Effective Date: November 16, 2009
Privacy Policy
Healthcare Watchdog, LLC ("Healthcare Watchdog™") is committed to your privacy.
This privacy policy (this "Privacy Policy") explains how we collect, use and disclose
the information we receive from and about visitors to www.HealthcareWatchdog.net
(the "Site") and customers of our services, as accessed through the Site.
Collection of Information
Personal Information Healthcare Watchdog™collects personal information,
including but not limited to name, physical address, email address, telephone number,
and credit card information, from you when you:
(1) register on the Site; (2) sign up for service; (3) contact us; (4) complete
a survey; or (5) otherwise submit your information to us. We may combine your personal
information with information we receive from you offline, as well as with information
we receive about you from other sources, such as address update services.
Personal Health Information
In order to provide our Services to you, at such time as you may wish to file
a grievance against your insurance company(ies) it will be necessary for Healthcare
Watchdog™ to collect your Personal Health Information ("PHI") from your insurance
company(ies) and/or your doctor(s) and/or other healthcare provider(s). Your PHI
is specifically protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"). Although Healthcare Watchdog™ is not a "covered entity"
as defined by HIPAA, because we obtain PHI information from covered entities, it
is part of the Privacy Policy of Healthcare Watchdog™ to comply with HIPAA
in all ways. Therefore, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Privacy
Policy, Healthcare Watchdog™ will not make any use of your PHI if doing so
would violate the terms of HIPAA.
Non-Personal Information
Healthcare Watchdog™may collect non-personal information from you,
including your browser type, operating system, IP address and the domain from which
you accessed the Site. In addition, we may collect information about your browsing
behavior, such as Site pages viewed, time spent using certain services or viewing
the Site, the date and time of your visit and other click-stream data. We may combine
this non-personal information with the personal information we have collected from
and about you.
Cookies and Web Beacons
We use cookies to collect the non-personal information described above.
"Cookies" are pieces of information that may be placed on your computer by a web
site for the purpose of facilitating and enhancing your communication and interaction
with that web site. We may use cookies to customize your visit to the Site, to monitor
Site usage, to conduct research and for other purposes to make your visit more convenient
or to enable us to enhance our content and services.
You may restrict the placement of cookies on your computer by adjusting your browser
preferences, in which case you may still use our Site, but it may interfere with
some of its functionality. Check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to
change your cookie preferences.
Use of Information
We use the information we collect from and about you: (1) to fulfill your
requests for services and products; (2) to contact you with information and promotional
materials and offers from us, as well as from our subsidiaries, affiliates, marketing
partners, advertisers and other third parties; (3) to contact you when necessary;
(4) to review service and Site usage and operations; (5) to address problems with
the service, the Site or our other products and services; and (6) to protect the
security or integrity of the Site, service and our business.
Disclosure of Information We may disclose the information that
we collect from and about you: (1) to our service providers, to perform a business,
professional, or technical support function for us, (2) as necessary, if we believe
that there has been a violation of our Terms of Service or of our rights or the
rights of any third party; (3) to respond to judicial process and provide information
to law enforcement agencies or in connection with an investigation on matters related
to public safety, as permitted by law, or otherwise as required by law; (4) to any
third party, if you have provided your consent, and (5) if our company or substantially
all of its assets are acquired, your information may be one of the transferred assets.
We will not sell, rent or otherwise share your personal information with our marketing
partners, advertisers or other third parties.
We may share non-personal information about you with third parties.
Security
Healthcare Watchdog™has invested and deployed a wide variety of technology
and security features to make reasonable efforts to ensure the privacy of information
on its network. In addition, Healthcare Watchdog™ has implemented operations
guidelines to ensure Customer and Visitor privacy is safeguarded at every level
of its organization. Healthcare Watchdog™will continue to revise policies
and implement additional security features as new technologies becomes available.
However, no system or service can give a 100% guaranty of security, especially a
service that relies upon the public Internet. Therefore, you acknowledge the risk
that third parties may gain unauthorized access to your information when using our
services.
Your Postings to the Site
You should be aware that any personal information which you voluntarily
include and transmit through publicly accessible forums (i.e., such as chat rooms,
blogs, instant messages, listservs) may be viewed and used by anyone with access
to such forums. Healthcare Watchdog™is unable to control such uses of your
personal information, and by using such services you assume the risk that the personal
information provided by you may be viewed and used by third parties.
Account Information
Subject to certain security requirements, Healthcare Watchdog™will
do its best to honor requests from our customers for access to their account information,
for example, name, address, company, or billing information. You are responsible
for ensuring that the information on file with Healthcare Watchdog™is current
and accurate.
Children's Privacy Policy
We do not direct our service or the Site to, nor do we knowingly collect
personal information from, children or teenagers under the age of eighteen.
Third Party Web Sites and Services
Our Site may contain links to other web sites and services not maintained
by Healthcare Watchdog™. We are not responsible for the privacy practices
or the content of such other web sites and services.
Opt-out Policy
If you do not want us to use your personal information for any direct marketing
purposes, then you may opt out of such disclosures by calling us at 1-888-898-0850
or emailing us at privacy@HealthcareWatchdog.net. Because we must use a customer's
personal information in order to provide him or her with services, a customer cannot
opt-out of all uses of his or her information, without canceling service.
Changes to this Policy
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will
post the change(s) on our web site. If we change the policy in a material way, we
will provide appropriate online notice to you.
United States of America
This web site is hosted in the United States. If you are visiting from
outside of the U.S., law please note that you are transferring your personal data
to the U.S., which may not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction.
By providing your personal data, you consent to: (1) the use of your personal data
in accordance with this Privacy Policy, and (2) the transfer of your personal data
to the U.S.
Contact Us
If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact
us at support@HealthcareWatchdog.net
or Customer Service
Healthcare Watchdog, LLC
PO Box 190
Cross River, NY 10518
800-354-1327