01Who we are
Inline Dental is a specialised dental laboratory at 30 Sedgehill Crescent, Ottery, Cape Town 7800. We make crowns, bridges, dentures, orthodontic appliances, mouth guards and implant work for dental practitioners.
For the purposes of POPIA, Inline Dental is the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy. Questions about it go to our Information Officer:
- Email: inlinedental@gmail.com
- Phone: 079 848 5089
- Post or in person: 30 Sedgehill Crescent, Ottery, Cape Town 7800
02What this policy covers
This policy applies to personal information we handle when:
- you visit inlinedental.co.za;
- you contact us by email, phone or WhatsApp, including the Inline Dental Courier line;
- a dental practice sends us a case; and
- a patient allows us to publish photographs of their treatment.
It does not cover other websites we link to, such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp or Google Maps. Those services have their own privacy policies.
03Information we collect
When you get in touch
The enquiry form on our contact page asks for your name, practice, email address, phone number, the type of work and a message. When you press Send enquiry, those details are passed to FormSubmit, a form-delivery service, which emails them to our inbox. They are not stored on this website. FormSubmit keeps a copy of each submission for up to 30 days before deleting it. Please keep patient names and ID numbers out of the form; clinical details belong with the case itself. If the form cannot send, it offers to open your own email app with the enquiry written out instead.
If you phone us, email us directly or message us on WhatsApp, we receive whatever you choose to tell us, along with your phone number, email address or WhatsApp profile name.
When a practice sends us a case
A case normally arrives with a prescription or lab docket from the treating practitioner. It can include the practitioner’s and practice’s details, and the patient’s name or reference, together with clinical information such as impressions or scans, models, photographs, shade selection and the treatment the practitioner has prescribed.
Patient photographs
Our Before & After page shows photographs of real patients and short accounts of their treatment. We publish these only with the patient’s permission. See section 05.
When you browse this website
We do not run analytics or tracking on this website, and we do not build profiles of visitors. Some information is still exchanged automatically, because that is how web pages load:
- Hosting. The site is hosted by Vercel, whose servers receive standard request information such as your IP address, browser type, the page requested and the time, to deliver the page and protect the service.
- Fonts. Our typefaces load from Google Fonts, so your browser requests them from Google’s servers, which receive your IP address.
- Map. The contact page embeds a Google Map. When it loads, Google receives information about your visit and may set its own cookies.
04Why we use it
We only use personal information for the purpose it was given to us, and POPIA requires a lawful reason for each use. Ours are:
| What we do | Information used | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Answer enquiries and quote for work | Name, practice, contact details, your message | Steps you asked us to take before an agreement; our legitimate interest in responding |
| Make, check and return a case | Prescription, clinical records, patient reference | Carrying out the work the practitioner instructed; necessary for the patient’s treatment |
| Arrange collections and deliveries | Practice address, contact person, phone or WhatsApp number | Performing our agreement with the practice |
| Invoice and keep business records | Practice and billing details, case records | Legal obligations, including tax and record-keeping |
| Show patient cases on this website | Photographs and a short account of treatment | The patient’s consent |
| Deliver and secure this website | Technical request information | Our legitimate interest in running a working, secure website |
We do not sell personal information, and we do not send marketing messages to anyone who has not asked to receive them.
05Health information & photographs
Information about a person’s health is special personal information under POPIA and needs extra care. We handle it on the instruction of the treating practitioner, only to the extent needed to make the prescribed appliance, and under a duty of confidentiality. We do not use it for any other purpose.
Patient photographs and treatment accounts appear on this website only where the patient has given permission for them to be published. A patient can withdraw that permission at any time by contacting us, and we will remove the material from this website and from our own social media accounts. We cannot recall copies that other people have already saved or shared, which is one reason we never publish a patient’s full name.
07Information sent abroad
Some of the providers above, including Vercel, FormSubmit, Google and WhatsApp, store or process information outside South Africa. We use them only where the information remains protected by laws or binding rules that give it a level of protection comparable to POPIA, or where the transfer is needed to provide the service you asked for — for example, when you choose to message us on WhatsApp.
09How long we keep it
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, or for as long as the law or professional record-keeping obligations require. In practice:
- Enquiries and messages are kept while we deal with them and for our ordinary business records. FormSubmit, which delivers the enquiry form, holds its own copy for up to 30 days.
- Case records are kept for the period required by law and by record-keeping rules that apply to dental work.
- Invoices and accounting records are kept for the period tax law requires.
- Published photographs stay up until the patient withdraws permission, or until we stop using them.
When information is no longer needed, we delete or destroy it securely, or anonymise it.
10How we protect it
We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. This website is served only over an encrypted connection (HTTPS). The enquiry form sends your message over an encrypted connection for delivery to our inbox, and enquiries are not kept on the website itself. Within the lab, access to case records is limited to the people who need it to do the work.
If we become aware of a security compromise affecting your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.
11Your rights
Under POPIA you have the right to:
- know whether we hold personal information about you, and ask for a copy of it;
- ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete;
- ask us to delete or destroy information we are no longer entitled to keep;
- object to us using your information on grounds of legitimate interest;
- withdraw consent you have given, such as permission to publish a photograph;
- refuse direct marketing; and
- complain to the Information Regulator.
To make a request, email inlinedental@gmail.com. We will need to confirm your identity before acting on it, and we will respond within a reasonable time. Some requests for records may be handled under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), which allows a prescribed fee in some cases; we will tell you before any fee applies.
If you are a patient, the practice that treats you holds your main clinical record and is usually the quickest place to start. You are still welcome to contact us directly.
12Children
This website is intended for dental practitioners and adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children through it. Where a patient under 18 is treated, their information reaches us from the treating practice, which is responsible for obtaining the consent of a parent or guardian.
13Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when our services, the law or the way we handle information changes. The current version is always on this page, with its effective date at the top.
14Contact & complaints
For any question or concern about your personal information, contact our Information Officer at inlinedental@gmail.com or on 079 848 5089. We would like the chance to put things right first.
You are also entitled to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa, at inforegulator.org.za.