Event title formats

Why this choice matters

Patient appointment data may indicate health information and is treated as special category data under UK GDPR Article 9. The event title is the part of a calendar entry that's most likely to be seen — on a lock screen notification, by anyone the calendar is shared with, in screen-sharing on a meeting, on a phone in a public space. Every other field in a calendar event takes one more click to see; the title does not.

iDentiCal's design principle is data minimisation by default: we ship with anonymous as the default so that fresh installs leak as little as possible. You can choose a more identifying format on a per-target basis when you have a clear reason to, and the practice manager has documented it in your DPIA.

Anonymous

Every event title is the literal string "Anonymous". The duration, time, and provider's calendar still show the working pattern, but no patient identifier is in the event. The appointment notes, procedure codes, and any other patient detail remain only in OpenDental.

Title:  Anonymous
Time:   Wed 14 Oct 2026, 10:30–11:00
Where:  (empty)
Notes:  (empty)

Use when: the calendar is shared, the provider sees enough context just from time + duration, or you haven't done a DPIA yet.

Initials

First initial + last initial, e.g. "J.D.". Provides enough distinction that a provider with a busy day can mentally connect each slot to a patient without the calendar surfacing a full name.

Title:  J.D.
Title:  M.O'B.   (apostrophes preserved)
Title:  ??       (no first or last name on the patient record)

Use when: the provider needs more than "Anonymous" to plan their day, but the calendar is still shared with reception or any non-clinical staff.

First name

The patient's first name only, e.g. "Jane". Common-enough first names are low-risk on their own; less common names can identify a patient by themselves, especially in a small practice. Use this with care.

Use when: the destination calendar is private to one clinician and not shared with anyone else, and the clinician finds initials too terse.

Full name

The patient's full name, e.g. "Jane Doe". iDentiCal requires an explicit acknowledgement before this option can be saved: a checkbox confirming the destination calendar is not shared, plus a one-line free-text justification recorded with the target configuration.

Use when: the destination calendar is genuinely private to the clinician and your DPIA covers writing patient names into Google Calendar. We do not recommend this for any calendar reception touches.

Custom templates

For practices with a specific scheduling vocabulary, iDentiCal supports a small placeholder language. Available placeholders:

Examples:

{initials} — {duration}        →   J.D. — 30 min
{first} {proc}                 →   Jane EXAM
{provider}: appointment        →   DR_PATEL: appointment

Custom templates are subject to the same explicit-acknowledgement requirement as full name if the template includes {first}, {last}, or both. Templates that only use {initials}, {proc}, {duration}, or {provider} save without a prompt.

Live preview

The settings dialog shows a live preview as you type or change the format selector. The preview uses three fixed example patients (with permission-style obvious fake names — "Patient Alpha", "Patient Beta", "Patient Gamma") so you can see how the chosen format renders before you save.

How to choose

Decision tree for picking a format:

1. Is the destination calendar shared with anyone, including reception, a partner clinician, a personal phone, or "anyone with the link"? → use Anonymous.
2. Is the calendar strictly private to the provider, and do they need to mentally distinguish patients on a busy day? → use Initials.
3. Initials too terse, and the calendar remains strictly private and is not connected to any notification surface visible to anyone else? → use First name.
4. You have written DPIA cover for storing patient names in Google Calendar and the calendar is genuinely private? → consider Full name with the explicit confirmation.
5. Your practice has a specific operational vocabulary (e.g. always wants the procedure code) that doesn't match any preset? → use a custom template, preferably one that doesn't include {first} or {last}.

You can change the format on any target at any time. iDentiCal will rewrite the titles of existing future events on the next sync cycle — past events are not touched. This means a format change is easy to undo: pick anonymous and within five minutes every future event reverts.