This privacy notice explains how Petals Vets will collect and process your personal data when you register as a client, purchase our services or products, or use our website.

Data We Collect and Process

Ways in which we collect data:

1. Contact and account information

To effectively provide our services and ensure the best care for your pet, we need to collect and process the following personal data when registering you as a client:

• First Name

• Last Name

• Address

• Phone Number

• Email Address

This data will be used for the following services and purposes:

• To manage your account and provide the requested products and services, such as invoicing, scheduling appointment changes, and keeping records for legal and accounting purposes.

• To notify you by email about service updates, such as seasonal opening hours or changes to out-of-hours availability.

• If you have pet insurance and wish to make a claim, we will share your pet’s clinical history along with your name and address with your insurance provider to assist in processing your claim.

• If we take a sample from your pet, we will send it to our lab supplier and provide your surname and address for identification purposes.

If you decide to purchase our healthcare plan and pay by direct debit, you will need to provide bank account details to set up and confirm your payment. 

Please note our inbound and outbound phone calls, and some consultations are recorded for training and monitoring purposes.

2. To Send You Healthcare Communications 

We occasionally send communications to all our clients to support the health and well-being of their pets, such as:

• Reminders for vaccinations and healthcare treatments.

• Targeted healthcare advice and product details relevant to your pet.

These communications are typically valued by clients and can be opted out of at any time. We only send these to existing clients. The personal data processed for these communications includes:

• First Name

• Email Address

• Mobile Phone Number

To opt-out of these communications, you can:

• Click the 'Unsubscribe' link in any email.

• Email us at Info@petals.vet

• Visit us in person and speak with a team member.

3. To Share With Veterinary-Related Third Parties

There are times when we need to ask for your consent to share your personal data with third parties:

• If you wish to refer your pet to a specialist veterinary surgeon, we will share your pet’s clinical history along with your name and address to facilitate the referral process.

• If you choose to move to a different veterinary practice, we will share your pet’s clinical history, name, and address with your new vets before closing your account.

• If you wish to microchip your pet (cats and rabbits), we will register your name, address, and contact number with the chip provider. Note that for dogs, microchipping is a legal requirement, and we are obliged to share your data in this case.

Petals Vets will not share your personal data with third parties without your consent unless required by law. We do not share personal data with suppliers of the medicines we administer or pet care products we sell.

4. When You Use Our Website 

When someone visits our website, we use Google Analytics, a third-party service, to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour details. This helps us understand how many people visit different sections of the website and how visitors use the site. This information is processed in a way that does not identify individuals.

We use cookies, which are small text files placed on your device when you visit our website. Cookies help us improve website performance and promote our products and services on social media. You can manage your cookie settings and learn more about how we use them in the cookie section of our website.

We use a third-party service to help maintain the security and performance of our website. This service processes the IP addresses of website visitors for security purposes.

We also provide contact forms on our website to collect users' personal information for specific tasks. The forms detail the required information and explain the purpose of the data collection. Once an enquiry is resolved, the data is deleted in accordance with Petals Vets' procedures.

Disclosure of Personal Data to Our Service Providers

We may share your personal data with service providers contracted to Petals Vets for specific tasks. These providers act as data processors on our behalf and are contractually obligated to secure your data and use it only for fulfilling their services. Once they no longer need your data, they will dispose of it following our data retention procedures.

How Long Do We Process Your Data For?

Petals Vets is required to retain information as required by law, such as for income tax and audit purposes.

To comply with professional liability insurance requirements, we keep and securely store client records for seven years, including full name, address, email, and phone number, but excluding bank account details.

We will only process your personal data while you are an active client. After two years of inactivity, we will contact you to confirm if you wish to remain a client. After two and a half years, we will contact you again. If there is no response after three years of inactivity, we will close your account and archive the data.

Your Rights as a Data Subject

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access: You can request a copy of the data we hold about you.

• Right of rectification: You can correct inaccurate or incomplete data.

• Right to be forgotten: You can request the erasure of your data in certain circumstances.

• Right to restriction of processing: You can ask to restrict the processing of your data under specific conditions.

• Right of portability: You can request that we transfer your data to another organisation.

• Right to object: You can object to certain processing activities, such as direct marketing.

• Right to object to automated processing, including profiling: You can opt-out of being subject to automated processing or profiling.

• Right to judicial review: If Petals Vets denies your request for data access, we will provide a reason. You have the right to challenge this decision.

Complaints

We take the processing of your personal data very seriously and are here to assist you with any concerns. Please contact our Data Protection Manager at Info@petals.vet

If you are not satisfied with how your data is being processed or how your complaint has been handled, you also have the right to lodge a complaint directly with the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or by calling 0303 123 1113.