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E L L O N - V E T
mobile
veterinary surgeons
At Chris Humes Ellon Veterinary Surgeon, we’re committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
This Policy explains when and why we collect personal data (in this document the words ‘personal data’ and ‘data’ are used to describe information that can identify an individual) about people who visit our website and/or are clients of the practice. We will describe how we use that data, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, how we keep it secure, and how you can access it and make changes if you choose to do so.
We may change this policy from time to time. Please check this page occasionally to ensure you’re happy with any changes. By using our website / registering as a client, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.
Any questions regarding this Policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to: manager@chrishumes.vet or by writing to the Practice Manager, Unit D Meiklemill of Esslemont Industrial Estate, Ellon AB41 8NW Alternatively, you can telephone 01358 723420
We will cover:
Who are we?
How do we collect information from you and what type of information is it?
How is your information used?
Who has access to your information?
Your choices
How you can access and update your information including the right to be forgotten
Retention of information
Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information
Your rights
Review of this policy
Our company name is Chris Humes Ellon Veterinary Surgeon. Our postal address is Unit D Meiklemill of Esslemont Industrial Estate, Ellon AB41 8NW. Enquiries can also be emailed to manager@chrishumes.vet or by telephone on 01358 723420
Our Data Controller is the business owner, Mr C I Humes BVMS MRCVS
We obtain information about you when you register with the practice, purchase products or services from the practice or use our website (for example, when you complete a contact form). The types of data we collect and process might include:
Identity Data which may include your first name,
maiden name, last name, marital status and title
Contact Data which may include your billing
address, email address and telephone numbers
Financial Data which may include your payment
card details which are used a single time and not
stored.
Transaction Data which may include details about
payments between us and other details of purchases made by you
although your bank details are not stored by us.
Technical Data which may include your internet
protocol (IP) addresses, browser type and version, browser plug-in
types and versions, time zone setting and location, operating
system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to
access this site
Profile Data which may include purchases, booked
appointments, contact requests, your interests, preferences,
feedback and survey responses. If you choose to connect with us via
social media, eg Facebook or Twitter, we may collect your username,
your name (including surname), email address, your gender and your
location
Usage Data which may include information about
how you use our website, products and services
Sensitive Data - we may need to process sensitive
data about you in order to offer you the best service. An example
of this might be a note about hearing loss or other accessibility
information that might help us help you. We require your explicit
consent for processing sensitive data, so when we collect and
record this information we will ask you to confirm your consent to
this processing
Marketing and Communications Data may include
your preferences in receiving marketing communications and reminder
messages from us, and your communication
preferences
Aggregated Data may also be collected, such as the way you view our website, which pages are of interest etc. Some of this just lets us know how to make sure what we offer online is useful and suits our clients. This information does not reveal your identity and as such is not personal data. It only becomes personal data if we were ever to link this information with your personal data so that you can be identified from it, and then it is treated as personal data.
Where we are required to collect personal data by law or under the terms of the contract between us, and if you do not provide us with that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract (for example, see your pet in a consultation, carry out a procedure or dispense drugs to you). If you don’t provide us with the requested data, we may have to cancel our contract with you but if we do, we will notify you at the time.
If you provide us with any personal data relating to any third party (eg information about your spouse or other family members) for particular purposes, by submitting such data to us, you warrant that you have obtained their consent to provide us with their personal data for those purposes.
Like many other websites, www.chrishumes.vet uses cookies. 'Cookies' are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognise you when you visit. They collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns and do not identify you as an individual. For example, cookies help us to track which pages you visit on our website. This helps us to improve our website and deliver a better, more personalised service.
It is possible to switch off cookies by setting your browser preferences. For more information on how to switch off cookies on your computer, visit your settings. Turning cookies off may result in a loss of functionality when using our website.
Chris Humes Ellon Veterinary Surgeon may use your personal data to:
Carry out the practice’s obligations under contracts between you and us
Ask for your feedback on the services we provide
Notify you of changes to our services
Send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you
Process a job application
Where we need to comply with legal or regulatory obligation
Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal ground for processing your personal data. In order to meet our responsibilities under our contract with you, we will contact our clients when required to remind you when essential healthcare is due or if we think the health of your pet might benefit from information we send. Communication about these is essential to the long-term health of your pet and might include vaccination, parasite reminders and offers on services that might help your pet live a long, happy and active life.
We may use your information collected from our website, via cookies or direct input, to personalise communications to ensure they are relevant to you.
We review our retention periods for personal data regularly. We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations. We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us. Financial information is not stored for longer than is required to process that data. It is then destroyed.
The table below describes the way we intend to use your data, the legal grounds we will use to process it, and what our legitimate interests are:
Purpose/Activity |
Type of data |
Lawful basis for processing |
To register you as a new client |
(a) Identity (b) Contact |
Performance of a contract with you |
To process and deliver our commitment to you and your pet(s) including:
|
(a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Financial (d) Transaction (e) Marketing and Communications |
(a) Performance of a contract with you and your pet (b) Necessary to meet our professional obligations (c) Necessary for our legitimate interests to recover debts owed to us |
To manage our relationship with you which will include: (a) Notifying you about changes to our terms or privacy policy (b) Asking you to leave a review or take a survey |
(a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Profile (d) Marketing and Communications |
(a) Performance of a contract with you (b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation (c) Necessary for our legitimate interests to keep our records updated and to study how clients use our products/services |
To administer and protect our business and our site (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data) |
(a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Technical |
(a) Necessary for our legitimate interests for running our business, provision of administration and IT services, network security, to prevent fraud and in the context of a business reorganisation or group restructuring exercise (b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation |
To deliver relevant content and information to you – in addition to reminders - and measure and understand the effectiveness of our communication |
(a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Profile (d) Usage (e) Marketing and Communications (f) Technical |
Necessary for our legitimate interests to see how clients use our services, to develop them, to grow our business and to inform our marketing strategy |
To use data analytics to improve our website, services, marketing, client relationships and experiences |
(a) Technical (b) Usage |
Necessary for our legitimate interests to define types of clients for our services, to keep our site updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy |
To make suggestions and recommendations to you about goods or services that may be of interest to you |
(a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Technical (d) Usage (e) Profile |
Necessary for our legitimate interests to
maintain our obligations to you, your pet and the profession and
develop our services in order to run a viable
business. |
We will never sell your personal data to anyone.
Neither will we share your information with other companies for marketing purposes without your prior consent.
We may pass your information to carefully selected partners (eg service providers or sub-contractors) for the purposes of completing tasks and/or providing services to you on our behalf.
However, when we use third-party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service and we have terms in place that requires them to keep your information secure. An example of this is sharing data with your insurance company to settle claims on when we are referring your pet. Third-parties are subject to strict confidentiality obligations and may only use your personal data to perform the necessary functions and not for other purposes.
We may also disclose personal data as permitted or required by law. For example, if asked by the police or HMRC, we may share your personal data for the purposes of prevention or detection of crime. Information is not shared with them outside of this purpose. Here are some detailed examples of third parties with whom we may share your personal information:
Referral practices
When we refer an animal to a referral hospital or specialist, we need to share relevant information to arrange appointments, test, treatments and services.
We would share information such as:
Your name.
Your address.
Your email address.
Mobile number.
Telephone number.
Laboratories and Animal Crematorium
So that we can arrange tests, treatments and services and obtain results on your behalf.
We would share information such as:
Your name.
Your address.
Mobile number.
Telephone number.
Your insurer
So that we can obtain permission to request pre-authorisations or to arrange payment for investigations and treatments provided.
We would share information such as:
Insurance policy number.
Your name.
Your address.
Banks and payment service providers
So that we can deal with payments for the appointments, services, treatments and goods provided. To make refunds.
We would share information such as:
Your name.
Your account details.
Your address.
Credit reference and fraud prevention agencies
We may share your personal information with and obtain information about you from credit reference agencies or fraud prevention agencies.
We would share information such as:
Your name.
Your address.
Debt collection agencies
If you fall behind with payments for the services we provide, we may engage a debt collection agency to recover the debt on our behalf.
We would share information such as:
Your name.
Your address.
Your email address.
Mobile number.
Telephone number.
Your outstanding balance.
Email/SMS providers, printers and mailing houses
So that we can send you reminders, administrative information relating to the way we provide services to you, information about animal health issues relevant to you and marketing communications if you have consented to receiving them.
We would share information such as:
Your name.
Your address.
Your mobile number
Your email address.
Law enforcement agencies
If we receive a request in writing from a law enforcement agency, we may be required to provide your personal information.
We would share information such as:
Your name.
Your address.
Your email address.
Mobile number.
Telephone number.
Location information.
Bank, debit or credit card details.
Insurance policy number.
Moving practice
If you decide to move to a new practice we will provide a copy of your animals’ records to the new practice when requested. It is our policy to phone and ask permission from you, the account holder, before transferring medical records. If you do not want your records transferred, please speak to a member of the Practice staff.
We would share information such as:
Your name.
Your address.
Your email address.
Mobile number.
Telephone number.
Save as set out above, we will not sell, lease or transfer your personal information to any other person or company without your prior consent.
In some instances, it may be necessary to transfer your personal data overseas. Any transfers will be made in full compliance with UK data protection laws.
In the event that our business is transferred, sold or integrated with another business, your details may be disclosed to our advisers or any prospective purchaser’s advisers and may be passed on to the new owners of the business.
Responsible pet ownership includes a wide range of care, some of which will be administered by you; some by our vets and nurses.
Our responsibilities under our contract with you might include:
contacting you from time to time to remind you, for example, when vaccinations are due or when you should use / collect parasite protection. Communication about these is essential to the long-term health of your pet. For that reason, we do not ask for your consent to send these messages as legitimate interest is our legal basis for doing so. However, if you have a preference as to how you would prefer to receive reminders (eg by SMS or post) please let us know by calling 01358 723420 or by emailing admin@chrishumes.vet and we will update our records.
letting you know about products and services (provided by us) which we believe can help your pet to live a long, happy and active life – for example, advice on diet and nutrition, exercise or preventative healthcare. Again, we believe this advice and guidance to form the foundation of responsible pet ownership. However, each message we send will include instructions on how you can choose to opt-out of receiving future similar messages, if you prefer. Alternatively, you can contact us at any time and we will update our records. In the course of providing care for your pet, we may sometimes be required to share your details with third-parties – eg your insurance company, or external laboratories for processing blood, urine or faecal samples. We only share the information that is necessary at the time, and those third parties do not have permission to use your data for anything else.
Other than is required to provide care to your pet, or as may be required by law, we will never share your data with anyone else.
We may occasionally hear of products and services, provided by others and not by us here at the practice, which may be of interest to you. We will only tell you about these products and services if you have given us your consent. You can update your preferences at any point.
Maintaining accurate records is an important part of providing the best service to you and the best care for your pet(s). Periodically – for example when you bring your pet for an appointment - we will ask if any of your details have changed. You also have the right to request a copy of the information we hold, so that you can ensure its accuracy. You can do this by the following methods:
Email: admin@chrishumes.vet Telephone: 01358 723420 Or write to us at: Unit D Meiklemill of Esslemont Industrial Estate, Ellon AB41 8NW
You also have the right to be forgotten and can request for erasure verbally or in writing and we have processes in place to ensure that we respond to a request for erasure without undue delay and within one month of receipt. We are also aware that there are circumstances when we can extend the time limit to respond to a request, and that the right is not absolute and only applies in certain circumstances.
You can find out more requesting information on the data collected about you here: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/personal-information/
Your personal data will be retained for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it is collected or for business or legal purposes, or in accordance with applicable laws.
Should you choose to withdraw consent for marketing contact, please note that your personal data may still be retained on our database to the extent permitted by law.
When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it is treated securely.
Please note: emails are never guaranteed to be 100% secure. For this reason, we ask that you never send us any sensitive information (eg bank account details, payment card number etc) by email. Instead, please either call the practice and provide this information over the telephone or visit the practice in person.
If you send non-sensitive information (eg your email address, contact details etc) by email, you do so at your own risk. We’ll do everything we can to ensure its security.
On occasion it is also necessary for us to hold certain personal information about you on mobile electronic devices used by practitioners in the field. This information will sometimes include your name, email address, appointment address, and any related medical records. This is required in order for us to fulfil our contractual obligations with you. Devices are electronically secured and can only accessed by our staff.
You may see links from our website to other, third-party websites. We have no control over those sites, or how they may process or handle your personal data. We recommend that you check the privacy policies on those websites too.
Similarly, if you arrived at our website by clicking a link from a third-party website, this privacy policy does not cover the way data may be collected and/or processed on that third-party-website.
he General Data Protection Regulation grants all data subjects the following rights without charge.
These include the right to:
Fair processing of information and transparency over how we use your use Personal Information;
Access your Personal Information and to certain other supplementary information that this Privacy Notice is already designed to address;
Require us to correct any mistakes in your information which we hold;
Require the erasure of Personal Information concerning you in certain situations;
Receive the Personal Information concerning you which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to a third party in certain situations;
Object at any time to processing of Personal Information concerning you for direct marketing;
Object to decisions being taken by automated means which produce legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affect you;
Object in certain other situations to our continued processing of your Personal Information;
Otherwise restrict our processing of your Personal Information in certain circumstances.
For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the Guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulation.
If you would like to exercise any of your rights, please contact the Practice Manager at Chris Humes Ellon Veterinary Surgeon (contact details outlined in the “who are we?” section. In order for us to deal with your request efficiently, please provide:
Sufficient information to allow us to identify you;
Evidence of your identity and your address (for example, a copy of your driving licence or passport);
As much information about your request including, if applicable, dates, specific documents or animal names.
We are keen to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian's permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.
We review this Policy regularly. It was last updated in June 2019.