THIS PRIVACY POLICY APPLIES TO OUR WEBSITES, APPLICATIONS, AND TRUSTED OFFICES.
CCPA Privacy Policy for California Residents | Our Privacy Policy was last updated and effective on February 21, 2024.
This CCPA Privacy Policy for California Residents applies solely to all visitors, users, and others who are residents of the State of California. In accordance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) of 2020, we have adopted this privacy notice. Businesses handling the personal data of residents in California are subject to specific guidelines under the CCPA. Terms that are used in this CCPA Privacy Policy and that are defined in the CCPA include personal information, consumers, third party(ies), and service providers.
What is considered Personal Information under the CCPA?
California residents have rights regarding their personal information under the CCPA. Information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a specific California consumer or household is considered personal information under the CCPA. De-identified or aggregated consumer information, as well as information that is readily available to the public, do not qualify as personal information.
Personal information as defined by the CCPA excludes:
- Publicly accessible data from official government records
- Aggregated or de-identified consumer information
- Medical Information covered by the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 or clinical trial data
- Personal Information covered by certain industry-specific privacy regulations, such as the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FRCA), and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) or California Financial Information Privacy Act (FIPA)
In line with the CCPA, Best Smiles Dental must give customers a notice that indicates the categories of personal information that may be collected, the reason for the collection, and the consumers’ rights with regard to such information. This notice must be used at or before the point where personal information is collected.
Notice Upon Collection
You have the right to be notified of our practices at the time of collection or before, including the categories of personal and sensitive personal information that will be gathered, the reasons for collection and use of that information, whether it will be sold or shared, and the length of time it will be kept on file. These details are listed below.
Categories of Personal Information We Collect
Depending on the product or service we provide, there are several ways in which we collect personal information about you. For example:
- Your phone number, home address, ZIP code, email address, and other contact details. When you register for one of our promotions or contests, such information is collected.
- Your publicly accessible data, including any reviews or comments you make on our website. We also gather inquiries or requests that you post in public.
- Your demographic information like your preferences, interests, and postcode.
- Additional details include your GPS location, IP address, browser, device, hardware, and the sites you view on our website. These data are gathered when you view our online advertisements.
- We gather the content of your communications and the details of the channel you used to contact our office when you communicate with us via our website, phone number, social media, or other platforms. We may also collect indirect personal information about you through monitoring or other methods, such as call recording, digital information collection, and phone metadata.
- We use technologies like cookies, web beacons, page tags, pixels, and other similar tools that we, our service providers, and other third parties have set up to gather digital information when you interact with our advertisements or the websites.
- We collect a copy of the posts you make and additional data, like your username or account ID, when you connect with the sites through social networking platforms.
In order to comprehend your needs and give you a list of dental practices that are suitable referral sources, we need these personal information. We will give your dentist your information once you’ve decided on a new dentist.
Below is a list of the categories of personal information that we may collect through each of the previously mentioned processes, along with some descriptions and examples for your reference.
Category 1: Personal Identifiers
This includes your first and last names, nickname, postal address, phone number, email address, signature, and unique personal identification.
Category 2: Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)).
This includes your name, signature, address, telephone number, insurance policy number, bank account number, debit card number, credit card number, or any other financial information, health insurance information, or medical information. This category may contain some personal information that may overlap with other categories.
Category 3: Device and Online Identifiers and Correlated Data
This includes online identifiers, email address, social media profile, account user name, Internet Protocol (IP) address, mobile/ wireless number, unique device identifier and serial number, and other device information.
Category 4: Demographic Data
This includes information about date of birth and household income.
Category 5: Internet or Other Similar Network Activity
This includes emails and text messages that you send to us, online website tracking information, and data related to user activity such as website visits, advertisements, and cookies or other similar technologies.
Category 6: Location Information
We may obtain your location information and your mobile device, including a unique identifier for your device. In some instances, location data may be derived from your IP address or wi-fi connection.
Category 7: Sensory Data
This includes audio data, such as voice recording when you contact our office. You are under no obligation to submit any of the personal information we require, but if you do not, we might not be able to offer you any of our products or services.
Category 8: Commercial Information
This includes records and history of products or services purchased at our office.
Sources of Personal Information We Collect
We obtain the categories of personal information listed above from the following categories of sources:
- Directly From You: We may obtain information about you from the forms you fill out on our website or the preferences you provide through our service.
- Indirectly From You: By observing your activity on our service.
- Automatically From You: For instance, using technology like cookies, tags, and other tracking tools. When you register on any of our websites or when you sign up for automated sign-ups like contests or promotions.
- From Third-Party Service Providers: For example, third-party service providers to process payments, third-party vendors for monitoring and analyzing how our service is being used, or other third-party vendors to provide the service to you. This includes any data you submit to a third-party service provider that we have a contract with, such as social media, digital display platforms (banner ads), and other partners in advertising.
Purposes of Personal Information We Collect
For business purposes or commercial purposes (as defined by the CCPA), we may use or disclose your personal information that we collect. Examples of such purposes include the following:
- To assist you, reply to your questions, address your concerns, as well as monitor and improve our service.
- To reply to any inquiries or requests you might make using our social media platforms.
- To verify your identity both before and after using the websites to make appointments and submit financial applications.
- To operate and provide you with our service.
- To meet the purpose for which you submitted your data. For instance, if you provided your contact details in order to ask a question about our service, we will use your personal information to reply to your inquiry. We will use your personal information to process your payment and expedite delivery if you supply it to us in order to purchase a product or service.
- To administer your participation in our contests or promotions and to send you relevant materials, offers, and programs.
- To enhance our websites, goods, services, and other marketing initiatives.
- To maintain an internal record for the purpose of reporting and analysis.
- To stay in touch with you regarding any products or services you have asked for.
- To safeguard our business, other patients, our websites, our assets, and other security measures.
- To show you adverts that are relevant to your past online activity.
- To get in touch with you for market research. We may contact you via phone or email.
- To market or promote, we might give your information to our third-party service providers.
- To comply with applicable industry standards, our policies, and contractual commitments.
- To share customer data with approved dentists and with a limited number of third-party service providers for an extended period of time.
- To support our internal business operations, including risk assessment and management as well as compliance with legal and regulatory obligations.
- To reduce fraud and improve the website’s and our online services’ security.
- To control institutional risk.
- To notify you of changes to the websites, products, and guidelines.
- To keep track of how you use the websites, products, and services. This includes how you respond to our emails and the pages and adverts you visit.
- To manage, assess, and enhance our company. This includes creating new products and services, improving existing services, and handling internal tasks like accounting, auditing and other internal functions.
Disclosure of Personal Information We Collect for Business and Commercial Purposes
All data collected is disclosed to you on this privacy notice and used as authorized or mandated by law. We also follow the guidelines that Google AdWords has provided us with: https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/143465.
In addition, we may use your personal information for any other purposes authorized by law that we disclose to you at the time you provide it or when we collect it. When permitted by relevant laws and regulations, we may also use the data that we gather anonymously or in aggregate form for a variety of commercial objectives.
The categories of personal information that we share with third-parties for business purposes must be disclosed. For operational reasons, we disclose the following categories of personal data:
- Personal identifiers
- Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e))
- Device and online identifiers and correlated data
- Demographic data, internet or other similar network activity
- Location information
- Sensory data
- Commercial information
Sharing of Your Personal Data
Your personal information that is listed in the aforementioned categories may be shared with the following third party categories.
- Service Providers: This includes Google and Facebook, where we show our ads on sites across the net. Please be advised that third parties may gather information from our website using cookies, web beacons, and other similar technologies. They may then use this information to target advertisements and other measurement services.
- Third Party Vendors: This includes anybody to whom we may release your personal information in connection with the products or services we offer to you, as permitted by you or your agents.
- Payment Processors
- Our affiliates
- Our business partners
Sale of Personal Information
According to California law, we must disclose specific instances in which we get valuable consideration for disclosures of personal information. Despite the fact that no money is exchanged, California law regards these declarations as “sales.”
To the extent that PDS “sells” your personal information, you have the right to refuse that “sale”. For further details, please go to the section below labeled “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information.”
Selling of Personal Information Under the Age of 16
We do not intentionally use our service to obtain personal information from children under the age of 16. Though this is possible with some third-party sites that we connect to. These third party websites have their own terms of use and privacy guidelines. We advise parents and guardians to keep an eye on their kids’ internet use and teach their kids not to divulge personal information on unaffiliated websites without their consent.
We don’t sell the personal data of customers who we are aware to be younger than 16 unless we get explicit consent (the “right to opt-in”) from one of the following: the consumer who is between 13 and 16 years old, or a parent or legal guardian of the child. Customers who consent to the sale of their personal data may withdraw their consent at any time for future sales. To use one’s rights you (or your authorized representative) can contact us to make a request to opt-out.
If you believe that a minor who is not yet 13 (or 16) years old has given us their personal information, please give us a call with sufficient detail so that we can immediately remove it.
Duration of the Retention of Your Personal Data
Depending on the type of personal information, the reasons it is being collected and used, as well as our ethical and legal requirements, we may keep your personal information for varying lengths of time. In general, we only keep personal data for as long as it takes to accomplish the goals for which it was gathered. The amount, type, and sensitivity of the personal information; the possibility of harm from its unauthorized use or disclosure; the reasons we process your personal information and whether those purposes can be satisfied in another way; and the relevant legal requirements are all taken into account when determining the proper retention period for that information.
Rights to Your Personal Information under the CCPA
Under the CCPA, you have several legal rights regarding your personal information. If you are a California resident, you are entitled to the following:
- The Right to Know: You are entitled to know which categories of personal information are being gathered as well as why the information is being utilized. Access to the particular personal data we have acquired about you is available upon request.
- The Right to Restrict Sensitive Personal Information Use and Disclosure: As stated by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), you have the right to request that we only use and disclose your “sensitive personal information” for specific, authorized purposes. Sensitive personal information, however, is only used by us in accordance with the CCPA, and it is never used to draw conclusions about you. Therefore, we do not provide a way to restrict how long sensitive personal information is further processed.
- The Right to Correct: Taking into account the type of personal information and the reasons for processing it, you have the right to ask that any inaccurate personal information we gather about you be corrected. To utilize any of the aforementioned privacy rights, you must fill out a CCPA request form.
- The Right to Delete: You are entitled to request that your personal information be deleted with a few certain exceptions. We may deny your request if keeping your personal information is required for us or our service providers to:
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- Finalize the transaction for which we have obtained your personal data, provide a product or service you have requested, execute the reasonably expected actions considering the circumstances of our continuous business relationship with you, or fulfill our obligations under our agreement with you.
- Recognize security incidents and defend against dishonest, fraudulent, or unlawful behavior, or bring legal action against people who carry out such actions.
- Use your right to free speech, protect the right of another customer to use theirs, or make use of any other legal privilege.
- Adhere to California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et. seq.).
- Participate in peer-reviewed or publicly funded scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest while abiding by all other applicable ethical and privacy rules, when the removal of the information will likely make the research impossible or materially hinder its success, if you previously provided informed consent.
- Permit only internal uses that, given your relationship with us, are reasonably in line with customer expectations.
- Fulfill a legal requirement.
- Utilize that information for additional internal, legal purposes that are appropriate given the circumstances surrounding its provision. As soon as we confirm your request, we will remove your personal data from our databases as well as direct our service providers to delete your personal information.
- The Right to Opt-Out of the Sharing or Selling of Your Personal Data: You can choose not to have your personal information “sold” or “shared” with non-affiliated third parties (as those terms are defined by the CCPA and CPRA). For further details on how to exercise this right, please go to the section below titled “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information.”
- The Right not to be Discriminated Against: It is your right to be free from discrimination if you exercise any of Your consumer’s rights, such as the following:
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- Refusing to provide you products or services
- Charging different pricing or rates for products or services, including discounts or additional benefits or imposing penalties
- Giving you a different quality of products or services
How will you confirm my identity if I submit a request under the CCPA?
To confirm your identification, we will collect your:
- Name
- Date of Birth
- Telephone Number
- Address
To fulfill your request of exercising your CCPA data protection rights, we will use this information to properly verify your identity. These methods could involve using a third-party identity verification provider or comparing the information you gave us with the data we already have.
If we are unable to validate your identity or your authority to make the request, we will not be able to respond to your request or provide you with personal data.
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
You can choose not to have your personal information sold. We shall cease selling your personal information as soon as we receive and verify an authorized consumer request from you. Please contact us to use your right to opt-out.
The technology on the service that sells personal information as defined by the CCPA law may be used by the service providers we collaborate with (such as our analytics or advertising partners). You can follow the instructions below to opt out of having your personal information used for interest-based advertising and these possible sales as defined by CCPA law.
Note that the opt-out process varies depending on the browser you are using. You might have to choose to opt out of using each browser you use.
Website
By following our instructions on the service, you can choose not to get customized advertisements from our service providers:
- The NAI’s opt-out platform: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/
- The EDAA’s opt-out platform http://www.youronlinechoices.com/
- The DAA’s opt-out platform: http://optout.aboutads.info/?c=2&lang=EN
A cookie specific to the browser you use to opt out will be placed on your computer that you use to opt out. You will have to opt out again if you switch browsers or remove the cookies that your browser has retained.
Mobile Device
You may be able to choose not to have information about the apps you use utilized for targeting you with interest-based adverts on your mobile device:
- Android Devices: You can “Opt out of Interest-Based Ads” or “Opt out of Ads Personalization”.
- iOS Devices: You can use the “Limit Ad Tracking” feature.
By adjusting the settings on your mobile device, you can also prevent location data from being collected from it.
Modifications to this Privacy Policy
We might occasionally make changes to our Privacy Policy. Any time there is a change, we’ll post the updated Privacy Policy on this page. Before the change takes effect, we will notify you by email and/or by posting an identifiable notice on Our Service. We will also modify the “Last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy. It is recommended that you routinely check this Privacy Policy for updates. Any modifications to this privacy policy take effect immediately upon posting on this website.
Contact, Inquiries, or Complaints
We value your privacy and encourage you to send us an email at the email address provided below if you have additional questions or concerns about your privacy or how we collect, store, and utilize your personal information.
Email: info@mydowneysmiles.com