Privacy Policy

We are Blackwater Veterinary Clinics, with clinics in Enfield and Ballivor. We undertake to keep your personal data secure at all times, whether it’s provided through our website, over the phone or in-person at our clinics or during call outs.

This privacy policy specifically relates to the collection of your data through our website that is: www.blackwatervets.ie and throughout this policy document it shall be referred to as 'the Website'.

It’s important to state that in order to handle your queries and to provide you with the products and services you request from us, it's necessary to process and store your data for as long as it is deemed necessary.

This policy describes the personal data we collect, how we collect it, why it’s needed, how it’s stored and your rights in relation to your data.
If you have any queries about the Website, this Privacy Policy or how we use your personal information, please contact our data controller (contact details are provided below).

This privacy statement was last updated on 4th January 2024.

Type of personal data we collect

We may collect the following information about you:

name and address
mobile phone number
email address
details you provide to us about your pets or farm animals
payment information (including bank, debit or credit card details)
information about your use of the website (e.g. what you have read and what actions you have taken)

How we collect your personal data

Through the Website we may obtain your personal data (with your consent) through the following ways:

through your use of our contact form or when you use any of our methods provided for contacting our clinics, examples: when you register your animal with us or make an appointment.
paying for our products and services through our website or any payment links we provide to you as a result of services and products you’ve agreed to purchase.
commenting on our blogs (when available) or engaging with our social media posts which may be presented on the Website.
when you allow us to use your testimonials about our services and products

Why we need your personal data

Any personal information that you give to us may be used in the following ways:

to allow us to register you and your pet with us so that we can provide veterinary services to you
to provide you and your pet with an appointment
to answer any queries that you may have
to contact you with information about your pet’s health
to keep a record of your pet’s health
to administer medication to your pet
to process your payment
to contact your insurance company and administer any insurance claims
to contact another practice or hospital if your pet needs further treatment
to contact you with information about services or products similar to those you have received from us previously (with your consent)
to prevent and detect fraud
to tell you about changes to the Website, software or policies
to help us improve the Website to make it better for all users
to get your feedback on the Website
to administer the website (such as troubleshooting, data analysis, research)
to share any testimonials you’ve consented to provide to us with, for the purpose of letting others know about our business. Similarly, we may use any personal data you’ve elected to provide by engaging with our blogs and social media posts for Blackwater Vets Clinics.
when you use the Website, we may collect certain information automatically such as:
IP addresses (the name and internet address your device uses to identify itself to us)
your activity in our website including times and dates of visits
information on your location
other websites you may have visited
if you want to know more about how we use cookies, please see our cookie statement.

Our legal basis for using your information

The law only allows us to use your personal information in certain limited circumstances. We will most commonly process your personal information:

where we need to perform the contract we have entered into with you (e.g. when you have asked us to treat your pet)
where we need to comply with a legal obligation (e.g. keeping records for insurance or accountancy purposes)
where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests (this allows us to send you information about our own services or products that are related to or similar to those you have already purchased from us, unless you tell us otherwise)
where you have consented to us using your personal information
if you fail to provide personal information
if you fail to provide certain information when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have entered into with you (such as providing your animals and pets with veterinary services or medication), or we may be prevented from complying with our legal obligations (such as to ensure that we keep the necessary insurance and veterinary records).

How we store your personal information.

The security of your personal information is important to us. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard personal information. We use encryption technology where appropriate to enhance privacy and help prevent information security breaches. We use industry-standard measures and processes for detecting and responding to inappropriate attempts to breach our systems.

Any personal information that you provide to us will be held within the EEA and the UK. All third parties who provide services to the Website and Blackwater Veterinary Clinics are required to sign a contract requiring them to have appropriate technical, administrative and physical procedures in place to ensure that your information is protected against loss or misuse.

All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers or on secure servers operated by a third party.

Retention of information:

We only hold your personal information for as long as necessary for the purposes for which we collected your information.

Emails:

If you choose to send us information via email, we cannot take responsibility for the security of this information until it is delivered to us.

Sharing your Personal Information

Our Business Partners

We may share your information with carefully selected third parties including:

other veterinary practices or veterinary hospitals (but only once we have discussed this with you and you agree)
our business partners, suppliers and subcontractors for the performance of any contract we enter into with them or you
analytics and search engine providers who analyse information about your use of the Website and help us to tailor the product and offers that we offer to you and other users

Legal Requirements and Law Enforcement

We may also disclose your personal information to third parties:

if we sell our business in which case the personal information that we hold will be part of the transferred assets.
if we are required by law, or in order to enforce our terms of use. This includes exchanging information with other organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction and also law enforcement agencies.

Third Party Privacy Policies

The Website may contain links to websites owned by other organisations. If you follow a link to another website, the privacy policies of those websites will apply. We suggest that you check the policies of any other websites before giving them your personal information as we cannot accept responsibility for any other website.

Your rights

Access to your data:

You have the right to access information that we hold about you. If you wish to receive a copy of the information that we hold, please contact our data controller in writing by email or by post.

Changing or deleting your information:

You can ask us at any time to change, amend or delete the information that we hold about you or ask us not to contact you with any further marketing information. You can also ask us to restrict the information that we process about you.

Transferring Personal Information:
You have the right to request that your personal data is transferred by us to another organisation (this is called “data portability”).

Complaints:

If you make a request to us under this Privacy Statement and you are unhappy with the response, please ask to speak with our ‘person in charge’ so we may do our best to resolve the issue.

The right to complain:

If you feel that Blackwater Veterinary Clinic has not fulfilled its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation Act 2018, then you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC).

The DPC offers guidance on how to make a complaint here:
https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/individuals/exercising-your-rights/complaints-handling-investigations-and-enforcement-individuals

How to Contact us

Your requests, comments and complaints regarding this privacy policy and your personal data can addressed to our Data Controller and sent by email or in writing by post to the following:

Email: [email protected]

Postal Address: Blackwater Veterinary Clinic, Main St., Ballivor, Co. Meath. C15VEH4

Please note, we will need to confirm your identity before we can provide personal data.