Privacy Policy
This policy explains what personal information Pier Point Dental collects through this website, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. It is written in plain language. If anything here is unclear, contact us and we will explain it.
Last updated
Who we are
Pier Point Dental operates this website and is responsible for the personal information described in this policy.
You can reach us by email at info@pierpointdental.ca, by phone on (604) 526-4020, or by writing to us at 740 Columbia St, New Westminster, BC V3M 1B4, Canada.
We are established in British Columbia, Canada, so our handling of personal information is governed by British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and, where it applies, Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
This policy covers the website, not your dental chart
Your dental records are a separate matter. Clinical records created when you are treated at the practice are held under British Columbia's privacy legislation and the record-keeping requirements that apply to dental practice in this province, and are covered by the consent you give in the office, not by this page.
Please do not send detailed health information, diagnoses or images through the website form or by ordinary email. Email is not a secure channel. Tell us that you have something to discuss and we will arrange a safer way to do it.
Information we collect
We collect only what we need to answer you and to keep the website working. We do not buy personal information from data brokers, and we do not sell yours.
- Information you give us — when you submit the appointment request form: your name, email address, phone number, and whatever you choose to write in the description field.
- Information collected automatically — when you browse the site: your IP address, browser and device type, approximate region, the pages you view, the site or search that referred you, and the time and length of your visit. Our hosting provider records this to serve and secure the site.
- Information collected by Google Analytics and the Google Ads tag — which pages you view, how you arrived, roughly where you are, what device and browser you use, and whether a visit that started from one of our Google ads led to an appointment request — so we can see which parts of the site are useful and which ads are worth paying for. See the cookies section below.
- Cookies and similar technologies set by the third-party content embedded in our pages. See the cookies section below.
Why we use it, and your consent
We use the information above to reply to your enquiry and arrange an appointment, to run and secure the website, and to meet our legal and tax obligations.
Under BC PIPA and PIPEDA we collect, use and disclose personal information only for purposes a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances, and with your knowledge and consent. Submitting the form is your consent to us using those details to reply to you. You can withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice, by emailing us.
If a privacy law that works on a legal-basis model applies to you (for example the UK or EU GDPR, if you contact us from there), we rely on your consent for non-essential cookies, on our legitimate interest in running and securing this website and replying to enquiries, on the steps necessary to arrange an appointment you have asked for, and on our legal obligations for record-keeping.
We do not make decisions about you by automated means alone. We use the Google Ads tag to measure whether our ads lead to appointment requests, and Google may use it to show our ads to people who have visited this site before; we do not otherwise profile you for advertising.
Where your information is processed
Some of our service providers store or process information on servers outside Canada, including in the United States. While information is in another country it may be accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of that country under its laws.
Where information leaves a region with transfer restrictions, we rely on our providers' approved safeguards — typically the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision — and we take reasonable steps to confirm the information receives comparable protection.
How long we keep it
We keep website enquiry details as long as it takes to answer you and arrange your appointment, and for up to 24 months afterwards, unless you ask us to delete it sooner. Records we must keep for tax or legal reasons are kept for as long as the law requires and then deleted.
Clinical records, once you become a patient, are kept for the period required of dental practices in British Columbia. That is separate from this policy and from the retention period above.
Your rights and choices
You can ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it if it is wrong, ask us to delete it, or ask us to stop using it for a particular purpose. You can ask us to stop sending you messages at any time.
Depending on where you live you may have further rights, such as data portability, withdrawal of consent, the right to object to processing, the right to appeal a refused request, and the right not to be treated differently for exercising a privacy right. We honour all of these regardless of where you live.
To exercise any right, email info@pierpointdental.ca. We will respond within the time your local law allows, and within 30 days in every case. We may need to verify your identity first, and we will ask only for what is necessary to do that.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, or to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or to your own local privacy regulator if you are outside Canada.
Children
We treat patients of every age, but this website is written for adults arranging care — usually a parent or guardian. We do not knowingly collect personal information through this website from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has sent us their information here, contact us and we will delete it.
How we protect it
The site is served over an encrypted HTTPS connection, and access to enquiry details is limited to the people who need it to reply to you. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a breach affects your information we will notify you and the relevant regulator as the law requires.
Links to other sites
Our site links to other websites and embeds content such as a map. We are not responsible for their privacy practices and this policy does not apply to them. Read their policies before giving them your information.
Changes to this policy
We update this policy when our practices change. The date at the top shows when it was last revised. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we will make that clear on this page.
Contact us
Questions, requests or complaints about privacy: email info@pierpointdental.ca, call (604) 526-4020, or write to Pier Point Dental, 740 Columbia St, New Westminster, BC V3M 1B4, Canada.