PRIVACY POICY

The Vascular Birthmarks Foundation (VBF) is committed to providing a safe environment for all visitors to our website. We respect your privacy, and would like you to know what is done with any information collected during your visit to our site.

By using the VBF website , you consent to this Privacy Policy, including its principals and terms of use, and also to our Cookie Policy, Disclaimer, and HIPAA Policy.

OVERVIEW

Visiting and interacting with birthmark.org 

Our site logs IP addresses so that we can track certain visitor activity (e.g., how many total visitors we have, the most popular pages of our site, etc.). We also use personal ‘cookies’ that help you navigate through the site (cookie policy). VBF does not belong to banner ad network and does not access or allow access by other organizations.  More detailed information can be found in the Privacy Principles described below.

All personal information such as name, age, phone number or mailing address must be provided voluntarily by visitors to our websites.  All personal data collected by VBF is securely stored and will be used solely for identification and/or purposes stated when the information is requested.

This data may be collected for event registrations or online giving programs and may be collected from physicians, patients, and parents for the specific, stated purpose.

VBF will not sell, distribute or otherwise make available to third parties any information we collect on this site, unless it is necessary to process a financial transaction.  In that case, your information must be shared with our merchant account processor to clear the Address Verification Service.

Children, as always, are encouraged to check with their parents before providing any information on any website they visit.

Opting out of bulk communications

VBF sends bulk newsletters via email.  You may opt out of receiving these by:

1. Clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each of these communications and filling in your email address, or

2. Sending an email to birthmark.org@gmail.com with the name and corresponding email address to opt out, or

3. Writing to: VBF, PO Box 106, Latham, NY 12110 and include your contact details and the email address you would like removed from our bulk email list.

After opting out of our bulk newsletters, VBF may still communicate with you by email to send business enhancing communications such as receipts, registration confirmations, and any other communications that VBF deems necessary to conduct business.  It may take up to one week for your opt out to become effective.

Sensitive Medical Information

The Vascular Birthmarks Foundation does, by its nature, sometimes become aware of sensitive medical information through contact. This information is used internally and not sold, shared, or rented by the VBF. Any photographs, drawings, descriptions, or other visual means of representation of medical conditions remain the property of the patient and will not be displayed on this web site without permission from the owners or guardians. Please see our HIPAA Notice of Information Practices and Privacy Statement to find out more about how we use your information.

 

PRIVACY PRINCIPLES

Because your privacy is important to us, VBF conducts its business under the following principles:

  • Principle 1: No Combination of Browsing and Web Traffic Information with Personal Information
    VBF does not combine traffic analysis information with personal information such as name, age, phone number or mailing address.
  • Principle 2: No Aggregation of Individual Visitor Traffic Patterns across Multiple Sites
    VBF does not collect individual profile information for visitors across multiple sites and does not aggregate information from any other sources on browsing patterns of individual visitors across multiple sites.
  • Principle 3: Use of Anonymous IP Address
    IP addresses are recorded by every site on the Internet. VBF collects this information as well, but does so exclusively for the following uses: (1) anonymous statistical purposes; or (2) administration of our websites and servers, and to improve our services. VBF aggregates information from all of its visitors into log files in order to measure the total number of visitors to the websites and how many visit each web page. This helps VBF learn which areas are most popular for expansion, and which are least popular for reduction or elimination.
  • Principle 4: Anonymous Use of Cookies
    VBF uses “cookies” – small pieces of code that help our system remember where you are in the site, what you’ve added to a shopping cart, and more.  Cookies are used only for more accurate anonymous traffic analysis. The cookie information does NOT include personal data such as name, age, phone number, e-mail address or mailing address. In addition, VBF does NOT link cookies to personal data such as name, age, phone number, e-mail address or mailing address. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. If you would prefer, you can set your browser to reject cookies.  The Vascular Birthmarks Foundation Cookie Policy is here and explains our use of cookies in more detail.
  • Principle 6: Limited Use of Cookies
    VBF uses cookies to track information such as the time/date of the visit, the time/date of last visit, the page viewed, the referrer, transaction information for online contribution pages, and other data. The cookies never include personal information such as name, mailing address or phone number. We do not collect such information via cookies and visitors that we track cannot provide us with personal information through normal movement across a web site. The cookie data that we do collect is never stored in any individual user profile; the data collected serves only to update aggregate counts allowing us to monitor traffic on our site. Visitors can also reject cookies.   The Vascular Birthmarks Foundation Cookie Policy is here and explains our use of cookies in more detail.
  • Principle 7: No Individual Profiling
    VBF does not create individual profiles for visitors. Unlike other tracking services, we do not have a database of individual profiles for each visitor. VBF collects data in aggregate form and data is not recorded or stored for individual visitors.
  • DISCLOSURE
    All information collected is considered private and confidential unless (1) you have shared your own personal information in an online post, (2) we are required by law to disclose personal information, or (3) you violate our Terms of Use.
  • MODIFICATIONS TO THIS POLICY
    VBF reserves the right to modify this privacy policy at any time. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the website.
  • QUESTIONS AND CONTACT INFORMATION
    If you would like to access, correct, amend or delete any personal information we have about you, opt-out of e-mail correspondence, register a complaint, or simply want more information, please contact us:
  • Vascular Birthmarks Foundation
    PO Box 106, Latham, NY 12110

 

TERMS OF USE POLICY

By entering and using this Vascular Birthmarks Foundation (VBF) website you are deemed to have read and accepted these Terms of Use. If you do not accept these Terms of Use or any part of them, you should not use the website.

VBF may modify these Terms of Use from time to time, and will highlight any changes made. Your continued use of this website following such change demonstrates your agreement to be bound by the modified Terms of Use.

These terms of use apply exclusively to this website, and VBF accepts no responsibility for how your personal information is treated once you leave it.

1.    Accuracy of Content

VBF makes every effort to ensure that the content of the website is accurate and up-to-date, but VBF does not offer any warranties (whether express, implied or otherwise) as to the reliability, accuracy or completeness of the information appearing on the website.VBF may remove material from the website at its own discretion and without giving any notice.

2.    Intellectual Property

You acknowledge and agree that all copyright, trademarks and other intellectual property rights in the content, software and all HTML and other code contained in this website shall remain at all times vested in VBF and/or its licensors and is protected by copyright and other laws and international treaty provisions.Users may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, redistribute, reproduce, publish, license, commercially exploit, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any material that may be displayed on the website from time to time without first obtaining written permission to do so from VBF.

The website and its contents are copyright material; the copyright is owned by VBF unless stated otherwise. Without limiting the foregoing, copying the above listed materials to any other server or location for publication, reproduction or distribution is expressly prohibited.

All trademarks appearing on the website are either owned by VBF or VBF has obtained permission from the trademark owner for use on the website.

If you wish to obtain permission to make use of any of the trademarks or other material that may be displayed on the website from time to time, please contact the VBF website administrator at birthmark.org@gmail.com.

3.    Prohibition on Commercial Use of Website Content

You are permitted to use the material that is displayed on the website from time to time only as expressly authorized by VBF or its licensors.This website is intended to provide information relating to VBF concerns and is designed for personal, non-commercial use only.

Users may not use this website, or any of the material appearing on the website from time to time, to further any commercial purpose, including (but not limited to) advertising or to promote or generate activity on any other website.

4.    Linking

VBF may from time to time include links on this website to other websites or resources operated by parties other than VBF. These links are provided for the convenience of users. VBF is not responsible for the availability of such external websites or resources, does not endorse or accept responsibility for the content of such external websites or resources, and has no responsibility for or control over the privacy policy (if any) of the operators of the external websites.You are advised to check the terms and conditions of use and the privacy policies of these external websites before entering or making use of them.

If you wish to create a hyperlink to this website or to any other website operated or maintained by VBF, please contact the VBF website administrator at birthmark.org@gmail.com. VBF generally welcomes links to its websites. However, by so linking, you agree that VBF may require the link to be removed if, in VBF’s sole opinion, any aspect of the linking website, its content or any other matter relating to the link is objectionable to VBF.

5.    Limitation of Liability

The Internet is by its nature an unreliable medium. Consequently, you accept that this website is offered on an “as is” and “as available” basis.VBF takes all reasonable steps to ensure that the website is properly functioning at all times, but does not warrant that this website will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that this website or the server that makes it available are free of software viruses or bugs or other defects.

By accepting these Terms of Use, you accept that VBF cannot be liable to you for any loss or damage you suffer as a result of visiting this website or any linked website or making use of the information available on this or any other such website. You must take your own precautions (including but not limited to installing adequate protective measures to guard against software viruses and ensuring that you retain up-to-date copies of all data) to protect yourself against loss or damage.

You agree that VBF is not liable for the actions of its employees, nor is any individual staff member liable for the actions of VBF.

VBF will share personal information with companies, organizations or individuals outside of VBF only if we have a good-faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to:

  • meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request.
  • enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations.
  • detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.
  • protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of VBF, our users, or the public as required or permitted by law.

VBF may share aggregated, non-personally identifiable information publicly and with its partners only to show trends about the general use of its services.

The VBF Privacy Policy applies to all of the services offered by VBF. This policy does not apply to services offered by other companies or individuals, including products or sites that may be displayed to you in search results, sites that may include other services, or other sites linked from VBF services. The VBF Privacy Policy does not cover the information practices of other companies and organizations who are referenced by VBF and who may use cookies, pixel tags and other technologies to serve and offer relevant ads.

6.    Enforcement

VBF regularly reviews compliance with its Privacy Policy and Terms of Use Policy.  VBF also adheres to several self-regulatory frameworks. When VBF receives formal written complaints, VBF staff will contact the person who made the complaint to follow up. VBF will work with the appropriate regulatory authorities, including local and international data protection authorities, to resolve any complaints regarding the transfer of personal data that VBF cannot resolve with its users directly.

Your data and the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation

The data that we keep on visitors is given voluntarily.  Whenever a visitor interacts with birthmark.org, some data is gathered.  The following information makes clear what data is kept, where it is kept, when it is deleted, who is in control of the data, and how to find out what data we may have about you, so that it can be updated or deleted.

 

Whenever you fill out an informational form at birthmark.org, the information you put in is retained.  All forms will include your name, address, email address, and phone number.  Information that you do not input yourself may include the date the form was submitted, the time it was submitted, and the date and time that may be updated upon submission.

 

If you use the “Ask the Expert” feature of this website, you voluntarily supply a lot of sensitive medical data and consent to our HIPAA Policy.  We will also retain the patient’s name, your question, and any photographs you provide.  Only these items are shared with the VBF physician so that they may answer your question, but they do NOT have access to your name, address, or phone number. Please see our HIPAA Notice of Information Practices and Privacy Statement to find out more about how we use your information.

 

If you make a financial contribution or gift to VBF or register for a VBF-sponsored event, we will gather your name, address, phone number, and email address and those must be sent to our merchant account processor to process any payments.  We do NOT have access to your credit card details at any point in the transaction, as they are sent to the credit card processor and not retained in our database.  Please refer to Paypal.com.

 

If you register for one of our conferences, you voluntarily supply a lot of sensitive medical data and consent to our HIPAA Policy.  That data is only used in conjunction with its stated purpose. Please see our HIPAA Notice of Information Practices and Privacy Statement to find out more about how we use your information.

 

Certain parts of the site use third parties to provide functionality or features, such as YouTube and social medial accounts.  We do not share ANY information about you with any of these third parties, but they will use cookies.  Please see our Cookie Policy to find out more about cookie use and about the cookie use of third parties.

 

The Vascular Birthmarks Foundation uses the highest available encryption standards throughout the website so that your information is encrypted as it travels from you to us.

 

If you have any questions, or if you would like to inquire about your specific data, please contact us.

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