Privacy
Last updated 29 October 2026
Labcomm helps dental practices and dental laboratories keep track of lab work: the messages, photos and files about each case, and when the work is due back. This page explains what we store, why, who helps us run the service and how to have data deleted.
Who is responsible
For information about patients, the dental practice (and, for its part of the work, the laboratory) is the data controller. Labcomm processes that information on their behalf and only on their instructions. For the account details of the people who use Labcomm, Labcomm is the controller. Labcomm is run by the company that operates Labcomm. How we process patient information for practices and labs is set out in our Data Processing Agreement; using Labcomm is covered by our Terms of use.
What we store
- Account details: name, email address, the practice or lab you belong to and your role.
- Case details entered by the practice: the patient's name, a case reference and, if added, the practice's patient reference, the work requested, teeth, shade, scan method and dates.
- Messages, logged calls and emails, status changes, and photos or files added to a case.
- If you connect WhatsApp: your mobile number, your notification choices and the IDs of WhatsApp messages (not their content) so replies reach the right case. These IDs are deleted after 30 days.
We do not use any of this for advertising, we do not sell it, and photos are stripped of location data when uploaded from the app.
WhatsApp is optional. If you connect it, messages and photos you send to the Labcomm WhatsApp number are added to the right case and passed on to the other side (the lab or the practice team) on WhatsApp if they have connected it, including photos and files unless they have switched that off in Settings. Messages name the patient and the case reference so everyone knows which case they are about. WhatsApp messages pass through Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform, which processes them under Meta's own terms. You can disconnect at any time in Settings, or send stop to pause alerts.
Who helps us run Labcomm
- Supabase: database, file storage and sign-in, hosted in London (UK).
- Vercel: hosting of the web app, with server functions running in London (UK).
- Meta (WhatsApp Business Platform): only if you connect WhatsApp.
- Anthropic (Claude AI): reads the words of WhatsApp messages you send to Labcomm so they can be filed in the right case, or start a new one. It sees patient names, case references and the work for your open cases, not your account details. Under its commercial terms it does not train its models on this content and only keeps it for a short, limited period.
- OpenAI (speech-to-text): turns WhatsApp voice notes into text so they can be filed like a typed message. It receives only the recording. Under its API terms it does not train its models on this content.
Each provider is bound by a data processing agreement. Where a provider may handle data outside the UK, it does so under the UK's approved transfer safeguards.
How long we keep it
Case records are kept for as long as the practice's account is open, so practices can audit past lab work, and are deleted when the practice asks us to or closes its account. Short-lived WhatsApp conversation data (photos waiting to be filed) is cleared within a day.
Practice logins
If a dentist links their practice to a practice login (for example the practice manager), that login can see the dentist's labs, team members at that practice, and each case's patient name, work, dates and progress. It cannot see messages, photos or files. The dentist can unlink at any time.
Deleting your data
You can disconnect WhatsApp yourself in Settings, which deletes your stored mobile number straight away. To delete your account, or for a practice to have its cases deleted, contact us from the email address you signed up with. We will confirm once it is done, normally within 30 days. Patients who want to access or delete their information should contact their dental practice, which controls it.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct or delete your personal data, or object to how it is used. If you are unhappy with how we handle your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).