Privacy Policy

Easter Seals Online Network Privacy Policy

Last Updated April 3, 2006

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 SOUTHERN GEORGIA, INC.
NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED, AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.

Easter Seals Southern Georgia, Inc. (Easter Seals) is required by law to provide individuals with notice of its legal duties and privacy practices with respect to its use and disclosure of protected health information (phi) in its possession and is required to abide by the terms of this notice

USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION

Easter Seals is permitted to use and disclose phi so that it can provide treatment to you, be paid for our services to you and to manage our organization.

Otherwise, Easter Seals will not use or disclose phi except:

  • To you or your appointed guardian upon written request by you or your guardian
  • In compliance with a valid authorization signed by you or your guardian, provided that you or your guardian may revoke the authorization in writing
  • To another provider of services if your service plan calls for the transfer to the provider for treatment or services
  • In a medical emergency to your doctor, emergency room, or hospital
  • To create and disclose protected health information that does not identify you
  • When required by the Secretary of Health and Human Services
  • When required in a judicial or administrative proceeding or for law enforcement purposes
  • When necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public
  • Easter Seals may disclose phi to a health oversight agency for oversight activities: including audits, licensure, or accreditation activities or other oversight activities     

RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS

You have the following rights with respect to your protected health information:

  • To request Easter Seals to place ant additional restrictions on the use and disclosure of phi, provided that Easter Seals is not legally required to agree to such additional restrictions
  • To request that Easter seals communicate with you about your phi only in a certain location or through a certain method.  You do not need to give a reason for the request but you request must tell us where you wish to be contacted
  • To require Easter Seals to allow you to inspect and copy your phi
  • To require Easter Seals to mend inaccurate or incomplete phi created by Easter Seals
  • To require Easter Seals to provide a paper copy of this Notice to you
  • To require Easter Seals to tell you about any disclosures of your phi, provided Easter Seals is not required to account for discloser required for treatment, payment or health care operation, or which are permitted by this Notice

The above rights may be exercised by you delivering a written notice to Easter Seals specifying the right or rights, which you are exercising.

COMPLAINTS

You may file a written complaint with Easter Seals and the Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.  You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint

To file a complaint with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, write to the following address:

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
200 INDEPENDENCE AVENUE, SW
WASHINGTON DC 20201

To file a complaint with Easter Seals, write to the following address or call one of the following numbers

EASTER SEALS SOUTHERN GEORGIA
1906 PALMYRA ROAD
ALBANY, GA 31701
ATTN: PRIVACY OFFICER
(229) 439-7061
(800) 365-4583

If you need assistance in writing you complaint, our Privacy Officer, Matt Hatcher will assist you. You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

The current Notice of Privacy Practices is posted at our main office and at each site where we provide care.  Easter Seals reserves the right to change the terms of our Notice of Privacy Practices effective for all health information we already have about you as well as any health information we receive in the future.  Any revised Notice will be posted as stated above.  You may also receive a copy of any revised Notice of Policy Practices by contacting our Privacy Officer.

EFFECTIVE DATE

This notice of Privacy Practices is effective April 14, 2003.  Revised March 1, 2007