Privacy Policy
How we look after your information — and your horse's. Last updated: 23/08/2026
We think a privacy notice should be readable by the person it's about. So this one is written plainly, in the same spirit as everything else we do: if we're going to hold information about you and your horse, you're entitled to know exactly what we hold, why we hold it, and what you can ask us to do about it.
If anything here isn't clear, ring us on 01825 700909 and ask. We'd rather explain it than have you wonder. One of our founders spent 20 years protecting sensitive employee HR data for millions of UK employees, so he's a bit obsessed with data protection.
Who we are
Atticus Equine is an independent equine veterinary and dental practice based near Uckfield, East Sussex.
Atticus Equine Ltd
Registered in England and Wales, company no. 17385421
Registered office:Calyx House, South Road, Taunton, Somerset, United Kingdom, TA1 3DU
Email: hello@atticusequine.com ·
Phone: 01825 700909
ICO registration number: [NUMBER]
We are the "data controller" for the information described here — which simply means we're the ones responsible for it, and the ones you hold to account.
What information we collect
About you. We collect your name, the address of your yard and your home if they differ, your phone numbers and email address. If you pay by card or direct debit, the details needed to take payment. If you have equine insurance, your policy details. Any correspondence between us — emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, notes of phone calls. We also collect your comments, thoughts, and images that you let us have.
About your horse. Name, age, breed, sex, colour and markings, passport and microchip details, where the horse is kept, and its full clinical history with us: examinations, diagnoses, treatments, medicines prescribed, test results, images, and our clinical notes. And as many pictures as you let us have.
When you use our website. If you use our catchment checker, the postcode you enter. If you fill in our registration form, whatever you type into it. Our website also collects standard technical information such as your IP address and how you move around the site — you can accept or refuse this when the cookie banner appears, and our Cookie Policy explains it in more detail.
We collect most of this directly from you. Sometimes we receive information from elsewhere: from your previous vet when you transfer to us, from a referring practice, from a laboratory that has run tests for us, or from your insurer.
Why we hold it, and what it allows to do
Data protection law asks us to be specific about the reason for each use, and about the legal ground we rely on. Here it is in plain terms.
To look after your horse and run your account with us. Booking and attending visits, examining and treating your horse, prescribing and supplying medicines, invoicing you and taking payment. We rely on our contract with you — you asked us to be your vets, and we can't do it without this information.
To keep proper clinical records. Veterinary surgeons are required to keep records of the animals they treat and the medicines they supply. Here we rely on our legal obligations under the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct and the Veterinary Medicines Regulations. This is also why we can't simply delete a clinical record on request — more on that below.
To keep your horse safe, and our care joined up. Sending reminders when something is due, flagging follow-ups, keeping our team informed, and referring to a specialist or hospital when your horse needs one. We rely on our legitimate interests in providing good, continuous care — and on your consent where a referral involves sharing records with another practice.
To handle insurance claims. If you're claiming, we share what's needed with your insurer. We rely on our contract with you and, where relevant, your consent.
To meet legal and regulatory duties. Equine identification and passport requirements, medicines records, reporting notifiable diseases, tax and accounting records, and responding to our regulators. We rely on our legal obligations.
To send you news or offers you've asked for. Only if you've told us you want them. We rely on your consent, and you can withdraw it at any time — there's an unsubscribe link on everything we send, or you can just tell us.
For promoting our business. We collect your stories and images and post them on our website. There is entirely optional and we will never use anything you give us without your informed and express consent.
Who else sees your information
We don't sell your information, ever, and we don't share it with anyone who doesn't need it. The people who may see some of it are:
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Our practice management system, Lupa, which securely stores your records and your horse's.
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Laboratories that process samples, and imaging or diagnostic specialists who help interpret results.
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Referral hospitals, specialists and equine dental technicians where your horse's care needs them.
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Your insurer, when there's a claim.
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Medicine suppliers and pharmacies, where a prescription requires it.
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Passport issuing organisations and equine ID databases, where the law requires it.
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Our website and form providers — currently wix for our registration form and [Cloudflare] for parts of our website — who process submissions on our behalf.
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Our accountants, insurers and professional advisers, and where necessary a debt recovery service if an account goes unpaid.
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Regulators and authorities — the RCVS, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, HMRC, or others where we're legally required to respond.
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A future veterinary practice, if you move your horse's care elsewhere and ask us to pass the records on.
Anyone processing information on our behalf is bound by a contract to keep it secure and use it only for what we've asked them to do.
A note on where your information lives. Most of it stays in the UK. Some of our suppliers may store or process information outside the UK; where that happens, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, as data protection law requires.
How long we keep it
Clinical records — your horse's medical history — we keep for at least 7 years after the last treatment, and often longer. That's partly a professional expectation, partly because equine clinical histories stay relevant for a very long time: a lameness from 2019 can matter enormously in 2029.
Financial records — invoices, payments — we keep for 6 years, as tax law requires.
Correspondence and enquiries that don't become a client relationship we keep for 12 months and then delete.
Postcodes entered into our catchment checker aren't linked to you and aren't used to identify anyone; we look at them only in aggregate, to understand where in Sussex people are asking us to reach.
When something is no longer needed, we delete it or make it anonymous.
What you can ask us to do
These are your rights, and using them costs nothing:
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See what we hold. Ask for a copy of your information. We'll respond within one month.
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Correct it. If something's wrong — a misspelled name, an old address — tell us and we'll fix it.
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Ask us to delete it. We'll do this where we can. We usually can't delete clinical records, because we're legally required to keep them, and we'll always explain if that's the answer.
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Ask us to pause using it while a question about it is sorted out.
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Object to how we're using it, particularly where we've relied on our legitimate interests.
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Take it with you in a portable format, or have us send it to your new vet.
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Change your mind about marketing at any time, without giving a reason.
To do any of these, email us or ring 01825 700909. We may ask you to confirm your identity first — not to be obstructive, but because handing your information to the wrong person would be a great deal worse.
If you are unhappy
Tell us first — email hello@atticusequine.com or ring 01825 700909, and we'll look into it properly. Our complaints procedure explains what happens next.If we don't put it right, you have every right to take it to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's independent regulator for data protection: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF Helpline: 0303 123 1113 · ico.org.uk
You don't need our permission, and you don't need to come to us first — though we'd like the chance to fix it.