Effective November 24, 2010
Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining the type of information that Asthmapolis collects from the people who use the site, how that information is shared with other parties, and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. To make this notice easy to find, we make it available on our homepage and at every point where personally identifiable information may be requested. We reserve the right to modify this policy at any time, and without prior notice, by posting amended privacy policy and terms on this website. We encourage you to review this policy periodically for any updates.
THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT
Asthmapolis enables individuals to record information about their asthma through a variety of mechanisms including medication sensors, and computer and mobile phone interfaces. In addition, we provide a way for people to share that information with others in their community, including individuals, physicians and health care providers, and public health agencies.
The type of information that members may submit to Asthmapolis at the site may include:
- Information about their disease or condition, including diagnosis, natural history, and family history
- Treatment regimens, including the types of medication(s), dates, and dosages and frequency of use
- The type, severity and duration of symptoms, as well as perceived triggers
- Outcome measures, such as composite questionnaire measures of asthma control and quality of life over time.
- Demographic characteristics such as age, gender, residence and work location, general notes, biography, and a photo
- The location of asthma related events, including symptoms and medication use.
- Use of healthcare for asthma, including clinical consultations, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations.
- Impact of asthma on day-to-day activities like school and work
- Financial expenditures associated with asthma treatments and healthcare
In the course of using the Site, Asthmapolis may also prompt you to provide certain information about yourself including your name, email address, date of birth, mailing address, and password. Patient members and their caregivers may enter as much or as little information as they like and should not enter any information they feel uncomfortable sharing.
You are encouraged to share information about yourself and your asthma, but please consider that the more information that is entered, and the more personally identifiable the information is, the more likely it is that you could be located or identified.
We may also periodically ask you to complete short surveys about your experiences for research purposes or on behalf of third parties with which Asthmapolis works closely, including researchers, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, and insurance companies. You are free to respond or not. Your participation in these surveys is not required, and your refusal to do so will not impact your experience on the site.
Cookies are required to use the Asthmapolis service. A cookie is a small data file on your computer, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier that is sent to your browser from the computers running a website. Asthmapolis uses both session and persistent cookies. Session cookies are temporary files that are established with your browser until you log out of the website. Session cookies do not store any personally identifying information, only a unique visitor ID number that we can use to personalize how the Asthmapolis website works for you. Persistent cookies remain in the cookie file of your browser for a longer period of time, including after you have left the Asthmapolis website. Persistent Cookies do not store any personally identifiable information, only preferences that should persist across visits.
HOW INFORMATION ABOUT YOU AND YOUR ASTHMA IS USED
To create the best possible tools, research and functionality for our community, Asthmapolis may use your personally identifiable information internally as needed. Asthmapolis may use your personally identifiable information to fulfill any request you make. When necessary, we may also provide your personally identifiable information to approved vendors for their use in assisting us with the maintenance and operation of the Site.
Asthmapolis and its Partners are interested in better understanding the management and impact of asthma and in identifying better ways to address asthma at the public health level. In addition to serving the individual needs of our members, Asthmapolis provides information to Partners and other third parties, including for use in scientific research and market research. Asthmapolis removes pieces of personally identifiable information that can reasonably be used to identify you prior to sharing information with third parties.
If you choose to voluntarily share information about your asthma, it will be anonymized and combined with information from other members. The public, and other members will be able to view aggregated information about asthma, however, neither you nor your events will be identifiable in this information. Additionally, so that others can learn from your experiences, your profile data will be aggregated and made available to other members and partners. For example, we may report the number of patients in a given area experiencing an asthma episode, or the number of individuals experiencing a particular symptom.
In the future, we may provide an opt-in service to allow our Partners (including but not limited to pharmaceutical companies, medical devices companies, non-profits, and research institutions) to directly communicate with you through our system.
PRIVACY SETTINGS
Asthmapolis offers two privacy levels you may choose for your participation:
- Visible: Asthmapolis members can see your profile and username as well as your asthma event information. In addition, your asthma event information is anonymized and aggregated with that from other members.
- Private: Your profile information and your username are not visible to others and the information about your asthma is not included in community estimates.
You may change your privacy level at any time. Regardless of which level you choose, personally identifiable user Information not contained in your profile, such as full name or email, will not be revealed to others without your consent.
Because part of the value of Asthmapolis is generated by aggregating voluntarily shared data from individuals in the community and providing that information to its members as well as to public health agencies, we hope that you feel comfortable enough to make your profile as visible as possible.
OTHER SECURITY ISSUES
Asthmapolis cannot cannot guarantee the authenticity of any data that members may provide about themselves or their asthma.
Finally, you should know that Asthmapolis takes commercially reasonable technical precautions to help keep your data secure.
RISKS AND BENEFITS
While our goal is to help patients with asthma improve their health outcomes, there are no certain benefits to using Asthmapolis tools or services. However, the use of diaries to record asthma symptoms, treatments and outcomes, as well as asthma action plans, has been shown to be helpful in improving asthma management.
There are also no known risks to using this website. There is a possibility that users may feel uncomfortable sharing information online. It is possible that employers, insurance companies or others may discriminate based on health information. You are free to stop using this service at any time. You are also free to skip any questions or data fields that make you feel uncomfortable.
If you are reading this Privacy Policy because you have access to the personal information of a Site participant, we urge you to recognize and fulfill your responsibility to protect the privacy of that person.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRIVACY POLICY
If you have questions or comments about our privacy policy, please let us know, or contact us at:
Reciprocal Labs Corporation
3 S. Pinckney St – Suite 815
Madison, WI 53703
History of Updates/Changes to Terms and Conditions of Use:
