privacy policy

Midwestern Dental Specialists (ABN 50 267 531 305) is a healthcare provider of specialist dental care services and is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and applicable State legislation. We understand the importance of protecting your personal information. We have an open and transparent management of your personal information.

This Website Privacy Policy sets out our commitment to protecting the privacy of personal information provided to us and describes how Midwestern Dental Specialists uses and protects the information you give us when you use this website. If you provide information when using this website, it will only be used in the ways described in this Website Privacy Policy.

Please note: This Website Privacy Policy only relates to personal information we collect through our Site.

This website Privacy Policy is updated from time to time and the latest version is published on this page.

This website Privacy Policy was last updated on: Friday 8 November, 2019

If you have any questions about this Website Privacy Policy, please email manager@mwdentalspecialists.com.au

or write to

21 Raglan Street North

Ballarat VIC 3350

Background

We gather and use patient information in order to provide products and services and to enable certain functions on this website.

We also collect information to better understand how visitors use this website and to present timely, relevant information to them online.

Website Forms

Forms on this website collect personal data that you submit, which is then emailed with the intent to store that data on industry standard email hosting and practice management records for the purpose of providing you a service.

Data Gathered on the Website

We may collect your data in a variety of ways on this website. Our lawful basis for collecting and processing your data will be your explicit consent to us to do so. We may store this data indefinitely.

We may collect the following information:

Personal details such as your name, age, gender, or images of you (if you choose to send these);
Contact information including your email address and/or phone numbers;
Your sensitive information as set out below;
Any other personal information requested by us and/or provided by you or a third party
Website usage data;
Your message to us;
Other information relevant to the service about which your enquiry relates; and
Other information pertaining to special offers and surveys

The types of personal information we may collect about you via your use of our Site include:

your browser session and geo-location data, device and network information, statistics on page views and sessions, acquisition sources, search queries and/or browsing behaviour;
information about your access and use of our Site, including through the use of Internet cookies, your communications with our Site, the type of browser you are using, the type of operating system you are using and the domain name of your Internet service provider; and
additional personal information that you provide to us, directly or indirectly, through your use of our Site, associated applications, associated social media platforms and/or accounts from which you permit us to collect information.
Demographic information, such as preferences, interests and/or opinions

We may collect these types of personal information directly from you or from third parties.

How we use this data

Collecting this data helps us understand what you expect from our practice, enabling us to deliver improved products and services. Specifically, we may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information we collect via our Site for the following purposes:

For our own internal records
To transfer or share sensitive patient data with other registered dental or medical professionals
To improve the products and services we provide
To contact you in response to a specific enquiry
To customise the website for you
To send you promotional emails about products, services, offers and other things we think might be relevant to you.
To send you promotional mailings or to call you about products, services, offers and other things we think might be relevant to you.
To contact you via email, telephone or mail for research reasons.

Disclosure of personal information collected

We may disclose personal information we collect via our Site to:

third party service providers for the purpose of enabling them to provide their services, including (without limitation) IT service providers, data storage, web-hosting and server providers, maintenance or problem-solving providers, marketing or advertising providers and professional advisors;
our employees, contractors and/or related entities;
anyone to whom our business or assets (or any part of them) are, or may (in good faith) be, transferred;
courts, tribunals, regulatory authorities and law enforcement officers, as required by law, in connection with any actual or prospective legal proceedings, or in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights; and
third parties to collect and process data, such as [Google Analytics] or other relevant businesses. This may include parties that store data outside of Australia.

By providing us with personal information via our Site, you consent to the disclosure of your information collected via our Site outside of Australia and acknowledge that we are not required to ensure that overseas recipients handle that personal information in compliance with Australian Privacy law. You acknowledge that some overseas third parties may not be regulated by the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act and if any third party engages in any act or practice that contravenes the Australian Privacy Principles, it would not be accountable under the Privacy Act and you will not be able to seek redress under the Privacy Act.

How we treat sensitive information collected via our Site

Sensitive information is a sub-set of personal information that is given a higher level of protection under the Australian Privacy Principles. Sensitive information means information relating to your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional associations or memberships, philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or practices, criminal records, health information or biometric information.

The type of sensitive information we may collect about you via our Site includes:

the type of dental service you are enquiring about via our contact form on the Site; and
any further health information you choose to provide when submitting the contact form.

Provided you consent to sharing your sensitive information with us, your sensitive information may only be used and disclosed for purposes relating to the primary purpose for which the sensitive information was collected, including to respond to your enquiry via our Site with a relevant answer, such as a fee schedule or an appointment time for the dental service you are interested in.

Sensitive information collected via our Site may also be used or disclosed if required or authorised by law.

Please note: We may collect other types of sensitive information about you through other channels (such as in our clinic), and this sensitive information will be collected subject to our dental services privacy policy.

Your individual rights

As an individual, you have the following rights in regard to the data that we collect and store:

The right to be informed
The right of access
The right to rectification
The right to erasure
The right to restrict processing
The right to data portability
The right to object
Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

Choice and consent: Please read this Website Privacy Policy carefully. By providing personal information to us, you acknowledge this Website Privacy Policy sets out how we will collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information via our Site. You do not have to provide personal information to us, however, if you do not, it may affect your use of this Site or the products and/or services offered on or through it.

Information from third parties: If we receive personal information about you from a third party related to your use of our Site, we will protect it as set out in this Website Privacy Policy. If you are a third party providing personal information about somebody else, you represent and warrant that you have such person’s consent to provide the personal information to us.

Anonymity: Where practicable we will give you the option of not identifying yourself or using a pseudonym in your dealings with us via our Site. For example, where you submit an enquiry via our contact us form you may choose to use a pseudonym. Where we provide our dental services to you it may be impracticable to allow you to remain anonymous or use a pseudonym. Please refer to our dental services privacy policy which relates to the provision of our dental services.

Restrict: If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by contacting us using the details below.

Access: You may request details of the personal information that we hold about you. An administrative fee may be payable for the provision of such information.

Correction: If you believe that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, please contact us using the details below. We will take reasonable steps to correct any information found to be inaccurate, incomplete, misleading or out of date.

Complaints: If you wish to make a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us using the details below and provide us with full details of the complaint. We will promptly investigate your complaint and respond to you, in writing, setting out the outcome of our investigation and the steps we will take to deal with your complaint.

Should you wish to exercise any of these rights

Send an email to us.
Write to

Midwestern Dental Specialists

21 Raglan Street North

Ballarat VIC 3350

Storage and security of personal information collected via our Site

We are committed to ensuring that the personal information we collect is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the personal information and protect it from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

We cannot guarantee the security of any information that is transmitted to or by us over the Internet. The transmission and exchange of information is carried out at your own risk. Although we take measures to safeguard against unauthorised disclosures of information, we cannot assure you that the personal information we collect will not be disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Website Privacy Policy.

Cookies and how we use them

What is a cookie?

We may use cookies on our Site from time to time. A cookie is a small file placed on your computer's hard drive. It enables our website to identify your computer as you view different pages on our website.

Cookies allow websites and applications to store your preferences in order to present content, options or functions that are specific to you. They also enable us to see information like how many people use the website and what pages they tend to visit. Cookies, by themselves, do not tell us your email address or other personally identifiable information. However, they do allow third parties, such as Google and Facebook, to cause our advertisements to appear on your social media and online media feeds as part of our retargeting campaigns. If and when you choose to provide our Site with personal information, this information may be linked to the data stored in the cookie.

How we use cookies

We may use cookies to:

Analyse our web traffic using an analytics package. Aggregated usage data helps us improve the website structure, design, content and functions.
Identify whether you are signed in to our website. A cookie allows us to check whether you are signed in to the site.
Test content on our website. For example, 50% of our users might see one piece of content, the other 50% a different piece of content.
Store information about your preferences. The website can then present you with information you will find more relevant and interesting.
To recognise when you return to our website. We may show your relevant content, or provide functionality you used previously.

Controlling cookies

You can use your web browser’s cookie settings to determine how our website uses cookies. If you do not want our website to store cookies on your computer or device, you should set your web browser to refuse cookies.

However, please note that doing this may affect how our website functions. Some pages and services may become unavailable to you.

Unless you have changed your browser to refuse cookies, our website will issue cookies when you visit it.

Controlling information about you

When you fill in an e-form or provide your personal details on our website, you may see one or more tick boxes allowing you to:

Opt-in to receive marketing communications from us by email, telephone, text message or post.
Opt-in to receive marketing communications from our third-party partners by email, telephone, text message or post.

If you have agreed that we can use your information for marketing purposes, you can change your mind easily, via one of these methods:

Send an email to us.
Write to

Midwestern Dental Specialists

21 Raglan Street North

Ballarat VIC 3350

Any personal information we hold about you is stored and processed under our data protection policy, in compliance with the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act).

Storage and security of personal information

To prevent unlawful disclosure or unauthorised access to your information, we have implemented suitable strong physical, electronic and managerial procedure safeguards to secure personal information and protect it from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification and/or disclosure. We are committed to ensuring that the personal information we collect is secure.

We also follow stringent procedures to ensure we work with all personal data in accordance with the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act).

Links from our site

Our website may contain links to other websites. Please note that we have no control of websites outside of Midwestern Dental Specialists domain. If you provide information to a website to which we link, we are not responsible for your data protection and privacy. Those websites are not governed by this Website Privacy Policy.

Always be wary when submitting data via interactive website templates. Study the website data protection policy and the status of the website itself (e.g. is it padlocked or using https:// or green bar transfer protocols?).

Amendments

We may, at any time and at our discretion, vary this Website Privacy Policy by publishing the amended Website Privacy Policy on our Site. We recommend you check our Site regularly to ensure you are aware of our current Website Privacy Policy.

For any questions or notices, please contact us:

Midwestern Dental Specialists ABN: 50 267 531 305

Email: manager@mwdentalspecialists.com.au

Feedback

If you feel that there is a problem with the way that we are handling your data, you may contact us directly:

Midwestern Dental Specialists

21 Raglan Street North

Ballarat VIC 3350

Email: manager@mwdentalspecialists.com.au

If you feel that your complaint isn't being handled well by our practice, you may make contact The Office of The Australian Information Commissioner:

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
Telephone: 1300 363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au