Privacy policy

1. Data controller

Dr. Dennis William Hickey
Kieferorthopädie mit Herz
Postplatz 2 · 71032 Böblingen
Telephone: 07031 6335335
Email: info@kfo-mit-herz.de

2. Data protection officer

Birger Bartelsen
Practice of Dr. Dennis William Hickey, for the attention of the data protection officer
Postplatz 2 · 71032 Böblingen
Email: datenschutz@kfo-mit-herz.de

3. Website provision and hosting

We use STRATO GmbH, Otto-Ostrowski-Straße 7, 10249 Berlin, Germany, for website and email hosting. STRATO processes data to provide the technical services we use.

When you access the website, the data processed includes your IP address, the time and target of the request, the volume of data transferred and status messages, as well as information supplied by your browser about the browser, operating system and, where applicable, the previously visited page. This processing serves to deliver content, maintain operational security and detect and prevent attacks. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is a secure and functional website.

According to STRATO’s published information, visitor IP addresses are stored for a maximum of seven days to detect and prevent attacks. STRATO also provides hosting customers with access logs for the previous six weeks, with IP addresses or hostnames anonymized according to the provider. We do not use additional browser-based tracking or analytics services.

Emails, including the contact details and message content they contain, are processed through our STRATO mailboxes. The purposes, legal bases and deletion criteria for handling your messages are described in the section on contacting us.

Further information: STRATO privacy information and information on data processing agreements and server logs.

4. Content, cookies and audience measurement

Our website does not use analytics or advertising scripts. Images, the practice video, scripts and stylesheets are loaded from our website hosting. We use system fonts such as Arial and Helvetica; no font files are requested from Google or other font providers. There are no embedded YouTube videos, social media plugins or interactive maps.

The application code does not set cookies and uses neither Local Storage nor Session Storage. Language selection uses links to separate German and English pages and is not stored in your browser.

These page functions do not require consent for non-essential access to your device. If additional services requiring consent are introduced later, they will be activated only after the appropriate consent has been obtained and this information has been updated.

5. Contact by email or telephone

If you contact us, we process your contact details and the information you provide to respond to your inquiry and, where appropriate, prepare an appointment or treatment. Treatment-related inquiries are processed on the basis of Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. Other inquiries are handled on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is reliable communication with prospective and existing patients.

Where handling your inquiry requires health data for medical care, processing is additionally governed by Article 9(2)(h) and Article 9(3) GDPR in conjunction with Section 22(1), no. 1(b) of the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG). Please do not send sensitive medical documents by ordinary email without prior arrangement; we will agree on an appropriate way to transfer them.

Contact inquiries are deleted once they have been fully dealt with and no statutory retention obligations or legitimate reasons for further storage remain. If information becomes part of the treatment record, the applicable statutory retention periods apply, generally ten years after the completion of treatment under Section 630f(3) of the German Civil Code (BGB); longer periods under specific legislation remain unaffected.

6. Online appointments, reminders and digital medical histories

The “Book a first visit” button lets you open an external iie-systems booking calendar. The calendar is not embedded in our pages. You access the external service only after selecting an appointment type. Alternatively, you can arrange an appointment by telephone.

We use iie-systems for online appointment booking, reminder emails, digital medical history forms and, occasionally, patient-related messages. This involves processing the contact and appointment information you provide, as well as health data in medical histories and treatment-related messages. The purposes are appointment organization, preparation and delivery of treatment, and communication with you. These are not advertising messages.

Processing to prepare and deliver treatment is based on Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. Necessary health data is processed subject to Article 9(2)(h) and Article 9(3) GDPR in conjunction with Section 22(1), no. 1(b) BDSG. Where consent is obtained for particular functions or communication channels, processing is based on Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and, for health data, additionally on Article 9(2)(a) GDPR; consent may be withdrawn with effect for the future.

The technical service provider is iie-systems GmbH & Co. KG, Georgstraße 24, 49809 Lingen, Germany. The provider’s public information names tkrz Stadtwerke GmbH in Emsdetten for storage and iie-systems and Cows Online GmbH for maintenance and support. The agreed services and data processing documents govern their use in our practice.

Medical histories and messages relevant to treatment become part of the treatment record and are subject to the corresponding statutory retention obligations. Purely administrative appointment and message data is needed only for as long as necessary for appointment management, handling the matter or meeting legal obligations. Deletion from the systems and their backups is also governed by the agreed deletion arrangements.

Further information: iie-systems privacy information. Information about the specific data requested and communication functions is also provided in the relevant booking or medical history process.

7. External links and directions

The parking maps are image files on our website hosting. They do not establish a connection to Google Maps. Google Maps opens only when you select “Get directions.” Other external services are also linked rather than automatically embedded. When you access an external service, its operator processes data in accordance with its own privacy information; this may include processing outside the EU or EEA.

8. Your rights

Subject to the legal requirements, you may request access to your personal data (Article 15 GDPR), rectification (Article 16), erasure (Article 17), restriction of processing (Article 18) and data portability (Article 20). Statutory retention obligations may prevent immediate deletion.

You may withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Right to object to certain processing

Where processing is based on Article 6(1)(e) or (f) GDPR, you may object under Article 21 GDPR on grounds relating to your particular situation. You may object to direct marketing at any time without giving specific reasons.

To exercise your rights, please contact the controller or the data protection officer using the contact details above.

Right to lodge a complaint

You may lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, particularly in the place of your habitual residence, place of work or the alleged infringement. The authority responsible for our practice is:

The State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Baden-Württemberg
Heilbronner Straße 35 · 70191 Stuttgart
Telephone: +49 711 615541-0
Email: poststelle@lfdi.bwl.de
Contact and complaint options

9. Provision of data and automated decisions

Technical connection data must be transmitted to access the website. Contacting us and using online appointment booking are voluntary; without the details needed for a particular inquiry or appointment, we may be unable to process it. This informational website does not make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects, and does not create personal usage profiles.

10. Date and scope

Updated: October 31, 2026. This information is intended for the new website at www.kfo-mit-herz.de. It will be revised if the actual processing or services used change. Additional information about treatment and the applications used for it is provided at the practice or when you use the relevant application.