Privacy policy

Linkswood Veterinary Centre respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your

personal data. This privacy policy will explain how we collect, store and use the personal data we

collect from you through your registration, use of our website, interaction with our social media

accounts, or purchase a product or service.

Social media
Interactions made through external social media services that this website and the practice participate with are subject to the terms and conditions as well as the privacy policies held with each social media service.

We reserve the right to remove posts that we deem offensive, repetitive, advertise products/services or show personal information.

Users are encouraged to use social media platforms sensibly and with due care and attention in respect of their own privacy and personal details. We will never ask for sensitive information through social media services and encourage users wishing to discuss sensitive details to get in contact through primary communication channels like phoning us or e-mail.

We reserve the right to publish client pet photos and reviews from our practice Facebook page on our website and other social media such as Google Plus. Should you wish any pet photos be removed from our website or social media pages, please contact our us straight away at office@linkswoodvets.co.uk 

What data we collect
Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified.

We collect the following data:     

  • Identity Data including first name, last name, title.
  • Contact Data including address, email address and telephone numbers.
  • Pet Data including the name, species, breed, gender, insurance records and medical history of your pet(s).
  • Financial Data including bank account and payment card details.
  • Transaction Data including details about payments to and from you and other details of products and veterinary services you have purchased from us.
  • Profile Data including your appointments, feedback and survey responses.
  • Marketing and Communications Data including your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.

 

How we collect your data

We collect and process your data when you:

  • Register your details as a new client and/or make an appointment
  • Complete a form online asking to be contacted
  • Book to attend an event we are holding, for example our evening talks
  • Are referred to us, for example by a physio
  • Engage with us on social media
  • Contact us by any means with a question or to arise a complaint
  • Ask a member of staff to email you information
  • Enter prize draws or competitions
  • Choose to complete surveys or feedback forms we send you
  • Use our micro-chipping services
  • Comment on or review our products and services by any form
  • Fill in any forms, for example consent forms, accident forms
  • Have given third parties permission to share personal information they hold about you and your pet(s) with us, for example transferring medical history

How we use your data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

  • Provide veterinary care for your pet
  • To register you onto our system
  • To process payments
  • To contact you about your pet, account or credit status
  • To prevent and detect fraud- we may need to disclose information to assist legal or debt recovery processes
  • Listen to your feedback and act upon it
  • Send reminders about appointments, vaccination, flea and worm treatments dates
  • To fill in insurance claims and process
  • To respond to any issues or queries you have sent/ told us about
  • Notify you about changes to our services

 

Who we share your personal data with

We may disclose your personal information to the following recipients:

  • Specialised referral centres, hospitals, other treatment facilities; we will always keep you informed of this and ask your permission if this is required.
  • Other vets when you request your pet(s) history to be transferred
  • Insurance companies who you have a policy with
  • Laboratories and suppliers, with your agreement
  • IT companies who support our website and business system
  • Law enforcement bodies, regulatory/ government agencies, court or other third parties where we believe disclosure is necessary
  • Anyone to who you have consented to disclose information to

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

Security and retention of your data

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees and third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

We keep basic information about our customers (including Contact, Identity, Pet, Financial and Transaction Data) for 7 years after they cease being customers for legal and tax purposes.

 International transfer of data

We do not transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

Your data protection rights

We would like to make sure you are fully aware of all your data protection rights; every client is entitled to the following:

  • Right to request access to copies of your personal data. We Reserve the right to charge a small fee for this service.
  • Right to request ratification of any information you believe is inaccurate. Also, to complete any information you believe is incomplete.
  • Right to request the erasure of your personal data, subject to law and certain conditions.
  • Right to request the restriction of processing your data, subject to law and certain conditions.
  • Right to object to processing your personal data, subject to law and certain conditions.
  • Right to request the transfer of your data to another organisation or directly to you, subject to certain conditions.

 If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us (details are in the how to contact us section).

How to contact us

If you have any questions about our privacy policy, the data we hold on you, or you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Email us at: office@linkswoodvets.co.uk

Call us at: 01787 389248