Effective date: 24 August 2026
1. About this notice
Dentist Near Me operates through the legal entities responsible for our Toongabbie and Merrylands clinics:
- The Trustee for Dentist Near Me-Toongabbie (ABN 76 982 115 733); and
- The Trustee for WRMD DENTAL TRUST (ABN 67 533 682 920), which operates under the registered business name Dentist Near Me – Merrylands.
In this notice, Dentist Near Me, we, us and our refer to the relevant clinic operating entity. The relevant entity is responsible for personal information handled in connection with its staff and operations. The Staff Operations WhatsApp service is a shared Dentist Near Me operational system used across both clinics.
This notice explains how we handle personal information when an employee, contractor or other authorised workforce member communicates through the Staff Operations WhatsApp service. It supplements our general Privacy Policy with information specific to this service.
The service is not a patient booking channel and does not replace the clinical record.
2. What information we may collect
Depending on how the service is used, we may collect or create:
- your name, work role and work contact details;
- your WhatsApp phone number or account identifier;
- messages and operational instructions you send or receive;
- roster, attendance, lateness, absence, leave-coordination, staffing, task and workflow information;
- message identifiers, message type, timestamps and delivery or read status;
- operational records created from an authorised request; and
- limited technical, security, audit, error and duplicate-processing information.
An operational communication may sometimes contain limited patient-linked information needed to identify an appointment or task, escalate a clinic issue or coordinate workflow. The service is not intended for detailed clinical histories, unnecessary diagnostic information, clinical photographs, sensitive documents or complete clinical records.
3. How we collect information
We collect information directly when you communicate through the service. We also receive message and delivery information from Meta and WhatsApp and create limited operational, technical, security and audit records when the service validates, routes or processes an event.
4. How we use information
We may use the information to:
- authenticate, validate and route authorised staff communications;
- coordinate rosters, attendance, lateness or absence, leave-related operational arrangements and clinic staffing;
- manage tasks, workflows, operational follow-up and appropriate manager escalation;
- create and maintain necessary operational records;
- prevent duplicate processing and investigate delivery or processing failures;
- protect the security and integrity of the service;
- maintain audit and accountability records; and
- meet applicable legal, regulatory, clinical, employment, professional and records-management requirements.
We do not use Staff Operations WhatsApp messages for unrelated advertising.
5. Automated tools and human review
Dentist Near Me may use software and automated tools, including artificial intelligence, to assist with organising operational information, identifying possible issues, retrieving relevant authorised context, preparing summaries or recommendations, drafting communications and supporting administrative workflows.
These tools are intended to assist staff and managers. They are not currently authorised to independently make significant employment decisions. Where a decision could significantly affect a person’s rights or interests, appropriate human review and oversight will be used.
We will review and update this notice before a materially different automated use becomes operational.
6. Patient and health information
Use the service only for authorised operational purposes. Where an operational task genuinely requires a limited patient reference, include no more information than is reasonably necessary to identify the appointment, task or issue.
Do not use this service as the normal place for detailed clinical information. Do not send detailed clinical histories, unnecessary diagnostic information, clinical photographs, sensitive documents or complete clinical records through this channel. Detailed clinical information should remain in the appropriate authorised clinical system.
If patient-linked or health information is received, we restrict its use and access to the relevant permitted purpose and handle it under applicable privacy, health-record, clinical and professional requirements.
7. Service providers and overseas handling
We use external technology and service providers to operate and support the service. These include Meta and WhatsApp for message transmission and Google Cloud for approved cloud infrastructure. Authorised business-software, technology-support and professional-service providers may also have limited access where reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this notice.
Australian-region infrastructure is used for the current operational database, but this does not mean that all service processing, support or access occurs only in Australia. Some providers may process, access or disclose personal information outside Australia in countries or regions where they or their service providers operate.
We assess overseas handling under applicable Australian privacy requirements and identify likely recipient countries or regions where it is practicable and factually supportable to do so. We do not represent that all information remains in Australia.
We may also disclose information where required or authorised by law, or where reasonably necessary to investigate or respond to a security, safety, complaint, dispute or legal matter.
8. Security
We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards appropriate to the information handled. These may include access controls, authentication, restricted service permissions, encryption, secure infrastructure, logging and audit controls, backups, staff procedures and data-minimisation measures.
Sensitive message content, phone numbers, access tokens and secrets are not intended to appear in ordinary application logs. No method of electronic storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
9. Retention
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably required for the operational purpose for which it was handled and for applicable legal, clinical, employment, professional, security, audit, investigation, dispute and other legitimate business requirements. Different record categories may have different retention periods.
When information is no longer required, we take reasonable steps to delete it or de-identify it where appropriate. We do not state that every message is retained indefinitely or that every category is deleted after the same fixed period.
Deletion may be suspended where information is reasonably required for an investigation, complaint, dispute, legal claim, regulatory requirement or preservation obligation. Backup and audit records may be removed under their approved lifecycle rather than immediately. Information will not be retained indefinitely merely by choice without an ongoing lawful or legitimate need.
10. Access, correction and deletion
You may contact us to request access to or correction of personal information we hold about you, subject to applicable legal requirements and exceptions.
You may also ask whether information can be deleted. We will consider the request, but some information may need to be retained for applicable legal, clinical, employment, professional, audit, security, investigation, dispute or other legitimate requirements. We do not promise unconditional deletion on request.
We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity and clarify the information covered by your request.
11. Privacy complaints
Please direct privacy concerns to us first using the contact details below. We will review the concern and respond appropriately.
If you are not satisfied with our response, or we do not respond within the period identified by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, you may be able to lodge a privacy complaint with the OAIC. The OAIC explains its current complaint process at oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints.
The OAIC may require you to complain to us first and may decide whether it can investigate a particular complaint.
12. Contact us
Privacy contact: admin@dentistnearme.clinic
Please provide enough information to identify the relevant interaction, but do not email passwords, access tokens, clinical records or unnecessary patient information.
General clinic contact details remain available on the Dentist Near Me websites.
13. Changes to this notice
We may update this notice when the service, applicable requirements or our information-handling practices change. The current version and effective date will be published on this page. We will provide additional notice where required for a material change.