Last Updated: 9th October, 2026
At Hillary Street Dental, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our website visitors and patients. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal data when you visit our website, use our online services, or book an appointment.
For the purposes of data protection laws, Hillary Street Dental is the Data Controller.
1. The Data We Collect About You
We may collect, use, store, and transfer different kinds of personal data about you, which we have grouped together as follows:
- Identity Data: Includes first name, last name, title, date of birth, and gender (essential for patient registration across all age groups).
- Contact Data: Includes billing address, home address, email address, and telephone numbers.
- Technical Data: Includes internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting, operating system, and platform.
- Usage Data: Includes information about how you use our website and services.
- Special Category (Health) Data: If you use our online booking, pre-appointment medical history forms, or contact forms, you may provide sensitive details about your dental health, medical history, medications, or symptoms.
2. How We Collect Your Data
We collect data from you through different methods:
- Direct Interactions: You give us your Identity, Contact, and Health Data by filling in forms on our website, booking appointments online, or corresponding with us by phone, email, or otherwise.
- Automated Technologies: As you interact with our website, we may automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns via cookies and server logs.
3. How and Why We Use Your Personal Data
We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we use your data in the following circumstances:
- To Manage Patient Care: To book your appointments, register you as a patient, and process health questionnaires.
- To Communicate with You: To send appointment reminders, updates, or respond to your website inquiries.
- To Improve Our Website: To analyse how visitors navigate our site so we can provide a better user experience.
Lawful Basis for Processing
- Contractual Necessity: To provide dental services and manage your appointments.
- Legitimate Interests: For the efficient administration and optimization of our website and business.
- Legal Obligation: To maintain accurate healthcare records as required by clinical regulators.
- Consent: For any marketing communications (e.g., practice newsletters) or non-essential cookies.
- Special Category Data: We process health data under the legal basis of provision of health or social care treatment, managed by regulated healthcare professionals.
4. Children’s Privacy
As a family dental practice, we service patients of all ages, including children.
- We do not knowingly collect personal data directly from children under the age of 13 through this website without verifiable parental or guardian consent.
- If you are a parent or guardian and are aware that your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can take necessary actions.
5. Sharing Your Data
We do not sell your personal data. We may share your information with trusted third parties only to operate our practice, including:
- Dental Practice Management Software: Secure, encrypted cloud systems used to schedule appointments and hold patient records.
- IT and Website Providers: Contractors who support our website hosting, security, and maintenance.
- Regulatory Bodies: If required by law, clinical regulators, or NHS bodies.
6. Data Security
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorized way. Access to your sensitive health data is strictly limited to clinical staff and authorized personnel who have a legal duty of confidentiality.
7. Data Retention
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for. Medical and dental records are retained in accordance with national healthcare retention guidelines (typically a minimum of 11 years for adults, or until a child reaches age 25, whichever is longer).
8. Your Legal Rights
Under data protection laws, you have rights including:
- Access: The right to ask us for copies of your personal data.
- Rectification: The right to ask us to correct information you think is inaccurate.
- Erasure: The right to ask us to erase your personal data under certain conditions (note that clinical record retention laws may override this for dental health records).
- Restriction: The right to ask us to restrict the processing of your data.
9. Contact Us and Complaints
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your legal rights, please contact us at:
- Email: enquiries@hillarystreetdental.co.uk
- Phone: 01922-623800
- Address: 1 Hillary St, Pleck, Walsall WS2 9BP
You also have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.
