Privacy Policy

Vitality Dentistry operates at 4792 Highway 7 E, Markham, ON L3R 1M8. We are a health information custodian under PHIPA and subject to PIPEDA for personal information collected in the course of commercial activity.

This policy applies to information collected through our website, including our contact and appointment request forms, our online booking system, and cookies and analytics tools. It does not replace the consent discussions we have with you in person about your dental care, and it applies alongside our office’s clinical privacy practices.

Depending on how you use our website, we may collect:

• Contact and appointment request forms: your name, phone number, email address, preferred appointment times, and any message you choose to include. Please do not include detailed health information in free-text form fields; we will discuss your health with you directly.
• Online booking: information you provide to our scheduling provider, such as your name, contact details, appointment type, and appointment date and time.
• Technical information: IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, and referring website, collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies.
• Analytics data: aggregated information about how visitors use our site, collected through Google Analytics 4.

We use information collected through the website to:

• Respond to your inquiries and appointment requests;
• Schedule, confirm, and remind you about appointments;
• Communicate with you about your care and our services;
• Understand how our website is used so we can improve it; and
• Meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use personal health information for advertising.

By submitting a form or booking an appointment through our website, you consent to our collection and use of that information for the purposes described above. Under PHIPA, we rely on your knowledgeable consent to collect, use, and disclose personal health information, and in some circumstances consent may be implied within your circle of care. You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal and professional record-keeping requirements, by contacting our Privacy Officer.

Non-essential cookies (such as analytics) are used only where permitted; see Section 6. Where we send commercial electronic messages (such as newsletters or promotions), we do so in accordance with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL): we obtain your consent first, identify ourselves in each message, and include a working unsubscribe mechanism. Appointment reminders and messages about your care are not marketing messages.

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. Strictly necessary cookies keep the site functioning (for example, session cookies used by the booking system) and do not require consent. Analytics cookies help us understand site usage; these are used with your consent where required, and you can decline them without losing access to the site. If you decline, analytics trackers will not run.

We use Google Analytics 4 to collect aggregated usage statistics. Analytics data may be processed on servers outside Canada, including in the United States, and may be subject to the laws of those jurisdictions. We have configured our analytics to avoid collecting information that identifies you as a patient, and we do not link analytics data to your dental records. You can also manage cookies through your browser settings.

We use carefully selected service providers to operate our website and practice, including our online booking provider, our website hosting provider, and our analytics provider (Google Analytics 4). Where a service provider handles personal health information on our behalf, they act as our agent or an electronic service provider under PHIPA and are permitted to use the information only to provide services to us. We require our providers to protect your information with safeguards consistent with this policy and applicable law.

Some providers may store or process information outside Ontario or outside Canada. Where this occurs, the information may be accessible to authorities in those jurisdictions under their laws.

We take steps that are reasonable in the circumstances to protect personal information against theft, loss, and unauthorized access, use, disclosure, copying, or modification. These safeguards include encryption of our website traffic (HTTPS), access controls limiting who can view information submitted through the site, secure systems for storing patient records, staff privacy training, and confidentiality obligations for our team and service providers.

Information that becomes part of your patient record is retained in accordance with the record-keeping requirements of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario and applicable law. Website inquiries that do not lead to care are kept only as long as needed to respond and are then securely deleted. Analytics data is retained for 14 months and then deleted or anonymized.

Subject to limited exceptions under PHIPA and PIPEDA, you have the right to:

• Access a copy of your personal health information and other personal information we hold about you;
• Request correction of information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete;
• Withdraw or limit your consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of your information;
• Ask questions about our information practices; and
• File a complaint about how we have handled your information.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer using the details in Section 13. We will respond within the timelines required by law.

If personal health information is stolen, lost, or used or disclosed without authority, we will notify you at the first reasonable opportunity as required by PHIPA, and we will report the breach to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario where the applicable thresholds are met. Where PIPEDA applies, we will also report breaches posing a real risk of significant harm to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and notify affected individuals.

Our website is not intended for emergencies. If you have a dental or medical emergency, call our office at (905) 479-7777 or 911. Ordinary email and web forms are not a fully secure way to send sensitive health details, so please keep messages brief and let us discuss your health with you by phone or in person.

Our designated Privacy Officer under PHIPA is Dr. Raj Singh, who can answer questions about our information practices, help you access or correct your records, and receive complaints:

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (1-800-387-0073) regarding personal health information, or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (1-800-282-1376) regarding other personal information.

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or the law. The current version will always be posted on this page with its effective date. Material changes will be highlighted on our website.