Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Information Collection and Use

Virginia Mason Institute is the sole owner of the information collected on this site. We will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this statement, except to vendors and agents in support of Virginia Mason’s activities. Virginia Mason Institute does not commercially sell any customer lists or email addresses. Virginia Mason Institute may, however, disclose personal information if permitted or required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to applicable law or comply with legal process served on Virginia Mason Institute; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Virginia Mason Institute, the website, or the users; or (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Virginia Mason Institute, the website or the public.

Registration

In order to use some parts of the Virginia Mason Institute site, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration a user is required to give his or her contact information, usually a name and email address. This information is primarily used to contact the user about the services on our site for which the user has expressed interest (such as access to clinical publications). It is optional for the user to provide demographic data (such as specialty), but encouraged, so we can provide the user with better information when using our site.

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s hard drive containing information about the user. Usage of a cookie is not linked to any personally identifiable information while visiting the Virginia Mason Institute site. Once the user closes the browser, the cookie simply terminates. For instance, by setting a cookie on our site, the user would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. If a user rejects the cookie, he or she may still use our site. The only drawback to this is that the user will be limited in some areas of our site (e.g., cannot view certain content). Cookies can also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to further develop our website. Virginia Mason Institute does not use cookies to retrieve information from a user’s computer that was not originally sent in a cookie. Except as described in this Privacy Policy, we do not use information transferred through cookies for any promotional or marketing purposes, nor is that information shared with any third parties except when those third parties are performing services for Virginia Mason Institute.

Collection of Anonymous Information

In addition to the use of personal information, Virginia Mason Institute may also gather anonymous information which may be used by Virginia Mason Institute or shared with third parties. Generally this information is collected through “traffic data” and may entail the use of cookies and IP addresses. Virginia Mason Institute uses such traffic data to help determine how our users use parts of the website so we can analyze trends, administer the site, track users’ movements, or gather broad demographic information for aggregate use and a better experience for users. IP addresses and other traffic data are not linked to personally identifiable information.

Links

This website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that Virginia Mason Institute is not responsible for the privacy practices of these websites. Virginia Mason Institute is not responsible for content provided on these sites or for the validity of content on these site. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this website.

Security Policy

We exercise care in providing secure transmission of your information from your PC to our servers. Personal information collected by the Virginia Mason Institute website is stored in secure operating environments that are not available to the public. In many instances, such as in the case of credit card numbers and all online purchases, the personal information is encrypted before a user conducts a transaction. Only those employees who need access to the user’s information in order to do their jobs are allowed access, each having signed confidentiality agreements. Any employee who violates our privacy and/or security policies is subject to disciplinary action, including possible termination and civil and/or criminal prosecution.

Assignment

Virginia Mason Institute may change its ownership or corporate organization while providing the website and services. As a result, please be aware that Virginia Mason Institute may transfer a user’s information to another company that is affiliated with Virginia Mason Institute or with which Virginia Mason Institute has merged. Any new company will also follow this Privacy Policy.

Your Acceptance of These Terms

By using this site, you signify your acceptance of the Virginia Mason Institute Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our website. Your continued use of the Virginia Mason Institute website following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes.

Notification of Changes

If Virginia Mason Institute decides to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected. We do, however, recommend that you read this Privacy Policy each time you use our website for notice of changes to the Privacy Policy.

Correcting and Updating Information

Virginia Mason Institute also permits you to correct or update personally identifiable information that you have previously provided to us. To do so, send email to: info@virginiamasoninstitute.org indicating the information that you wish to be corrected or updated.

Opt-Out Procedures

You always may opt-out of receiving future contacts or mailings. Virginia Mason Institute provides you with the opportunity to opt out of receiving electronic communications from us and our partners at the point where we request information about you. To remove your personally identifiable information from our database, to not receive future communications or to no longer receive our service, send email to info@virginiamasoninstitute.org with the word “remove” in the subject line.

Information for Users in Europe and Elsewhere Outside the United States.

If you use our website outside of the United States, you understand that we may collect, process, and store your personal information in the United States and other countries. The laws in the U.S. regarding personal information may be different from the laws of your state or country. Any such transfers will comply with safeguards as required by relevant law. If applicable, you may have a right to claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of relevant data protection laws.

If you are a resident of the European Union or countries adopting the General Data Protection Regulation (“EEA”), or Switzerland, Virginia Mason Institute aims to meet the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and corresponding Swiss law, as explained below.

Purposes of processing and legal basis for processing

As explained above, we process personal data in various ways depending upon your use of our Website and services. We process personal data on the following legal bases: (1) with your consent; (2) as necessary to perform our agreement to provide services; and (3) as necessary for our legitimate interests in providing the Website and services where those interests do not override your fundamental rights and freedom related to data privacy.

Right to lodge a complaint

Users that reside in the EEA or Switzerland have the right to lodge a complaint about our data collection and processing actions with the supervisory authority concerned.

Transfers

Personal information we collect may be transferred to, and stored and processed in, the United States or any other country in which we or our affiliates or subcontractors maintain facilities. Under the General Data Protection Regulation, we will ensure that transfers of personal information to a third country or an international organization are subject to appropriate safeguards as described in Article 46 of the GDPR. Current third party partners who might receive data are: SalesForce; Eventbrite; Pardot; Google Analytics; Google AdWords; Bing Ads; LinkedIn; Facebook; Twitter; and Citrix.

Individual Rights

If you are a resident of the EEA or Switzerland, you are entitled to the following rights under the GDPR:

• The right to request data erasure – you have the right to have your data erased from our Website if the data is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, you withdraw consent and no other legal basis for processing exists, or you believe your fundamental rights to data privacy and protection outweigh our legitimate interest in continuing the processing.
• The right to restrict or object to our processing – you have the right to restrict or object to our processing if we are processing your data based on legitimate interests or the performance of a task in the public interest as an exercise of official authority (including profiling); using your data for direct marketing (including profiling); or processing your data for purposes of scientific or historical research and statistics.
• The right to object to automated decision making – you have a right to avoid being subject to automated decision making and insist on human intervention if we make an automated decision that produces a legal or a similarly significant effect on you.

Other Important Information

Children’s Data: Our Website is intended for users ages 16 and older only. Accordingly, we will not knowingly collect or use any personal data from children that we know to be under the age of 16. If we become aware of personal data in our database that was collected from a child under 16, we will delete such information.

Your California Privacy Rights: If you are a California resident, California law permits you to request certain information regarding the disclosure of your personal data by us and our related companies to third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send your request, by mail or email, to the contact details below.

For questions, to report a problem, or to address certain GDPR rights, please send your inquiry to info@virginiamasoninstitute.org. Alternatively, our mailing address is:

Virginia Mason Institute
1100 9th Ave.
M/S M10-VMI
Seattle, Washington 98101