Easter Seals Online Network Privacy Policy

Notification of Change
The Information We Collect
Opting Out
Your California Privacy Rights
Correct/Update Your Profile
Aggregate Information
Cookies
Security of Your Information
Tell-A-Friend, Ecards and Personal Fundraising Pages
Links to Other Web Sites
Information from Children
Transmission of Health-Related Data

Welcome to the Easter Seals Online Network, the Web site of Easter Seals, Inc. (Easter Seals headquarters) and participating Easter Seals affiliates across the country.

Because Easter Seals values the privacy of constituents visiting the Easter Seals Online Network, users of the Easter Seals Online Network have the right to manage their own personal information.

You can contact Easter Seals for more information related to the privacy of the information you provide online:

Mail:  233 South Wacker Drive, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60606.
Phone:  312-726-6200
Online:  Click here to contact Easter Seals via email. Your request will be answered within 2-3 business days.

Notification of Change
Easter Seals reserves the right to change this policy at any time. Easter Seals privacy policy will be kept up-to-date and clearly posted on our Web site.

The Information We Collect
On many pages of the Easter Seals Online Network -- in particular when donating online, completing an action alert, registering for a special event, purchasing a product, or completing various feedback forms -- visitors are asked to list name, address, and other personal contact information. Information collected is specifically and knowingly provided by site visitors and may include name, email address, format preference (HTML vs. text), address, telephone number, interests and other similar information. Collecting this information helps Easter Seals to better provide site visitors with relevant and useful content.

Easter Seals has partnered with Convio, Inc. to power the Web content, email and transaction processing capabilities to serve our constituents and fulfill our mission on the Internet. Convio, Inc. is an Internet software and services company that provides online electronic Constituent Relationship Management (eCRM) solutions for nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions. Convio will not disclose your name or other personally identifiable information (such as your e-mail address or phone number) to any party other than Easter Seals.

Neither Easter Seals nor Convio store sensitive information such as credit card numbers. When an online transaction is completed through the Easter Seals Online Network, such as a charitable contribution, credit card information is used solely for the purpose of completing that specific transaction and is not retained in the Easter Seals or Convio database.

Easter Seals will not sell, share or exchange personal contact information collected from this Web site with other organizations. If a user has a previous relationship with Easter Seals through another channel (i.e., mail, phone), Easter Seals will occasionally rent or exchange those names and addresses with other organizations as a way of providing extra funds to help support services. If you do not want to participate in this program, please let us know.

Visitors to the Easter Seals Online Network are not required to share any personally identifiable information. Users who do not wish to share personal information when visiting the Easter Seals Online Network can still access the Network's Web pages and the valuable information provided.

Opting Out
Easter Seals provides site visitors with the opportunity to opt-out of receiving our online and offline communications.

If you would like to opt-out of receiving email communications please update your user profile. Email unsubscribe requests are processed immediately.

To discontinue the receipt of postal mail, please contact Easter Seals. Shortly, Easter Seals will be adding the capability to remove your name from our postal mailing list online. You'll need to register as user of the Easter Seals Online Network. Please note: there is a 8-12 week lapse period due to the fact that a subsequent mailing may already be in production. If you do receive another mailing, please disregard it.

Your California Privacy Rights
To review a special notice for California residents only per California Privacy Law (SB27): Exchanging, Renting, Reselling Personal Information, please visit the "Your California Privacy Rights" section. 

Correct/Update Your Profile
Easter Seals offers the option to change and modify personally identifiable information. Upon your request, Easter Seals will remove personally identifying information retained in organizational databases. If you are a registered user of this site, you can access your Easter Seals profile and update your contact information and user preferences by clicking here.

Easter Seals reserves the right to maintain information on users who have had their access to the Easter Seals Online Network blocked.

Aggregate Information
Demographic and profile data (i.e., age, gender, browser usage) is also collected via the Easter Seals Online Network. Easter Seals uses such data to improve marketing and promotional efforts, statistically analyze site usage, improve content and product offerings and to customize site content, layout, and services. Additionally, this data may be shared with third parties on an aggregated basis. Easter Seals does not share personally identifying information with third parties, except to a court or governmental agency if required by law and as stated above in the section titled "The Information We Collect."

Cookies
A cookie is a small text file a Web site places on a site visitor’s computer hard drive. Its purpose is to let the site know when a user visits and to perform certain functions such as saving passwords and personal preferences.
 
Cookies help evaluate visitors' use of a Web site, such as what viewers want to see and what they never read. This information allows Easter Seals to better focus online information and to concentrate on information people are using.

Your browser is probably set to accept cookies. If you would like to turn this feature off, you will need to change the settings of your Internet browser.

Security of Your Information
All credit card and personal profile information provided to Easter Seals or our Internet software partner, Convio, Inc., is transmitted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption using Verisign as a payment gateway. SSL is a proven coding system that allows a browser to automatically encrypt, or scramble, data before it is sent.

Easter Seals also protects account information by placing it on a secure portion of the Easter Seals Online Network that is only accessible by certain qualified employees of Easter Seals. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. Easter Seals strives to protect your information, however cannot ensure or warrant the security of such information.

Tell-A-Friend, Ecards and Personal Fundraising Pages
If you elect to use the referral service to inform a friend about a page on the Easter Seals Online Network, send an ecard, or raise funds for Easter Seals by soliciting friends and family, you will be asked for the friend's name and email address. Easter Seals will automatically send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the site. Easter Seals stores this information to send this one-time email only. In addition, the contact information will be maintained solely for the future convenience of the individual who provided the information -- to send subsequent ecards or fundraising reminders/updates.

Links to Other Web Sites
Easter Seals has links to other Web sites outside of the Easter Seals Online Network. Easter Seals is not responsible for the content of any linked Web site, or any link contained in a linked Web site, or any changes or updates to such Web sites. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Easter Seals of that Web site.

In addition, please be aware that Easter Seals is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other Web sites. Easter Seals encourages you to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that requests personal information from you.

Information from Children
Easter Seals does not seek to collect personal information about children through the Easter Seals Online Network. If a child submits information through any part of the Network, and Easter Seals is aware that the user submitting the information is a child, the information is not used for any purpose, nor is it disclosed to third parties. Easter Seals will comply with all regulations set forward by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). To learn more about COPPA, visit the Federal Trade Commission.

Transmission of Health-Related Data
Easter Seals understands the sensitivity of collecting and using health-related data. Personally identifiable health-related data collected on the Easter Seals Online Network will not be shared with entities other than Easter Seals, Inc., and Easter Seals affiliates. Any transfer of personally identifiable health-related data between Easter Seals organizations will take place in a secure environment with access allowed only to certain qualified employees of Easter Seals. Easter Seals will comply with all regulations set forward by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). To learn more about HIPAA, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

Notice of Privacy Practices

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION.  PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

This Notice is effective as of April 14, 2003.

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information, and must inform you of our privacy practices and legal duties. You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this Notice upon request.

We are required to abide by the terms of the Notice of Privacy Practices that is most current.  We reserve the right to change the terms of the Notice at any time.  Any changes will be effective for all protected health information that we maintain.  The revised Notice will be posted in lobby, reception area and on our web site.  You may request a copy of the revised Notice at any time.

We have designated a Privacy Officer to answer your questions about our privacy practices and to ensure that we comply with applicable laws and regulations.  The Privacy Officer also will take your complaints and can give you information about how to file a complaint.

Our Privacy Officer is Debbie Johnson.  You can contact the Privacy Officer at (407) 657-0624.

Use and disclosure of your protected health information that we may make to carry out treatment, payment, and health care operations.

We may use information in your record to provide treatment to you.  We may disclose information in your record to help you get health care services from another provider, a hospital, etc.  For example, if we want an opinion about your condition from a specialist, we may disclose information to the specialist to obtain that consultation.

We may use or disclose information from your record to obtain payment for the services you receive.  For example, we may submit your diagnosis with a health insurance claim in order to demonstrate to the insurer that the service should be covered.

We may use or disclose information from your record to allow "health care operations."  These operations include activities like reviewing records to see how care can be improved, contacting you with information about treatment alternatives, and coordinating care with other providers.  For example, we may use information in your record to train our staff about your condition and its treatment.

Your Rights

You may ask us to restrict the use and disclosure of certain information in your record that otherwise would be allowed for treatment, payment, or health care operations.  However, we do not have to agree to these restrictions.

You have a right to receive confidential communications from us.  For example, if you want to receive bills and other information at an alternative address, please notify us.

You have a right to inspect the information in your record, and may obtain a copy of it.  This may be subject to certain limitations and fees.  Your request must be in writing.

If you believe information in your record is inaccurate or incomplete, you may request amendment of the information.  You must submit sufficient information to support your request for amendment.  Your request must be in writing.

You have the right to request an accounting of certain disclosures made by us.

You have the right to complain to us about our privacy practices (including the actions of our staff with respect to the privacy of your health information).  You have the right to complain to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services about our privacy practices.  You will not face retaliation from us for making complaints.

Except as described in this Notice, we may not make any use or disclosure of information from your record unless you give your written authorization.  You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time, but this will not affect any use or disclosure made by us before the revocation.  In addition, if the authorization was obtained as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage, the insurer may have the right to contest the policy or a claim under the policy even if you revoke the authorization.

Use or disclosure of your protected health information that we are required to make without your permission

In certain circumstances, we are required by law to make a disclosure of your health information.  For example, state law requires us to report suspected abuse or neglect.  Also, we must disclose information to the Department of Health and Human Services, if requested, to prove that we are complying with regulations that safeguard your health information.

Use or disclosure of your protected health information that we are allowed to make without your permission

There are certain situations where we are allowed to disclose information from your record without your permission.  In these situations, we must use our professional judgment before disclosing information about you.  Usually, we must determine that the disclosure is in your best interest, and may have to meet certain guidelines and limitations. 

If you receive mental health care, including treatment for substance abuse, information related to that care may be more protected than other forms of health information.  Communications between a psychotherapist and patient in treatment are privileged and may not be disclosed without your permission, except as required by law.  For example, psychotherapists still must report suspected child abuse, and may have to breach confidentiality if you appear to pose an imminent danger to yourself or others, in order to reduce the likelihood of harm to you or others. 

We may report births and deaths to public health authorities, as well as certain types of diseases, injuries, adverse drug reactions, and product defects.  We may disclose information from your record to a medical examiner or coroner.  We may disclose information to funeral directors to allow them to carry out their duties upon your death. We may disclose information from your record to facilitate organ, eye, or tissue donation and transplantation

We may assist in health oversight activities, such as investigations of possible health care fraud.

We may disclose information from your record as authorized by workers' compensation laws.

We may disclose information from your record if ordered to do so by a court, grand jury, or administrative tribunal.  Under certain conditions, we may disclose information in response to a subpoena or other legal process, even if this is not ordered by a court. 

We may disclose information from your record to a law enforcement official if certain criteria are met.  For example, if such information would help locate or identify a missing person, we are allowed to disclose it.

If you tell us that you have committed a violent crime that caused serious physical harm to the victim, we may disclose that information to law enforcement officials.  However, if you reveal that information in a counseling or psychotherapy session, or in the course of treatment for this sort of behavior, we may not disclose the information to law enforcement officials.

We may use or disclose information from your record for research under certain conditions.

Under certain conditions, we may disclose information for specialized government purposes, such as the military, national security and intelligence, or protection of the President.

We may contact you with information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.

We may contact you for fundraising efforts.