Knutsford Vets Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy – Knutsford Vets
We protect your data as well as your pets.
We understand the importance of looking after the personal data that we collect and process. This policy explains why we collect personal data, how it is processed, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, how we keep it secure and how long we store it.
This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.
- a) These terms and conditions set out the basis by which we provide the GoldPlan and GoldPlan Plus services (as further described below).
- b) By submitting payment to us in respect of any part of the services, or otherwise using any part of our services, you agree to be bound by these terms. If you do not agree to be bound by these terms, you must not use those services.
About us
Knutsford Veterinary Surgery is the trading name of Paws Direct Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales under registered company number 07856473 (“we/us/our”). Our registered address is Knutsford Veterinary Surgery, Fryer’s Rose Nursery & Garden Centre, Manchester Road, Knutsford, WA16 0SX. We are registered for VAT purposes with registration number 129583094.
Contact us
You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.
Data Controller
As we collect personal data and determine how it is used, we are the ‘data controller’ responsible for your personal data.
Our appointed ‘Data Protection Officer’ is the Operations Manager, Melissa Tomlinson who may be contacted at the above address, by telephone on 01565 337999 or by email office@knutsfordvetsurgery.co.uk if you have any questions regarding this policy.
Changes to the privacy policy and your duty to inform us of changes
We keep our privacy policy under regular review. Last review Oct 2nd 2023, next review Oct 2nd 2024
It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.
The data we collect about you
Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).
We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:
3. How to contact us
- Identity Data includes first name, last name, title, date of birth and gender.
- Contact Data includes billing address, delivery address, email address and telephone numbers.
- Financial Data includes bank account and payment card details.
- Transaction Data includes details about payments to and from you and other details of products and services you have purchased from us.
- Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
- Profile Data includes your pets, purchases or orders made by you, your preferences, feedback and survey responses.
- Usage Data includes information about how you use our website, products and services.
- Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.
We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health, and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.
If you fail to provide personal data
Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with goods or services). In this case, we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.
How is your personal data collected?
We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:
- Direct interactions. You may give us your Identity, Contact and Financial Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:
- – purchase our products or services;
- – subscribe to our service or publications;
- – request marketing to be sent to you; or
- – give us feedback or contact us.
- Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our website, we will automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies and other similar technologies. We may also receive Technical Data about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies. Please see our Cookie Policy for further details.
- Contact, Financial and Transaction Data from providers of technical and payment services based inside the UK.
How we use your personal data
We are permitted to process data if we have a legal basis for doing so. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:
- Where we need to perform the contract, we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.
- Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
- Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.
Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data although we will get your consent before sending direct marketing communications to you via email or text message. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us.
Purposes for which we will use your personal data
We process personal data to allow us to fulfil our contract with you and to provide your pet with both emergency and preventative health care. This contract is entered into when you register with the practice and agree to our terms and conditions by doing so. Similarly, by registering your details for the gold plan, a contract has been entered into.
We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate:
| Purpose/Activity | Type of data | Lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest |
| To register you as a new customer | (a) Identity (b) Contact | Performance of a contract with you |
To provide services to you, including:
Manage payments, fees and charges
To process insurance claims on your behalf. | (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Financial (d) Transaction (e) Marketing and Communications | (a) Performance of a contract with you (b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to recover debts due to us) |
| To make suggestions and recommendations to you about goods or services that may be of interest to you, including by sending reminders for preventative health care including postal reminders, emails and text messages when vaccinations, parasite control treatments or appointments are due | (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Technical (d) Usage (e) Profile (f) Marketing and Communications | Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our products/services, grow our business and to provide veterinary advice in the best interests of your pet) |
To manage our relationship with you which will include:
Asking you to leave a review or provide feedback about our services. | (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 customers use our products/services) |
| To administer and protect our business and this website (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 website content and advertisements to you and measure or understand the effectiveness of the advertising we serve to you | (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Profile (d) Usage (e) Marketing and Communications (f) Technical | Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them, to grow our business and to inform our marketing strategy) |
| To use data analytics to improve our website, products/services, marketing, customer relationships and experiences | (a) Technical (b) Usage | Necessary for our legitimate interests (to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our website updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy) |
| We digitally record CCTV images, video and audio on our premises to assist with staff training, for the safety of pets, clients and staff and the security of our premises. These may form part of your pets clinical record. | (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Profile (d) Usage | Necessary for our legitimate interests (to assist with staff training, for the safety of pets, clients and staff and the security of our premises) |
Marketing
In addition to our contractual services, we would like to process your personal data, with your consent, to send you information regarding offers or promotions we think will be of interest to you. You can change your mind at any time by clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link in our marketing correspondence, speaking to the staff in our practice, or emailing us via paul@knutsfordvetsurgery.co.uk.
How long will we store your data?
We review our data retention periods for personal data on a regular basis. We will store your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes for which that personal data was collected. We may also store relevant personal data for as long as any legal claim may be made against the practice or our colleagues and to comply with our legal and regulatory requirements including for HMRC and RCVS. This will usually be six years. We will pseudonymise or anonymise your personal data where possible and anonymised data may be used in historical statistical or clinical analysis.
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, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements
Data security
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, agents, contractors and other 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 have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
International transfers
We may transfer your personal data outside the UK, including where you access our services while you are outside the UK,.
Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the UK, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:
- We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data.
- Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved for use in the UK which give personal data the same protection it has in the UK.
Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the UK.
Disclosure of your information
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 have laboratory tests performed). However, when we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal data that is necessary to deliver the service 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 consented us to do so, or we are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of prevention of fraud or other crime.
Disclosure to external third parties
Where necessary, we may share your personal data with the following external service providers:
Service providers who provide IT and system administration services
So that we can collect, process and store your personal data for the purposes set out within this privacy policy. For example, we store your personal data on the EzyVet platform operated by IDEXX Laboratories, Inc.
Laboratories and animal crematorium
So that we can arrange tests, treatments and services and obtain results on your behalf.
Email providers, printers, text messaging services
To allow us to send reminders for preventive healthcare, information on relevant health issues or direct marketing if you have consented to us doing so.
Referral services
Should we need to refer your pet to a specialist for further treatment, with your consent, to enable us to book appointments, share tests, treatments and services.
Moving practice
If you wish to leave us and register with another vets, we will send your personal data and clinical summary for each registered pet after we have obtained explicit consent from you to do so.
Insurance providers
To enable us to obtain permission to carry out investigations or treatments at your insurance company’s expense and to arrange payment for the services and treatments we have provided to your pet
Banks and payment service providers
To enable us to take payment for our services and to provide refunds where required.
Credit reference and fraud prevention agencies
We may share your personal data with and obtain information about you from credit reference agencies or fraud prevention agencies.
Debt collection agencies
In some circumstances, we may engage a debt collection agency to recover debt on our behalf.
Law enforcement agencies
If we receive a request in writing from a law enforcement agency, we may be required to provide your personal data.
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites, even if you access them using links from our website.
If you linked to our website from a third-party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy practices of the operators of that third-party site and recommend that you check their policy.
Your rights
In certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. These include the right to:
- Request access to your personal data
- Request correction of your personal data
- Request erasure of your personal data
- Object to processing of your personal data
- Request restriction of processing your personal data
- Request transfer of your personal data
- Right to withdraw consent
You can read more about these rights at:
If you would like to exercise any of your rights, please contact our practice manager using the details at the start of this policy and to help us 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
No fee usually required
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
Time limit to respond
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
