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My Services Privacy Notice

Who is UNHCR?

UNHCR is the United Nations refugee agency which is mandated to protect the rights and improve the well-being of refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, returnees and stateless persons. To improve its services, UNHCR has developed the My Services portal, a digital self-service platform designed to give its users greater control over their personal data.  

In India, the platform acts as an entry-point for refugees and asylum seekers registered with UNHCR to exchange information directly with UNHCR and receive some services.

My Services enables you to:

  • Update your phone number
  • Request an appointment to add a family member (including new births in your family)
  • Request an appointment to remove a family member (death, change in family composition)

This Privacy Notice explains how and why we collect, use, store, share and protect your personal data through the Digital Gateway. It outlines the purposes for which we use your data, how we ensure its security, and your rights regarding the information we hold. Additionally, it provides the contact details of the Personal Data Controller should you wish to exercise any of your rights. UNHCR collects and uses personal data in accordance with its General Policy on Personal Data Protection and Privacy and Policy on the Protection of Personal Data of Persons of Concern to UNHCR.

How Is Your Personal Data Collected and Used on the My Services Portal?

UNHCR collects and processes personal data through the My Services portal to facilitate user registration and support the provision of protection interventions in line with UNHCR’s mandate. Your personal data is collected and processed when you interact with the platform, including:

  • Account creation and registration, this applies when you are already registered with UNHCR and create an account on the My Services portal, when you share your personal details such as your name, contact information and UNHCR registration group number
  • Account management, such as when you update your contact details
  • Booking appointments with UNHCR for example to add a new birth in your family or to report a change in your family composition such as the death of a family member

What personal data do we process?

If you are updating your information, the following personal data shall be provided by you about yourself and your family members through the My Services portal:

  • Basic biodata: First name, middle name, last name, sex, date of birth, country of origin, marital status, date of arrival
  • Family Information: Names of family members, their age, and relationship to you.
  • Contact Details: Email address, phone number, SMS, WhatsApp
  • Photo: A passport size photo / selfie.
  • Document Uploads: national passport, birth certificate, death certificate or other relevant documents
  • Location Details: Address including city, state, and country of origin and country of asylum.
  • Appointment Details: Location, type of appointment, and user identification.
  • Specific Needs (where applicable): Safety concerns, disability, serious health problems.
  • Device information: IP address

The legitimate basis for UNHCR to process your personal data is to perform our mandate, i.e., it is necessary to process your personal data to provide international protection and assistance to forcibly displaced and stateless people.

UNHCR will seek to provide you with protection services relevant to your situation on the basis of the information you provide to UNHCR. Therefore, it is important to provide true and accurate data to the best of your knowledge, and to keep it updated. If you provide inaccurate or false information, it may negatively affect your eligibility for protection services.

How long will we retain your personal data for?

UNHCR will keep your data in the portal to enable you to view the data we have stored on your behalf, and to update your contact information through the portal. 

To ensure your secure and continued access to the portal and allow UNHCR communicate with you, the e-mail address and phone number provided by you to create an account at the portal will be verified via one-time password (OTP) during account creation. 

Who will have access to your personal data?

UNHCR treats your personal data with confidentiality. All information shared by you through the portal will be kept confidential and only used by qualified personnel of UNHCR and partners to perform their duties. At the time of registration, you were counselled about how your personal data (basic biodata) is shared with the Government of India.

UNHCR uses Microsoft to host the Portal and related UNHCR systems and to provide technical support and maintenance services for the Portal and related UNHCR systems. Microsoft is contractually bound to keep the personal data secure and confidential and to process it only under UNHCR’s instructions.

Under no circumstances will we share your personal data with the government in your home country or any other entity other than those indicated above. 

What are your rights as a data subject?

UNHCR would like to make sure you are fully aware of the following rights:

  • You have the right to access your personal data as well as information on how UNHCR collects, processes and stores it.
  • You have the right to correct or update your personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • You have the right to ask to delete your personal data if its processing is no longer necessary or where there is no legitimate basis for processing.
  • You have the right to object to the use of your personal data for legitimate grounds, including sharing with certain third parties.

You or your chosen representative can exercise these rights by contacting us through the channels provided below. These rights are not absolute and may not apply in every situation. Requests related to exercise of your rights may be subject to verification and assessment by UNHCR on a case-by-case basis.

Please note that personal data is necessary for UNHCR to provide protection services. Therefore, if you do not provide personal data or if you object to the use of personal data, you may not benefit from protection services.

How can you contact us?

If you have questions or concerns about how UNHCR collects and processes personal data

If you believe there may have been misconduct by UNHCR in relation to personal data processing, you may also write an email to UNHCR Inspector General’s Office.

All complaints are treated with strict confidentiality, meaning that all data is kept confidential, securely stored and used only for the mentioned purposes (protection, upholding rights, assistance service delivery). Only authorized staff will have access to this data for the mentioned purposes.

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Changes to this privacy notice

UNHCR keeps its privacy notices under regular review and places any updates on its official webpage. This privacy notice was last updated on 11 December 2025.