EAR WAX SPECIALIST

Privacy Policy

How we collect, use and protect your personal information · Last updated: 30 August 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Ear Wax Specialist (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, stores and shares personal information when you visit https://earwaxspecialist.co.uk, book or attend an appointment at any of our clinics, request a home visit, enrol on a training course, contact us, or otherwise interact with us. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Please read this policy carefully. If you do not agree with it, please do not use our website or services.

1. Who we are

Ear Wax Specialist (trading as Birmingham Hearing Care and Sutton Hearing Care)

Registered office: Sutton Hearing Care, 1 Sutton Oak Corner, Sutton Colfield, B74 2DH

Telephone: 0121 369 0780

Email: info@earwaxspecialist.co.uk

Website: https://earwaxspecialist.co.uk

If you have any questions about this policy or how we use your data, please contact our data protection lead at info@earwaxspecialist.co.uk or write to the address above.

2. Information we collect

2.1 Information you give us

• Identity and contact details: name, date of birth, postal address, email address, telephone and mobile number.
• Appointment and booking information: the clinic location, service requested, appointment date and time, and any notes you provide when booking online (via our booking provider), by telephone, WhatsApp, email or through our website enquiry forms.
• Health information (special category data): your medical and ear-health history, symptoms, medications (including anticoagulants), previous ear surgery or perforation, hearing test results, video otoscopy and endoscopic images, tympanometry results, treatment notes, aftercare advice and referral details.
• Payment information: records of payments made for appointments, hearing aids and training courses. Card payments are processed by our payment provider; we do not store full card numbers.
• Finance applications: if you apply for finance for hearing aids, the information you provide is passed to the finance provider, who acts as a separate data controller under their own privacy policy.
• Training academy: professional registration details (e.g. NMC, GPhC, HCPC, GMC), employer, qualifications and course records for delegates on our microsuction and ear wax removal training courses.
• Recruitment: CVs and application details submitted through our job openings page.
• Communications: the content of emails, messages, reviews, feedback and complaints you send us.
• Consent and preferences: your marketing preferences and any consents you give, including consent for treatment photographs or videos.

2.2 Information we collect automatically

When you visit our website we, and our third-party providers, may automatically collect technical data including your IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, referring website, pages viewed, time spent on pages and interactions with our site. This is collected through cookies, pixels and similar technologies (see section 8).

2.3 Information from third parties

• Referral details from your GP, pharmacist or other healthcare professional.
• Information from our online booking and practice management provider.
• Analytics and advertising data from Google, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), TikTok and similar platforms.
• Publicly available reviews you post on Google or other review platforms.

3. How we use your information and our lawful basis

Under UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. We rely on the following:

• Performance of a contract: to book, manage and deliver your appointment, treatment, hearing aid supply or training course, and to take payment.
• Legitimate interests: to run and improve our clinics and website, respond to enquiries, prevent fraud, keep records for insurance and legal defence, and send you service-related communications (e.g. appointment reminders, aftercare instructions).
• Legal obligation: to comply with health and safety, professional regulatory (HCPC), accounting, tax and clinical record-keeping requirements.
• Consent: for marketing emails and messages, non-essential cookies, and the use of treatment images or videos for education or promotion. You may withdraw consent at any time.

Because we process health information, we also rely on the following special category conditions under Article 9 UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018:

• Provision of health care (Article 9(2)(h)): processing is necessary for medical diagnosis, the provision of health care or treatment, and the management of health services, carried out by or under the responsibility of HCPC-registered professionals bound by a duty of confidentiality.
• Explicit consent (Article 9(2)(a)): for example, where you agree to treatment videos being shared publicly.
• Legal claims (Article 9(2)(f)): where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

3.1 Specific purposes

• Assessing your suitability for microsuction, irrigation or manual ear wax removal and delivering treatment safely.
• Sending appointment confirmations, reminders and follow-up or aftercare information by SMS, email or WhatsApp.
• Arranging free re-checks, onward referral to your GP, our in-house GP or an ENT specialist where clinically appropriate.
• Providing hearing assessments, hearing aid fittings, adjustments, repairs and aftercare, and liaising with hearing aid manufacturers for warranty or repair purposes.
• Processing training course bookings and issuing certificates.
• Handling complaints, incidents and insurance matters.
• Measuring and improving our website, advertising and services.
• Sending marketing communications where you have opted in.

4. Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only where necessary, with:

• Our clinical team: HCPC-registered audiologists, our in-house GP and support staff, all bound by confidentiality obligations.
• Online booking and patient record provider: we use a cloud-based practice management system to manage bookings, clinical notes and reminders. Data is hosted in the UK/EU or under appropriate safeguards.
• Healthcare professionals: your GP, ENT department or referring pharmacist, where a referral is clinically necessary or you have asked us to write to them.
• Hearing aid manufacturers and suppliers: such as Phonak, Oticon, Starkey, Unitron and Bernafon, for orders, custom moulds, warranties and repairs.
• Finance providers: where you apply for hearing aid finance.
• Payment processors, IT, hosting, email and SMS providers: who process data on our behalf under written contracts.
• Analytics and advertising platforms: Google (Analytics, Tag Manager, Ads), Meta and TikTok, in accordance with your cookie choices.
• Professional advisers and insurers: including solicitors, accountants and our professional indemnity insurers.
• Regulators and authorities: such as the HCPC, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), HMRC, the police or courts, where required by law.

5. International transfers

Some of our service providers (for example analytics, email or cloud hosting providers) may process data outside the United Kingdom. Where this happens we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or an adequacy decision covering the destination country.

6. How long we keep your information

• Clinical records (adults): a minimum of 8 years from the date of your last treatment, in line with NHS and professional records management guidance.
• Clinical records (children): until the patient’s 25th birthday (or 26th if the patient was 17 at the conclusion of treatment), or 8 years after the last treatment, whichever is later.
• Hearing aid purchase and warranty records: for the life of the warranty plus 6 years.
• Financial and accounting records: 6 years from the end of the relevant financial year.
• Training course records and certificates: 6 years from course completion.
• Website enquiries and marketing data: up to 2 years from your last interaction, or until you unsubscribe.
• Recruitment data (unsuccessful applicants): 6 months from the close of the vacancy.
• CCTV (where installed at our clinics): normally 30 days unless required for an incident investigation.

When data is no longer needed it is securely deleted or anonymised.

7. How we keep your information secure

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including encrypted cloud storage, access controls and role-based permissions, secure password policies, staff confidentiality agreements and training, secure disposal of paper records, and regular review of our suppliers’ security. No transmission over the internet is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. Cookies are small text files stored on your device.

• Strictly necessary cookies: required for the website to function, including security, load balancing and the online booking embed. These do not require consent.
• Analytics cookies: Google Analytics via Google Tag Manager, used to understand how visitors use our site so we can improve it.
• Advertising cookies: Google Ads, Meta Pixel and TikTok Pixel, used to measure the effectiveness of our advertising and show relevant adverts.
• Functional cookies: remember your preferences, such as cookie choices or the clinic you last viewed.

When you first visit our website you will be shown a cookie banner. Non-essential cookies are only set with your consent, which you can change at any time via the cookie settings link on our website or through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect how the website works.

Our website also contains embedded content and links to third-party services (such as Google Maps, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp). These services may set their own cookies and collect data under their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to read.

9. Marketing

We will only send you marketing by email, SMS or WhatsApp if you have opted in, or, where permitted by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), if you are an existing patient and we are telling you about similar services. Every marketing message will contain an easy way to unsubscribe. You can also opt out at any time by emailing info@earwaxspecialist.co.uk. Opting out of marketing will not stop us sending service messages such as appointment reminders.

10. Treatment photographs and videos

We sometimes record endoscopic images or videos during treatment as part of your clinical record. We will never publish images or videos that could identify you on our website, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook or any other channel unless you have given explicit written consent. You may withdraw that consent at any time, and we will remove the content from platforms we control as soon as reasonably practicable.

11. Children

We treat children aged 5 and over for ear wax removal. Where the patient is under 18, we collect information from and communicate with a parent or legal guardian, who must attend the appointment and provide consent. We do not knowingly collect information from children via our website without parental involvement.

12. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (a Subject Access Request).
• Rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure: ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances (note that we must retain clinical records for the periods set out in section 6).
• Restriction: ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Portability: receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection: object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time.
• Withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, at any time without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing.
• Automated decisions: not be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that significantly affect you. We do not make such decisions.

To exercise any of these rights, email info@earwaxspecialist.co.uk or write to us at the address in section 1. We may need to verify your identity. We will respond within one month, which may be extended by up to two further months for complex requests. There is normally no charge.

13. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

14. Third-party links

Our website contains links to third-party websites, including our online booking system, Google Maps, social media platforms and hearing aid manufacturers. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. Please review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, the law or our data practices. The latest version will always be published on our website with the “last updated” date shown at the top. Significant changes may also be notified to you directly.

16. Contact us

Ear Wax Specialist (trading as Birmingham Hearing Care and Sutton Hearing Care)

Registered office: 310 Haunch Lane, Kings Heath, Birmingham B13 0QS, United Kingdom

Telephone: 0121 369 0780

Email: info@earwaxspecialist.co.uk

Website: https://earwaxspecialist.co.uk