Privacy Policy

Introduction

Active Spine and Joint Institute recognizes how important privacy protection is, especially regarding your personal financial and health care information. We urge you to read our Privacy Policy carefully, so that you will understand both our commitment to your privacy and how you can contribute to that commitment. If you become a user of the PRACTICE’s website, you agree to and accept the provisions of this Privacy Policy. If you do not accept and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy, do not use any of the PRACTICE’s websites. This Privacy Policy does not govern privacy practices associated with offline activities or activities occurring on non-PRACTICE websites, which websites will be governed by the privacy policies posted on such websites.

Changes and questions

The PRACTICE may periodically update this policy in response to new technologies, changes in applicable laws, or for any other reason in the PRACTICE’s sole discretion. If we decide to change this policy, we will post the updated policy here so you will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether we will disclose it to anyone. Please be sure to review this policy periodically to stay informed of any changes. You can tell when this Privacy Policy was modified by looking at the “Last Updated” legend at the top of the page.

Personally-identifiable information

We receive and store personally-identifiable information that you voluntarily provide to us when you enter it on our website (such as when you register to tell your PRACTICE story, sign-up for newsletters, make a donation) or when you provide it by mail, telephone, email, fax or in any other way. This information includes information that can identify you, including your first and last name, telephone number, address, social security number and other potentially sensitive personal information including income and health related information.

How we use personally-identifiable information

We use personally-identifiable information to provide, and to communicate with you about our mission, fundraising, and PRACTICE research. We may transfer this information to outside contractors, auditors, consultants or others hired by the PRACTICE to assist in providing financial or operational activities on the PRACTICE’s behalf, including technical and processing services and analysis of website performance. We do not transfer personal identifying information to any other third parties unless we receive your permission or we are required to do so by law, or we have a good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order, a legal process served on the PRACTICE or to resolve any potential fraud or perceived irregularity in any audits of the accuracy of any documentation or information submitted to the PRACTICE by you or on your behalf, as deemed appropriate by the PRACTICE.

NON PERSONALLY-IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION

Non personally-identifiable information that you submit or we collect

Non personally-identifiable information is any information that, by itself, cannot be directly associated with you. This may include gender, age, ZIP code, medical history and treatment, income, household size, and other information we collect from the patient survey. It may also include IP address (when it is unassociated with any personal information), the domain name and browser that you use to access the internet, the pages that you visited on our site and the address of the web site that you visited immediately prior to visiting our site.

Use of Non-Personally Identifiable Information

We use non-personally identifiable information for research and statistical purposes, to remember your preferences, to communicate with you and to monitor and improve the quality of our information and website. We also use non-personally identifiable information in aggregate in our annual report and other materials we produce to educate donors and the public about the services we provide.

ELECTRONICALLY PRODUCED DATA

Cookies

The PRACTICE, like most standard website servers, may use cookies and other tools to collect information about how you use the Site. A cookie is a small, unique text file that a website can send to your computer hard drive when you visit a Site. We may use “session cookies”, which terminate when a user closes his or her browser. We may use “persistent cookies”, which remain on the user’s computer until manually deleted. Most web browsers can either alert you to the use of cookies or refuse to accept cookies entirely. If you do not want us to deploy cookies in your browser, you can set your browser to reject cookies or to notify you when a website tries to put a cookie on your computer. Rejecting cookies may affect your ability to use the Site and may require you to reset your privacy controls.

Consumer Opt-Out

To opt-out from the collection and use of non-personally-identifiable data by websites adjust your browser settings. Note the following: 1) that opt-out links are browser specific and will need to be visited with each browser program with which opt-out is desired, and 2) if cookies are deleted from any browser, the opt-out link will need to be re-activated.

IP Addresses and UDID’s

An IP address is a number that is assigned to your computer when you use the internet or a Unique Device Identifier (UDID) if you are using a mobile device. Like most standard website servers, the PRACTICE collects IP addresses and other technical information about your machine through your web browser such as your operating system, browser type and referring URL for the purposes of, among other things, system administration and to ensure the validity of user requests.

Log Files

Like most standard website servers, we use log files. These files include Site usage data such as internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type and internet service provider (ISP) and access time. We use log files only to track errors in the system.

Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs)

Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of internet users. However, some third parties who provide services to our Site, including, e.g., Facebook and Google may use clear gifs in providing their services. Read the third parties’ respective privacy policies prior to accessing their services from the Site.

Third Party Advertising

The PRACTICE does not display or solicit third party advertising on the Site; however some third parties who provide services on our Site, including e.g., Facebook and Google, may employ cookies, log files, clear gifs, and/or collect your IP number or Unique Device Identifier (UDID) if you are using a mobile device in providing their services. Read such third parties’ respective privacy policies prior to accessing their services from the Site.

USE OF ELECTRONICALLY PRODUCED DATA

We use electronically produced data to remember your preferences, to communicate with you, to facilitate your communication with other users, and to monitor and improve the quality and visibility of our mission, information and website. We also use non-personally identifiable electronically produced data in our annual report and other materials we produce to educate patients, patient families, donors, and the public about our mission and supporting PRACTICE research.

Transitions of Operations or Transfer of Assets

In the event the PRACTICE goes through a transition, such as a merger, being acquired by another entity, bankruptcy, or selling a portion of its assets, users’ personal information may be part of the assets transferred. We can provide no assurance that user will be notified in advance of the transfer, if any, of their personal information in connection with any such transition or transfer.

Security of your information

Protections. The PRACTICE maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect the confidentiality and security of any personally identifiable information that you disclose to us. The PRACTICE utilizes what we believe to be industry standard security measures to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of personally identifiable information under the PRACTICE’s control, and we limit access to your personally identifiable information within the PRACTICE to those employees who need to know the personally identifiable information to provide information to you. However, due to the nature of the Internet, computer networks, systems and other factors, no transmission of data over the Internet is guaranteed to be completely secure. It may be possible for third parties not under the control of the PRACTICE to intercept or access transmissions or private communications unlawfully, regardless of the PRACTICE’s best intentions. As such, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to the PRACTICE, including without limitation personally identifiable information.

Links

The PRACTICE website includes links to other websites (the “Linked Sites”). In providing access to these Linked Sites, the PRACTICE is by no means endorsing the products or services on these Linked Sites. The PRACTICE is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of the Linked Sites, and hereby expressly disclaims all responsibility and liability associate with use of the Linked Sites. We recommend that you review the privacy statements posted on those sites to understand their procedures for using and disclosing personal information and electronic data.

Privacy of Children

The PRACTICE does not knowingly collect, store or disclose information about children under the age of 18 without parental consent. If we receive information from a child that we know to be under the age of 18, we will use that information only to inform the child that we must have parental consent.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy, please contact us at: PRACTICE

Limitation of Liability

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE RELATING TO THIS WEBSITE OR YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO A DISPUTE OVER PRIVACY, IS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND THE PRACTICE’S TERMS OF USE (INCLUDING ANY INDEMNIFICATION AND LIMITATIONS ON DAMAGES CONTAINED THEREIN). A LINK TO THESE TERMS OF USE CAN BE FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HOME PAGE OF EACH OF THE PRACTICE’S WEBSITES.

Unavailability of Website

The PRACTICE reserves the right to alter, suspend or discontinue this website at any time for any reason without notice or cause. This website may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance or malfunction of computer equipment.