Terms & Conditions
These terms describe how Smile Konnect enables PHIPA-ready communication between dentists, clinic teams, and their patients. By creating an account or using the platform you agree to the commitments below.
1. Purpose & eligibility
Smile Konnect is a PHIPA-aligned workspace for Canadian dental groups. Every workspace is provisioned to a clinic or dental service operator that has executed a services agreement with Smile Konnect.
Circle-of-care collaboration
The platform is designed for intra-clinic messaging, onboarding, and file exchange between dentists, clinic administrators, and their registered patients. Emergency use is prohibited and the platform does not replace in-person clinical judgement.
- Dentists and administrators must be licensed in their jurisdiction and maintain good standing
- Patients must be invited by a participating clinic or complete the registration workflow and await activation
- Third parties (vendors, consultants) require written authorization and least-privilege access profiles
Mock vs. production modes
The Next.js frontend currently runs with mock authentication for demos while the NestJS API enforces JWT, MFA, and audit logging. When connected to production services you must ensure all staff use hardware- or app-based MFA.
2. Account responsibilities
You are responsible for safeguarding credentials, devices, and clinic-issued hardware used to access Smile Konnect.
Secure access
Accounts are role-based (admin, dentist, patient). Users must: (a) configure MFA, (b) only access data for patients under their care, and (c) immediately report suspected compromise to Smile Konnect support at privacy@smilekonnect.ca.
- Do not share credentials or leave sessions unattended on shared workstations
- Keep operating systems and browsers patched to supported versions
- Use approved clinics networks or VPNs when handling PHI
Acceptable use
Prohibited actions include uploading malware, attempting to circumvent security controls, scraping or reselling platform data, or storing non-dental PHI for unrelated clinics. Smile Konnect may suspend access to preserve system integrity.
3. Patient data & consent
Clinic teams must maintain valid consent before collecting or sharing personal health information (PHI).
Ownership & stewardship
Clinics retain ownership of their PHI while granting Smile Konnect a limited licence to host, process, and transmit data solely to provide the services.
- Audit logs for every chat, export, and notification are retained for at least seven years
- Uploaded documents and images become part of the patient record and inherit the clinic's retention policy
- Patients can request exports or deletion subject to PHIPA statutory retention windows
Consent workflows
Clinic action requiredBuilt-in e-signature consent workflows capture legally binding approvals before starting chat sessions or sharing media. Clinics configure template wording to reflect their internal policies and keep legal language versioned.
4. Platform operations
Smile Konnect provides 24/7 infrastructure monitoring with a 99.5% monthly uptime target.
Service changes
We may introduce new features, modify interfaces, or discontinue beta capabilities. Material changes to privacy or data handling will be communicated via in-app notifications and email.
Third-party services
Infrastructure is hosted on Canadian cloud providers with encrypted backups. Email, SMS, and video services rely on audited sub-processors that are contractually bound to PHIPA/HIPAA standards.
5. Suspension & termination
Smile Konnect may suspend or terminate access if accounts become delinquent, breach obligations, or pose a security risk.
Clinic offboarding
Upon termination we provide 30 days of read-only access to export PHI. After that window data moves to encrypted archival storage for the remainder of statutory retention periods.
Patient requests
Patients can deactivate self-service accounts at any time. Clinics remain responsible for downstream medical record retention.
6. Governing law & updates
These terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada as applicable.
Versioning
Revisions take effect 30 days after posting unless they relate to urgent security, compliance, or product updates that require immediate enforcement. The "Last updated" date is noted near the top of every document.
Contact
Questions can be sent to privacy@smilekonnect.ca. Include clinic identifiers, impacted patients (if any), and a callback number so we can respond promptly.