Privacy Policy
This website is a part of a research program of Penn State
University in University Park, Pennsylvania. If you have questions
or concerns regarding this statement, contact cns10@psu.edu.
Your privacy is important to Penn State University. This
Privacy Policy tells you what information we collect about you,
how we protect that information and under what circumstances that
information may be disclosed to third parties. Our commitment to
you is that we will use reasonable efforts to ensure that no
personally identifiable information concerning you or your health
will be disclosed to third parties except as required by law or as
otherwise explained below under the section titled "USE AND
DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION". Please remember that any information
(including personal information and medical information) that you
reveal in a public forum on this website (such as a bulletin board
or chat room) is not protected by this Privacy Policy.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully so that you will
understand clearly both our commitment to you and your privacy,
and how we may collect and use information. By using these
websites from Penn State University, you agree to the terms
of this Privacy Policy. Whenever you submit information via these
sites, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of that
information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Personally identifiable information ("Personal Information") is
information that can be uniquely identified with you, such as your
full name, address, e-mail address, phone number, and so on). We
collect Personal Information that you provide to us when you
register as a user of the site, when you sign up for a research
study that uses this site, when you use any of the services
offered on our website and when you participate in surveys or send
e-mails to us. Like many websites, this site actively collects
information from its members and visitors both by asking you
specific questions and by permitting you to communicate directly
with us via e-mail, feedback forms, and/or chat rooms. Some of the
information that you submit may be Personal Information. You are
responsible to keep us informed of your current email address
because that is how we may communicate with you.
PASSIVE INFORMATION COLLECTION
As you navigate through a Web site, certain information can be
passively collected (that is, gathered without your actively
providing the information) using various technologies and means,
such as Internet Protocol addresses, cookies, Internet tags, and
navigational data collection.
- Internet Protocol (IP) addresses - An IP Address is a
number assigned to your computer by your Internet service
provider so you can access the Internet and is generally
considered to be non-personally identifiable information, because
in most cases an IP address is dynamic (changing each time you
connect to the Internet), rather than static (unique to a
particular user's computer). We use your IP address to diagnose
problems with our server, report aggregate information, determine
the fastest route for your computer to use in connecting to our
site, and administer and improve the site.
- Cookies - A "cookie" is a bit of information that a Web
site sends to your Web browser that helps the site remember
information about you and your preferences. We use "cookies" at
this site, but they are not used to collect any personal or
identifying information.
- Internet tags - "Internet tags" (also known as
single-pixel GIFs, clear GIFs, invisible GIFs, and 1-by-1 GIFs)
are smaller than cookies and tell the Web site server information
such as the IP address and browser type related to the visitor's
computer. We do not use "Internet tags" at this site.
- Navigational data - "Navigational data" ("log files,"
"server logs," and "clickstream" data) are used for system
management, to improve the content of the site, market research
purposes, and to communicate information to visitors. This site
uses navigational data. This information is not tied to
personally identifiable information.
CHILDREN
We are committed to protecting the privacy of children. This
website should not be used by, and is not designed or intended to
attract children under the age of 13. We do not collect Personal
Information from any person we actually know is under the age of
13.
USE AND DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
Personal Information:
We will not intentionally disclose and will take reasonable
measures to prevent the disclosure of any of your Personal
Information without your consent. You should be aware, though, of
the following:
- We may be compelled to disclose your Personal
Information by certain legal requirements such as a law,
regulation, warrant, subpoena or court order. If we are compelled
to reveal your Personal Information, we will notify you prior to
the disclosure unless doing so would be a violation of law or
court order.
- We may disclose your Personal Information in connection
with the sale, assignment, or other transfer of the business of
this website, in which case we will require any buyer, assignee
or transferee to agree to treat your Personal Information in
accordance with a privacy policy containing terms not less
protective of your Personal Information than this Privacy Policy.
- Our operations and maintenance contractors sometimes
have limited access to your Personal Information in the course of
providing products or services to Penn State University.
These contractors include vendors and suppliers that provide us
with technology, services, and/or content related to better
operation and maintenance of our website. Access to your Personal
Information by these contractors is limited to the information
reasonably necessary in order for the contractor to perform its
limited function for Penn State University. We also
contractually require that our operations and maintenance
contractors 1) protect the privacy of your Personal Information
consistent with this Privacy Policy, and 2) not use or disclose
your Personal Information for any purpose other than providing us
with products and services.
Non-personal Information:
We may provide to third parties non-personal information about you
that does not allow you to be identified or contacted (including
passively collected information and medical information) and that
is combined with the non-personal information of other users. We
anticipate that this information will be demographic in nature.
For example, we might inform an advertiser on our website or a
linked party regarding the number of users of our site and the
activities they conduct while on our site. We may also inform
advertisers and researchers of the number of our subscribers and
users who associate themselves with a particular medical
condition. Depending on the circumstances, we may or may not
charge third parties for this information. We also may not limit
the third parties' use of the information, except that we will
require third parties to whom we disclose the information to agree
that they will not attempt to derive any Personal Information from
this information by combining it with other databases or
otherwise.
Additional Disclosures:
Except as otherwise stated, we may use information you've provided
to improve the content of our site, to customize the site to your
preferences, to communicate information to you (if you have
requested it), for our marketing and research purposes, and for
the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy. To the extent that
any personal information you have provided is used to contact you
for advertising, marketing or research purposes (either by us or
by third parties), you will be provided with an opportunity to
decline or "opt out" and we will use reasonable efforts to ensure
that your choices in this respect are observed. At any time, you
may unsubscribe from any advertising, marketing, or research email
notifications by responding to the email and writing the word
"unsubscribe" in the subject line. Email alerts about upcoming
doctor visits may also be sent, to remind subscribers to use the
website before a visit. At any time you may unsubscribe from
receiving these emails by responding to the email and writing the
word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Any email sent from the
site will also include a clear description, at the bottom of the
email, for how to unsubscribe from future email alerts.
ACCESS AND CORRECTION
To keep your Personal Information accurate, current, and complete,
or if you have any questions concerning this Privacy Policy,
please contact us as specified below. We will take reasonable
steps to update or correct personally identifiable information in
our possession that you have previously submitted via this site.
SECURITY
We take reasonable steps to protect your Personal Information as
you transmit your information from your computer to our site and
to protect such information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized
access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. You should keep in
mind that no Internet transmission is ever 100% secure or
error-free. In particular, e-mail sent to or from this site may
not be secure, and you should therefore take special care in
deciding what information you send to us via e-mail. Moreover,
where you use passwords, ID numbers, or other special access
features on this site, it is your responsibility to safeguard
them.
LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES
This site may contain links or references to other Web sites.
Please be aware that we do not control other Web sites and that,
in any case, this Privacy Policy does not apply to those Web
sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of every Web
site you visit.
PUBLIC FORUM
Please remember that any information (including Personal
Information and medical information) that you reveal in a public
forum on this website (such as a bulletin board or chat room) is
not protected by this Privacy Policy. Such postings will be seen
by third parties not related to Penn State University,
especially other users of the site. What you've written could be
used by others in ways we are unable to control or predict,
including to contact you for unauthorized purposes. You will be
allowed to keep any and all information from being viewed by
others by clicking a button designed to make information
"private", so that others cannot view it.
OTHER TERMS
Your use of this site is subject to our Terms and Conditions of
Use.
HOW TO CONTACT US
Questions or comments regarding this Website, including any reports
of non-functioning links, should be directed by US mail to
Christopher N. Sciamanna, MD, MPH
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center,
UPC-2 Suite 4100,
500 University Drive,
Hershey, PA 17033.
email: cns10@psu.eud
We try to answer e-mails in a timely manner but are not always able to do so.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
If this Privacy Policy changes, the revised policy will be posted
on this site. Please check back periodically, and especially
before you provide any Personal Information. If, however, we are
going to use users' personally identifiable information in a
manner materially different from that stated at the time of
collection we will notify users via email and by posting a notice
on our Web site for 30 days.
This Privacy Policy was last updated on August 18, 2006.