Privacy statement

Website Privacy Statement

Use and disclosure of personal information includes using the information to improve the website of the services it describes. Our use and disclosure of an individual’s personal information is limited as required by state and federal law. We do not sell or rent personal information about visitors to the Website.

Security

The Website has security measures in place that are intended to help protect against the loss, misuse, unauthorized access or alteration of information under our control both during transmission and once the information is received. These measures include encryption of data using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) system. Despite these measures, the confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted to or from us via the Website by Internet cannot be guaranteed. At your discretion, you may contact us at the mailing address or telephone number listed in the “Questions, complaints, and contacts” section at the end of this Privacy Statement.

Revisions to the Privacy Statement

We may revise this Privacy Statement from time to time as we add new features or modify the way in which we manage information, or as laws change that may affect our services. If we make material changes to our Privacy Statement, we will post notice of this on our Website. prior to the changes becoming effective. Any revised Privacy Statement will apply both to information we already have about you at the time of the change, and any personal information created or received after the change takes effect. We include a version number on this Privacy Statement consisting of the date (year, month, and day) it was last revised. We encourage you to periodically reread this Privacy Statement, to see if there have been any changes to our policies that may affect you.

Website visitor data

In addition to web logs, described below, Kaiser Permanente routinely gathers data on website activity, such as how many people visit the site, the web pages they visit, where they come from, how long they stay, etc. The data is collected on an aggregate basis, which means that no personally identifiable information is associated with the data. This data helps us improve our content and overall usage. The information is not shared with other organizations for their independent use.

The Website does not honor a browser’s signal or header request not to track the user’s activity.

Collecting and using and disclosing personal information

Except as disclosed in this Privacy Statement, we do not collect any personally identifiable information about visitors to the Website. The policies, sources, uses and disclosures of information are outlined in Sections 1 through 9 that follow:

1. Information collection, use and disclosure

We collect the following personal information from you:

• contact information such as name, email address

We use and disclose this information to:

• respond to customer service requests
• respond to your questions and concerns
• improve our website and marketing efforts
• conduct internal quality improvement or business analysis

2. Web logs

As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically. We maintain standard Web logs that record data about all visitors and customers who use the Website and we store this information for no longer than reasonably useful to carry out its legitimate business purpose, or as legally required. These logs may contain the Internet domain from which you access the site (such as aol.com, abc.org, etc.); the IP address which is automatically assigned to your computer when you get on the Internet (a static IP address may be identifiable as being connected to you, while a dynamic address is usually not identifiable); the type of browser and operating system you use; the date and time you visited; and the address of the website you linked from, if any.

All Web logs are stored securely, and may only be accessed by Kaiser Permanente employees or designees on a need-to-know basis for a specific purpose. Kaiser Permanente uses Web log information to help us design our Website, to identify popular features, to resolve user, hardware, and software problems, to make the Website more useful to visitors and for security purposes.

3. Internet cookies

We and our partners may place Internet “cookies” or similar technologies on the computer hard drives of visitors to the Website. Information we obtain helps us to tailor our site to be more helpful and efficient for our visitors. The cookie consists of a unique identifier that does not contain information about your health history. We use two types of cookies, “session” cookies and “persistent” cookies, along with other similar technologies.

A session cookie is temporary, and expires after you end a session and close your web. We use session cookies to track your “click path” through our Web pages.

You may have software on your computer that will allow you to decline or deactivate Internet cookies, but if you do so, some features of the Website may not work properly for you. For instructions on how to remove cookies from your hard drive, go to your browser’s website for detailed instructions. In addition, further information regarding cookies may be available on other websites or from your Internet service provider. Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and iOS browsers are commonly used browsers.

4. Web beacons

We may also occasionally use “Web beacons” (also known as “clear gifs,” “Web bugs,” “1-pixel gifs,” etc.) that allow us to collect non-personal information about your response to our email communications, and for other purposes. Web beacons are tiny images, placed on a Web page or email, that can tell us if you’ve gone to a particular area on our website.

5. Messages and transactions

Comments or questions sent to us using email will be shared with Kaiser Permanente staff who are most able to address your concerns. We will archive your messages once we have made our best effort to provide you with a complete and satisfactory response.

6. Children

We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If Kaiser Permanente is made aware of collecting information from a child under 13 we will delete this information.

7. Disclosures

We may disclose personal information to any person performing audit, legal, operational, or other services for us. We will use information which does not identify the individual for these activities whenever reasonably possible. Information disclosed to vendors or contractors for operational purposes may not be re-disclosed to others by such a vendor or contractor, except as permitted by KP and applicable law.

We may also disclose your personal information to third parties who provide services on our behalf to help with our business activities. These companies are authorized to use your personal information only as necessary to provide these services to us.

These services may include:

• providing customer service
• conducting research and analysis
• providing cloud computing infrastructure

We may also disclose your personal information:

• as required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, or similar legal process
• as described in our Notices of Privacy Practices for protected health information
• when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect you or others from threats of imminent harm, investigate fraud or other activity in violation of the law, or respond to government requests (including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements)
• to protect the security and reliability of the Website
• if Kaiser Permanente is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets. You will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our Website of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your personal information
• to any other third party with your prior consent to do so

8. Other requests to limit use and disclosure of your personal information

State and federal laws may allow you to request that we limit our uses and disclosures of your personal information for treatment, payment, and health care operations purposes. We will consider all requests and, if we deny your request, we will notify you in writing.

9. Data retention

We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Questions, complaints, and contacts

If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement, our policies and practices concerning the Website, your rights under this statement, and your dealings with the Mid-Atlantic States Cosmetic Dermatology Website, you can contact our designated agent as follows:

Agent: Mid-Atlantic Cosmetic Dermatology Website Support
Email: Anvesha.mehra@kp.org

Last revised January 26, 2018.