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.

EASTER SEALS EAST GEORGIA -- POLICY ON CONFIDENTIALITY

The Easter Seals East Georgia (ESEG) shall not release confidential, personal information from its files without receipt of the informed written consent of the individual (or his/her representative, as appropriate) about whom the file is maintained. Personal information may be released to an organization, agency or individual as outlined under the procedural section of this policy.  Legal consultation shall be sought in any instance when there is legal notification of pending litigation against Easter Seals or it's representative or when Easter Seals or it's representative wishes to pursue legal action related to this policy. 

PROCEDURE:

Informed written consent shall include the purpose for which the information is desired, specific information desired, date of expiration of the informed written consent and dated signature of the individual or his/her representative.  The ESEG release form shall be used when requesting information or (if possible) when information is being requested from us.

A.Release to the individual:  When a written request is received from the client or his/her representative, the client will be directed to the referral source to procure that information since all information received in the referral packet was generated by other agencies/organizations/individuals and the information generated by us was at the request of and through payment by that referral source. Medical, psychological or other information which Easter Seals believes may be harmful to the individual may not be released directly to the individual but must be provided through his/her representative, a physician or a licensed or certified psychologist.

B.Release for audit, evaluation or research:  Personal information may be released to an organization, agency, or individual engaged in an approved audit, evaluation, or research only for purposes directly connected with the administration of the vocational rehabilitation program, or for purposes which would significantly improve the quality of life for persons with disabilities, and only if the organization, agency, or individual assures that:

1. The information shall be used only for purposes for which it is being provided;

2. The information shall be released only to persons officially connected with the audit, evaluation, or research;

3. The information shall not be released to the involved individual;

4. The information shall be managed in a manner to safeguard  confidentiality; and

5. The final product shall not reveal any personal identifying information without the informed written consent of the involved individual, or his/her representative.
           6. Easter Seals employees have the responsibility to require appropriate authorization and identification of any person requesting access to client information or data systems.  If there is any question regarding the request or the authority of  the person to access information, the President/CEO should be contacted immediately.  All requests for research, data and audits are required to have clearance through the President/CEO's office.  

C.Release to other programs or authorities:  Upon receiving the informed written consent of the individual, Easter Seals may release to another agency or organization for its program purposes only that personal information which was generated by Easter Seals, and only to the extent that the other agency or organization demonstrates that the information requested is necessary for its program.  Medical or psychological information which Easter Seals believes may be harmful to the individual may be released when the other agency or organization assures the division that  the information shall be used only for the purposes for which it is being provided and shall not be further released to the involved individual. 

D.Easter Seals shall release personal information in response to investigations in connection with law enforcement, fraud, or abuse, (except where expressly prohibited by federal or state laws or regulations) and in response to judicial order (subpoena).

E.In an emergency situation, Easter Seals may release personal information in order to protect the individual or others when the individual poses a threat to his/her safety or to the safety of others. Example: Hostage taking.

F.Subpoena, Request for Production of Document, Lawsuit, Deposition, Interview:  Upon receipt of a subpoena, any legal process, an informal request from an attorney or individual's representative, or any person for access to, or production of, information contained in a case file or records without the informed written consent of the individual the employee shall immediately notify his/her supervisor and the  President/CEO, who shall, when appropriate, notify Easter Seals' legal counsel.  Should circumstances make it impossible to obtain assistance prior to the time noted on the subpoena or the legal process for the employee's appearance, the employee shall appear at the designated time and place, but shall refuse to divulge, either verbally or by producing documents, the contents or substance of the individual's case file, unless and until ordered to do so by a specific verbal or written order of the judge of the court before whom the matter is pending.  In so refusing to divulge the information, the employee shall advise the person requesting the testimony or documents that disclosure is prohibited by federal confidentiality regulations 34 CFR 361.49 (e)(3), but that if ordered to disclose by the court, the employee shall comply.  At such time as an order from the judge is received by the employee, the employee shall immediately comply therewith.