Privacy Policy

Purpose

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect and protect your information. It explains how we will store and handle your personal information, how we keep it safe, how you can exercise your privacy rights.

Information Goostrey Lane Vets (GLV) Collects

GLV offers a wide range of services to support you and your pet’s healthcare needs. We want you to understand the types of information that we collect as you use these services.

When we collect your information when you:

• Register your details as a new client at one of our surgeries or make appointments at a surgery;

• Complete a form asking to be contacted by one of our surgeries regarding an appointment;

• Sign up for a Goostrey Lane Vets Pet Talk Newsletter;

• Book to attend an event, for example, one of our veterinary professional seminars or professional training events

• Sign up to view one of our online professional webinars;

• Are referred by a vet to another veterinary professional;

• Visit any of our Websites or Apps;

• Engage with us on social media;

• Download or install one of our Apps;

• Contact us by any means with questions about a service, product or treatment

• When you raise a complaint;

• Ask one of our colleagues to email you information about a service, product or treatment;

• Enter prize draws or competitions;

• Choose to complete any surveys we send you;

• Use our micro-chipping service;

• Comment on or review our products and services.

  • Please Note: Any individual may access personal information related to them, including opinions. If your comment or review includes information about the colleague who provided that service, it may be passed on to them if requested;

• Fill in any legislative forms.

  • For example, if an accident happens in a surgery, a colleague will collect your personal information;

• Grant permission to share your information with a third party;

• Phone us, or we phone you; we may record phone conversations for record or training purposes. Records of phone calls that have been recorded are encrypted and password protected. They are deleted within 60 calendar days;

• Use our car parks or veterinary surgeries, which usually have CCTV systems operated for the security of both customers and colleagues and the prevention of crime. These systems may record your image during your visit;

• You purchase a service, product or treatment from a supplier or partner.

Why GLV collects data

To give you and your pet the best care, we use your information to help us improve our services and skills. We monitor the quality and effectiveness of all our services, and we use what we discover to improve them. Your information helps us understand the relevant services, and knowing a little about you helps us improve the services that we offer now and in the future.

Your privacy controls

It’s imperative to us that you are comfortable with the way that we are using your data. If you would like to change how things are working, email us or speak to one of our team. If you wish to discuss our data protection practices, please contact us. Should you still not be satisfied after doing so, you are entitled to discuss the matter with our appointed GDPR team member.

Sharing your data

GLV will not share your information with other companies, individuals, or organisations unless:

• It is part of the diagnosis or treatment of your pet. Such as to laboratories and other suppliers who require them to provide services concerning your pet and who you have agreed we may provide your details to;

• It is part of a service you’ve asked us to provide, such as a wellness subscription, financing or submitting insurance claims.

• If you request that we transfer your pet’s patient history to other veterinary professionals, including another vet for their opinion to surgery or a specialist referral centre.

• To anyone, you have given us consent to do so.

• We have an identified legitimate interest to do so.

• Our third-party services providers and business partners who provide data processing services to us or otherwise process personal information for purposes described in this Privacy Policy or notify you when we collect your personal information. Examples of the kind of third parties we work with are:

  • IT companies who support our Websites, Apps and other business systems;

  • Direct marketing companies or other third parties who help us manage electronic communications with you;

  • Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and similar platforms to show you services that might interest you while you’re browsing the internet; This is based on either your marketing consent or your acceptance of cookies, tracking pixels or similar tracking technology on our websites, as explained further under the heading “Cookies and similar tracking technology” below; and/or

  • Data insight and data analysis companies (to provide us with tools to analyse the data which we hold);

  • Promotional partners;

  • Customer review companies (so you can leave feedback and we can improve our service to you); and/or

  • Competition or prize-draw partners

• We are legally required to do so, for example:

  • To any competent law enforcement body, regulatory, government agency, court or other third parties where we believe disclosure is necessary

  • As a matter of applicable law or regulation,

  • To exercise, establish or defend our legal rights or apply our Terms and Conditions,

  • To protect your vital interests or those of any other person.

Where we share your personal information with third-party service providers and partners, we apply a policy to ensure your personal information is safe and to protect your privacy. Our policy requires:

• We provide only the information they need to perform their specific services.

• They may only use your data for the exact purposes we specify in our contract, written or verbal, with them.

• We work closely with them to ensure that your privacy is respected and protected at all times.

• If we stop using their services, any of your personal information held by them will either be deleted or rendered anonymous (subject to applicable law).

If you have any questions about the third parties, we share your personal information with, please contact us or speak to one of the team.

Legal basis for processing personal information

Our legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described above will depend on the personal information concerned and the specific context in which we collect it.

We will typically collect personal information from you only:

1. Where we need the personal information to perform a contract with you,

2. Where the processing is in our legitimate interests and not overridden by your data protection interests or fundamental rights and freedoms,

3. Where we have your consent to do so.

In some cases, we may also have a legal obligation to collect personal information from you or may otherwise need the personal information to protect your vital interests or those of another person.

Suppose we ask you to provide personal information to comply with a legal requirement or perform a contract with you. In that case, we will make this clear at the relevant time and advise you whether the provision of your personal information is mandatory or not (as well as the possible consequences if you do not provide your personal information).

Similarly, suppose we collect and use your personal information based on our legitimate interests (or those of any third party). In that case, we will clarify to you at the appropriate time what those legitimate interests are when requested.

Cookies and similar tracking technology

We use cookies and similar tracking technology (collectively, “Cookies”) to collect and use personal information about you. For further information about the types of Cookies we use, why, and how you can control Cookies, please see our Cookie Notice.

Keeping your information secure

The privacy and the security of your personal information are of paramount importance to us. We’ve made every reasonable effort to make sure that it is safe on our systems. We comply with all relevant legislation, and we meet the standards set by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the personal information that we collect and process about you. The measures we use are designed to provide a level of security appropriate to the risk of processing your personal information. Specific measures we use include:

• Encrypting your personal information.

• Keeping your information up-to-date and accurate.

• Please note that to do this, we require you to tell us if any of your details, such as your name or address change;

• Having in place strict security procedures for the storage and disclosure of your information to prevent unauthorised access.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not guaranteed to be completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to and/or through our Websites and Apps; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

To ensure that your credit, debit or charge card is not being used without your consent, we will validate your name, address and other personal information supplied by you during the order process against appropriate third-party databases. By accepting our Terms and Conditions, you consent to these checks being made. In performing these checks, personal information provided by you may be disclosed to a registered Credit Reference Agency, which may keep a record of that information. You can rest assured that this is done only to confirm your identity, that a credit check is not performed and that your credit rating will be unaffected. All information provided by you will be treated securely and strictly in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

International data transfers

Your personal information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than the country in which you are resident. These countries may have data protection laws that are different to the laws of the UK.

Some of our third-party service providers may operate outside of the UK, such as in the EU, EEA, Australia and the United States. This means that when we collect your personal information, it may be processed in any of these countries.

Our third-party service providers have procedures in place to ensure your personal information receives the same protection as if it were being processed inside the UK. For example, our contracts with third parties stipulate the standards they must follow at all times. If you wish for more information about these contracts, please contact us or speak to one of the team.

Any transfer of your personal data will be compliant with data protection law, and all personal data will be secure.

Data retention

We retain personal information we collect from you where we have an ongoing legitimate business need to do so (for example, to provide you with a service you have requested or to comply with applicable legal, tax or accounting requirements).

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymise it.

Suppose this is impossible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives). In that case, we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

Please contact us using the contact details provided under the “How to contact us” heading below for more information about the specific periods for which we retain your data.

Your data protection rights

We respond to all requests from individuals wishing to exercise their data protection rights under applicable data protection laws.

You have the following data protection rights:

• If you wish to access, correct, update or request deletion of your personal information, you can do so at any time by contacting the practice your pet is registered with.

• In addition, you can object to the processing of your personal information, ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information or request the portability of your personal information.

• You can exercise these rights by contacting us using the contact details provided under the “how to contact us” heading below.

• You have the right to opt out of marketing communications we send you at any time. You can exercise this right by clicking on the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” link in the marketing e-mails we send you. To opt-out of other forms of marketing (such as postal marketing or telemarketing), please contact us using the contact details provided under the “how to contact us” heading below.

• Similarly, if we have collected and processed your personal information with your consent, then you can withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted before your withdrawal, nor will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.

• You have the right to complain to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your personal information. For more information, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office on 0303 123 1113 or go online to www.ico.or.uk/concerns (please note, we cannot be responsible for the content of external websites).

For all data enquiries, please contact our Veterinary Practice or directly via post at:

The Data Protection Officer
Goostrey Lane Vets
Cranage Trade Park
Goostrey Lane
Holmes Chapel
Cheshire
CW4 8HE

Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy in response to changing legal, technical or business developments. When we update our Privacy Policy, we will take appropriate measures to inform you, consistent with the significance of the changes we make.

You can see when this Privacy Policy was last updated by checking the “last updated” date displayed at the bottom of this Privacy Policy.

How to contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about our use of your personal information, please contact our Data Protection Officer at the following address info@goostreylanevets.co.uk.

Updated 02/09/2021 V1.0