This Privacy Policy was last revised on Nov 19, 2007.

PeoplesMD is an online community that encourages you-our visitors and registered members-to openly discuss your health experiences and concerns in a safe and supportive environment offered by Community Knowledge, Inc. ("PeoplesMD"). We believe that sharing information about medical conditions and treatments can be an empowering, informative, and deeply personal experience. That's why PeoplesMD respects your privacy.

• The PeoplesMD Privacy Policy summarizes the ways in which we are committed to maintaining your trust and safeguarding your confidentiality. Here, we describe what information we gather, how we gather it and with whom we share it. See
  
  • What information does PeoplesMD collect and how do we collect it?
  • With whom does PeoplesMD share information?
• We also outline how we keep your personal information secure. See
  
  • What does PeoplesMD do to keep your Personally Identifiable Information safe and secure?
  • What can you do to safeguard your PII?
  • What control do you have over Personally Identifiable Information on PeoplesMD?

The PeoplesMD Privacy Policy only applies to the PeoplesMD website and the information collected through the website. By using the PeoplesMD website you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy, and to the PeoplesMD Terms of Use, into which this Privacy Policy is incorporated. If you have a question regarding your privacy on PeoplesMD that isn't answered in this policy (or in our Terms of Use), please send an email to privacy@peoplesmd.com.

What information does PeoplesMD collect and how do we collect it? back to top

• In general, PeoplesMD collects two different types of information, Non-Personal Information ("NPI") and Personally Identifiable Information ("PII").
  
  • Non-Personal Information (NPI):
    Non-Personal Information ("NPI") is information that you may provide to PeoplesMD, and/or may be accessible to PeoplesMD or third parties, especially via technical tools, such as Cookies. Such information may be specific-e.g., gender, geographic location, medical condition, or time spent on PeoplesMD-but it's not available, or not made available to others, in a way that's directly traceable to you. NPI can be gathered in a variety of ways, including:
    
    • Cookies: A cookie (also known as an HTML or web cookie) is a piece of "text sent by a [web] server to a web browser [like Netscape or Safari] and then sent back unchanged by the browser every time it accesses that server. [Cookies] are neither spyware nor viruses.Most modern browsers allow users to decide whether to accept [or reject] cookies, but rejection makes some websites unusable." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie). PeoplesMD, and some of our third party partners, such as advertisers, use Cookies primarily to collect non-personal, anonymous information about your visits to the PeoplesMD website, or to our partners' or advertisers' websites. This information helps us, for example, facilitate member login, calculate how many people use PeoplesMD, how many visitors and members view specific PeoplesMD content pages, and to target specific ads to visitors' browsers. But PeoplesMD doesn't link the NPI we get from Cookies to any of the PII you may provide to us, unless we obtain your permission first. In addition, you can set your browser not to accept cookies.
    • Web Beacons: Web beacons (a.k.a., web bugs, pixel tags), like Cookies, allow us to collect NPI; in fact, Web Beacons are used, at times, to install Cookies on some visitors' or members' browsers. NPI collected by Web Beacons includes how many people use the PeoplesMD or our advertisers' and partners' websites, and how many members open PeoplesMD newsletters and emails. As is true of Cookies, we don't link the NPI gathered by Web Beacons to PII, unless you tell us it's okay to do so.
    • Log Data: Other NPI collected by PeoplesMD includes log information, like your Internet Protocol (IP) address, the kind of browser and browser language used by visitors, PeoplesMD page requests, and the date/time of those requests.
    • Information Collected by Third Parties: In an effort to provide you with personalized ads, or to ensure you see a variety of ads (and not the same ones over and over again), some of our advertising or marketing partners may apply Ad Network Cookies to your Web Browser. A number of Ad Servers allow you to opt-out of their Ad Networks, which means you can prevent these companies from collecting information from you. Please note that not all Ad Servers provide this service. To opt-out of those that do, please click: http://www.networkadvertising.org/consumer/opt_out.asp.
  • Personally Identifiable Information (PII): PII includes any and all information members provide to PeoplesMD that could be used to identify you, which means anything from your username to your age, medical conditions and treatments, your comments and other postings, and all other personal data submitted. Because PeoplesMD focuses on health and medical experiences, the PII we gather also includes the health information you share with us. While PeoplesMD encourages you to share information about your health background and opinions, your medical procedures providers, and medical costs-as a way of maximizing your experience on the site-we also want to guard your safety. That's why we do not require you to provide your real name and caution you to only provide information that (i) you are comfortable sharing with others; and (ii) cannot be used to identify or contact you when you're not online (e.g., your real name, your postal address, your phone number, your social security number). PeoplesMD prohibits you putting either your full name or your social security number in your profile. If we find either one of these attributes associated with your profile, the PeoplesMD Website Administrator will remove it immediately. This is to safeguard your privacy and ensure that the information we collect does not conflict with HIPAA (http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa) rules and regulations.
    
    • Member Registration and Profile Information: As a member of PeoplesMD, your Basic Profile Information-username, age, gender and location-are always public and, therefore, always potentially viewable by any and all PeoplesMD visitors, members and non-members alike.
    • Communications with PeoplesMD: When you email, call or write to PeoplesMD, those communications are viewed by the member/s of our staff, or PeoplesMD contractors, who are most qualified to respond to your inquiry or comment. Those of us who read, and/or respond to your correspondence, maintain your confidentiality, however, there is no need to provide any Personally Identifiable Information when you communicate with PeoplesMD other than your username, login and email address.
    • Site Searches: Unless you indicate otherwise, we keep a record of members' search terms and locations when you're logged-in to the PeoplesMD website. That way, you can easily retrace your previous search efforts by clicking on Recent Searches.
    • Communications from PeoplesMD: Although most communications from PeoplesMD-such as newsletters-are opt-in, which means you have to agree to receive them before we send them to you, we may rely on PII-such as your email address-to email you when you first join the site or when we need to send you updates, advisories and other communications. We may also send emails to you letting you know that you have received a response to a question or comment you posted on the website. You can change some of these settings in your Profile, but you can only completely opt-out of receiving third party communications. To opt-out of third-party communications, please email us at privacy@peoplesmd.com and write "Opt-Out" in the subject line. Also, when you invite a friend to join you on PeoplesMD, we record that request and send an email invitation to your friend. What we won't do is contact your friend after that initial invitation. The same is true if you choose to email an article to someone outside of PeoplesMD. We will use the email address you provide to send the article to that person, but will not contact them again, unless you, or another PeoplesMD member, ask us to do so.
    • Third Party Access: Contractors and other third parties are sometimes given access to your PII, but only the information they need in order to perform their duties. Some of these duties may include, but are not limited to, upgrades to our technical system, enhancing our offerings, or to provide you with services you expressly request. In such cases, third parties are obligated to maintain your confidentiality.
    • Legal Compliance: At times, at our sole discretion, and in an effort to comply with requests from law enforcement or other officials (such as subpoenas, government regulations, court orders, security threats, or other legal requirements), to prevent violations of the law or our Terms of Use, or to protect PeoplesMD or any individual, we may release PII to third parties.
    • Market Research: Those PeoplesMD members who serve on our Research Panel, or who agree to participate in any research activities promoted on the site, will be asked-in the context of surveys and other research efforts-to share PII that will be used for market research purposes. Whenever such research is sponsored by, or presented to, third parties-such as advertisers-data are provided in aggregate form, unless you give your permission to do otherwise; meaning, any PII you provide in these situations will be aggregated with other information to help prevent you, as an individual, from being identified.
    • Aggregate PII: Although aggregate data-such as that used in some market research-relies on PII, the specific information you provide to PeoplesMD is usually combined with other members' PII to produce general statistics, or a summary of preferences or opinions. For example, while you may choose to keep your Medication Ratings private on your Profile Page, your Rating is also integrated into a database and combined with other Members' Ratings, which may then appear as a statistic or graph on a Medication Page. The resulting averages are viewable by all PeoplesMD visitors and members, or by third parties with whom we share such aggregate data. That said, while based on PII, this information is not presented in a way that is traceable to you as an individual.
    • Children: Children under the age of 13 are not allowed to use the PeoplesMD website. If we believe that certain information was provided to us by someone under 13, we will delete such information from our website.

With whom does PeoplesMD share information? back to top

• PeoplesMD Contractors and Third Parties: See Third Party Access and Legal Compliance.
• Company Changes: In the event of an acquisition of PeoplesMD by another entity/ies, bankruptcy, or in the case of a merger or similar transaction, PeoplesMD NPI and PII may be made available to other individuals or businesses. However, any transactions of this nature will be subject to the PeoplesMD Privacy Policy, or to notifying visitors and members regarding policy changes as outlined in "Will this Privacy Policy Change or be Updated"?

What does PeoplesMD do to keep your Personally Identifiable Information safe and secure? back to top

• PeoplesMD makes an effort to protect against the loss, misuse, and unauthorized disclosure of collected Personally Identifiable Information. These efforts may include the following:
  
  • Secure Login: PeoplesMD uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology to protect and safeguard your login to the website.
  • Technical Safeguards: PeoplesMD uses technical safeguards, such as firewalls, system backups and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) transmitting encryption.
  • Be aware, however, that no security is 100% effective; therefore, we cannot guarantee the security of any information transmitted over the Internet, including your Personally Identifiable Information and, in agreeing to this Privacy Policy, you agree that PeoplesMD is not liable for any unintentional disclosure. To help maintain security, please safeguard your password as described in What can you do to safeguard your PII below.

What can you do to safeguard your PII? back to top

• Password security: Selecting a password that is complex enough to resist being discovered by others, and familiar enough so you can remember it, is an important process for members. It's also one of the best ways you can protect your PII from outside access. We strongly encourage you to choose a password carefully.
• Limit PII shared on PeoplesMD: If you're concerned about your PII being seen by others, you can choose to maximize the Privacy Controls in your Profile, and/or to post anonymously in most areas of the site.
• Blogs: Any information you share in a blog, chat room, or any other material you provide to public portions of the PeoplesMD website, such as posting text, photos, images, and any other information is available to others, who may download and forward such material. Such material may be used by others in ways that PeoplesMD is unable to control. As with any public forum on any other website, this information may also appear in search engines.
• Personal Photos: Whether or not you, as a member, choose to post a personal photo on your Profile Page is entirely up to you, which means you are free to choose a PeoplesMD default photo instead of providing a personal photo, or you can post a personal photo that is not identifiable as you. In the event that you post a personal photo, you can, at any time, choose to delete that photo and use a default image instead. See Posting a Photo on PeoplesMD for further information and restrictions.
• International Use & Access: If you are accessing or using the PeoplesMD site from outside of the United States, you hereby consent to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.

What control do you have over your Personal Identifiable Information on PeoplesMD? back to top

• In order to help you control what PII is available on PeoplesMD, we ask you to determine what PII you want to make public on the site, and what PII you'd prefer to keep private. It's your choice and it's a choice we honor.
  
  • Posting a Comment, Question, Answer or Article on PeoplesMD: While it's always your decision whether or not to contribute to PeoplesMD, there are a number of ways in which you can control your contribution, whether it's by posting anonymously or with a username that's not personally identifiable. For additional information, see Contributions to PeoplesMD.
  • Posting a Photo on PeoplesMD: If you use a personal photo on your PeoplesMD Profile Page, or if you post a link on PeoplesMD to a personal photo/s, you automatically give us your permission to display that photo to all other visitors on the PeoplesMD website. If you are concerned about your PII, as it pertains to photos, then you can choose a default photo, or provide a photo that is not identifiable as you. However, posting a personal photo, or a link to a personal photo, on PeoplesMD is permissible only if you are the sole copyright owner of that photo and/or if you first obtain express permission from any other people who appear in the photo, or the copyright holder/s of the photo, prior to posting or providing a link to your personal photo on PeoplesMD.
  • Privacy Controls and Profiles/Member Data: You may change your Profile and Member settings at your discretion. For additional information, see Member Registration and Profile Information.
  • Membership Cancellation: You may cancel your membership to PeoplesMD at any time by following the cancellation instructions in your Account Settings. Canceling your PeoplesMD membership will automatically delete all your Profile information-except your username and your postings/ratings-from public access by visitors to PeoplesMD. However, even after you cancel your PeoplesMD membership, any postings you made, or ratings you submitted, on the PeoplesMD website while you were a PeoplesMD member, will remain intact and viewable by visitors to the PeoplesMD site, and your username will continue to appear with those postings/ratings.

Will this Privacy Policy be updated or changed? back to top

• It's possible that this Privacy Policy will be updated or revised over time. If that happens, we will post a notice at the top of the Privacy Policy informing visitors and members that updates have been made. You should review the Privacy Policy from time to time, as your continued use after any revisions are posted (as indicated by the date specified) is your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.