Privacy Policy

Macdonald and Morson Dental Care – 26-28 Drysdale Street, Alloa, FK10 1JL

Last updated: 04/12/2025

1. Introduction

At Macdonald and Morson Dental Care (the “Practice”, “we”, “us”, “our”), protecting your privacy and personal data is a priority. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, store, process and use the personal information you provide — whether through our website, by telephone, by email, in person, or by any other means — and your rights under applicable data-protection law (including UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).

Please read this Policy carefully. By using our website or submitting any form or enquiry, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and consent to the practices described herein.

2. Data Controller & Contact Details

Data Controller: David Macdonald (Practice Manager Macdonald and Morson Dental Care)
Address: 26-28 Drysdale Street, Alloa, FK10 1JL
If you have any questions, wish to exercise your data-protection rights, or request a copy of your data, please contact us via the contact details provided on our website.

3. What Information We Collect

We may collect and process various types of personal data, including (but not limited to):

• Identity and contact information: name, email address, postal address, telephone and/or mobile number;
• Communication data: messages, enquiries, appointment requests, feedback, free-text information, uploads or attachments, and any other content you submit;
• Treatment / service-related data: when relevant (for example if you book a dental treatment), including medical or dental history, health-related information, treatment preferences — always in accordance with relevant healthcare laws and professional confidentiality;
• Usage and device information: IP address, browser type, device type, browsing data, analytics data, and other data collected automatically when you use our website (see Cookies and Similar Technologies below);
• Marketing and preferences data: your preferences for receiving marketing communications, consent status, and your history of engagement with our communications (e.g., whether you opened emails).

4. Purposes of Data Processing & Lawful Basis

We may process your personal data for the following purposes, with lawful bases under UK GDPR:

Purpose	Lawful Basis
To respond to your enquiries, process appointments, provide dental services and manage patient relationships	Performance of a contract or taking steps prior to entering a contract; legitimate interest (administration and provision of care)
To maintain medical/dental records, treatment history and patient files (where relevant)	Legal obligation; legitimate interest in managing a healthcare relationship
To send service communications — appointment confirmations, treatment reminders, practice information	Legitimate interest; consent (where required)
To send marketing, promotional content, newsletters, offers (only if you have given consent)	Your explicit consent
To improve and tailor our services, website and communications — including analytics, user-experience improvements, remarketing & profiling	Legitimate interest; consent (for marketing activities beyond necessity)
To comply with legal, regulatory or professional obligations (e.g., record-keeping, auditing, public-health reporting, professional regulation)	Legal obligation

5. Marketing Consent & Data Use

By submitting any form, message, request for information, feedback, appointment enquiry, downloadable-content request, or general communication through this website, you hereby acknowledge, agree, and voluntarily provide explicit consent that the personal data and contact information you supply — including but not limited to your name, email address, telephone number, postal address, patient preferences, interest in services, and any additional information you provide in free-text form or attached uploads — may be collected, processed, stored, analysed, shared, and used by Macdonald and Morson Dental Care, 26-28 Drysdale Street, Alloa, FK10 1JL, and its authorised employees, business partners, marketing agencies, digital service providers, and third-party processors.

You agree that this information may be used for the purposes of contacting you regarding promotional offers, new treatments, oral-health updates, patient loyalty programmes, appointment reminders, service notifications, patient experience surveys, targeted advertising, remarketing, newsletters, and any other communications of a marketing, informational, or commercial nature that relate to our current or future dental services and products. Such communications may be delivered by email, SMS, telephone, postal mail, online advertising platforms, automation systems, or any future communications channels used by Macdonald and Morson Dental Care.

You acknowledge that your data may be used to tailor marketing communications to your personal interests, preferences, browsing behaviour, service history, or engagement with our prior communications. You further understand that third-party marketing platforms, analytics tools, software systems, and service providers may securely process and store your data on our behalf in accordance with their own compliance requirements under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

You acknowledge that while we take reasonable organisational and technical measures to protect your data, no digital or transmission system is guaranteed entirely secure, and by providing your information you accept such inherent risks. You confirm that the information submitted is accurate, complete, and provided voluntarily.

Your rights under UK GDPR include the ability to withdraw consent to marketing at any time without affecting the lawfulness of data processing prior to withdrawal. You may opt out by clicking any unsubscribe link provided in our communications or by contacting us directly at our practice address or through the contact channels on this website. You may also request access to, correction of, or deletion of your data, and further information on your rights is available from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

By ticking the acceptance box and submitting your information, you confirm that you have read, understood, and consent to the processing of your personal data as described in this notice and in our full Privacy Policy. If you do not consent, please do not continue with the submission of this form, as we will not be able to use your information for marketing purposes.

6. Cookies and Similar Technologies

To provide and improve our services, our website may use cookies, web beacons, analytics tools, tracking scripts, or similar technologies. These may collect technical information about your device, browser, and usage patterns.

• Essential cookies — necessary for the site to function (e.g., session management, security, form submission).
• Performance and analytics cookies — help us understand how visitors use our site, which pages are visited most often, site errors, and how visitors move around.
• Marketing / advertising cookies — used to measure and deliver marketing, personalise content, serve relevant adverts and track effectiveness of campaigns.

If your browser allows it, you may block or delete cookies. Please note that blocking essential cookies may affect functionality of the website.

7. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. However, we may share or disclose data in these circumstances:

• With our employees, agents, or authorised service providers who assist in operating the Practice, delivering dental care, managing appointments, providing customer service, billing, marketing, communications, or IT support — always under strict confidentiality and contract terms.
• With third-party processors (e.g., email marketing platforms, SMS providers, analytics services) to enable marketing, communications, appointment reminders, or website analytics — provided they meet UK GDPR/UK Data Protection Act compliance requirements and only act on our instructions.
• If required by law or regulation (e.g., public-health reporting, legal proceedings, court orders, regulatory investigations, professional regulatory obligations).
• In connection with a merger, sale, reorganisation, acquisition, or transfer of our business — only if we reasonably believe that the receiving entity agrees to protect your data under terms no less protective than this Policy.

8. Data Retention

We will retain your personal data only as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected — e.g.:

• For as long as you remain a patient or client of the Practice and for a reasonable period thereafter to maintain medical/dental records, comply with professional or legal obligations or malpractice liability coverage;
• Where data is used for marketing or communications, until you withdraw consent or request deletion/erasure;
• For analytics or administrative purposes, in aggregated or anonymised form — provided no personally identifiable data remains.

If you request deletion (or withdraw consent for marketing), we will dispose or anonymise your personal data as soon as reasonably possible unless we are legally required to retain certain records.

9. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

Under UK GDPR and applicable law you have the following rights (subject to certain exemptions):

• Right of access: you may request a copy of personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: you may ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”): under certain circumstances, you may request deletion of your data.
• Right to restrict processing: you may ask to limit how we process your data.
• Right to data portability: where applicable, you may request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: you may object to processing (e.g., for direct marketing or profiling).
• Right to withdraw consent: if processing is based on consent (e.g., marketing), you may withdraw consent at any time without affecting prior lawful processing.
• Right to lodge a complaint: you may lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (e.g., the UK Information Commissioner’s Office) if you believe we have breached data-protection law.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details on our website or at our practice address.

10. Data Security and Measures

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures include secure storage, access controls, encryption (where appropriate), staff training, contractual controls on third-party processors, periodic review of our data-handling processes, and other safeguards compatible with the sensitivity of the data (especially medical information when relevant).

However, no internet-based method of transmission or electronic storage is completely secure. While we endeavour to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Minors and Consent

Our services and communications are generally intended for adults. If you are under 18, you must ensure that a parent or legal guardian consents to submission of any personal data or marketing consent. If we become aware that we have collected data from a minor without appropriate consent, we will take steps to delete that data.

12. International Data Transfers

Because we may use third-party marketing or analytics services, your data may be processed or stored outside the UK. In such cases, we will ensure that any transfer is compliant with UK GDPR — for example via adequate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses, binding corporate rules, or transfers to countries with appropriate protections.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time (e.g., to reflect changes in our services, regulations, or data practices). We will post any updated version on our website with a revised “Last updated” date. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed.

If a change significantly affects how we use your personal data, we will take steps to communicate that change (e.g., via email or a website notice) and — where required — obtain fresh consent (especially for marketing).

14. Your Consent and Confirmation

By using this website, submitting any form or enquiry, or otherwise providing personal information to the Practice, you explicitly confirm that you have read, understood, and accepted the terms of this Privacy Policy. Where required, you provide clear and affirmative consent for the processing, storage, and use of your data as described above.

If you do not wish to consent, please do not submit any personal data or contact forms.