The Arthritis Foundation respects the privacy of each individual who contacts us. We are grateful for your support and the crucial role you play in helping us continue our valuable work. As part of our commitment to safeguarding your privacy we have adopted the online privacy policy outlined below, which is applicable to this website ("Site"). Find out about our linking policy.
Collection of Information
We collect two kinds of information, general usage data, which is not individually identifiable, and individually identifiable information.
General usage data
Our Web server automatically recognizes and collects the domain name of each visitor to the Site. We collect information about visitors to the Site, such as the number of visitors, what pages they access, and the length of their visit. We also may collect certain non-personally identifiable information when you visit the Site or fill out forms such as the type of browser you are using (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox), the type of operating system you are using, (e.g., Windows Vista, Mac OS) and the domain name of your Internet service provider (e.g., AT&T, Comcast). This information is used in aggregate form in order to manage our Web site and improve its content.
Individually identifiable information
We collect individually identifiable information about you when you choose to share information about yourself, for example, when you make a donation, request information or sign up to be an advocate. This information may include, but is not limited to, your postal or e-mail address, your telephone number and the type of arthritis you have.
Use of Information
Individually identifiable information is used to provide you with information or to deliver the service you have requested and to provide you with additional services that we believe may be of interest to you. If you provide your postal address, telephone number or e-mail address to the Arthritis Foundation online, you may receive periodic contacts from us.
If you would like to change the way we contact you, please fill out the Privacy Preference Form.
At certain parts of the Site, only persons who provide us with the requested personally identifiable information will be able to use tools or otherwise participate in the Site's activities and offerings.
Community Tools
Some portions of the Site, such as RA Connect, provide special services and offer interactive tools that allow users to upload information for public consumption. In some cases, users can share experiences, give advice and connect with others. Please remember that chat rooms, message boards and personal pages are public forums and personal information disclosed there will be seen by others. In addition, please exercise caution when posting information or providing information about yourself to others, especially contact information, such as street address, telephone number or email address. This privacy policy does not apply to any information posted by you in a public area of the Site. For more on the use of the RA Connect, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions page for that section of the Site.
Cookies
We use a technology called a "cookie" to recognize you when you return to the Site. Cookies are small bits of electronic information that a web site can transfer to a user's hard drive to help tailor the user experience to the users' preferences. The use of cookies is standard on the Internet and many web sites use them. If you wish, you may direct your browser to reject cookies. However, please be aware that if you block cookies, some Site functionality may be lost. For more information, see our Site Help Tips.
Sharing Information with Others
From time to time, the Arthritis Foundation may make your personally identifiable information available to other worthy nonprofit and commercial organizations whose services may be of interest to our supporters. We carefully screen these organizations. If you do not want us to share your information with other companies or organizations, please fill out the Privacy Preference Form.
At times we may offer programs (e.g., contests, sweepstakes, or promotions) that are sponsored by or co-branded with identified third parties. By virtue of these relationships, the third parties may obtain personally identifiable information that visitors voluntarily submit to participate in the Site activity. The Arthritis Foundation has no control over the third-party's use of this information.
We may share your personally identifiable information with affiliates and third parties, including e-commerce partners, who assist us by providing services on our behalf, including, but not limited to, credit card processing, fulfillment and shipping, database management, e-mail distribution, and website management. [Such parties may only use your personally identifiable information for the specific purpose for which they are provided the information.]
In the unlikely event that all or substantially all of our assets relating to the Site are sold or transferred to another party, your personally identifiable information may be transferred to this acquiring entity. Finally, we may disclose your personally identifiable information to third parties in order to comply with law, law enforcement agencies, to protect our rights in or the safety of the Site, or to protect the safety or rights of other users of the Site.
Arthritis Foundation reserves the right to not post information submitted by a user to be posted on the Site and to remove any user-generated content at any time.
Email Communications
We occasionally send out an email newsletter and direct email communications to Arthritis Foundation site visitors to highlight news, information and opportunities available from the Arthritis Foundation. You can elect not to receive communications from us, either by completing our privacy preference form or by noting your preference in response to communications from us. In addition, all Arthritis Foundation e-newsletters and direct email communications have easy-to-follow unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email.
Links to Other Sites
Our site provides links to other Web sites where you can find out more about our sponsors or products. Please note that the Foundation is not responsible for the information practices of linked sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of each site you visit.
Children online
Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. For that reason, we adhere to the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). (For more information, visit the Federal Trade Commission's COPPA site at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/adults.htm). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13 years that is submitted to us via the Internet. If you are under 13 years of age, please do not submit your personally identifiable information to us. If we become aware that we have inadvertently received personally identifiable information from a user under the age of thirteen, other than in a legally permissible situation, we will delete the information from our records as soon as it is discovered by us.
Security
In order to prevent unauthorized access and protect our users' personal information, we strive to maintain physical, electronic and administrative safeguards to secure the information we collect online. For example, online shopping and contributions are processed using a secure server. This secure server software, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), encrypts all information you input before it is sent to us. Furthermore, all of the customer transactional data we collect is protected against unauthorized access with the use of digital certificates. Notwithstanding our efforts to protect your information, no security system is completely impenetrable, so we cannot guarantee the absolute security of our databases, nor can we guarantee that information you supply to us will not be intercepted while in transit to us over the Internet.
Privacy Policy Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes here and the last date on which the privacy policy was updated will be listed below. We encourage you to review our policy from time to time.
Questions or Concerns
Whenever you have any questions or concerns, please contact us through any medium you prefer. Your complete satisfaction in dealing with the Arthritis Foundation is important to us. If you have questions about the Arthritis Foundation's privacy practices described above, please send an e-mail message to our Customer Service Manager.
If you have general questions about arthritis, please send messages to Arthritis Answers.
The Arthritis Foundation follows the online Privacy Guidelines and the Guidelines on Ethical Business Practice of The Direct Marketing Association (DMA). For more information on these guidelines, visit the DMA at http://the-dma.org.
California Residents: Users who reside in California and have provided personally identifiable information to us may request information about our disclosure of certain categories of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. Such requests must be submitted to us at one of the following addresses: [insert address]. Within thirty days of receiving such a request, we will provide a list of the categories of personal information disclosed to third parties for third-party direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year, along with the names and addresses of the third parties that received the personally identifiable information.
Interactive Areas
Some opinions and recommendations contained in the Web Site, especially in areas such as personal pages, message boards and chat rooms ("Interactive Areas"), are not necessarily those of the Arthritis Foundation or endorsed by the Arthritis Foundation. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ANY RELIANCE ON CONTENT POSTED IN AN INTERACTIVE AREA IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.
If you use an Interactive Area, you are solely responsible for your own communications and the consequences of posting those communications. The Arthritis Foundation does not assume any responsibility for the consequences of any Interactive Area communications on or arising from use of the Web Site. In cases where you feel threatened or believe someone else is in danger, you should contact your local law enforcement agency immediately.
The Arthritis Foundation cannot and does not screen content provided by you or other Users to the Web Site or any Interactive Area, and is not responsible for the content of these communications and materials. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Arthritis Foundation reserves the right to review the Web Site and material from the Web Site brought to the Arthritis Foundation's attention and to remove content, which the Arthritis Foundation, in its sole discretion, determines to be
(a) abusive, libelous, defamatory or obscene,
(b) fraudulent, deceptive or misleading,
(c) in violation of a copyright or trademark, other intellectual property right of another or
(d) offensive or otherwise unacceptable to the Arthritis Foundation.
The Arthritis Foundation reserves the right to record the dialogue in public chat rooms. The Arthritis Foundation does not screen communications in advance and is not responsible for screening or monitoring material posted by Users or any other person or entity. If notified by a User of communication(s) which are alleged not to conform to the terms of this Agreement, the Arthritis Foundation may investigate the allegation and determine in its sole discretion to remove or request the removal of the communication(s). The Arthritis Foundation reserves the right to remove communications which are abusive, illegal, disruptive, profane or that otherwise fail to conform with this Agreement. In addition to the removal rights described above, the Arthritis Foundation reserves the right to terminate a User's access to any or all Interactive Areas upon Subscriber's breach of these Terms and Conditions. The Arthritis Foundation reserves the right (but is not obligated) to edit or delete any communication(s) posted on the Web Site, regardless of whether such communication(s) violate these standards for content.
Furthermore, the Arthritis Foundation reserves the right (but is not obligated) to monitor, edit or disclose any type of communication(s) on the Interactive Areas for adherence to this Agreement, if required in the course of normal operation and maintenance of the Web Site, or if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to:
(i) comply with the law or comply with legal process served;
(ii) protect and defend the rights of the Arthritis Foundation or others; or
(iii) act in an emergency to protect the personal safety of our guests or the public.
The Arthritis Foundation HAS NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY TO SUBSCRIBERS OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FOR PERFORMANCE OR NONPERFORMANCE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED SCREENING ACTIVITIES.
External Links
The Arthritis Foundation may provide links on the Web Site to other Web sites that are not under the control of the Arthritis Foundation. In general, any Web site that has an address (or URL) that does not contain "arthritis.org" "jointsinmotion.org" or "fightarthritispain.org" is such a Web site. These links are provided for convenience of reference only and are not intended as an endorsement by the Arthritis Foundation of the organization or individual operating the Web site or a warranty of any type regarding the Web site or the information on the Web site.
This policy was last updated on January 20, 2010.
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