Overview
Bishops Stortford Veterinary Hospital Limited is an independently owned group of veterinary practices which includes Bishops Stortford Veterinary Hospital, Saffron Walden Veterinary Clinic and The Good Companions Veterinary Clinic. We are a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales under company 07961322. Our registered address is Rye Street, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM23 2HA. We are registered for VAT purposes under the registration number 213242220.
Bishops Stortford Veterinary Hospital Ltd is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We aim to be transparent and responsible about how we handle the Personal Data entrusted into our care and are committed to continual improvement of our privacy and security policies.
This policy applies to Personal Data collected or processed by Bishops Stortford Veterinary Hospital Ltd and explains when and why we collect personal information about people who visit our premises or website, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, and how we keep it secure.
We may update this policy from time to time, so please check this page periodically to ensure that you are happy with any changes.
If you have any questions about our privacy policy, please contact us by e-mail at info@stortvet.com or alternatively telephone us on 01279 654108.
Lawful basis for processing your data
Organisations are permitted to process data if they have a legal basis for doing so. Bishops Stortford Veterinary Hospital Ltd processes data on the basis that, as your chosen veterinary clinic, we have a legitimate interest in processing your data.
What are the lawful bases on which we may process your personal data?
· To protect your vital interests.
o For registration of clients and their animals.
o To enable us to provide veterinary services and products to clients.
o To enhance and personalise our services and communications for the benefit of our clients.
o To provide communications by post, telephone, text and e-mail which we think may be of interest to you.
o To provide communications by post, telephone, text and e-mail for reminders of vaccinations and anti parasitic treatments.
o For health and safety reasons.
· At your direction and with your consent
o To communicate our offers and promotions which may include newsletters and relevant client information.
o To enter into a contract with you.
· For scientific and research purposes
· For other legitimate business purposes:
o To better understand how people interact with our website.
o To improve business and marketing practices.
o As a necessity in relation to a contract or agreement which you have entered into, (E.g. joining our healthcare plan or taking out a financial agreement).
Information we collect about you
We collect and process various categories of Personal Data as part of running our business. Personal Data may be collected through our website, mobile applications and social media accounts, through e-mail, telephone calls and in-person, (for example, when you contact us about registering your pet, requesting repeat prescriptions, booking appointments or other goods and services).
Your Personal Data includes information, or a combination of information, that could directly or indirectly be used to identify you. This includes, but is not limited to, identifiers such as names, ID numbers, online identifiers, location data or factors about physical, mental, economic or cultural information. Some types of Personal Data are deemed Sensitive Personal Data (e.g. biometric data, ethnic origin, financial or health information). If we collect Personal Data or Sensitive Personal data, we will treat it as such in accordance with this Privacy Statement and the applicable local law.
We collect the following data:
· Title
· Name
· Address
· Contact phone numbers and e-mail address
· Purchase history
· Billing and shipping information
· Payment information, like your credit card number
· Device identifier and operating system
· Browser information
· IP address
· Internet and social media activity
If you join our health plan or enter into a payment agreement, we will collect the following data:
· Bank Name
· Sort Code
· Account number
· Account name
CCTV: We are dedicated to the improvement of clinical and customer care. We digitally record images to assist with staff training and for the safety of pets, clients, staff and the monitoring of the security of our premises.
Pet data: data we collect about your pet is not considered Personal Data (e.g. species, breed, age and treatment history).
How do we use your information
We may use your information to:
· process orders that you have submitted
· contact you about your pet’s treatment
· contact you about promotions or offers
· carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us
· seek your views and comments 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
· send you reminders for vaccinations
· send you reminders for anti-parasitic treatments
· send you reminders for previously recommended treatment or appointments
How long do we store your data
We review our data retention periods for personal information on a regular basis. 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 (i.e. for as long as you are a client +6 years or immediately if you request to be deleted).
Paper records will be kept for 6yrs then disposed of as secure waste (incinerated) by an approved contractor.
CCTV records are stored electronically and automatically deleted after 28 days.
Where we store your personal data
The personal data collected from you is stored within our practice management system, ASSISI. Records will be available across the Bishops Stortford Veterinary Hospital Ltd for the benefit of patient care and transferring records.
Your data may be transferred to countries outside of the European Union (EU). This may happen if any of our servers are located in a country outside of the EU. If we transfer your information outside of the EU in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this Policy. By submitting your personal data, you are agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing.
If you use our services whilst outside of the EU, your information may be transferred outside the EU to provide you with those services.
Disclosure of your information
Please note that advertising partners and other third parties may also collect data automatically when you visit our website through the use of cookies.
We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.
We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.
We may pass your information to our third-party service providers for the purposes of providing services to you (for example to send you appointment reminders). However, when we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal information required for them to deliver the service requested and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own direct marketing purposes. We will not release your information to third parties unless you have requested us to do so, or we are required to do so by law.
Your rights and choices
Please note that you have choices about the information we collect and when asked to provide Personal Data, you may decline. However, please be aware that if you choose not to provide information necessary to provide a product or service then you may not be able to use some of our services.
You have a choice about the type of information you receive from us. As a client of our services, you understand and agree that personal information you provide will be held on a database operated by us and we will contact you about your pet’s treatment using your preferred method of communication.
You have the right to access information held about you. If you wish to see a copy of your data, please write to us requesting the data and enclosing a cheque for £10.00 (to cover the cost of providing the information). We will provide the information within one calendar month of receiving the request.
You have the right to request the transfer of your data from one surgery to another. We will only transfer data to another surgery with your consent unless not to do so would compromise the health and wellbeing of your pet.
The accuracy of your information is important to us. If you change your address or any of your contact details, please notify us as soon as possible.
You have the right to have any inaccurate or incorrect data corrected or removed, please notify us if that is the case.
We will only send you direct marketing communications by e-mail, phone, text or post about new services or products if you have consented to receive them. We will ask you to confirm consent when you first register and periodically as long as you remain an active client.
You can change your marketing preferences at any time by contacting us by e-mail: info@stortvet.com or by telephone on 01279 654108.
You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioners Office Tel: 0303 123 1113 if you think that there is a problem in the way we are handling your data.
Website use
This privacy policy is for www.stortvet.com and governs the privacy of its users.
This policy sets down the various areas where user privacy is involved and outlines the obligations and requirements for website users and owners. The policy also covers the way this website will protect user data as well as storing and processing that information.
Protecting Privacy
This website/the website owners take a proactive strategy on user privacy and provide appropriate measures to safeguard the privacy of users for the duration of their visit. The website complies with UK national laws and requirements for user privacy.
About Cookies
Cookies are small files saved to the hard drive of the user’s device, which track, save and store information regarding the user’s interactions and usage of the website. This enables the website, through its server, to produce a more tailored experience for site users.
This website incorporates a cookie plugin advising the user on his or her first visit to the website about the use of cookies. “Assumed consent” is used – if the user is unhappy about the use of cookies, they can simply leave the website.
Users can also take necessary steps by adjusting the security settings of their web browsers to prevent the use of cookies from the website and its external serving vendors.
Tracking software is used to monitor website visitors to improve our understanding of how they make use of the website. This software is Google Analytics, which makes use of cookies to track visitor actions. Google Analytics will save a cookie to your device hard drive in order to track and monitor your engagement and usage of the website. It will not gather or store personal information. Read Google’s privacy policy for further information.
Other cookies may be stored to your device hard drive by external vendors should this website use sponsored links, referral services or adverts. These cookies track visitor conversion and referral and tend to expire after 30 days, although some may take longer to expire. None of the user’s personal information shall be gathered or stored.
Communication
Users contacting this website and/or its owners do so at their own discretion and provide any such details requested at their own risk. Personal information will be private and stored securely until it is no longer needed; details can be found in the Data Protection Act 1998. This website endeavours to ensure a safe and secure form to email submission procedure but visitors using these forms do so at their own risk.
This website and its owners use any information submitted to supply further information about the products/services they offer or to help in answering any queries you might have. This includes using your details to subscribe you to any email newsletter the website uses but only if this was made clear to you and your permission was granted when submitting any form. Or whereby you, the consumer, have previously purchased or enquired about purchasing a product or service that the email newsletter relates to. This is not a complete description of your rights in regard to receiving email marketing communications. Your details will never be passed on to any third party.
External Links
Even though this website seeks to provide quality, safe and relevant external links, users ought to apply a policy of caution before following any external web links from this website. Such links are followed at the user’s own risk.
The website owners can neither guarantee nor verify the contents of any externally linked websites despite their very best efforts. The website owners cannot be held liable for any damages or implications as a result of visiting any external links mentioned.
We encourage you to be cautions and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects your information.
This privacy statement only applies to information collected on this website.
Adverts and Sponsored Links
This website may include sponsored links and adverts. These sponsors and advertisers may have privacy policies regarding the adverts they serve.
Clicking on any such adverts will send you to the advertiser’s website through a referral program, which may use cookies and will track the quantity of referrals sent from this website. This may feature the use of cookies which may in turn be saved on your device hard drive.
Sponsored external links are followed at your own risk and this website and its owners cannot be held liable for any damages or implications as a result of any external links mentioned.
Social Media
Interactions made through external social media services that this website and its owners participate with are subject to the terms and conditions as well as the privacy policies held with each social media service.
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 telephone and email.
This website may use social sharing buttons which help share web content directly from web pages to the social media services in question. Users are strongly advised prior to using these buttons that they do so at their own discretion and note that the social media service may track and save your request to share a web page respectively through your social media account.
Shortened Links
Users should use good judgement before clicking any shortened web addresses (urls). This website will try to ensure only safe and relevant urls are posted. However, social media platforms can be prone to spam and hacking; for this reason, this website and its owners cannot be held liable for any damages or implications as a result of following any shortened links.
Policy Statement effective from May 2018. Reviewed: January 2022, October 2023, May 2024.