smile generation privacy policy

THIS PRIVACY POLICY APPLIES TO OUR SITES, TRUSTED OFFICES AND APPLICATIONS

This privacy statement sets out how Pacific Dental Services® LLC (PDS®) uses and protects any information that you give PDS when you use The Smile Generation® website. PDS is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. You can feel assured that information you provide on this website will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement and in accordance with the privacy statements of individual Smile Generation-trusted offices. To view an individual Smile Generation-trusted office’s privacy policy, please visit that office’s website . PDS may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page as often as possible to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective July 1, 2014.

The Smile Generation understands that your privacy is important. We’ve created this Privacy Policy to inform you about the ways we collect, use, disclose and otherwise treat your personal information. By visiting SmileGeneration.com, you agree to the practices described here in our Privacy Policy.

WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION DO WE GATHER ABOUT YOU?

  • Your contact information, such as your email, home address, ZIP code, phone number and email. Such items are collected when you sign up for our contests and promotions, or use our online appointment scheduling process.
  • Your name, date of birth, insurance information, appointment date and time and family member information. Such items are collected when you use our online appointment scheduling process of one of our supported practices.
  • Your public information, such as comments or reviews that you post on our site. We also collect requests or questions that you publicly post.
  • Your demographic information, such as your postcode, preferences and interests.
  • Other information, such as your location, your IP address, the browser/device/hardware you are using, your GPS location and what pages you visit on our site. Such items are collected when you visit our digital ads.
  • We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a list of dental offices for relevant referrals. Once you have selected a new dentist, we will share your information with your dentist.

HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

  • To keep an internal record for our reporting and analysis purposes.
  • To provide you with relevant content, materials, offers, programs and to administer your participation in our contests or sweepstakes.
  • To respond to your requests or questions that you may provide via our social sites.
  • To improve our sites, products, services and other marketing purposes.
  • To protect our company, other patients and our assets and sites and for other security measures.
  • By our supported practices to schedule an appointment for you and contact you via mobile phone text/SMS or e-mail to confirm your appointment.
  • To remain in communication with you with any products or services you requested.
  • From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone or mail.
  • We may provide your information to our third party partners for marketing or promotional purposes.
  • To target ads to you based on your past online activity.
  • We will never sell your information.
  • Customer information retention is indefinite and is shared with select advertisers and supported dentists.
  • For additional information on ways in which a PDS supported practice may use or disclose your Protected Health Information, refer to that practice’s Notice Of Privacy Practices which is posted on its website and/or available in the particular supported practice.
  • Any information collected is disclosed to you here and is used as permitted or required by law. We also abide by the set rules prescribed to us by Google AdWords: https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/143465.
  • Information gathered in the text messaging campaign will not be shared to third parties or affiliates for marketing purposes.

EMAILS ABOUT SPECIAL OFFERS AND PROMOTIONS AND HOW TO OPT-OUT

It is our intention to only send email communications that are useful to you and that you want to receive. When you provide us with your email address as part of the registration or appointment setting process, we will place you on a list of patients to receive informational and promotional emails. Each time you receive a promotional email, you will be provided the choice to “opt-out” of future emails by following the instructions provided in the email.

SECURITY

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, we have put in place physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

HOW DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT YOU?

  • When you schedule an appointment with a supported practice.
  • When you sign up for things automatically like a contest or a promotion or when you register to any of our sites.
  • PDS participates in the Care Everywhere program that allows clinicians from different organizations worldwide to securely exchange patient medical information electronically for treatment purposes. Participating clinicians will have access to medical information made available from other participating clinicians to provide you with better care. Prior to receiving care at PDS, we may receive medical records from your participating clinicians via Care Everywhere. If you do not wish to participate in Care Everywhere, notify: Privacy Contact, Pacific Dental Services, LLC at 17000 Red Hill Avenue, Irvine, California 92614. (714) 845-8500.
  • Through tracking tools, such as cookies, tags and other technologies.
  • Our partners, such as Smile Generation Financial, Smile Generation Dental Plan, and our trusted dental offices will provide us with information that you voluntarily give them. We may also use information associated with your social media account, e.g., your name, username, email address, gender, profile picture, etc. We may also collect information about your friends or family if you share any of our social content using web tools.

WHAT ARE COOKIES? HOW DO WE USE THEM?

  • A cookie is a small file that asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. The cookie helps analyze web traffic or informs when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
  • We transfer cookies to your device to provide you with personalized services and content and to identify which of our sites or pages are of most interest to you. We do, however, recommend that you leave these cookies on as it allows us to provide you with the best patient experience possible through reporting and analysis. By disabling cookies, you will also be prevented from experiencing the entire site as was intended, and we will not be able to personalize our services to you. To disable cookies, please visit your browser’s settings.
  • Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads to you based on your past visits to our website. You can opt out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s Ads Settings.
  • Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website experience, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

The Smile Generation website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites of interest easily. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over other websites. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information that you provide whilst visiting such sites, and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

HOW DO THIRD PARTIES COLLECT AND USE YOUR INFORMATION?

  • Third-party vendors, including Google, show our ads on sites across the internet.
  • Please be aware that third parties may use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect or receive information from our website and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads.
  • Additionally, please be aware that Facebook may also use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect or receive information from our website and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads.
  • You may opt-out of the collection and use of information for ad targeting by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) tool at http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/ and through the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) at http://www.aboutads.info/choices/.
  • The NAI opt-out tool reports which member companies have placed a cookie that can be used for Interest-Based Advertising on your browser by checking for the presence of such cookies and reporting back whether it found any “active” cookies. The NAI opt-out tool also allows you to set cookies that will tell NAI members you do not want to participate in Interest-Based Advertising. The tool does not delete individual cookies nor does it necessarily replace other cookies delivered by NAI companies, such as those that are used for ad reporting or ad serving purposes that, for example, allow advertisers to change the sequence of ads, as well as to track the number of ads delivered.
  • DAA: Using the tools on this page, you can opt out from receiving interest-based advertising from some or all of our participating companies, as well as:
  • Find out which participating companies have currently enabled customized ads for your browser;
  • See all the participating companies on this site and learn more about their advertising and privacy practices;
  • Check whether you've already opted out from participating companies;
  • Opt out of browser-enabled interest-based advertising by some or all participating companies, using opt-out cookies to store your preferences in your browser; or
  • Use the "Choose All Companies" feature to opt out from all currently participating companies in one step.
  • You may also opt-out of Acxiom by visiting https://isapps.acxiom.com/optout/optout.aspx, Datalogix by visiting https://www.datalogix.com/privacy/, Epsilon by visiting https://www.datalogix.com/privacy/ and BlueKai by blocking all third-party trackers through your internet security settings.
  • Opting out, or choosing to have data about you removed from Acxiom's marketing data products, will reduce the amount of unsolicited telemarketing, direct-mail and/or email offers you receive from companies with whom you have not done business. It may also reduce the relevance of offers you receive from companies with whom you have done business since our clients use these products to better understand what offers may be of interest to you. You should also be aware that your choice to opt-out with Acxiom will only impact marketers using our marketing data products. Therefore, we suggest you also consider opting-out directly from any company that sends you unwanted solicitations or use the Direct Marketing Association's Commitment to Consumer Choice services which applies to all DMA member companies and can be accessed at www.dmachoice.org.

WHAT CHOICES DO I HAVE? CAN I CONTROL MY PRIVACY?

  • If you wish to inquire about how we are using your personal information and for requests to opt-out, write our Privacy Contact. If you live in California, you have the right to ask us one time each year if we have shared personal information with any third parties. Please specify “California Privacy Rights” in the letter.
  • To delete your cookies, please visit your browser’s settings.
  • To turn off push notifications or your GPS locator on your phone, please visit your device settings.
  • To opt-out of email communications sent to you, please refer to the unsubscribe instructions listed on the bottom of the emails we send to you.
  • Please note, that law may require us to comply by disclosing any information that we collect about you.

WHAT IS OUR POLICY TOWARD CHILDREN?

We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13 without expressed permission from a parent or guardian. If you feel the privacy of your child has been compromised by our site, please advise the Privacy Contact.

TRADEMARK

The contents of The Smile Generation website are protected by United States and International copyright and trademark law. Any unauthorized use or reproduction of this website is prohibited and may subject a violator to civil and criminal penalties. All rights reserved.

HOW DO I CONTACT THE SMILE GENERATION?

Any questions or comments that relate to this Smile Generation Privacy Policy may be directed to our Privacy Contact, Pacific Dental Services, Inc. at 17000 Red Hill Avenue, Irvine, California 92614. (714) 845-8500.

The Smile Generation is sponsored by Pacific Dental Services® LLC, a California registered dental referral service. Advertising is paid for by and referrals are made to supported dental offices.

THE SMILE GENERATION PRIVACY POLICY REVISIONS

Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time. Any updates will be posted here. Please check our site regularly for updates.

CALIFORNIA CONSUMER PRIVACY ACT (CCPA)

Learn more about new data privacy rights for California Residents.

MOBILE APPLICATION PRIVACY POLICY

Smile Generation MyChart may interact with your sensitive data to provide certain features, such as video visits or mobile appointment check-in. The first time you try to use any of these features, we will ask for your consent within the app and will only allow you to use a feature if you give consent. You do not have to provide consent if you do not want to allow Smile Generation MyChart to interact with your data as requested. Smile Generation MyChart is developed by Epic Systems Corporation; please refer to Epic’s Mobile Application Privacy Policy for Patients for more detailed information about the limited ways they may interact with your information to make your use of Smile Generation MyChart possible.

Smile Generation MyChart may offer location-based check-in for in-person appointments or allow you to find healthcare providers near you. The first time you try to use any features that use your location, we will ask for your consent within the app and will only access your location if you give consent. You do not have to provide consent if you do not want to allow Smile Generation MyChart to use your location. We do not store your location data.

Smile Generation MyChart shares data with third parties. For more information, please review the section of this policy titled “How Do Third Parties Collect and Use Your Information?”

Smile Generation (Pacific Dental Services) Terms and Conditions

When you sign up for text messages from Smile Generation (Pacific Dental Services),you are signing up to receive text messages related to your relationship with Smile Generation (Pacific Dental Services), including updates related to your visits, Smile Generation MyChart account, one-time passcode, billing notifications, prescription reminders, and care management.

You can opt-out of SMS messages by texting STOP to respective short code (97854). Your opt-out request will generate one final message confirming that you have been unsubscribed. You will no longer receive SMS messages from the short code you opted out from. If you want to join again, sign up using Smile Generation MyChart or text HELP to the short code for instructions.

If you are experiencing issues with the messaging program you can reply with the keyword HELP for more assistance, or you can get help directly at MyChart@smilegeneration.com or 1-800-491-7021.

Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Message and data rates may apply for any messages sent to you from us and to us from you. Message frequency may vary.

Our Terms and Conditions can be found at https://www.smilegeneration.com/terms-of-service/. Contact us at MyChart@smilegeneration.com or 1-800-491-7021. Privacy Contact: (714) 845-8500.