Updated: September 24, 2008; effective October 25, 2008 We, at American Health Care Association (“AHCA”), believe you, as a visitor to our websites and user of certain applications and data, including our advanced research tools (collectively, the “Services”), have a right to know our practices regarding the information we collect when you visit or use one of our Services. This privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) is an agreement you have with us and, among other things, provides you notice of our information management practices, including the types of information we collect, how such information is used, stored and safeguarded and the degree to which we may share your information across our various internet properties including, without limitation www.ahcancal.org, www.ncal.org, www.ahcancal.org, www.providermagazine.com, www.longtermcareliving.com, www.famlies4care.org, www.nnhw.org, www.nalw.org and www.ltctrendtracker.com (and any others released by the AHCA from time to time).
While you may use some of the functionality of our Services without registration, a number of the more advanced search tools and data feeds that we make available require registration. Please understand that if choose not register and provide us with certain information, you may not be able to use some or all of these offerings
When we use "our," "we," or "us" in this Privacy Policy, we mean not only AHCA, but also the agents and contractors that operate or administer any of the Services or conduct Service-related activities on our behalf.
What Privacy Policies Are Applicable to Me?
This Privacy Policy governs our use and management of your Personal Information and other information that we may retrieve from you, and applies to the Services that are made available to you by AHCA. For purposes of this Privacy Policy, “Personal Information” refers to all personally identifiable information, including without limitation, your name, email address, mailing and/or billing address, telephone number, credit card number and other security/identification information.
It is important to note that some of our Services are made available to you by both us and some of our partners. Therefore, when you take certain actions, you may be participating in such joint offerings and your Personal Information and other information that we previously or thereafter obtained from you (or that you previously or thereafter provided to us) in accordance with this Privacy Policy will also be provided to certain of our partners.
If your Personal Information is provided to one or more of our partners, each such entity/organization will use, manage and maintain your Personal Information in accordance with its own privacy policy. Therefore, by agreeing to this Privacy Policy, you also agree to the terms of their privacy policies. We shall try to notify you when your Personal Information will be shared with such partners and provide you with a link to their privacy policies. We, however, will always use your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Acceptance of Privacy Policy
You accept and agree to be bound by and comply with all of the provisions of this Privacy Policy if you do, have done or attempt to do any of the following: (i) access or use all or any part of the Services, (ii) provide Personal Information through, on or to the Services, (iii) select or click “I Agree”, “I Accept” (or other comparable, reasonably equivalent or similar words) on any tool or application contained within the Services, or (iv) complete a registration process. Please note, we use the term “use” and “using” to mean anytime you download, copy, transmit, access, initiate or utilize any of the capabilities, functions, features, applications or tools of our Services or if you merely attempt to do any of these things.
Non-Personal Information We Collect About You
In addition to the Personal Information we may collect about you, we also collect non-Personal Information about your use of our Services, but such information is collected anonymously and in the aggregate. This is accomplished when computers access certain of our Services, and as a result, is assigned a cookie by our system. A cookie is a form of technology which stores small bits of data on your computer. In actuality, we may use a wide variety of technological tools, means and mechanisms (i.e., XML technology, clickstream data, etc.) to help us collect information about you, but cookies are typically the most widely used. The information collected by cookies (i) helps us dynamically generate materials and content for our newsletters, research materials and other publications, (ii) allows us to statistically monitor how many users (unique and otherwise) are using our Services, (iii) helps us determine how many people open our emails, (iv) for what purpose users are accessing and using our Services, and (v) helps us determine how we can optimize, enhance and create better experiences across our Services. Cookies may also be used to facilitate and/or save your log-in and account information, as navigation tools and session timers.
Most web browsers can be set to reject all cookies. If you reject our cookies, certain of the functions and conveniences of our Services may not work properly and in some cases, may not work at all. We do not link non-Personal Information from Cookies to Personal Information without your permission and we do not use cookies to store or collect Personal Information about you.
Personal Information
If you choose to provide us with Personal Information by sending an email, or by filling out a form with your personal information and submitting it through one of our Services, we use that information to respond to your message, to give you access to certain features and tools and to help us provide you with information or materials that you request. Please note that you are responsible for providing your most current, accurate and complete Personal Information or other information to us upon registration. By doing so, you may be able to access and use certain advanced database applications and search tools, subscribe to newsletters and use other Services not otherwise available to non-registered users. We may combine Personal Information or other information you provide to us with other information we collect from you or from third parties so that we can more effectively tailor our Services and offerings to you and our other users.
The Personal Information contemplated herein may include, without limitation, information concerning your agency that we require to give you access to AHCA-provided data collection and reporting tools. You represent and warrant that, under no circumstances shall any Personal Information submitted by you with respect to the foregoing be inaccurate, misleading, obtained in an unauthorized manner or is a violation of applicable law.
Using Your Personal Information
Without your consent, we reserve the right to communicate with you concerning any of the following: (i) your account, (ii) your use of any of the Services, (iii) Service updates, (iv) to provide you with Service announcements, and (v) for technical or customer support purposes. In addition and unless you notify us otherwise, we may also communicate with you about various Services or other activities we believe may be of interest to you. You can unsubscribe and opt out of receiving our communications by simply clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any email newsletter or other email communication and sending the message automatically generated. Of course you can always contact the webmaster or technical support staff through the available technical support mechanisms.
In summary, we do not give, share, sell, or transfer any of your Personal Information to third parties unless required by law.
Message Boards & Other Public Forums
As a service to our users, we feature several public message boards, blogs and other public forums where users can share information and interact with each other via our Services. Any information (including Personal Information) that you disclose on such message boards, in a blog or in any other public forum is by design accessible to the public and is not a private, secure environment. Please think carefully before disclosing any Personal Information in any public forum, as that which you write or otherwise disclose may be collected by third parties and used by others in ways we are unable to control or predict.
When you use the AHCA data collection and reporting tools, you shall be required to classify and identify the data you submit via the tools as general data that we are permitted to disclose to all users of the Services, in the aggregate, or data that should only be accessible to your permitted group of users (e.g., facility specific users). In some instances, the very tools and applications through which the data is submitted will indicate the nature thereof without any further requirements on your part. However, if you are prompted to identify the nature of the data and you fail to do so, AHCA reserves the right to post and make available the data on a general aggregate basis, for which AHCA shall have no liability, nor shall you have any recourse against the AHCA.
Market Research
An important component of our Services is the market research that we conduct in various health and long-term care related industries and fields. We gather this information from a variety of sources including publications, research papers, surveys, focus groups and member/user contributions. This information is used for subscriber industry research purposes and not for sale or other commercial purposes.
An important feature of our Services is the ability for you to submit certain industry information for others to review, and in return, allow you to view their industry information. All such information will be presented via the Service in an aggregate statistical form without any identifiable information. Nevertheless, we do not warrant the confidentiality and/or anonymity of this information. Please be aware that you disclose this information at your own risk.
Furthermore, we reserve the right to send and/or share this non-identifiable, aggregate data with select partners and other third parties of our choosing. We require parties with whom we share this information to agree they will not commercially exploit or attempt to make this information identifiable, such as by combining it with other databases.
Security
Subject to and consistent with our Terms of Service, we take reasonable commercial precautions in maintaining the security and confidentiality of your Personal Information (and other information) and in preventing unauthorized access. For example, we use SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption with our credit card processors. In addition, some other measures we take to protect your Personal Information include: (i) using firewalls to protect information held in our servers, (ii) closely monitoring the limited number of employees and/or contractors who have potential access to your Personal Information, (iii) back-up of our systems to protect the integrity of your Personal Information, and (iv) the requirement that users of certain applications within our Services establish accounts with log-in names and passwords. In addition to the foregoing, various third party contractors of the AHCA may have access to your Personal Information. These contractors are held to strict policies to safeguard the information and provide the same level of privacy protection as guaranteed by us.
Although we take these precautions in maintaining the security of your Personal Information (and other information) very seriously, we cannot and do not guarantee that unauthorized access will never occur or that any communications over the Internet, telephone, wireless or other communications means will be uninterrupted, error free or not intercepted by others improperly and without authorization.
Special Notice Regarding Usage by Children
We do not target, intend to collect or allow the collection, storage or use of any Personal Information or other information for anyone under 13 years old. We do not and will not knowingly collect, maintain, store use or disclose such information. If you are under 13 years old, you should not provide any Personal Information or other information about yourself through our Services. If you are a parent or guardian who knows or has discovered your child under the age of 13 has submitted his or her Personal Information or other information without your consent, permission or authorization, once we verify you are the child’s parent or legal guardian, upon request, we will remove your child’s Personal Information or other information from our database. To request removal of your child's Personal Information and other information, email us at update@ahca.org and be sure to include the same user name, email address and password your child submitted. If you don’t know or are not sure, please so state in your email.
Links to Other Sites
From time to time we may offer links to other websites from our Services. Other websites may also reference or link to our Services. However, we do not endorse or sponsor other websites, are not responsible for the privacy policies, practices or the content of such websites, expressly disclaim any statements or assertions made on such websites, and deny all liability associated with your use of, and the content on, such other websites. You may arrive at one of these websites by selecting a link on any of our website pages. These websites might issue their own cookies or collect Personal Information, so please use caution when visiting an external site. We are not responsible for the actions or policies of such third parties with respect to Personal Information or other information you may give them, and you should carefully read and understand the applicable privacy policy whenever you provide Personal Information to anyone.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time and from time to time. Accordingly, we recommend and encourage you to check back frequently to be sure you have reviewed the most current Privacy Policy provisions and remain aware of those provisions of the current version of the Privacy Policy that apply to you. For non-material changes to this Privacy Policy, we may not notify you of such modifications. In case of any material change to the Privacy Policy, however, we will change the "Privacy Policy" links on the Services for all or any of the Services affected to links entitled "Privacy Policy Updated XX/XX/XXXX" for at least 30 days. All changes to the Privacy Policy will be effective when posted and your continued use of any of our Services after the posting will constitute your acceptance of, and agreement to be bound by, all the changes.