Claire Benton Audiology customer privacy notice

This privacy notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal information.

• Contact details
• What information we collect, use, and why
• Lawful bases and data protection rights
• Where we get personal information from
• How long we keep information
• Who we share information with
• How to complain

Contact details

Telephone: 07368826754

Email:          claire@clairebentonaudiology.co.uk

What information we collect, use, and why

We collect or use the following information to provide patient care, services, hearing care products and other goods:

• Name, address and contact details
• Gender
• Pronoun preferences
• Date of birth
• Next of Kin details including any support networks
• Emergency contact details
• Health information (including medical conditions, allergies, medical requirements and medical history)
• Information about care needs (including disabilities, home conditions, medication and dietary requirements and general care provisions)
• Test results (including psychological evaluations, scans, bloods, x-rays, tissue tests and genetic tests)
• Payment details (including card or bank information for transfers and direct debits)
• Call recordings

We also collect the following special category information to provide patient care, services, hearing care products and other goods. This information is subject to additional protection due to its sensitive nature:

• Health information

We collect or use the following personal information for information updates, marketing or market research purposes:

• Names and contact details
• Addresses
• Marketing preferences
• Records of consent, where appropriate

We also collect the following special category information for information updates, marketing or market research purposes. This information is subject to additional protection due to its sensitive nature:

• Health information

Lawful bases and data protection rights

Under UK data protection law, we must have a “lawful basis” for collecting and using your personal information. There is a list of possible lawful bases in the UK GDPR. You can find out more about lawful bases on the ICO’s website.

Which lawful basis we rely on may affect your data protection rights which are set out in brief below. You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website:

• Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. You can request other information such as details about where we get personal information from and who we share personal information with. There are some exemptions which means you may not receive all the information you ask for. Read more about the right of access.
• Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to correct or delete personal information you think is inaccurate or incomplete. Read more about the right to rectification.
• Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information. Read more about the right to erasure.
• Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to limit how we can use your personal information. Read more about the right to restriction of processing.
• Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data. Read more about the right to object to processing.
• Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you. Read more about the right to data portability.
• Your right to withdraw consent – When we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Read more about the right to withdraw consent.

If you make a request, we must respond to you without undue delay and in any event within one month.

To make a data protection rights request, please contact us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

Our lawful bases for the collection and use of your data

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information to provide patient care, services, hearing care products and other goods are:

• Consent – we have permission from you after we gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Contract – we have to collect or use the information so we can enter into or carry out a contract with you. All of your data protection rights may apply except the right to object.
• Legal obligation – we have to collect or use your information so we can comply with the law. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to erasure, the right to object and the right to data portability.
• Legitimate interests – we’re collecting or using your information because it benefits you, our organisation or someone else, without causing an undue risk of harm to anyone. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to portability. Our legitimate interests are:
  • The information is collected to ensure that the correct audiological care is provided, that any need for onward referral to another Health Provider, such as GP, Ear Nose & Throat Consultant is appropriately made. It is important that information about yours or your child’s medical history is known so we can identify risks for hearing loss, or information that supports ongoing audiological management.

For more information on our use of legitimate interests as a lawful basis you can contact us using the contact details set out above.

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information for information updates, marketing or market research purposes are:

• Consent – we have permission from you after we gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Contract – we have to collect or use the information so we can enter into or carry out a contract with you. All of your data protection rights may apply except the right to object.

Where we get personal information from

• Directly from you
• Family members or carers
• Schools, colleges, universities or other education organisations

How long we keep information

Claire Benton Audiology is committed to managing health records in accordance with UK law, including the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

Retention Periods

We retain health records for the following minimum durations:

• Adults:
  Health records are retained for 8 years after the conclusion of treatment or the last contact with the service.
• Children and Young People:
  Records are retained until the patient’s 25th birthday, or 26th birthday if the young person was 17 at the conclusion of treatment.
  If the child dies before reaching adulthood, records are retained for 8 years after death.
• Deceased Patients:
  Records are retained for 10 years after death.

These periods reflect national guidance and may be extended in specific circumstances, such as legal proceedings, safeguarding concerns, or public inquiries.

Data Security and Disposal

All records are stored securely in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. When records reach the end of their retention period, they are disposed of securely using approved methods to ensure confidentiality is maintained.

Electronic Records

Electronic records are managed in line with the same retention schedule. Where systems allow, records may be deleted or rendered inaccessible (“put beyond use”) following formal risk assessment and audit logging.

For more information on how long we store your personal information or the criteria we use to determine this please contact us using the details provided above.

Who we share information with

Others we share personal information with

• Other health providers (eg GPs and consultants)
• Organisations we need to share information with for safeguarding reasons

Duty of confidentiality

We are subject to a common law duty of confidentiality. However, there are circumstances where we will share relevant health and care information. These are where:

• you’ve provided us with your consent (we have taken it as implied to provide you with care, or you have given it explicitly for other uses);
• we have a legal requirement (including court orders) to collect, share or use the data;
• on a case-by-case basis, the public interest to collect, share and use the data overrides the public interest served by protecting the duty of confidentiality (for example sharing information with the police to support the detection or prevention of serious crime);
• If in England or Wales – the requirements of The Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 are satisfied; or

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, you can make a complaint to us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the ICO.

The ICO’s address:           

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Date of document: November 2025

Date of review: November 2027