top of page
Private-Practice-Circle-logo
Join Our Community

Privacy Policy

1. About This Privacy Policy

​

Private Practice Circle is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information when you visit our website, apply to join Private Practice Circle, become a member, participate in the community or otherwise contact or interact with us.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on the Private Practice Circle website.

​

2. Who We Are

Private Practice Circle is a professional community for medical secretaries, practice managers and administration professionals working across UK private practice.
 

For the purposes of UK data protection law, Private Practice Circle is responsible for deciding how and why personal information collected directly through the community is used.
 

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how your personal information is handled, you can contact us using the contact details provided on our website.

​

3. How We Collect Information

We may collect information about you when you:

  • visit or use our website;

  • apply to join Private Practice Circle;

  • create or maintain a member account;

  • complete or update your member profile;

  • participate in community groups or discussions;

  • post, comment or otherwise contribute content;

  • register for or attend an event;

  • contact us with a question or enquiry;

  • respond to a survey or provide feedback;

  • subscribe to community news or updates; or

  • otherwise interact with Private Practice Circle.
     

Some technical information may also be collected automatically when you use our website or community platform, including through cookies and similar technologies.

​

4. Information We May Collect

Depending on how you interact with Private Practice Circle, we may collect information including:

  • your name;

  • email address;

  • profile photograph, where provided;

  • job title or professional role;

  • whether you are employed, self-employed or work under another arrangement;

  • business, practice or organisation name, where provided;

  • information you provide about your work within private practice;

  • information included within your member profile;

  • membership application and approval information;

  • your community posts, comments and other contributions;

  • event registrations and attendance information;

  • communications you send to us;

  • preferences relating to communications;

  • feedback or survey responses; and

  • technical information about your use of the website and community platform.
     

We only seek to collect information that is reasonably necessary for operating and developing Private Practice Circle.

​

5. Membership Applications

Membership of Private Practice Circle is intended for medical secretaries, practice managers and administration professionals working across UK private practice.

When you apply to join, we may ask for information about you and your professional role so that we can assess whether you meet the community's membership criteria.

Membership applications may be reviewed before access to the community is approved.

Information provided as part of your application will be used for membership administration and to help maintain the relevance and professional nature of the community.

​

6. Member Profiles and Community Participation

Members may be able to create a profile and participate in groups, discussions and other community activities.

Depending on the information you choose to provide and the settings available within the community platform, certain profile information may be visible to other members.

Posts, comments and other contributions you make within community areas may also be visible to other members with access to those areas.

You should therefore consider carefully what information you choose to include in your profile or community contributions.

Members must not use Private Practice Circle to share identifiable patient information or other personal information that they do not have an appropriate reason or authority to disclose.

Further requirements relating to community participation are contained within our Community Terms of Use.

​

7. How We Use Your Information

We may use your personal information to:

  • process and manage membership applications;

  • create and administer your membership;

  • provide access to Private Practice Circle and its community features;

  • enable member profiles, groups and discussions;

  • communicate with you about your membership;

  • respond to enquiries or requests;

  • provide information about community activities, resources and events;

  • administer events or other community activities;

  • moderate and manage the community;

  • investigate concerns or potential breaches of our Community Terms of Use;

  • improve and develop Private Practice Circle;

  • understand how members use the community and website;

  • maintain the security and integrity of our services;

  • comply with legal and regulatory obligations; and

  • establish, exercise or defend legal rights where necessary.

We will not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with those for which it was collected unless permitted or required by law.

​

8. Our Lawful Bases for Processing

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal information.

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on:

​

Contract
Where processing is necessary to provide membership or community services you have requested or to take steps at your request before providing those services.

​

Legitimate interests
Where processing is necessary for the legitimate operation, administration, security, moderation and development of Private Practice Circle, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

​

Consent
Where you have actively chosen to receive particular communications or where consent is otherwise required.

​

Legal obligation
Where we need to process information to comply with a legal requirement.

​

The appropriate lawful basis will depend upon the particular information and reason for processing it.

​

9. Communications

We may send members administrative or service-related communications concerning their membership, community access, important changes or activities they have registered for.

Where we send optional marketing or promotional communications that require your consent, you will be given the opportunity to choose whether you wish to receive them.

You can change your communication preferences or unsubscribe from optional marketing communications at any time.

​

10. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share personal information with trusted service providers where necessary to operate Private Practice Circle.

These may include providers supporting:

  • website and community hosting;

  • membership management;

  • email and communications;

  • event administration;

  • analytics;

  • security; and

  • other technology required to operate the community.

Service providers should only process personal information in accordance with their contractual obligations and applicable data protection requirements.

We may also disclose information where required by law, to protect our legal rights, to investigate misuse of the community or where necessary to protect the rights or safety of others.

​

11. Wix and Spaces by Wix

Private Practice Circle currently uses Wix to provide its website, membership and community functionality, including access through Wix member applications such as Spaces by Wix.

When you create an account, access the community or use these services, information may be processed through Wix's systems.

Wix may process information on our behalf in connection with the services we use and may also process certain information for its own purposes in accordance with its own privacy information and terms.

Members should review the privacy information provided by Wix when creating or using a Wix account or its applications.

​

12. International Data Transfers

Some of the technology and service providers used by Private Practice Circle may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, appropriate safeguards will be used where required by UK data protection law.

These may include transferring information to countries recognised as providing an adequate level of protection or using approved contractual safeguards.

​

13. How Long We Keep Your Information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, administrative or security requirements.

Membership information will generally be retained while you remain a member of Private Practice Circle.

If you leave the community, certain information may need to be retained for a reasonable period afterwards.

Community posts and comments may sometimes remain after membership ends where removing them would affect the context or continuity of a discussion. Where appropriate, information associated with those contributions may instead be removed or anonymised.

The appropriate retention period will depend on the nature of the information and the reason it is held.

​

14. How We Protect Your Information

We take reasonable organisational and technical measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, loss or misuse.

Private Practice Circle uses third-party technology providers to host and operate parts of the website and community. Those providers maintain their own security measures for the services they provide.

Members are responsible for keeping their own account credentials secure and should not share passwords or account access with another person.

No internet-based service can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect the information entrusted to us.

​

15. Cookies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to operate correctly, maintain security, remember preferences and understand how the website is used.

Where required, you will be given the opportunity to manage your cookie preferences through our cookie consent mechanism.

Further information about the cookies used on our website and how you can manage them is available in our Cookie Policy.

​

16. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data protection law gives you rights concerning your personal information.

These may include the right to:

  • request access to the personal information we hold about you;

  • ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;

  • request deletion of your personal information in certain circumstances;

  • request restriction of processing in certain circumstances;

  • object to certain processing;

  • request transfer of certain information in a portable format;

  • withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and

  • raise concerns about how your personal information is being used.

These rights are not absolute and may depend upon the circumstances and the lawful basis on which information is being processed.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details provided on our website.

​

17. Complaints

If you have concerns about how Private Practice Circle handles your personal information, please contact us in the first instance so that we have an opportunity to address your concerns.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent data protection regulator.

​

18. Third-Party Links

Our website or community may contain links to websites, services, resources or events operated by third parties.

Private Practice Circle is not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties.

We encourage you to review the relevant privacy information before providing personal information to another organisation.

​

19. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as Private Practice Circle develops or where our use of personal information, technology or legal requirements change.

The latest version will be published on our website and the date at the top of this policy will be updated where appropriate.

​

20. Contact Us

If you have a question about this Privacy Policy, would like to exercise one of your data protection rights or have a concern about how your information is being handled, please contact Private Practice Circle using the contact details provided on our website.

bottom of page