Privacy Policy

Who I am

This is the website of Wandering Vet, the mobile veterinary housecall practice of Dr. Adam Behrens, VMD, serving San Francisco and Southeastern Marin County. Questions about this policy can be directed to doctor@wanderingvet.com.

My philosophy page notes that I don't have policies. That's still true in spirit — I didn't write this one by choice. California law requires businesses that collect personal information to publish a privacy policy, and the booking tool I use does collect your information. So here we are. Everything below reflects how I actually operate.

What this site collects directly

Wandering Vet does not collect, store, or have access to any personally identifying information from site visitors. This site does not run advertising, sell data, or use marketing trackers of any kind.

However, this site uses Google Analytics and a Google Ads conversion tag, both of which collect limited information on Google's behalf when you visit. These are described in the third-party services section below.

Third-party services

External services involved in this site's operation:

Google Analytics — This site uses Google Analytics 4, which collects information about how visitors use the site: which pages were viewed, how long you stayed, what device and browser you used, and your approximate location (city or region level). IP addresses are anonymized. This data is used to understand whether the site is working well and whether advertising is reaching the right audience. Wandering Vet does not have access to any individually identifying information from Google Analytics. Google's privacy policy governs this data.

Google Ads — This site uses a Google Ads conversion tag to track whether someone who clicked an ad went on to book an appointment. It does not serve ads on this site or build advertising profiles about you beyond that. Google's privacy policy applies.

Google Fonts — Fonts for this site are loaded from Google's servers on every page visit. This means Google receives your IP address and browser information as a side effect of loading the page. Google's privacy policy governs that data. Wandering Vet does not receive or store this information.

Acuity Scheduling — When you click "Book Appointment," a scheduling tool from Acuity Scheduling (a Squarespace company) loads. If you complete a booking, Acuity collects the information you enter: your name, email address, phone number, home address, and any details about your pet. You may also be asked to upload previous veterinary records. This information is used solely to schedule and manage your veterinary appointment. It is never sold or shared with third parties for marketing. Acuity's privacy policy applies to data collected through the booking form.

YouTube — A video on the homepage is not loaded until you click to play it. If you do, YouTube (Google) loads the video and may set cookies or collect data per their own privacy policy.

Render — The medical records portal at records.wanderingvet.com is hosted on Render, a cloud infrastructure provider. When you use the records portal, your request (including IP address) is processed by Render's servers. Render's privacy policy governs their handling of this data.

FreshBooks — Client and patient records are maintained in FreshBooks, a billing and practice management platform. When you use the records portal, your phone number or email address is used to look up your account and retrieve your visit history. This data is used solely to generate your records PDF and is not transmitted to any other party. FreshBooks' privacy policy governs the storage of your records on their platform.

Dropbox — Laboratory reports, appointment intake forms, and other clinical documents are stored in Dropbox and retrieved when generating your records PDF. Files are fetched, compiled into your PDF, and returned directly to you — they are not stored or cached on the records portal's servers. Dropbox's privacy policy applies to data stored there.

IDEXX Reference Laboratories — Laboratory test results are transmitted directly from IDEXX to this practice and stored in Dropbox as part of your patient record. IDEXX's privacy policy governs the handling of data on their systems.

Anthropic — When laboratory reports are processed through the medical records portal, the text content of those reports is sent to Claude, an AI assistant made by Anthropic, to parse and format the results into a readable summary. Only lab result text is transmitted — your name and other identifying information are not included in what is sent to Anthropic. Anthropic does not use submitted data to train its models. Anthropic's privacy policy governs this processing.

Medical records portal

The records portal at records.wanderingvet.com allows anyone with a client's phone number or email address on file to download a PDF summary of that patient's medical history. The portal does not require a password, does not set cookies, and does not retain the generated PDF after it is sent to your browser.

Email, text, and phone contact

If you contact Dr. Behrens directly by email, text message, or phone, the information you share is used only to respond to your inquiry and, if you become a client, to provide veterinary care. It is not stored in any marketing database or shared with anyone outside the practice.

Incoming emails and Google Voice text messages from clients are automatically synced to a private practice management system, matched to your patient record, and retained as part of your communication history. This history is used solely for clinical and scheduling purposes and is not accessible to anyone other than Dr. Behrens.

Data retention

Patient and client records are retained for the duration of the veterinary relationship and for a reasonable period thereafter, consistent with standard veterinary practice recordkeeping. Communication records (emails and text messages) are retained as part of the patient file. If you would like your records deleted, contact doctor@wanderingvet.com — requests will be evaluated and responded to within 45 days.

Your data is never sold

I do not sell, rent, or trade any personal information to third parties, ever.

California residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to:

• Know what personal information has been collected about you
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Opt out of the sale of your personal information (though we do not sell data)
• Not be discriminated against for exercising these rights

To make any of these requests, email doctor@wanderingvet.com. Requests will be responded to within 45 days.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes in a meaningful way, the "Last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect that. The current version always lives at wanderingvet.com/privacy.html.

Contact

Privacy questions or requests: doctor@wanderingvet.com · (415) 376-9780