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St. Joseph’s/Candler Website Privacy Policy

This is St. Joseph’s/Candler’s Website Privacy Policy page.  To see a summary of St. Joseph’s/Candler’s Notice of Privacy Practices for patients, click here.

This website is owned and operated by St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System, Inc. (“St. Joseph’s/Candler”, “we”, “us”, or “our”).  We are committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors while they interact with the content, products and services on this site (the “Site”).

We know you care about your privacy and the protection of your personal information and its use and we are committed to providing the necessary protection. Please read on to learn about our collection and use of your personal information and how we protect your privacy.

By using or accessing the Site in any manner, you acknowledge and agree that you accept the practices and policies outlined in this Website Privacy Policy (“Policy”), and you agree that we may collect, use and share your personal information as described herein. 

This Policy may be updated from time to time for any reason and if so the “Last Updated” date set forth below will be changed. You should consult this Policy regularly for any changes. Please note that this Policy will govern your use of the Site and you are responsible for reading and understanding it. If you use the Site after any changes to the Policy have been posted, that means you agree to all such changes.

Information Collection

Information You Provide To Us

As a general policy, we do not automatically collect your personally identifiable information when you visit our Site, and you can generally access and browse our Site at any time without providing any personal information. We collect information you provide directly to us through the Site. For example, we collect information when you create an account, subscribe to receive notifications, make a donation, apply for a job, or otherwise communicate with us through the Site.

In addition, we do not share any personally identifiable information of any individual collected on our Site with any third party unrelated to us, except in situations where we must provide information for legal purposes or investigations, to protect our rights in or the safety of our Site, to protect the safety or rights of other users of our Site or if so directed by such individual through a proper authorization.

The information we collect from you may include personal information. “Personal Information” is information that, whether alone or in combination with other information, can be used to identify an individual (such as first and last name, e-mail address, home address, telephone number, or date of birth). Information that has been de-identified such that it cannot be connected to an individual is not considered Personal Information for purposes of this Policy.

Information We Collect Automatically

When you access or use the Site, certain information about your use of the Site may be collected automatically. For example, we may collect your IP address, device identifier, browser type, domain name, operating system characteristics, data regarding the device you are using and information about your visit, such as access times, duration, and how you arrived at the Site. This usage information may be combined with Personal Information, in which case we would treat the combined information as Personal Information.

In addition to logging information about your visit, we may use various tracking mechanisms such as cookies, web beacons (also known as tracking pixels), and embedded scripts (collectively, “Tracking Technologies”) to automatically collect information about interactions with our Site or e-mails.

Cookies are small text files that a web page server places on your hard drive. The use of cookies is a common practice on many websites. We may place cookies on your computer to allow us to recognize you on the Site during future visits, to measure web traffic, to offer you certain products or services, or to customize your visit. Your Internet browser may include settings that permit you to block cookies or to be notified when cookies are placed. Please be aware that if you use these mechanisms to block or remove cookies, certain features and functions of the Site may be unavailable or may not operate optimally.

Web Beacons (also called “tracking pixels”) are small graphic images, also known as “Internet tags” or “clear gifs” that are embedded in web pages and e-mail messages. Web beacons may be used for various purposes, such as to count the number of visitors to the Site, to monitor how users navigate the Site, or to verify how many articles or links were actually viewed.

Embedded Scripts are designed to collect information about your interactions with the Site. These scripts are temporarily downloaded onto your computer from our web server, or the server of a third party with whom we work.

Tracking Technologies Generally

Regular cookies generally may be disabled or removed using tools available as part of most commercial browsers. In some instances, a browser may include settings that allow you to preemptively block cookies from being placed on your computer. Please be aware that if you disable or remove cookies and similar technologies, some parts of the Site may not work properly. Also, if you revisit the Site from a different computer or using a different browser, you may not be able to limit browser-based Tracking Technologies in the same way.

Information from Other Sources

We also may obtain information about you from other sources, such as other non-profit organizations, and combine that with information we collect about you. To the extent we combine such third-party sourced information with Personal Information we collect directly from you on the Site, we will treat the combined information as Personal Information under this Policy. We are not responsible for the privacy statements or practices of third parties or on any other websites or online services that we do not control.

How We May Use Your Information

We use information about you to operate the Site and to deliver the content and services you request. In addition, we may use information about you for other lawful purposes, including to:

  • Facilitate, manage, personalize and improve your online experience;
  • Respond to your comments, questions and requests, provide customer service, send you informational notices, and contact you if we need to obtain or provide additional information;
  • Conduct research and analysis, including focus groups and surveys about current services or of potential new services;
  • Prevent and address fraud, breach of policies or terms, and threats or harm; and
  • Operate, provide, improve, and maintain our Site and Services, to develop new products and services, to personalize and display content for you, and for other administrative and internal business purposes.

How We May Share Information

We may permit our agents, vendors, consultants, and other service providers to access information collected through the Site to carry out work on our behalf. These third party service providers are prohibited from using Personal Information obtained in this manner for any purpose(s) other than to provide the services we have engaged them to perform. We also may share your information to perform statistical analysis, send you e-mail or postal mail, or provide customer support;

We also may share your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any proposed or actual merger, purchase, sale, or any other type of acquisition or business combination of all or any portion of our assets, or any transfer of all or a portion of our business to another company. We reserve the right to transfer any information we obtain through the Site in the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets (including in the event of a merger, reorganization, or liquidation).

Links to Other Websites

The Site may include hyperlinks to other websites, online locations, platforms, or services for your convenience and information. Such linked websites may be operated by third parties that are not owned or controlled by St. Joseph’s/Candler. They may use their own cookies, web beacons, and other Tracking Technologies to collect information about you, and they may solicit Personal Information directly from you. If you follow links from the Site to other websites, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with their privacy policies and terms of use. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of websites that we do not control.

Analytics Services, Advertising, and Online Tracking

We may engage and work with third parties to serve advertisements on our behalf on the Site or on other websites, and to provide analytics services about use of the Site and performance of our ads and content on other websites. In addition, we may participate in online advertising networks and exchanges that display relevant advertisements to visitors, both on the Site and on other websites, based on the visitors’ interests as reflected by their browsing habits. Third parties may use cookies and other Tracking Technologies to automatically collect information about you and your activities, such as registering a unique identifier for your device and tying that to your online activities on and off of our Site. We may use this information to analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising and content targeted to your interests, and better understand your online activity.

Information about your use of the Site and other websites may be collected using Tracking Technologies across time and services, and used for various purposes such as to associate different devices you use, and to deliver relevant and retargeted content, including interest-based ads.

Educational and Informational Purposes

All health and health-related information contained within our Site is intended to be general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for a visit with a health care professional. The information contained on the Site is intended to offer only a general basis for individuals to discuss their medical condition with their health care provider and not intended to establish any professional provider to patient relationship; and is not a substitute for the professional advice and consultation that would be obtained in a visit or call to a health care professional. Your health care provider should be consulted regarding matters concerning the medical condition, treatment and needs of you and your family.

St. Joseph’s/Candler does not provide any assurances as to the accuracy or completeness of the information available at or through this Site. Although every effort is made to ensure that the material within this Site is accurate and timely, it is provided for the convenience of the Site user and should not be considered official.

Any provider-referral information is provided by the health care professional. St. Joseph’s/Candler does not provide any assurances as to the accuracy or completeness of the information available at or through this Site. Some of the health care professionals performing services at St. Joseph’s/Candler are independent contractors and not hospital agents or employees. Independent contractors are responsible for their own actions and the hospital shall not be liable for their acts or omissions.

Social Media

We have a presence on various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. We may receive from them information related to our presence on the respective social media platform(s) when you choose to visit us on those Site or to communicate with us. Please be aware that social media websites, including Facebook, have different privacy policies from St. Joseph’s/Candler and our Policy does not apply on those Site. If you visit another websites, we encourage you to read that particular website’s privacy policy.

Data Security

We take reasonable measures to help protect personal information collected through the Site from loss, theft, misuse, and other unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. Nevertheless, transmission via the Internet is not completely secure and we cannot guarantee the security of your information collected through our Site.

Children’s Privacy

St. Joseph’s/Candler does not intend to collect any information from children or minors.  In the event that St. Joseph’s/Candler learns that it has inadvertently collected information from a child or minor under the age of 18, any and all such information will be promptly deleted. 

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding this Policy, or have a complaint or problem associated with this Policy, please contact St. Joseph’s/Candler's Marketing & Public Relations Department at (912) 819-8139.

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