Terms of Use
Last updated: May 2026
1. Purpose and Scope
The Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention (SBI) Hub is a digital platform developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe to support the implementation of evidence-based alcohol policies and interventions across Member States.
This website and its associated resources and tools - including Search (an AI-assisted search function), the SBI assistant (an AI-powered chatbot), and interactive self-assessment or educational tools (such as the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), its short version AUDIT-C, the standard drink calculator or the alcohol attitudes check)- provide information, training resources, and guidance for professionals and stakeholders engaged in alcohol-related prevention, care, and policy.
Please read the following Terms of Use carefully. By accessing or using the Alchol SBI Hub (hereinafter referred to as the “Website”), the user agrees to accept these terms of use. WHO reserves the right to update these terms of use without notice at any time.
All materials on this platform are provided “as is,” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. WHO makes no warranties or representations regarding the completeness or accuracy of any content posted on the Website and shall not be held liable for any loss, injury, direct or indirect damages whatsoever as a result of the use, or inability to use, the Website or its components (including Search, the SBI assistant and AUDIT tools). The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the content lies with the reader and/or user. WHO reserves the right to make updates and changes to posted content without notice and accepts no liability for any errors or omissions in this regard.
By accessing the Website, users also agree to accept and be bound by the terms and conditions of the Website’s privacy policy available at Privacy Statement.
2. Limitation of use
The Website and its AI-assisted components are designed solely for educational and informational purposes.They are not intended to provide medical, diagnostic, legal or therapeutic advice to individuals. Information generated by the chatbot, search functions, or self-assessment tools must not replace consultation with qualified health professionals or national authorities.
WHO shall not be liable for any direct or indirect loss, injury, or damage resulting from the use of, or reliance on, information from the Website.
3. Endorsement and external links
Links to external websites are provided solely for convenience and informational purposes. When users follow these links, they leave the WHO environment and become subject to the privacy and security policies of the external site. WHO has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the accuracy or content, completeness or timeliness of information contained of any external link..
The presence of any resource or external link on the Website does not imply that the resource, or its author or entity, is endorsed or recommended by the WHO. These links are provided for convenience only.
The designations employed and the presentation of content on the Website, including maps and other illustrative materials, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WHO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delineation of frontiers and borders. Dotted lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement.
The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers' products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by WHO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters.
Any question and queries with regards to the Website can be addressed to: neufeldm@who.int.
4. AI-assisted features transparency and limitations
The Website includes AI-assisted features (including Search and the SBI Assistant) to support information retrieval and navigation and general informational guidance. When using these features, users should be aware that:
- Outputs are generated automatically, primarily using WHO and partner publications and other authoritative sources. AI-generated outputs may be incomplete or inaccurate and should be verified against the cited source documents.
- Interaction data may be processed under WHO oversight for quality assurance, safety monitoring, statistical analysis, and system improvement. WHO does not intentionally seek personal data through these features, and users are requested not to include personal data in free-text queries. Where interaction logs are retained, access is restricted to authorized personnel and such logs are handled in fully anonymized form in accordance with applicable WHO policies, including data protection and confidentiality requirements.
- WHO maintains oversight of these AI-assisted features to improve accuracy and safety in line with the principles of transparency, fairness, accountability and safety set out in the WHO Guidance on Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Health (2021) .
5. User conduct
Users agree not to upload or transmit, through the AI-assisted features, content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, discriminatory, or otherwise harmful, infringe intellectual-property or other rights; upload personal data or confidential information that they are not authorized to share or attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the platform; bypass security measures, introduce malware; or otherwise compromise platform security or integrity or interfere with the operation of the Website, including through automated scraping or misuse of interactive/AI features.
WHO reserves the right to moderate content and to suspend or restrict access where it reasonably believes there has been misuse or a security risk.
6. Data Protection and Lawfulness of Processing
Personal Data, where processed, are handled in accordance with the WHO Personal Data Protection Policy (2024). For users in the EU/EEA, WHO seeks, as appropriate, to reflect widely recognized data protection principles, including those reflected in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), without prejudice to WHO’s legal status, privileges and immunities.
Limited technical processing is carried out as necessary for the operation, security, troubleshooting, and improvement of the SBI Hub, in furtherance of WHO’s public-interest mandate.
The legal basis for such limited technical processing is the performance of WHO’s public-interest mandate. WHO applies the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality, and accountability across all SBI Hub components.
For statistical and operational purposes at application level, the SBI Hub also processes certain logs relating to use of its features, namely: AI chatbot interaction logs, Alcohol Attitudes Check tool response logs, AUDIT and AUDIT-C tool logs (including sex/gender responses, question answers and results), and search query logs.
These logs are stored in fully anonymized form. No IP addresses, user identifiers, or session tokens are stored at application level, and no linkage to individual users is maintained. These logs are retained for 12 months and are then automatically deleted. Access to these logs is restricted to authorized SBI team personnel on a need-to-know basis; developers do not have access to real user data. Third-party processors supporting the SBI Hub include Microsoft Azure (including App Service, Front Door/WAF, PostgreSQL, and Azure OpenAI), within which the entire platform infrastructure operates in Europe and data does not leave Europe, and Google Analytics 4, which is used for aggregated usage analytics and is managed exclusively by the SBI team.
WHO does not intentionally request or require users to submit special categories of personal data (e.g., health data) through the Website.
7. Information Collected
The Website collects only limited, technical and usage data required for service provision, security, maintenance, quality assurance, and service improvement.
At application level, the SBI Hub processes browser type, operating system and device information, date, time and duration of visit, language preference, and certain feature-related usage data and logs. These may include AI chatbot interaction logs, search query logs, Alcohol Attitudes Check tool response logs, and AUDIT and AUDIT-C tool logs, including sex/gender responses, question answers, and results. Where users submit free-text search queries or AI chatbot prompts, these are processed to provide the requested service and are also stored in the WHO SBI Hub database in fully anonymized form for statistical and service-improvement purposes. No IP addresses, user identifiers, or session tokens are stored at application level, and no linkage to identifiable individuals is maintained. Such logs are retained for 12 months and are then automatically deleted. Access to these logs is restricted to authorized SBI team personnel on a need-to-know basis; developers do not have access to real user data.
If voluntary demographic information, such as age group or sex/gender, is requested through specific tools, it is collected only in fully anonymized form for statistical and operational purposes, including monitoring system use and improving relevance of outputs. Such information is not used to identify individuals and is not combined with other datasets for identification purposes.
No personal identifiers are required to access the SBI Hub. Users are requested not to include personal data or health information in free-text queries.
Network-level security and traffic logging may occur within the Microsoft Azure infrastructure used to host and protect the SBI Hub, including services such as Front Door/WAF, App Service, PostgreSQL, and Azure OpenAI. Such infrastructure-level processing is separate from application-level logs and is not linkable by the SBI Hub to individual application users.
Subject to user consent where required, the SBI Hub also uses Google Analytics 4 for aggregated usage analytics. Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses. For users in the EU, IP-related information is used only to derive coarse geolocation and is then discarded. Access to Google Analytics data is managed exclusively by the SBI team. Further details on Google Analytics 4 data handling are available in Google’s official documentation.
8. Use, Retention and Security of Data
Technical and usage data are processed for the purposes of maintaining the Website performance and security, producing aggregated statistics to improve functionality, and supporting compliance with applicable cybersecurity and accessibility requirements.
Retention. Fully anonymized application-level logs used for statistical and operational purposes are retained for 12 months and then automatically deleted. Separate infrastructure-level security and traffic logs may be processed within the Microsoft Azure environment supporting the Website and may be retained for longer where necessary for security incident investigation or other legitimate operational purposes under WHO oversight.
Security. WHO applies appropriate administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect data, including access controls and least-privilege access, monitoring, and secure storage.
Transfers and service providers. Data are stored and processed within WHO-managed systems and/or by authorized service providers acting on WHO’s instructions and subject to appropriate contractual and organizational safeguards. Where processing involves cross-border hosting or access, WHO applies appropriate protections consistent with the WHO Personal Data Protection Policy (2024) and, as appropriate, widely recognized data protection principles (including those reflected in the GDPR), without prejudice to WHO’s legal status, privileges and immunities.
WHO does not sell or market data and does not use Website data for profiling or automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
9. Cookies and Analytics
This Website uses essential cookies required for secure operation and core functionality, such as maintaining session integrity.
Subject to the user’s prior consent, optional analytics cookies may be used to help WHO understand how the platform is used - for example, how many visits occur, which pages are most accessed, and which resources are most consulted. Analytics are used to produce aggregated usage statistics. No analytics data are collected, and no third-party analytics scripts are loaded, unless the user actively accepts optional analytics cookies.
Users can grant, refuse, or withdraw consent for optional analytics at any time via Cookie Settings in the site footer. Refusing optional analytics does not affect the core functionality of the Website.
10. Your rights and contact information
Users may request information about how the Website process personal data and, where applicable, may request access, correction, or deletion of personal data, or object to non-essential processing, in accordance with the WHO Personal Data Protection Policy (2024) and subject to applicable retention, security, and other legitimate requirements.
Requests, questions, or concerns (including complaints) may be submitted to EVID-ACTION@who.int.
11. Copyright and use of materials
Unless otherwise indicated, the content made available on this platform is © World Health Organization.
You may reproduce and share this content for non-commercial, educational or policy purposes, provided that: (i) WHO is acknowledged as the source; (ii) the content is not used in a misleading manner; and (iii) any adaptations (including translations) are clearly indicated as such.
Some materials may be owned by third parties. Where third‑party content is identified, users are responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions from the relevant rightsholders.
Use of the WHO name, acronym, emblem or logo is prohibited without prior written authorisation from WHO. No use of the platform content may imply WHO’s endorsement of any organization, product or service.
12. Accessibility and inclusiveness
The Website is designed to be usable for users, including persons with disabilities.
If you encounter any accessibility barriers or need content in an alternative format, please contact EVID-ACTION@who.int.
WHO is committed to continuously improving accessibility and inclusiveness of the platform.
13. Privileges and Immunities
Nothing in this document shall be deemed a waiver of any of the privileges and immunities enjoyed by WHO and its officials under national or international law and/or as submitting WHO to any national court jurisdiction.
14. Dispute Resolution
Any dispute relating to the interpretation or application of these Terms of Use shall, unless amicably settled, be subject to conciliation. In the event of failure of the latter, the dispute shall be settled by arbitration. The arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the modalities to be agreed upon by the parties or, in the absence of agreement, with the rules of arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. The parties shall accept the arbitral award as final.
15. Medical-Advice Disclaimer
This Website does not provide medical advice. All content - including text, graphics, images, links and interactive tools - is provided for general informational and educational purposes only.
It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and does not constitute medical or other professional counsel.
WHO does not endorse or recommend specific tests, health-care providers, products, procedures or opinions that may be referenced on the Website. Users should consult a qualified health professional for questions about a medical condition and seek urgent care in case of a medical emergency.
Any reliance on information provided through the Website, including AI-generated content, is at the user’s own discretion. Users should verify information against the underlying source of materials and/or with a qualified professional, as appropriate.
16. Updates
These Terms of Use may be revised periodically to reflect legal or technical developments.
The updated version will be posted on this page and will apply from the date of publication. The “Last updated” date below indicates when this statement was most recently revised. Where changes are material, WHO may provide additional notice through the platform.
17. Acceptance of terms
By accessing or using the Website, users acknowledge that they have read and understood these Terms of Use. This acknowledgement does not constitute consent to any processing that is optional or not necessary for the secure operation and core functionality of the platform (including optional analytics cookies), for which consent will be sought separately where applicable.