Privacy Policy

The Skin Firm is a doctor-led skin and hair clinic based at 479 Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8PP. For the purposes of UK data protection law, The Skin Firm is the "data controller" responsible for your personal information.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, you can contact us by email at info@theskinfirm.net or by phone on +44 7426 739541.

We collect personal information that you provide to us directly, as well as limited technical information collected automatically when you use our website.

Information you give us

• Your name, email address and telephone number when you complete a "Book Now" or "Request a Call Back" enquiry form.
• The treatment you are interested in and any message or details you choose to include in your enquiry.
• Whether you have consented to receive marketing communications from us.
• Any information you share with us by email, telephone, WhatsApp or in person.

Information we collect automatically

• Basic technical data such as your browser type, device and general location, used to keep the website secure and working correctly.

Health information

Our website forms do not ask for medical or health details. However, as a healthcare clinic, we may collect information about your health and medical history during in-clinic consultations and treatments. This is special category data and is handled with additional care, in line with the lawful bases set out below.

We use your personal information for the following purposes, relying on the lawful bases set out under the UK GDPR:

• To respond to your enquiries and arrange consultations or appointments — on the basis of taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, and our legitimate interest in responding to you.
• To provide our treatments and aftercare, and to keep accurate clinical records — on the basis of contract, our legitimate interests, and, for health information, the provision of healthcare and management of healthcare services.
• To send you marketing communications about our treatments, offers and updates — only where you have given your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
• To operate, maintain and improve our website and protect it against misuse — on the basis of our legitimate interests.
• To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

We will only send you marketing by email, SMS or phone where you have agreed to receive it. You can opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails, by replying to ask us to stop, or by contacting us directly. Withdrawing your consent will not affect any treatment or service you have requested.

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only where necessary to run our clinic and website, with trusted providers who act on our behalf, including:

• Our online booking provider (Fresha), which manages appointments, deposits and payments when you choose to book.
• Our customer enquiry and communications systems, which store and manage the enquiries you submit so our team can respond.
• Website hosting and database providers, which store data securely on our behalf.
• Professional advisers and regulators, or other third parties, where we are required to share information by law.

Where any provider processes data outside the UK, we take steps to ensure your information continues to be protected by appropriate safeguards as required by UK data protection law.

Our website uses a small number of essential cookies and similar technologies that are necessary for the site to function correctly and to keep it secure. These are always active and do not require your consent.

With your consent, we also use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website so we can improve it. These analytics cookies are only set after you accept them via our cookie banner, and IP addresses are anonymised. We do not use cookies for third-party advertising. Where you choose to play an embedded video, our video provider (Wistia) may also set cookies to deliver and measure that content.

When you first visit, our cookie banner lets you accept or reject analytics cookies. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time by clearing cookies through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may affect how the website works.

We keep your personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this policy. Enquiry and marketing data is retained while it remains relevant to our relationship with you and until you ask us to delete it or withdraw your consent. Clinical records are kept for the periods required by applicable healthcare and regulatory guidance.

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, loss or misuse. While no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, we take reasonable steps to safeguard the data we hold.

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal information:

• The right to be informed about how your data is used.
• The right to access the personal information we hold about you.
• The right to have inaccurate or incomplete information corrected.
• The right to request erasure of your data in certain circumstances.
• The right to restrict or object to our processing of your data.
• The right to data portability.
• The right to withdraw consent at any time, where our processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@theskinfirm.net. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

Our website may contain links to other websites, including our booking platform and social media pages. This privacy policy does not apply to those websites, and we are not responsible for their content or privacy practices. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any website you visit.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Any updates will be published on this page with a revised "last updated" date.

If you have any questions about this policy or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at info@theskinfirm.net or +44 7426 739541, or write to us at The Skin Firm, 479 Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8PP.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection, at ico.org.uk.