Privacy Policy for Carolina Foot and Ankle Specialists

Last Updated: August 5, 2025

At Carolina Foot and Ankle Specialists, located at 603 Cox Rd, Gastonia, NC 28054 , your privacy and the security of your personal information are incredibly important to us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you visit our website, footandanklegastonia.com (the "Site").

Information We Collect

Our website is designed primarily to provide information about our podiatric services and allow you to easily request appointments. We aim to collect only the information necessary to fulfill these purposes.

  • Information You Provide Voluntarily: When you use our contact forms or appointment request forms, you may be asked to provide us with information such as your name, phone number, email address, and reason for your inquiry.

  • Non-Personal Information: Like most websites, we may automatically collect certain non-personal information when you visit our Site. This includes your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, and pages viewed. This data helps us understand how visitors use our Site and improve its functionality, but it does not identify you personally.

How We Use Your Information

The information we collect is used to:

  • Respond to Your Inquiries: Primarily, we use the information you submit through forms to respond to your questions, process your appointment requests, and provide the information you've asked for.

  • Improve Our Website: Non-personal data helps us analyze website traffic and user behavior, allowing us to enhance our Site's content and user experience.

  • Communicate with You: We may use your contact information to communicate about your appointments or other relevant services.

Protection of Your Personal Health Information (PHI)

We understand the sensitive nature of personal health information (PHI). While we strongly discourage you from sharing detailed personal health information directly through our website's open text fields, please be assured that we have implemented specific measures to protect your privacy when you use our contact and appointment request forms:

  • HIPAA-Compliant Forms: All contact and appointment request forms on this Site are powered by HIPAAtizer, a third-party provider specifically designed to be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This means your data is encrypted and handled securely from the moment you submit it.

  • Secure Email Routing: Information submitted through our HIPAAtizer forms is then securely routed to our ProtonMail for Business account, which is also a HIPAA-compliant email service.

  • No PHI Stored on Site: Our website itself does not collect, store, or process personal health information. All patient health records, billing information, and detailed medical data are managed securely through InStride, our dedicated practice management system, which operates independently of this website.

Data Sharing and Disclosure

Carolina Foot and Ankle Specialists will not sell, rent, or lease your personal information to third parties. We may share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

  • Service Providers: We may share information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website and conducting care. Our team has the necessary agreements in place with partners to protect PHI.

  • Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, in response to a subpoena, court order, or other legal process.

  • Protection of Rights: We may disclose information when we believe it's necessary to protect our rights, property, or safety, or the rights, property, or safety of others.

Third-Party Links

Our Site may contain links to other websites that are not operated by us. Please be aware that we have no control over the content and practices of these sites and cannot accept responsibility or liability for their respective privacy policies. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any site you visit.

Children's Privacy

Our website is not intended for children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have inadvertently received personal information from a visitor under the age of 13, we will delete the information from our records.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will post any changes on this page and update the "Last Updated" date at the top of the policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any updates.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Carolina Foot and Ankle Specialists, 603 Cox Rd, Gastonia, NC 28054, (704) 867-7388, info@footandanklegastonia.com