How we handle your data.

Who we are

This website is operated by the medical practice of Op. Dr. Alper Aras, an ophthalmologist and oculoplastic surgeon practising at Kızılay Altıntepe Medical Center, Bostancı, Istanbul, Türkiye. Op. Dr. Aras is the data controller for the personal data described below.

Coordinator and primary point of contact: Alperen Aras. All clinical questions are taken to Op. Dr. Aras and returned in his own words.

What we collect

WhatsApp messages

When you message the practice on WhatsApp, your phone number and the content of your messages are stored within the WhatsApp Business account. Used only to answer your enquiry and follow up about your care.

Email

If you email info@dralperaras.com, your email address and message content are stored in our Google Workspace inbox.

Website analytics

If you accept cookies, we use Google Analytics 4 to understand which pages visitors read and how they reached us. We see aggregate patterns (country, device, traffic source) — not individual identities.

Advertising measurement

If you accept cookies, Meta Pixel and Google Ads tags let us measure whether advertising campaigns reach interested patients. Used to optimise spend and avoid wasting your attention on the wrong ads.

Health information

Health information you share during consultation (medical history, photographs taken with consent, surgical notes) is treated as special-category data and stored within the Kızılay Altıntepe Medical Center patient record system in line with Turkish health regulation.

Why we collect it

The lawful bases we rely on under UK and EU GDPR:

• Consent — for analytics and advertising cookies (you accept or decline via the cookie banner)
• Legitimate interest — for replying to your messages and providing care information you requested
• Vital interest and contract — for clinical records relating to care you receive at the practice
• Legal obligation — Turkish health regulation requires us to keep patient records for a defined period

How long we keep it

• WhatsApp + email messages — up to 24 months, then deleted unless retention is needed for clinical care
• Website analytics — Google Analytics retains anonymised event data for 14 months on our settings
• Advertising data — Meta and Google retain attribution data on their own platforms for up to 13 months
• Clinical records — held per Turkish health regulation, typically 20 years from last contact

Who we share it with

We don't sell your data. We use the following third-party services that process data on our behalf:

• Google — Google Analytics 4, Google Ads, Google Workspace (email). Servers in EU and US.
• Meta — Meta Pixel for advertising measurement. Servers in EU, US, and Singapore.
• WhatsApp (Meta) — patient messaging via WhatsApp Business.
• Vercel — website hosting. Servers in the EU.
• Kızılay Altıntepe Medical Center — clinical facility where surgery is performed. Holds patient records per Turkish health regulation.

All advertising and analytics processing happens only if you accept cookies. Decline the banner and these services do not receive your data.

International transfers

When you use the website, your data may be transferred outside your home country — particularly to the United States, where Google and Meta have servers. We rely on the Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework for these transfers.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR, EU GDPR, and Turkish KVKK, you can:

• Ask what data we hold about you (right of access)
• Ask us to correct inaccurate data (right to rectification)
• Ask us to delete your data (right to erasure — subject to clinical record retention obligations)
• Ask us to restrict or stop processing your data
• Ask for a copy of your data in a portable format
• Withdraw consent to cookies at any time
• Complain to a supervisory authority — UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), your national EU data protection authority, or the Turkish KVKK

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@dralperaras.com. We respond within 30 days.

Cookies, specifically

The website uses these cookie categories:

• Strictly necessary — keep the site working (page navigation, language preference). No consent required.
• Analytics — Google Analytics 4 (1st party cookies, server-side via GA4). Used only after you accept.
• Advertising — Meta Pixel and Google Ads conversion tags. Used only after you accept.

You can change your choice at any time by clearing your browser storage for this site. The banner will reappear and you can decide again.

Children

This site and our advertising are not directed at people under eighteen. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this notice

We update this notice when our practices change. The "last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change. For substantive changes affecting how your data is used, we will surface the update via the cookie banner.

Contact

Email info@dralperaras.comfor any question about your data. Mark the subject line "Privacy enquiry" so we route it correctly.