West Coast Dental Service – WCD Chrome Extension Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how the West Coast Dental Service (“we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects your information in relation to the WCD Chrome Extension (“Extension”). This Extension is intended for private, internal use by authorized West Coast Dental Service employees only and is not available for public distribution. By using the Extension, you confirm that you are an authorized user and have read, understood, and accepted the practices outlined in this Privacy Policy.

2. Scope of This Policy

• Internal Usage Only: This Extension is restricted solely to employees and authorized personnel of West Coast Dental Service.
• All Domains: The Extension may run on all websites visited in the browser in order to support broader contextual awareness, user behavior tracking, or operational features. However, data collection remains limited to predefined elements related to West Coast Dental workflows.
• Compliance: We handle personal and health information in accordance with applicable laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Exclusive Purpose: The Extension’s purpose is to streamline patient-location tracking, capture relevant user actions, and transmit minimal data (e.g., patient ID, operatories, appointment statuses) to our secure internal systems for operations management.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 User Interactions

Click Events: The Extension tracks certain click events (e.g., “Move to Operatory,” “Check In,” or “Check Out”) to determine patient statuses and locations.
Navigation Details: The Extension may capture which pages are accessed in real-time to confirm the context of the recorded events.

3.2 Patient and Appointment Data

Patient ID: The Extension monitors the patient identifier to associate location updates and appointment statuses.
Appointment Status: Whether the patient is checked in, checked out, or moved to a particular operatory.
Responsible Party ID: If applicable, the Extension captures responsible party identifiers for internal record-keeping.

3.3 Device & Network Information

IP Address: The Extension may capture your IP address to help determine location‐based workflows and for security auditing (e.g., verifying requests from trusted internal networks).
Computer Name: In some cases, we record a computer name or workstation ID so we know which internal station is sending the data.

3.4 Additional Voluntary Data

User Input: Any keystrokes or forms you submit on pages relevant to West Coast Dental operations may be included in the dataset, if configured. We limit this to only what is strictly needed to identify and log an event.

4. How We Use the Information

• Operations Management: We use your interactions to track patient locations within our facilities in real time. This helps optimize patient flow, reduce wait times, and ensure staff efficiency.
• Security and Compliance: We collect and store certain details to remain compliant with HIPAA guidelines and to protect against unauthorized access.
• Internal Analytics: We analyze captured data to improve our internal processes, develop employee training, and refine patient care workflows.

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

• Internal Departments: Only departments within West Coast Dental Service that require patient-location data or user interaction logs (such as front desk, operatory, compliance teams) have access.
• No Third-Party Sharing: We do not sell or share any personally identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI) with external parties. This Extension is exclusively for internal use.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose information if required by law, such as responding to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal processes.

6. HIPAA Compliance

Protected Health Information (PHI): All PHI collected or observed by the Extension is transmitted and stored in compliance with HIPAA regulations.
Access Control: Only authorized West Coast Dental Service personnel with valid credentials and a legitimate business need can access the data.
Business Associate Agreements: If any external vendors are involved (e.g., cloud hosting providers), they are bound by Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) to maintain HIPAA compliance and data security standards.

7. Data Storage, Retention, and Security

• Secure Transmission: All data collected by the Extension is transmitted over secure channels (HTTPS or equivalent encryption).
• Encryption: We use industry-standard encryption (e.g., SSL/TLS) and secure data storage protocols.
• Restricted Access: Only authorized personnel can access raw data logs. Access is controlled via role-based permissions within our internal network.
• Data Retention: We retain the information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, satisfy legal and regulatory requirements, and maintain adequate business records. Once data is no longer needed, we securely delete or anonymize it.

8. Use of Cookies and Related Technologies

The Extension itself does not create or manage cookies beyond what the underlying websites or Chrome natively use. Some session or authentication cookies may be utilized by the visited platforms to maintain user sessions, but these are not separately collected or analyzed by the Extension.

9. Children’s Privacy

This Extension is not marketed to or intended for use by minors. All users are required to be authorized employees of West Coast Dental Service.

10. Remote Code and External Resources

No External Scripts: The Extension does not download or execute remote code for functionality. We may fetch configuration data (such as JSON settings) from our internal servers, but no arbitrary external scripts are loaded or executed.
Content Policy: If any future updates include references to external JS or libraries, those will be fully disclosed and remain subject to stringent HIPAA and privacy policies.

11. Your Rights and Choices

Since this Extension is for internal use, your rights and choices primarily relate to:

• Access and Correction: If you believe any user or patient data captured by the Extension is inaccurate, you may contact our internal IT or compliance department to request correction.
• Opt-out: Authorized employees cannot opt out of data collection necessary to ensure compliance and accurate patient tracking. If you have concerns, please contact your supervisor or the compliance department.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as business, technology, or legal requirements evolve. We will notify authorized users of any material changes through our internal channels (e.g., company email). The latest version will always be available on our internal website or the designated hosting page for this policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or the Extension’s data handling practices, please contact us:

By continuing to use the WCD Chrome Extension, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to the above policies.