Legal
Privacy policy.
What we collect, why, how long we keep it and how to ask us about it.
What we collect
When you use the appointment form we collect your name, phone number, email address and postcode, what the appointment is for, whether you are private or NHS, and anything you write in the message box. The form also records the time it was sent and your IP address, used only to block automated submissions.
When you become a patient we keep an optical record: your medical and family history, symptoms, vision and prescriptions, eye pressures and findings, OCT scans and retinal images, referrals and their replies, contact lens specifications and aftercare notes, dispensing records of frames and lenses, and the NHS forms for sight tests and vouchers. Health records are special category data and are held under the stricter rules that apply to them.
Why we use it
- To book and remind you of appointments (the steps needed before and under a contract).
- To examine your eyes, prescribe, dispense and refer safely, which includes keeping clinical records and comparing scans over time (contract, and our professional obligations under the General Optical Council).
- To claim NHS sight tests and vouchers on your behalf, which means sharing the claim with NHS Wales (legal obligation and public task).
- To refer you to the hospital eye service or your GP with your consent, or without it in an emergency where you cannot give it (vital interests).
- To remind you when your next examination or contact lens check is due, by text or email, which you can stop at any time (legitimate interest).
How long we keep it
Enquiries that do not become appointments are deleted after six months. Optical records, scans and prescriptions are kept for ten years after your last visit, or until a child patient is twenty-five, whichever is longer, as the General Optical Council and NHS Wales require. NHS claim records are kept for seven years. Reminder lists are kept until you ask to be removed.
Who sees it
The optometrists, the dispensing optician and reception; the lens laboratory (your prescription and frame measurements only); NHS Wales for sight test and voucher claims; the hospital eye service or your GP when we refer you; our accountant for invoice records; and the text service that sends reminders (name, number and appointment time only). The appointment form is delivered by email to the practice; we do not use third-party form services or marketing platforms. We do not sell or share your details for marketing.
Cookies
This site sets a single session cookie to limit repeat form submissions. It contains no personal data and expires when you close the browser. The embedded map on the booking and find-us pages is served by Google and may set cookies under Google's own policy. The contact lens plan builder and the frame filter run in your browser and send nothing to us.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of what we hold, including your prescription and scans, which are free; ask us to correct or delete it, within the limits of what we are required to keep; or object to how we use it. Email hello@clearviewopticians.co.uk or write to the address above. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.