse; your use of it is subject to Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Who can access your information, and how we share it

We do not sell your personal information. Your information may be accessed by:

• Our pharmacists and authorized HelloPharmacist staff, who review and answer questions and operate the site.
• Service providers who run the site on our behalf — for example, our cloud hosting and storage, email delivery, analytics, advertising, and AI providers — under obligations to protect your data and use it only to provide their service to us.
• Legal and safety recipients, when required by law or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users or the site.

How long we keep information

We keep the questions you submit and their published answers indefinitely, from the time you submit them, as part of our permanent, publicly available health-information library — unless you ask us to remove them. The email address and IP address attached to a question are stored with that question for as long as we keep it, and are never published. Account information is kept while your account is active. Server logs, analytics, and advertising data are retained for a limited period under our providers’ standard settings. When information is no longer needed, or upon a valid deletion request, we remove or de-identify it, subject to any retention the law requires.

Your choices and rights

• Edit or delete your question. To have a published question edited or removed — or to access, correct, or delete other personal information we hold about you — email us at [email protected].
• Your account. If you have an account, you can update or delete it from your account settings; deleting your account removes your account profile.
• Cookies. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; some features may not work as well.
• Personalized ads. Opt out of interest-based advertising at optout.aboutads.info and youradchoices.com.
• Legal rights. Depending on where you live (for example, under the GDPR or California’s CCPA/CPRA), you may have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal information, or to opt out of certain sharing. To make a request, email [email protected].

Data security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children’s privacy

HelloPharmacist is intended for a general adult audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we’ll revise the “last updated” date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your information? Email [email protected] or use our contact page.

This Privacy Policy is provided for transparency and general information. It describes our current practices as we understand them and is not legal advice.