Privacy policy

Who we are

Openears Hearing Ltd (trading as Open Ears, and referred to here as “we”, “us” or “our”) is an independent hearing clinic based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. We are the data controller responsible for the personal information collected through this website.

This policy explains what personal information we collect when you use our website or contact us, how and why we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights you have over it. We are committed to handling your information responsibly and in line with UK data protection law.

The information we collect

• Information you give us. When you complete our enquiry form or contact us by phone or email, we collect your name, email address, telephone number and the content of your message.
• Appointment bookings. If you book an appointment through our online booking system, you provide the details needed to arrange and manage your visit.
• Health information. If your enquiry or appointment relates to your hearing, you may choose to share health-related information. This is “special category” data and we treat it with extra care.
• Information collected automatically. Our website is a simple, mostly static site. Our hosting provider may keep basic technical logs (such as IP addresses) for security and reliability.

How we use your information

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for using your personal information. We use it to:

• Respond to your enquiry — based on your consent and our legitimate interest in answering questions about our services.
• Arrange and manage appointments — to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, and to provide our hearing care services.
• Provide hearing care — where you share health-related information, our lawful basis for using that special category data is your explicit consent and the provision of health care.

We will not use your information for marketing unless you have specifically asked us to, and we will never sell your personal information.

Who we share your information with

We use trusted service providers who process information on our behalf and under our instructions:

• Formspark — delivers enquiry form submissions to us securely by email.
• Cliniko — our practice management and online appointment booking system.
• Our online hearing-test provider — powers the optional online hearing check.
• Google Maps — displays a map of our clinic location.

We may also disclose information where we are required to do so by law, or where necessary to protect someone’s health and safety.

Cookies and embedded content

Our website does not use advertising or tracking cookies. Some pages embed content from third parties — our online booking system, the location map and the online hearing test — and those providers may set their own cookies when you interact with them. You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings.

How long we keep your information

We keep your personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described above and to meet our legal and regulatory obligations. Enquiry messages are kept while we deal with your query and for a reasonable period afterwards; information relating to appointments and hearing care is retained in line with healthcare record-keeping guidance. We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep your information secure against loss, misuse and unauthorised access.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to be informed about how your information is used, and to:

• access a copy of the information we hold about you;
• have inaccurate or incomplete information corrected;
• ask us to erase your information in certain circumstances;
• restrict or object to how we use your information;
• ask for your information to be transferred to you or another provider;
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection, at ico.org.uk.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy, or you would like to exercise any of your rights, please get in touch:

• Email: hello@openears-hearing.co.uk
• Phone: 01623 362367
• Address: Vale View, Northfield Ave, Pleasley Vale, Mansfield, Notts. NG19 8SG

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page, with the “last updated” date above revised accordingly.