UW CME Privacy Policy

Table of Contents

Section 1: Introduction

Your privacy is important to us. We have created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. The following document discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for this Web site, http://uwcme.org.

Only under unusual circumstances will information be revealed in violation of the policy. Release of confidential information would take place to comply with any legal process, protect or defend the University of Washington or other individuals or organizations involved with this project (including protecting the property of said parties), or to enforce University of Washington policies. Be aware that UW is an agency of the state of Washington and as such has obligations to maintain public records under RCW 42.18, which potentially requires us to provide Web site records if requested by anyone through the proper legal process. Disclosure might also occur by a break-in to the site’s computers, either physical or electronic, and/or a UW employee, UW student, or other contractual partner who violates UW privacy rules.

Section 2: Explanation of Information Collected

This notice applies to all information collected by or submitted to this Web site. We collect information about you during the registration process for our site. The information we request from you may include personal and/or demographic information, as explained below.

The personal information we request will only be used to verify your subscription to our online offerings, contact you about issues related to this subscription, or notify you of course updates. It will never be given to any third parties, unless required of us by law. The personal information we request may include these items: name, e-mail address, physical address, and phone number.

The demographic information we collect or request will only be used as anonymous data for research purposes. It will not be provided to third parties, except as required by law. The demographic information we collect or request may include these items: name, e-mail address, physical address, and phone number.

Section 3: System Logs

We also keep a minimum set of system logs that allow us to tune and protect the service and determine general usage patterns. We do not keep such information any longer than necessary to meet these objectives. The system log information we collect or request may include these items: name of domain from which you access the Internet, the date and time of your visit to our site, the Internet address of the Web site you linked from, files viewed, and other selected machine-centered information, e.g., browser type, to help when there are problems to be debugged.

Section 4: Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses

An Internet Protocol (IP) address does not identify you personally, but rather identifies the location you are computing from. We do collect IP addresses from those visiting our Web site. These addresses are used to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our site.

Section 5: Opt-Out Policy

When we collect or request information that may be used by us to contact you, or that may be provided to third parties, you will be given a choice as to whether or not you would like your information used for purposes not directly related to our site ("opt-in" or "opt-out").

Section 6: Cookies

This Web site does use cookies. "Cookies" are pieces of information that a Web site transfers to your computer’s hard disk for record-keeping purposes. The use of cookies is an industry standard and many Web sites use them. Cookies themselves do not personally identify users, although they do identify a user’s computer. We use cookies to allow users’ computers to save their passwords for the Web site and to allow access to certain portions of our site.

If you do not wish to have cookies placed on your computer, you can modify your own Internet browser preferences for how it accepts or rejects cookies. However, if you set your browser to reject cookies, you may be unable to view certain portions of our site. Check your browser help file for more information on modifying cookie preferences.

Section 7: Links

This Web site may contain links to other sites. Please be aware that uwcme.org is not responsible for the privacy practices of other such sites. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.

Section 8: Information Voluntarily Disclosed

We use information provided by you to contact other individuals only for the purpose for which the address was solicited. For example, if you request we forward information about this site or our technology to another party, we will only use the contact information for that purpose. Return e-mail addresses and third party addresses sent to us for the purpose of forwarding site information are never sold to other sites or businesses.

Section 9: Legal Restrictions

This policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington. If any provision of this agreement shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from the other provisions and shall not affect the validity of the other provisions.

Section 10: Security

This Web site takes every reasonable precaution to protect our users’ information. When users submit sensitive information via the Web site, that information is protected both online and offline.

This Web site is hosted on servers maintained by the University of Washington Department of Continuing Medical Education computer personnel. Information received by this Web site is treated with the same security procedures as other UW information on these servers, including restricting server equipment and file access to appropriate personnel.

Our identification designation and password are used only to verify your identity as a member of the site. This verification takes place through a secured system managed by the University of Washington Department of Continuing Medical Education computer personnel.

Section 11: Information Management

Information Access or Correction

This site offers you the option of changing or removing your personal information from our database. You can change or remove your information by contacting the University of Washington Continuing Medical Education Department by mail, telephone or e-mail at:

Continuing Medical Education
1325 4th Avenue Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98101
Phone: 206-543-1050
Fax: 206-221-4525
cme@u.washington.edu

Be aware that removing certain contact information may make it impossible for us to confirm your subscription or contact you with software updates.

How to Contact Us

Should you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy, please e-mail the Office of Software and Copyright Ventures of the University of Washington at ventures@u.washington.edu.

Notification of Changes with the Privacy Policy

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on our website so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. Please periodically check this privacy statement for changes. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify users by way of e-mail (if we have their e-mail address).

This privacy statement supercedes all prior UW CME privacy statements and is effective January 13, 2003.