Medpedia Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is effective as of July 1, 2008, and outlines the types of information collected by Medpedia as well as steps taken to keep your private information private. This policy’s goal is to help you make an educated decision when choosing to use the Medpedia Web site and/or share information with the community.

What This Privacy Policy Covers

This privacy policy pertains to the use of the Medpedia.com Web site at http://www.medpedia.com/ (the “Site”), and the Medpedia.com services, and covers how Medpedia treats information that it collects and receives from its users.

This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and is subject to the Medpedia Terms of Use. Your use of the Site, the Medpedia services and any information you provide on the Web Site is subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy and the Medpedia Terms of Use.

What this Privacy Policy doesn’t cover

This Privacy Policy applies only to Web sites and services that are owned and operated by Medpedia. Medpedia does not exercise control over other Web sites linked to or from within the Site. These other sites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit information from you. You are encouraged to read their privacy policies before you enter into an exchange with them.

Medpedia may allow other companies to serve advertisements on the Site. These third-party advertisers use technology to send, directly to your browser, the advertisements and links that appear on the Site. They automatically receive your IP address when this happens. They may also use other technologies (such as cookies, JavaScript, or web beacons) to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and to personalize the advertising content to a certain audience.

Sponsors or advertisers on the Site may use their own cookies, web beacons or other online tracking technologies in the banner advertisements served on the Site and in emails, special promotions or newsletters we send you. Some advertisers use companies other than Medpedia to serve their ads and to monitor users' responses to ads, and these companies (“Ad Servers”) may also collect non-personal information through the use of cookies or web beacons on our Web site. In certain situations, information collection may be facilitated by momentarily directing your browser to the Web site of an Ad Server or other third party acting on behalf of the sponsor, partner, or advertiser before re-directing your browser to its selected destination (e.g., back to Medpedia to show the ad, or to the advertiser's website); this re-direction process will not be apparent to you. We do not control these third parties' use of cookies or web beacons, or how they manage the non-personal information they gather through them. However, we do require sponsors, advertisers and Ad Servers who collect cookie or web beacon information through our Web site to agree that they will not collect any personal information from our site without your consent. They have promised us they will not link any non-personal cookie or web beacon information collected by them on our site to personal information they or others collect in other ways or from other sites except as may be described in connection with a particular program. You should review the privacy policy of other sites you visit or link to from our site to understand how these other sites use cookies and how they use the information they collect through the use of cookies or web beacons on their own sites. Certain Ad Servers allow you to prevent them from collecting data through the use of cookies. In order to do so, you must opt-out of such data collection with each individual site. Currently, you can opt-out of cookies for several Ad Servers by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative gateway Opt-out site ( http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp). This website will also allow you to review the Ad Server's privacy policies. You can also find additional information and resources about how to opt-out of advertising and related cookies by visiting the World Privacy Forum's Site (http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/cookieoptout.html).

This Privacy Policy does not apply to content, business information, ideas, concepts or inventions that you send to Medpedia by email. If you want to keep content or business information, ideas, concepts or inventions private or proprietary, do not send them in an email to Medpedia.

The Information Medpedia Collects and How It Is Used

Readers (no registration required)

You do not need to register for a Medpedia account in order to visit and use the Site. For these no-registration-required services Medpedia collects the following information:

Cookies: A cookie is a small file containing a unique string of characters that is sent from the Medpedia servers and saved by your browser software. Browsers are typically set to accept cookies, however, you can change the settings on your browser to notify you when a site is sending a cookie to your browser or, alternatively, to refuse cookies altogether. The Medpedia Site sets a temporary session cookie on your browser whenever you visit, and you will not be able to log in to your account if you have set your browser to deny the session cookie. This temporary cookie is deleted each time you close your browser session. When you log in, the Medpedia Site sets another cookie on your browser that remains on your computer up to 30 days so that you don’t have to retype your user name when you return to the Site and log in. You may clear this log in cookie anytime through your browser settings.

Log information: When you use the Medpedia services, our servers automatically record the data that your browser sends whenever you visit a Web site. These “server logs” include data such as browser type, Internet Protocol address, your Web request, the date and time of your requests, and your Medpedia cookie(s) that uniquely identify your browser. The log data is used primarily for the Web site technicians to monitor the health of the Site and solve any technical problems. The log data can also be used to track down malicious Editors and Members by correlating their IP address to a username. Examples of malicious activity include harassment, duplicate accounts, abuse of the system and disruption of the Medpedia service. Medpedia’s policy is not to disclose the log data publicly, but such data may be shared with third parties in the following cases: a) if it is required to comply with compulsory requests from law enforcement, b) if it is required to pursue an investigation of abuse, c) if it is required to resolve technical issues, d) if it is required to help block certain IP addresses to stop abuse, or e) if it is required to protect the safety, property, or rights of Medpedia, its users, or the public.

Clear Gifs Information: When you use the Site, we may employ clear gifs (a.k.a. web beacons), which are used to anonymously track the online usage patterns of users without collecting any personally identifiable information about you.

E-mail Messages: If you send an email to customer service or to a member of the Medpedia staff we may retain those communications and your email address in order to reply to your inquiries, fulfill your requests and to improve our services.

We use the non-personal information described above to: (a) remember information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your current or subsequent visits to the Site; (b) provide custom, personalized content and information; (c) monitor the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns; (d) monitor aggregate metrics such as total number of visitors and traffic; (e) diagnose or fix technology problems; (f) access your information after you sign in; and (h) market the Site to advertisers and other third parties.

Editors and Members (registration required)

In order to contribute content to the Site you must register as a Medpedia “Editor.” Medpedia collects the non-personal information described above from Editors and Members, and in addition, Medpedia collects the following types of personal information from Editors and Members for the following purposes (personal information is information that personally identifies you, such as your name, email address, home address, phone numbers, or other data which can be reasonably linked to such information):

Information you provide: When you register to become an Editor and Member, Medpedia asks you for personal information. Examples of that information include your name (or a pseudonym), email address, birth date, account password, and the profile information described below. We use the personal information that you provide to respond to your questions, provide you the specific services you select, send you emails about Site maintenance and updates, and inform you of significant changes to this Privacy Policy

Profile Information: Editors must disclose in their public profiles their corporate and academic affiliations and they must disclose if they receive, or expect to receive, any form of compensation for the content they contribute to Medpedia, or any compensation related to medicine, medical information, or products and services related to the body. This is standard practice in the medical field and those policies carry over to the Medpedia community, and are meant to encourage a “neutral point of view” with respect to Medpedia contributions.

Your IP Address: In addition to your profile, you may also be identified in the Medpedia system by your IP address, the numerical address of the location from which you are connecting to the Site. That IP address may be traceable specifically to your computer, or it may only be traceable to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) you use to access the Internet, depending on what type of connection you have. In either case, Medpedia will have the ability to link your IP address to your contributions on the site, which helps to prevent abuse and fraud.

Contributions: When Editors submit content to the Site, that information becomes publicly available throughout the world via the Site, and each such “post” will be attached to the Editor’s profile. This material will be stored indefinitely and is always publicly viewable. Removing content from a Medpedia article does not permanently delete that content. The features of the Site permit anyone to retrieve a previous version of an article and see content that was previously deleted. If the article itself is deleted, a copy will permanently remain on the Medpedia servers and be accessible by Medpedia personnel.

Other Data: In order to maintain an open and transparent community, certain other data on Editors and Members is made public through “user contributions” lists and by other users, typically in aggregated form. Such data might include the times at which an Editor edited content on the Site and the number of edits they made.

Email: Other Editors and Members may send email to you through the Medpedia service, however your email address will not be revealed to them unless you respond, or possibly if their email to you is “bounced” back to them. Medpedia may use Editors’ and Members’ email address to communicate with them periodically. If you subscribe to a mailing list for a project, your address will be visible to others on the project.

Invitation emails: You may choose to opt-out of Medpedia invitation emails by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the invitation email.

Links: Medpedia may present links in a format that lets Medpedia keep track of when these links are clicked. Medpedia uses this information to improve the quality of Medpedia services, to estimate traffic Medpedia sends to third party sites, and to customize content and advertising.

Your contacts: In order to invite others to connect with you directly in Medpedia, you will enter their names and email addresses. This information will be used by Medpedia to send your invitation including a message that you write. The names and email addresses of people that you invite will be used only to send your invitation and reminders. You may also choose to manually enter or upload data about your contacts on Medpedia. All information entered as private will only be viewable by you and will not be searchable by others in the Medpedia network without your permission. All information that you enter or upload about your contacts will be covered by the same terms of this privacy policy as cover your own personal information.

Public areas of Medpedia

The Site includes public areas, such as discussion pages and communities, where you may post Content and communicate with other Members (the “Public Areas”). Any information shared (including personal information) that you reveal in a Public Area is by design open to the public and is not a private, secure service. You should think carefully before disclosing any personal information in any Public Area. What you have written may be seen, disclosed to or collected by third parties and may be used by others in ways we are unable to control or predict, including to contact you for unauthorized purposes. As with any public forum on any site, this information may also appear in third-party search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN etc.

When Medpedia May Share Your Information

Medpedia shares collected information (both personal and non-personal information) with Medpedia subsidiaries, affiliated companies or other trusted businesses or persons who process such information on Medpedia’s behalf in order for Medpedia to provide or improve services. Medpedia requires that these parties agree to process such collected information in compliance with this Privacy Policy, and to take reasonable confidentiality and security measures with respect to such collected information.

Medpedia operations and maintenance contractors sometimes have limited access to your personal information in the course of providing products or services to Medpedia. These contractors include vendors and suppliers that provide us with technology, services, and/or content for the operation and maintenance of our Web site. Unless you have acted to opt-out of receiving emails and newsletters from Medpedia, these contractors also may have access to your email address to send newsletters or special promotions to you on our behalf or to send emails to you for purposes such as conducting market research on our behalf. Access to your personal information by these contractors is limited to the information reasonably necessary for the contractor to perform its limited function for Medpedia. 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 as required by law.

Medpedia shares non-personal information (such as anonymous Web site use data) with third-parties to assist them in understanding the Site, including usage of the Site and the services Medpedia provides and the success of advertisements and promotions.

Medpedia may release collected information if required to do so by law, or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with state and federal laws (such as U.S. Copyright Law) or respond to a court order, subpoena, or search warrant. It may be necessary to share collected information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities, including but not limited to, fraud, potential threats to public safety or the physical safety of any person, violations of Medpedia’s Terms of Use, or as otherwise permitted by law.

Medpedia also reserves the right to disclose collected Information that Medpedia believes is appropriate or necessary to enforce Medpedia’s Terms of Use, take precautions against liability, to investigate and defend itself against any third-party claims or allegations, to assist government enforcement agencies, to protect the security or integrity of the Site, and to exercise or protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Medpedia, Medpedia users or others.

In the event that Medpedia is acquired by or merged with a third party entity, Medpedia reserves the right to transfer or assign the information Medpedia has collected from you as part of such merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control. If Medpedia is involved in a change of control Medpedia will provide notice before personal information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

In the unlikely event of Medpedia’s bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, receivership, or assignment for the benefit of creditors, or the application of laws or equitable principles affecting creditors' rights generally, Medpedia may not be able to control how your personal information is treated, transferred, or used.

Except as described above, Medpedia will not share your personal information with third parties unless you have elected to “opt-in” to such sharing of your information.

Please contact Medpedia for any additional questions about the management or use of personal data.

Your Choices

When you register as an Editor and Member, Medpedia asks you for personal information. If Medpedia wants to use your personal information for purposes other than those described in this Policy, Medpedia will provide you with an effective way to opt-in to such use.

Medpedia will not collect or use personal information for reasons other than those described in this Privacy Policy, unless Medpedia obtains your prior consent.

You can decline to submit personal information to Medpedia, in which case you will not be able to participate as an Editor.

Information security

Medpedia has adopted certain measures to preserve the integrity and security of your personal information. Medpedia cannot, however, ensure or warrant the security of any personal information and you provide such information at your own risk.

Updating personal information

You may update your collected information by visiting your profile page. For more information, please see the FAQ pages.

Removing personal information

If you have a complaint or problem, please email here. Our customer service department will forward your complaint to the appropriate internal Medpedia department for a response or resolution. We try to answer every email within 48 business hours, but may not always able to do so.

If you do not receive adequate resolution of a privacy related problem, you may write to Medpedia’s Privacy Office at:

    Medpedia Privacy 
    c/o Medpedia Inc.  
    703 Market Street, Suite 470 
    San Francisco, CA 94103 (USA)

We will notify you within 30 days of receipt of your letter to confirm your personal identifiers have been removed.

Limitations on Removing or Changing Information

Upon your request, we will delete your personal information or personal health information from our active databases and where feasible from our back-up media. You should be aware that it is not technologically possible to remove each and every record of the information you have provided to Medpedia from our servers.

Our Commitment To Children's Privacy

Protecting the privacy of young children is especially important. No part of Medpedia’s Site is directed to persons under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use or access the Medpedia Site at any time or in any manner. Medpedia does not knowingly collect personal information on the Site from persons under 18 years of age.

International Users:

The Site is hosted in the United States and is intended for and directed to users in the United States. If you are accessing the Site from the European Union, Asia, or any other region with laws or regulations governing personal data collection, use, and disclosure that differ from United States laws, please be advised that through your continued use of the Site, which is governed by U.S. law, this Privacy Policy, and Medpedia’s Terms of Use, you are transferring your personal information to the United States and you consent to that transfer.

Changes to this Policy

This Privacy Policy may change from time to time. Medpedia will post those changes on this page and, if the changes are significant, Medpedia will provide a prominent notice. Please revisit this page to stay aware of any material changes.

Your continued use of the Site constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Policy and any future revisions. Please exit the site immediately if you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy or any revised policy.

Notwithstanding the above, we will inform you if a material change in the Privacy Policy is made that involves the use of your Personal Health Information, and your express opt-in authorization will be requested.

For more information about Medpedia privacy practices, please email here or write to this address:

    Medpedia Privacy 
    c/o Medpedia Inc.  
    703 Market Street, Suite 470 
    San Francisco, CA 94103 (USA)

Medpedia Privacy Policy Definitions and FAQ

What is personal information?

Medpedia defines “personal information” as information that personally identifies you, such as your name, email address, home address, phone numbers or other data which can be reasonably linked to such information, including but not limited to personal health information.

What is non-personal information?

Medpedia defines “non-personal information” as data collected from many people and aggregate into groups so that it is no longer connected to individually identifiable users.

What is collected information?

Medpedia defines “collected information” as both the personal and non-personal information that Medpedia collect from users.

What is personal health information?

Medpedia defines “personal health information” as information you provide to Medpedia that combines information that personally identifies you with information about your health.

What is opt-in?

“Opt-in” as means you are actively indicating your preference to participate in a program, email, feature, tool, or enhancement on a Web site. Typically, if you “Opt-in” you must provide certain information, usually Personal Information, to the Web site or otherwise actively indicate your choice or preference to participate in the Web site program.

What is opt-out?

“Opt-out” means that if you do not take some action you are indicating your preference to participate in a program, email, feature, tool or enhancement on a Web site. Typically, if you “opt-out” you must uncheck a box next to a stated preference or otherwise take some indicate action to indicate your preference not to participate in a program.

What is a Medpedia Account?

In order for you to use some Medpedia services, Medpedia needs to be able to authenticate you and protect your preferences and personal information from unauthorized access. To do that, Medpedia asks that you sign up for a unique account, typically secured by your unique email address, a password and your name. No account information is shared with anyone other than Medpedia except as specified in the Privacy Policy or with your consent.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small file containing a unique string of characters that is sent from a Web site’s servers and saved by your browser software when you first visit the Web site. On subsequent visits to the same Web site, the cookie allows the site to recognize your browser. The unique string of characters in a cookie may store user preferences and other information. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to notify you when a cookie is being sent. However, some Web site features or services may not function properly without cookies.

How do I delete a cookie?

Deleting cookies is different for each browser. These are instructions for popular browsers used. If you don't use any of these browsers refer to your browser's Web site for instructions

Internet Explorer:

Select 'Internet Options...' from the 'Tools' menu.
Click on “Delete Cookies...” from the 'Temporary Internet files' section.
Click 'Ok' on the confirmation window that appears.

FireFox (Windows):

Select 'Options' from the 'Tools' menu.
Click on 'Privacy' from the top selections, then click on the 'Cookies' tab.
Click 'Clear Cookies Now'

Safari:

Select 'Preferences' from the 'Safari' menu.
Click on 'Security' from the top selections.
Click on the 'Show Cookies' button.
Select the 'Medpedia' cookies and click on the 'Remove' button. Or you can also 'Remove All'

What are server logs?

Medpedia maintains a set of computers called “servers” which are configured to provide Web sites, pages, images, and other files to people who request them from those servers. These servers automatically record, or “log,” the page requests made when a user visits a Web site. These “server logs” include data such as browser type, Internet Protocol address, your Web request, the date and time of your requests, and your cookie(s) that uniquely identify your browser.

What information does Medpedia receive if I click on a link displayed on Medpedia?

When you click on a link displayed on Medpedia, Medpedia records the fact that someone using your browser, as identified by your unique cookie, clicked on that link.

What protections do I have against government investigations into my use of Medpedia services?

Medpedia complies with the same laws and processes that all lawful companies abide by, including search warrants, court orders, subpoenas and other processes seeking personal information. The primary protections you have against intrusions by the government are the laws that apply to where you live.

Medpedia does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.