Piedmont Dental By Design ("Piedmont Dental By Design," "we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard information collected through our website at piedmontdentalbydesign.com (the "Site"), through our online forms, through SMS communications, and in connection with our general, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry services.

By using the Site, submitting a form, or opting in to receive SMS messages from us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy covers information collected through our website and marketing communications. It does not cover Protected Health Information (PHI) created or received in the course of your dental treatment, which is governed separately by our Notice of Privacy Practices under HIPAA.

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of information:

Information You Provide Directly

Name, email address, phone number, and any other contact details you submit through an appointment request or contact form.
Information you voluntarily share about your dental concerns, preferred appointment times, insurance provider, or other free-text notes submitted through a form.
Any additional information you provide during SMS, email, or telephone communications with our team.
Your mobile phone number if you opt in to receive SMS messages from us.

Information Collected Automatically

Device and browser information (IP address, browser type, operating system, screen size).
Page interaction data (pages viewed, time on site, referring URLs, clickstream data).
Marketing attribution signals such as UTM parameters, Google Click IDs (gclid), Meta Click IDs (fbclid), Bing Click IDs (msclkid), and TikTok Click IDs (ttclid) passed through URLs when you arrive at our Site from an advertisement or referral.
The referring website or search query, when available, that brought you to the Site — including referrals from AI search assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, and Claude.
Cookies and similar technologies, including first-party cookies we set and, where applicable, third-party cookies from the services listed in Section 4.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

To respond to your inquiries, schedule appointments, and provide information about our dental services.
To deliver patient support and communicate with you about scheduled or ongoing care.
To send SMS updates, appointment reminders, and other service-related communications, where you have opted in.
To improve the Site, our services, and the user experience through analytics and performance monitoring.
To measure the effectiveness of our marketing efforts and understand which channels (search engines, paid ads, referrals, AI search assistants) bring visitors to the Site.
To comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms and policies.

3. SMS Communications

SMS Opt-In

By providing your mobile phone number through our website forms, online chat, or direct communication with our team and indicating your consent to receive SMS messages, you agree to receive text messages from Piedmont Dental By Design at that number. These messages may include appointment confirmations and reminders, recall and hygiene reminders, treatment follow-ups, and practice updates.

Message Frequency and Rates

Message frequency varies based on your interactions with us. Standard message and data rates from your mobile carrier may apply. We do not charge a fee for our SMS messages.

Opt-Out

You may opt out of receiving SMS messages from us at any time by replying STOP to any SMS message you receive from us. After opting out, you will no longer receive promotional or reminder SMS messages from us, though we may still send transactional messages directly related to an active or upcoming appointment. For assistance at any time, reply HELP to any SMS from us or contact us directly at (510) 350-3937 or info@piedmontdentalbydesign.com.

SMS Consent and Third Parties

Your SMS consent and mobile phone number will not be shared, sold, or rented to third parties for marketing purposes. We may share your mobile number with service providers that assist us in delivering SMS messages on our behalf (for example, our messaging or scheduling platform), and those providers are contractually bound to use your information only for the purpose of delivering our messages.

4. Cookies, Tracking, and Third-Party Services

We use cookies, local storage, and similar tracking technologies on our Site to:

Remember your preferences across visits.
Record marketing attribution signals, including first-touch and most-recent source of a visit, so we can understand which marketing channels drive inquiries to our practice.
Operate analytics and measure Site performance.
Deliver and measure advertising campaigns, if and when such campaigns are active.

Specific services we use

Our Site uses the following third-party services, each of which may collect data subject to its own privacy policy:

Google Tag Manager & Google Analytics (GA4) — website analytics, attribution measurement, and conversion tracking.
Vercel — website hosting and serverless function delivery.

You may disable cookies through your browser settings, though some parts of the Site may not function as intended if cookies are declined.

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. We share information only as described below:

Service providers — trusted third-party vendors that help us operate our practice and deliver our services, including scheduling and communications platforms, SMS delivery providers, website hosting, and analytics services. These providers are contractually bound to confidentiality and may use your information only for the services they provide to us.
Legal and safety — when required by law, subpoena, court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Piedmont Dental By Design, our patients, or others.
Business transfers — in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to the same protections in this Policy.

6. Data Security

We implement commercially reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You transmit information to us at your own risk.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Website inquiry and marketing data is generally retained for as long as your contact record remains active in our systems. When your information is no longer needed, we will securely delete or anonymize it. (Retention periods for dental treatment records are governed separately by California recordkeeping requirements and our Notice of Privacy Practices, not this Policy.)

8. Your Rights Under California Law

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) give you the following rights:

Right to Know — the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the sources of that information, and the third parties (if any) with whom we have shared it.
Right to Delete — the deletion of the personal information we have collected about you, subject to limited legal exceptions.
Right to Correct — the correction of inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
Right to Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing — the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share your personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Right to Non-Discrimination — you will not receive discriminatory treatment for exercising any of your privacy rights.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information in the "Contact Us" section below. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

9. Children's Privacy

Our Site and services are directed to adults and are not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected such information, we will delete it promptly.

10. Third-Party Links

Our Site may contain links to third-party websites, such as social media platforms and review directories. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we do, we will revise the "Effective Date" at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically. Your continued use of the Site after the revised Policy becomes effective constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, or if you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us at:

Piedmont Dental By Design 1331 Grand Ave Piedmont, CA 94610

Phone: (510) 350-3937 Email: info@piedmontdentalbydesign.com

Thank you for trusting Piedmont Dental By Design with your personal information.