Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 2026
At Hopkins Dental, we respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal data when you visit our website, contact us, or become a patient of Hopkins Dental.
Hopkins Dental is committed to complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and other applicable Irish data protection legislation.
1. Who we are
Hopkins Dental
Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Email: info@hopkinsdental.ie
For the purposes of data protection law, Hopkins Dental is the data controller responsible for your personal data.
If you have any questions about how we use your personal data, or wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, you can contact us at info@hopkinsdental.ie.
2. What information we collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following information:
Website visitors and enquiries
Name
Telephone number
Email address
Information contained in messages or enquiries you send to us
Information relating to appointments you request
Patients
Where you become a patient, we may also collect information necessary to provide dental care, including:
Date of birth
Address and contact details
Medical history
Dental history
Information about your oral and general health
Dental examinations and clinical notes
X-rays, photographs, scans and other diagnostic records
Treatment plans and treatment records
Information relating to payments, invoices and insurance or medical-card arrangements
Correspondence relating to your care
Health information is considered special-category personal data under the GDPR and receives additional protection. (Homepage | Data Protection Commission)
Website and technical information
When you visit our website, certain technical information may be collected automatically, such as your IP address, browser type, device information and information about how you use the website.
This information may be collected through cookies or similar technologies, depending on the settings and services used on our website.
3. How we use your information
We may use your personal information to:
Respond to enquiries and requests for information
Arrange and manage dental appointments
Provide dental examinations, diagnosis and treatment
Maintain accurate clinical records
Communicate with you about your dental care
Arrange referrals to other healthcare professionals where appropriate
Process payments and administer accounts
Meet our legal and regulatory obligations
Protect the health and safety of patients and staff
Respond to complaints or requests
Maintain and improve our services
Manage and secure our website and information systems
Send appointment reminders and other necessary communications relating to your care
We will only use your personal information for appropriate and lawful purposes.
4. Legal basis for processing
Depending on the circumstances, we process personal data on one or more of the following legal bases under the GDPR:
Performance of a contract or provision of a service – for example, arranging and providing dental treatment.
Legal obligation – where we are required to retain or provide information under applicable law or professional requirements.
Legitimate interests – for appropriate business administration, security, service improvement and communication, where our interests do not override your rights and freedoms.
Consent – where consent is required for a particular processing activity.
Health information is subject to additional requirements because it is special-category data. We process health information only where a lawful condition under applicable data protection law applies.
5. Who we may share your information with
We treat patient information as confidential.
Where necessary and appropriate, we may share relevant information with:
Other healthcare professionals involved in your care
Dental laboratories and other suppliers involved in providing your treatment
Healthcare or insurance organisations where required or authorised
Payment and accounting service providers
IT, practice-management, hosting and other service providers who process information on our behalf
Government bodies, regulatory authorities or other organisations where we are legally required to do so
We only share information that is appropriate and necessary for the relevant purpose.
Where third-party service providers process personal data on our behalf, we take appropriate steps to ensure that they are subject to appropriate confidentiality and data protection obligations.
6. How long we keep your information
We retain personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, taking account of our legal, regulatory, professional and accounting obligations.
Dental and healthcare records may need to be retained for significantly longer than ordinary website enquiry information.
The precise retention period may depend on the type of information, the nature of the treatment and applicable legal or professional requirements.
When personal data is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or otherwise disposed of in accordance with our data retention procedures.
7. Keeping your information secure
We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, disclosure or destruction.
Access to patient information is restricted to people who need it for legitimate professional or administrative purposes.
However, no method of transmitting or storing information electronically can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
8. Your data protection rights
Subject to applicable legal requirements and exemptions, you may have rights including:
The right to access the personal data we hold about you
The right to have inaccurate or incomplete information corrected
The right to request erasure of personal data in certain circumstances
The right to request restriction of processing in certain circumstances
The right to object to certain processing
The right to data portability in applicable circumstances
The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
Some of these rights are subject to limitations. For example, we may be required to retain certain clinical records even where you request that they be deleted.
If you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at info@hopkinsdental.ie.
We will normally respond to a valid data protection request within one month, although this may be extended where permitted by law. The Data Protection Commission confirms that GDPR rights requests will generally be responded to within one month. (Homepage | Data Protection Commission)
9. Marketing communications
We may contact you with information about Hopkins Dental where we are legally permitted to do so.
Where consent is required for direct marketing, we will obtain your consent before sending such communications.
You can withdraw your consent to marketing communications at any time by contacting us or using the unsubscribe option provided in the communication.
Please note that withdrawing consent to marketing does not affect communications that are necessary for your dental care, appointments, treatment or other administrative purposes.
10. Cookies
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies.
Some cookies may be necessary for the website to function correctly. Other cookies, such as analytics or advertising cookies, may require your consent under applicable law.
Where consent is required, you will be given appropriate information and a choice before such cookies are used.
You can also manage cookies through your browser settings.
The Irish Data Protection Commission notes that consent is generally required for cookies and similar tracking technologies unless they are strictly necessary for a service requested by the user. (Homepage | Data Protection Commission)
11. Third-party websites
Our website may contain links to websites operated by third parties.
If you follow a link to another website, that website will have its own privacy practices and policies. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites.
We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of any third-party website you visit.
12. Children’s information
Where we provide dental services to children, we take particular care to protect their personal information.
Where appropriate, information may be provided or communicated through a parent or legal guardian in accordance with applicable law and professional requirements.
13. Data breaches
If we become aware of a personal data breach, we will assess the breach and take appropriate steps in accordance with our legal and regulatory obligations.
Where notification to the Data Protection Commission or affected individuals is required, we will make such notification within the applicable legal timeframes.
14. Complaints
If you have concerns about how we have handled your personal information, we encourage you to contact us first at:
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission, which is the supervisory authority responsible for data protection in Ireland.
Data Protection Commission
6 Pembroke Row
Dublin 2
D02 X963
Ireland
Website: https://www.dataprotection.ie/
15. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements or how we process personal information.
The latest version will always be made available on our website, together with the date on which it was last updated.
Last updated: September 2026