Greater Boston Urology understands and respects an individual’s right to privacy and the concerns a person may have regarding privacy and security. We recognize the importance of protecting the privacy of information provided by visitors to this website. This website privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) will tell you what information we collect, how it is used, and your options as you interact with our website. By using our website, you agree to this policy. Please read the Privacy Policy carefully before using the website. You can also review our practice’s HIPAA policy here.
INFORMATION THAT WE COLLECT
All visitors come to the Greater Boston Urology website anonymously. We do not collect any personal information unless you specifically provide us with that information voluntarily by taking an action such as submitting a form, subscribing to a blog, or downloading brochures. By submitting this information voluntarily, you grant Greater Boston Urology the right to transmit, monitor, retrieve, and securely store your information.
You may use our website without providing any personal information. However, there are parts of our website where you may be asked to provide personal information such as your name, email address, and demographic information. You may also be asked for personal information to sign up for an appointment, pay a bill, or otherwise contact Greater Boston Urology through the website. If you submit any personal information relating to other people, you represent that you have the authority to do so and permit us to use the information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. By submitting personal information, you grant Greater Boston Urology the right to transmit, monitor, and retrieve that information in connection with the operation of our website.
Greater Boston Urology patients are encouraged to create an account on our Patient Portal. The Patient Portal is a secure way for you to review information relating to your care. The Patient Portal is operated by IntrinsiQ Speciality Solutions, Inc., which sets its own Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you are using the Patient Portal, please review those separate policies.
WHAT WE DO WITH INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE
If you choose to provide us with personal information by sending an email, or by filling out a form with your personal information and submitting it through our website, we may use that information to respond to your message and to help us provide you with information or material that you requested. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party unless required by law.
Greater Boston Urology uses your voluntarily supplied personal information to track usage of the website, to improve the services we offer, and to improve the content of our website. We also may use the information to contact you so that we can:
- provide health-related information on new services and/or products that may be of interest to you,
- provide information that you have requested,
- send you surveys, and/or
- send you event invitations, updates, and program information
If you respond to a survey, your comments and other responses you submit may be published on the website in a de-identified manner.
Only authorized staff at—or approved business partners of—Greater Boston Urology who are responsible for responding and tracking online requests have access to the identifiable information you enter in the online forms. Greater Boston Urology does not and will never sell or rent any identifiable information to third party vendors.
DATA SECURITY
Greater Boston Urology is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information you provide to us through our website. We use reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized access, which includes using a secure firewall and a security infrastructure that protects the integrity and privacy of personal information submitted to us via our websites. As an additional security measure, your personal information is also encrypted during transmission using appropriate technology including Transport Layer Security. This is an industry standard. (Encryption is a common method used to protect transmission of sensitive data across the internet.)
Although we work hard to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us through online applications, and you do so at your own risk. Depending on the nature of what you send to us, your communication could be discarded or archived. If you wish, you can contact by telephone instead of through our website.
OPTING OUT
You may opt-out of any Greater Boston Urology communication at any time. You can manage your email subscriptions at the bottom of any of our emails. For other communication, you may call us at (855) 505-3335. Please note this opt-out does not include your medical communication through our portal, which is managed separately.
EMAIL REQUESTS
“Phishing” is a scam designed to steal your personal information. If you receive an email that looks like it is from GreaterBostonUrology.com requesting personal information, do not respond. We will never request your password, user name, credit card information, or other personal information through email.
COLLECTION OF NON-PERSONAL INFORMATION
GreaterBostonUrology.com collects non-personal information, such as website usage, traffic patterns, site performance, and related statistics based on our tracking of your visits to the website.
INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP) ADDRESSES
The web server automatically collects the IP address of computers that visit our site. An IP address is a number that is assigned to your computer when you access the Internet. It is not truly personally identifiable information because many different individuals can access the Internet via the same computer. We use this information in aggregate form to understand how our site is being used and how we can better serve visitors.
Please note that although such information is not personally identifiable, we can determine from an IP address a visitor’s Internet service provider and general location at the point of connection.
COOKIES AND TRACKING PIXELS
The Greater Boston Urology website uses “cookies” and “tracking pixels, or tags” to track our website analytics. This allows us, for example, to determine the most popular pages on our website, how people get to our site, and what activities visitors do while on the site. This helps us improve the experience, provide relevant content, and better serve our visitors.
Cookies are a small piece of code sent to your browser by a website you visit. Cookies are used by search engines and sites to remember your preferences. A tracking pixel, often referred to as a tag, is HTML code, which is loaded when you click on an ad, visit a website, or open an email to track behavior and actions on the site. They do not provide us with any personally identifiable information.
Most internet browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can set your browser to refuse them or to alert you when they are being sent. You can access the information on the Greater Boston Urology website without enabling cookies in your browser. You can manage Google cookies by going to https://policies.google.com/technologies/managing. Please note that if you delete your cookies or upgrade your browser you will have to opt-out again.
We may additionally collect interest or behavioral information based on users’ activity on our website and then provide related Greater Boston Urology digital advertising. We may also target “lookalike” audiences relying on interest and behavioral data but never on patient, clinical, or portal information. You can opt-out of receiving interest-based advertising through the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) website: http://www.aboutads.info/choices.
Greater Boston Urology uses web analytics and tag management services and tools, such as Google Tag Manager, provided by Google, Inc., and other third parties to collect certain information relating to use of our advertising and websites. To find out how Google uses data go to: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. To opt-out of Google Analytics you can go to https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.
SPECIAL NOTICE TO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS
California law provides California consumers the right to request certain details about the categories of personal information that is collected, how certain types of their information are shared with third parties and for what business/commercial purpose. They also have the right to request that their personal information be deleted. If you are a California resident and would like to submit a Consumer Access request, they can contact us at (855) 505-3335.
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES
Greater Boston Urology will:
- Through this Privacy Policy, notify you of privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you through this website,
- Notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction, and
- Accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative means or at alternative locations.
We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all information we maintain. Should our information practices change, we will post a revised notice on our website. We will not use or disclose your information without your authorization, except as described in this notice. We will also discontinue using or disclosing your information after we have received a written revocation of the authorization according to procedures included in the authorization.
NEED MORE INFORMATION?
If you have any questions about how our website operates and how we will use and protect information that you may wish to provide to you, please call us at (855) 505-3335.
