Privacy Policy

Buckinghamshire Hearing ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your information when you use our website, contact us, or attend our clinic.

We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. If you have any questions, please contact us using the details in Section 10 below.

We may collect the following categories of personal data:

• Identity data: your full name
• Contact data: telephone number, email address, and postcode
• Enquiry data: the subject of your enquiry and any message you provide via our contact or enquiry forms
• Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system, and platform (collected automatically when you visit our website)
• Usage data: information about how you use our website, including pages visited, time spent, and navigation paths

We do not collect special category (sensitive) health data through our website forms. Any clinical information you share during an appointment is handled separately under our clinical data protection procedures and retained in accordance with NHS records management guidelines.

We collect personal data through:

• Our website enquiry and contact forms (when you submit a request for an appointment or ask a question)
• Telephone calls to our clinic
• Automated technologies (cookies and analytics tools) when you browse our website

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• To respond to your enquiry and arrange appointments (legal basis: performance of a contract or steps taken at your request prior to entering into a contract)
• To contact you regarding your hearing care (legal basis: legitimate interest in providing healthcare services)
• To improve our website and services (legal basis: legitimate interest in understanding how our website is used)
• To comply with legal and regulatory obligations (legal basis: legal obligation)

Where we rely on consent as the legal basis for processing (for example, when you tick the consent checkbox on our enquiry form), you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties. We may share your data with:

• Hosting and technology providers: our website is hosted on secure cloud infrastructure. These providers process data on our behalf under strict data processing agreements.
• Analytics providers: we use privacy-focused analytics to understand website usage. Data is aggregated and does not identify individuals.
• Professional advisers: solicitors, accountants, or insurers where necessary for our legitimate business interests.
• Regulatory bodies: where required by law (for example, the Health and Care Professions Council or the Information Commissioner's Office).

We retain your enquiry data for up to 24 months from the date of your last interaction with us, after which it is securely deleted. If you become a patient, your clinical records are retained in accordance with NHS records management guidelines (typically 10 years for adult audiology records).

Website analytics data is retained in aggregated, non-identifiable form and does not constitute personal data.

We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include:

• Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS)
• Secure, access-controlled database storage
• Regular security reviews and updates
• Staff training on data protection responsibilities

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, you have the following rights:

• Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification: to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure: to request deletion of your personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing
• Right to restrict processing: to request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances
• Right to data portability: to request transfer of your data to another organisation in a structured, commonly used format
• Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 10. We will respond within one calendar month.

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to ensure the site functions correctly and to understand how visitors use our pages. We use:

• Essential cookies: required for the website to operate (for example, session management). These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies: help us understand how visitors interact with our website. These are privacy-focused and do not track individuals across other websites.
• Marketing cookies: used to measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns (for example, Google Ads conversion tracking). These help us understand which advertisements lead to enquiries.

You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us:

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "last updated" date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.