Privacy Policy and Communication Terms
The Dentists at Metrotown (“The Dentists at Metrotown,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information entrusted to us.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect personal information when you visit our website, submit an online form, communicate with us, or use our dental and communication services.
- Information We Collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:
- Your name, telephone number, email address, and mailing address
- Appointment requests and preferred appointment times
- Information included in inquiries, messages, or online forms
- Communication records, including emails, telephone calls, voicemail messages, and text messages
- Information required to provide or coordinate dental services
- Insurance, billing, and payment-related information
- Website activity, such as pages visited, links clicked, form submissions, IP address, browser type, device information, and referring website
- Marketing preferences and records of your consent
Please do not submit urgent or highly sensitive medical information through general website forms, email, social media, or SMS unless we specifically instruct you to do so through an appropriate secure method.
- How We Collect Information
We may collect personal information:
- Directly from you when you contact us, visit our clinic, complete a form, request an appointment, or provide information to our team
- Through our website, booking systems, telephone systems, email, or text messaging services
- From authorized family members, guardians, healthcare professionals, insurers, or other parties involved in coordinating your care
- Automatically through cookies, pixels, analytics tools, and similar technologies
- From advertising platforms when you submit a lead form or interact with one of our advertisements
- How We Use Your Information
We may use personal information to:
- Respond to questions and appointment requests
- Schedule, confirm, reschedule, and manage appointments
- Provide and coordinate dental care and related services
- Communicate treatment, administrative, billing, or insurance information
- Send appointment reminders, follow-up messages, and important clinic notices
- Process payments and insurance-related matters
- Maintain clinical and business records
- Improve our website, advertising, services, and patient experience
- Prevent fraud, misuse, and security incidents
- Meet professional, regulatory, insurance, accounting, and legal obligations
- Send promotional emails or text messages where permitted by law and based on the applicable consent
We limit our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information to purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.
- Consent
By providing personal information to us, you consent to its collection, use, and disclosure for the purposes explained at the time of collection or as otherwise permitted or required by law.
The type of consent required may depend on the sensitivity of the information and the circumstances in which it is collected.
You may withdraw your consent for optional uses, such as marketing communications, subject to reasonable notice and any legal, clinical, contractual, or regulatory restrictions. Withdrawing consent does not affect information already collected or used lawfully.
- SMS Communications
We may use SMS or text messaging for two general purposes:
Service and Appointment Messages
These messages may include:
- Appointment confirmations and reminders
- Rescheduling or cancellation information
- Follow-up instructions
- Responses to your inquiries
- Clinic closures, scheduling changes, or administrative notices
- Other communications connected to your requested services
Where permitted by law, we may send service-related messages that are necessary to respond to your request, manage your appointment, or provide services.
Promotional and Marketing Messages
When you provide your telephone number and give the required consent, we may send promotional text messages relating to:
- Clinic news and announcements
- Dental services
- Special offers and promotions
- Consultation opportunities
- Patient education and service updates
Consent to receive promotional SMS messages is optional and is not a condition of purchasing or receiving dental services.
- SMS Terms and Conditions
By opting in to receive text messages from The Dentists at Metrotown, you acknowledge and agree to the following:
Program Name and Sender
Messages will be sent on behalf of The Dentists at Metrotown.
Consent
By submitting your telephone number through an SMS consent form, website form, advertising lead form, written document, or another approved opt-in method, you authorize us to send text messages to the number you provided.
Where a message has a commercial purpose, we will obtain and manage consent in accordance with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation and other applicable requirements.
Message Types
Messages may include appointment communications, responses to inquiries, clinic information, service updates, promotions, and special offers, depending on the consent you provided.
Message Frequency
Message frequency varies based on your appointments, inquiries, communication preferences, and participation in promotional campaigns.
Charges
Message and data rates may apply according to your mobile carrier and service plan. The Dentists at Metrotown does not charge a separate fee for receiving SMS messages, but your carrier may impose charges.
Opting Out
You may unsubscribe from promotional SMS messages at any time by replying:
STOP
You may also contact us directly using the contact information at the end of this policy.
After submitting an opt-out request, you may receive one final message confirming that your request has been processed. We will process unsubscribe requests as promptly as reasonably possible and within the period required by applicable law.
Opting out of promotional messages may not prevent us from sending necessary non-promotional communications relating to an existing appointment, active inquiry, requested service, safety matter, or legal obligation, where permitted by law.
Help
For assistance with our SMS program, reply:
HELP
You may also contact us directly using the information at the end of this policy.
Correct Telephone Number
You confirm that you are the subscriber or authorized user of the telephone number you provide. You agree to notify us if your telephone number changes or is reassigned.
Delivery
Text message delivery is subject to effective transmission by your mobile carrier and is not guaranteed. We are not responsible for delayed, blocked, undelivered, or misdirected messages caused by a carrier, an incorrect number, a device setting, network availability, or another circumstance outside our reasonable control.
Supported Carriers
SMS availability may depend on your mobile carrier, device, and service plan. Not all carriers or devices may support all message types or features.
Privacy of SMS Information
We do not sell or rent your telephone number or SMS consent to third parties for their independent marketing purposes.
We may share limited information with communication platforms and service providers that help us deliver, manage, secure, and document text messages. These providers may only use the information as necessary to provide services to us or as otherwise permitted by law.
SMS messages may not be fully secure. Do not send payment card details, government identification numbers, detailed medical information, or other highly sensitive information by text message.
Changes to the SMS Program
We may change, suspend, or discontinue our SMS program or these SMS Terms and Conditions at any time. Updated terms will be posted on our website with a revised effective date.
- Email Communications
When you provide your email address and the required consent, we may send commercial electronic messages such as clinic news, promotions, service information, and special offers.
Our marketing emails will:
- Identify The Dentists at Metrotown as the sender
- Include our contact information
- Provide a clear and no-cost unsubscribe method
- Be sent based on express consent, implied consent, or another lawful basis permitted under applicable legislation
You may unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe link included in a marketing email or by contacting us directly.
We may continue to send non-promotional messages that are necessary to manage appointments, respond to requests, provide services, or meet legal and professional obligations.
- Cookies and Website Analytics
Our website may use cookies, pixels, tags, analytics tools, and similar technologies to:
- Keep the website functioning properly
- Understand how visitors use our website
- Measure website traffic and performance
- Remember user preferences
- Improve website content and usability
- Measure advertising results
- Detect fraudulent or unusual activity
You may adjust cookie permissions through your browser or device settings. Disabling cookies may affect certain website functions.
- Advertising and Meta Technologies
We may use advertising and analytics tools provided by Meta, Google, and other platforms. These may include Meta Pixel, conversion tracking, remarketing technologies, and advertising lead forms.
These tools may collect or receive information such as:
- Browser and device information
- IP address
- Pages visited
- Advertisement interactions
- Form submissions
- Website actions and conversion events
We use this information to measure advertising performance, understand how users interact with our website, improve campaigns, and display more relevant advertising.
The use of information by an advertising platform is also governed by that platform’s privacy policies and account settings.
- How We Share Information
We may disclose personal information to:
- Dentists, dental professionals, employees, and authorized clinic personnel
- Dental laboratories and other healthcare providers involved in your care
- Insurers, benefit providers, and payment processors
- Website, hosting, booking, telephone, email, SMS, analytics, advertising, and technology providers
- Accountants, legal advisers, consultants, and other professional service providers
- Government bodies, regulators, law enforcement agencies, or courts where disclosure is permitted or required by law
- A purchaser, successor, or adviser involved in a proposed or completed business transaction, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal requirements
Service providers are expected to protect the information they process on our behalf and to use it only for authorized purposes.
We do not sell personal information.
- Information Stored or Processed Outside Canada
Some service providers may store or process personal information outside British Columbia or Canada.
When information is processed in another jurisdiction, it may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction and may be accessible to courts, law enforcement agencies, or government authorities in accordance with those laws.
- Data Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the personal information under our control.
These safeguards may include:
- Access restrictions
- Password protection and authentication controls
- Secure systems and service providers
- Staff confidentiality requirements
- Data backup and security monitoring
- Secure disposal practices
No website, email, SMS service, wireless transmission, or electronic storage system is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.
- Data Retention
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to:
- Fulfil the purposes for which it was collected
- Provide dental and administrative services
- Meet professional recordkeeping requirements
- Resolve disputes
- Enforce agreements
- Comply with tax, insurance, regulatory, and legal obligations
When information is no longer required, we will securely destroy, delete, or anonymize it, subject to applicable retention requirements.
- Your Privacy Rights
Subject to applicable law and certain exceptions, you may request to:
- Access personal information we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate or incomplete information
- Ask questions about how your information has been collected, used, or disclosed
- Withdraw consent for optional uses
- Request deletion of information that we are not legally, clinically, or operationally required to retain
- Submit a complaint about our privacy practices
We may need to verify your identity before processing a privacy request.
Certain information may not be deleted immediately where we are required to retain it for clinical, regulatory, insurance, contractual, or legal reasons.
- Children and Minors
Where dental services are provided to a minor, personal information may be collected from or disclosed to a parent, legal guardian, or other authorized representative as permitted or required by law.
The level of consent and access available to a minor or representative may depend on the minor’s age, capacity, circumstances, and applicable legal and professional requirements.
- Third-Party Websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites, social media pages, booking platforms, or other online services.
We are not responsible for the privacy, content, or security practices of third parties. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing personal information.
- Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy and SMS Terms and Conditions from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technologies, business practices, or legal obligations.
The current version will be posted on our website with the effective date shown at the top. Your continued use of our website or communication services after an update is subject to the revised policy.
- Contact Us
For questions, privacy requests, complaints, or assistance with email or SMS communications, contact:
The Dentists at Metrotown
Please include “Privacy Request” in the subject line of email requests. Do not include highly sensitive medical information in an unencrypted email.