Privacy Policy
Privacy Statement
Last updated: 05/05/2026
MATES in Construction North America Pilot is committed to protecting the privacy, dignity, and trust of the workers, families, partners, and organizations we engage with. Our work involves sensitive conversations about mental health, suicide prevention, workplace culture, help-offering, and help-seeking. We treat information shared with us carefully, respectfully, and only for legitimate program, support, evaluation, governance, and operational purposes.
This Privacy Statement explains how we collect, use, store, and share personal information through our website, enquiry forms, partnership communications, program activities, training administration, evaluation processes, and direct engagement with MATES personnel.
This statement is intended to provide general information about our privacy practices. In some circumstances, we may provide a more specific privacy notice, consent form, evaluation statement, research information sheet, support pathway notice, employment notice, or donor notice. Where a more specific notice applies, that notice should be read together with this Privacy Statement.
Information we collect
The information we collect depends on how you interact with MATES. It may include:
- contact details, such as your name, email address, phone number, organization, role, and location;
- information submitted through website forms, enquiries, partnership discussions, or event registrations;
- training and program participation information, such as attendance, site, employer or union affiliation, language preference, role type, and training feedback;
- evaluation and survey responses, where you choose to participate;
- information shared with Field Officers, Case Managers, or other MATES personnel when seeking support or information;
- referral or support pathway information, where needed to help connect someone to appropriate services;
- communications with MATES, including emails, meeting notes, call records, or other correspondence;
- technical website information, such as IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, referring links, and general website analytics.
We may also collect limited sensitive information where it is relevant to program delivery, support, evaluation, safety, or referral pathways. This may include information about wellbeing, distress, suicide risk, support needs, language needs, cultural considerations, or other personal circumstances that a person chooses to share with us.
We aim to collect only the information we reasonably need for our work and to retain it only for as long as necessary for legitimate program, legal, evaluation, safety, reporting, and governance purposes.
How we use information
We may use personal information to:
- respond to enquiries and communicate with workers, families, partners, employers, unions, associations, and other stakeholders;
- deliver and administer MATES training, Field Officer engagement, Connector development, case management, and support pathways;
- connect people with appropriate supports, such as crisis services, EAPs, union member assistance programs, community services, healthcare providers, or other relevant resources;
- support safe program delivery, including risk management, safeguarding, incident response, and quality assurance;
- evaluate and improve the MATES North America Pilot;
- report on program activity, outcomes, and learning, including through de-identified or aggregated reporting;
- support research, evaluation, and implementation learning, where appropriate consent, ethics, or governance processes apply;
- manage partnerships, donations, funding relationships, governance, compliance, and organizational administration;
- operate, maintain, and improve our website, systems, communications, and services;
- comply with legal, regulatory, insurance, contractual, or governance obligations.
We do not use personal information to make automated decisions about individuals that produce legal or similarly significant effects.
Program, evaluation, and research information
The North America Pilot is being evaluated to understand how the MATES model works in North American construction settings and how it can be strengthened before broader rollout.
Where information is used for evaluation, reporting, or research, MATES will take reasonable steps to de-identify or aggregate information wherever possible. This means information is presented in a way that does not directly identify individual workers, unless identification is necessary, lawful, and appropriate for the specific purpose.
Participation in evaluation or research activities may be subject to separate information sheets, consent processes, ethics review, or institutional review board requirements.
Support and case management information
If someone seeks help from MATES, or if a concern is raised about a worker’s safety or wellbeing, MATES may collect information needed to understand the situation and help connect the person to appropriate support.
MATES is not a crisis service, medical provider, or replacement for professional care. Our role is to help strengthen help-seeking and help-offering and to support connection to appropriate services.
Where there is a serious and immediate concern for someone’s safety, MATES may need to share relevant information with emergency services, crisis services, designated support contacts, or other appropriate parties. We will aim to do this in a way that is respectful, proportionate, and focused on safety.
How we share information
We do not sell personal information.
We may share personal information where necessary and appropriate with:
- service providers who support our operations, such as IT, website hosting, email, payroll, accounting, data storage, evaluation, legal, insurance, or administrative providers;
- program and evaluation partners, where needed for approved program delivery, evaluation, research, or quality improvement purposes;
- employers, unions, associations, or site partners, but generally only in de-identified, aggregated, or operational forms unless individual disclosure is necessary, lawful, and appropriate;
- crisis services, healthcare providers, EAPs, union member assistance programs, community providers, or emergency services where needed to support a person’s safety or connection to care;
- regulators, courts, law enforcement, insurers, auditors, legal advisers, or government agencies where required or permitted by law;
- MATES-related entities or governance bodies where needed for oversight, quality assurance, reporting, risk management, or program integrity.
Where we use third-party service providers, we expect them to handle information securely and only for the purposes for which they are engaged.
De-identified and aggregated information
MATES may use and share de-identified or aggregated information to report on program reach, training activity, workforce engagement, evaluation findings, implementation learning, partnership outcomes, and broader industry trends.
This information helps us demonstrate impact, improve the program, and support the development of an evidence-informed suicide prevention model for the North American construction industry.
Cookies and website analytics
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to help the site function, understand how visitors use the site, improve content, and support basic analytics.
You can usually adjust your browser settings to block or delete cookies. Some parts of the website may not function properly if cookies are disabled.
If MATES later uses advertising cookies, targeted advertising, or cross-context behavioral advertising, we will update this Privacy Statement and provide any legally required choices or opt-outs.
Data security
MATES takes reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational steps to protect personal information from unauthorized access, misuse, loss, alteration, or disclosure.
No system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If we become aware of a data incident that affects personal information, we will respond in accordance with applicable legal, contractual, and operational requirements.
Data retention
We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Statement, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law, contract, insurance, governance, evaluation, audit, or legitimate organizational need.
When information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to securely delete, de-identify, or archive it in accordance with our records and retention practices.
Your privacy choices and rights
Depending on where you live and the laws that apply, you may have rights to request access to personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct inaccurate information, request deletion of certain information, ask for a copy of certain information, opt out of certain data uses, or appeal a decision we make about a privacy request.
These rights may be subject to exceptions. For example, we may need to retain certain information for legal, safety, evaluation integrity, insurance, audit, contractual, or legitimate program purposes.
To make a privacy request, contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before responding.
Children’s privacy
Our website and program are not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without appropriate consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.
Links to other websites
Our website may link to third-party websites, resources, crisis services, EAPs, union supports, community providers, or partner organizations. MATES is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third-party websites. We encourage you to review their privacy notices before providing personal information.
HIPAA and health information
MATES is a suicide prevention and workforce support organization. Unless a specific agreement or notice states otherwise, MATES is not acting as a healthcare provider, health plan, or healthcare clearinghouse. Information shared with MATES is generally not treated as a medical record under HIPAA.
However, we recognize that wellbeing, suicide prevention, and support information can be highly sensitive. We handle this information with care and use it only for appropriate program, support, safety, evaluation, legal, and operational purposes.
Changes to this Privacy Statement
We may update this Privacy Statement from time to time to reflect changes in our program, legal obligations, systems, or privacy practices. The updated version will be posted on our website with a revised “Last updated” date.
Contact us
For questions about this Privacy Statement or to make a privacy request, contact:
MATES in Construction North America Pilot
Email: info@matesna.org
Mailing address: 2727 North Loop West, Houston, TX 77008