Privacy Statement

Breastcancer.org is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

This privacy statement discloses the privacy practices for Breastcancer.org and the HON Code of Conduct (HONcode) for medical and health websites, to which Breastcancer.org is committed. It has also been reviewed and accepted by TRUSTe. Breastcancer.org is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to build user's trust and confidence in the Internet by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy statement covers the site www.breastcancer.org. Because this web site wants to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe. The TRUSTe program covers only information that is collected through this web site, and does not cover information that may be collected through software downloaded from this site.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact us. If you do not receive acknowledgment of your inquiry or your inquiry has not been satisfactorily addressed, you should then contact TRUSTe at the TRUSTe website. TRUSTe will then serve as a liaison with the web site to resolve your concerns.

PRIVACY STATEMENT

Information Collection and Use

Breastcancer.org is the sole owner of the information collected on this site. We will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this statement. The policy of Breastcancer.org is that no cookie, advertisement, hyperlink or other function on the Breastcancer.org web site is capable of passing any identifying information about Breastcancer.org or any visitor to a third party unless both (a) Breastcancer.org has expressly approved such arrangement in writing and (b) the particular individual visitor has expressly, affirmatively and unambiguously granted permission for such disclosure. Please be aware, however, that once you leave the Breastcancer.org web site, Breastcancer.org cannot vouch for or assume any responsibility for any material contained in a web site to which a link is provided or for the policies and practices of that web site. Breastcancer.org collects information from our users at several different points on our web site, including:

• at the Discussion Boards/Chat Rooms sign up
• at the Free Booklets By Mail request page
• at the subscription point for the Breastcancer.org e-mail Updates
• at the Life-Lines e-mail greeting card page
• at the Tell a Friend email card page
• at the online credit card acceptance form in our Membership section
• when you contact Breastcancer.org by e-mail, either to ask questions or to submit your ideas or suggestions

Breastcancer.org also collects routine tracking information as users move through the site through the use of IP addresses, cookies, and web beacons, explained in more detail below.

Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our web site.

Public Forums

Ask-the-Expert Online Conferences at Breastcancer.org

Users who participate in our online "Ask-the-Expert Conferences" are asked to provide a username, which is used solely to differentiate between remarks made by different users during the conference, and in the archived transcript that resides on the site. This user name is entirely of the user's own choosing, and does not require any personally identifiable information. Users should be aware that choosing a username that allows personal identification, or disclosing personally identifiable information to other conference participants makes the information submitted public information. Such disclosure may increase the chance of receiving "spam" or unsolicited email. Breastcancer.org encourages users to use discretion when disclosing information online.

Discussion Boards/Chat Rooms

Users who sign up for our Discussion Boards and Chat Rooms are required to provide a username, password, and email address. The username you provide will serve to identify your postings to the Discussion Boards and Chat Rooms. The email address you provide is not transferred, sold, given, or otherwise disclosed to any third party. You may elect whether or not to make your email address viewable to other Discussion Board users when posting new messages or replies, and you may elect whether or not to allow Breastcancer.org Administrators and Moderators to send you email notices regarding Discussion Board changes or questions about your postings. Users should be aware that choosing a username that allows personal identification, or disclosing personally identifiable information when posting messages to the Discussion Boards and Chat Rooms makes the information submitted public information. Such disclosure may increase the chance of receiving "spam" or unsolicited email. Breastcancer.org encourages users to use discretion when disclosing information online.

Free Booklets by Mail

Users who request free printed booklets by mail must provide their name and postal mailing address so that we can mail the requested booklets. Your name and mailing address will be transferred to the company used by Breastcancer.org to fulfill booklet requests. This company is obligated to maintain the confidentiality of this information and is not authorized to use this information for any purpose other than fulfilling booklet requests.

When ordering booklets, you have a choice of whether to add your postal address to our mailing list. If you choose to add it, you may receive informational materials and notice of special events at Breastcancer.org. You may opt out of receiving such additional materials at the time of your booklet request, or at any time by sending us a request to remove your mailing address from our list.

You also have a choice of whether to provide your email address. If you choose to provide your email address, we will email you confirmation of your order. You can also choose to have your email address added to our Email Updates mailing list. Should you choose to provide it and/or add it to our Email Updates list, your email address will not be sold or given to any third party. You may remove your email address from our Email Updates list at any time by visiting the signup page.

There is a shipping charge for orders larger than 6 booklets, which must be paid for by credit card at the time of your order. Users who choose to pay for shipping by credit card are required to provide their first name, last name, billing address, and credit card information in order to process the transaction.

Processing of online transactions is done through Authorize.net, which is one of the world's leading processors of online credit card transactions. We utilize industry standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) servers to encrypt your information and prevent unauthorized access. In addition, this information will not be transferred, sold, given, or otherwise disclosed to any third parties not specifically involved in processing the transaction. Parties that are specifically involved in processing the transaction include Authorize.net, our bank, and your credit card company.

E-mail Updates

If a visitor wishes to subscribe to our Updates, we ask for contact information, including name and e-mail address.

Life-Lines E-mail Greeting Cards

If a visitor wishes to send an e-mail greeting card to another person, Breastcancer.org will ask for the name and e-mail address of both the sender and the recipient. Breastcancer.org will automatically send the recipient a one-time e-mail inviting them to visit the site to view their card. Breastcancer.org stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time e-mail, and to allow the recipient to visit Breastcancer.org as often as they like to view their card.

Tell-A-Friend

If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about a particular page at our site, we ask for both the sender's and the friend's name and e-mail address. Breastcancer.org will automatically send the friend a one-time e-mail inviting them to visit the selected page at our site. Breastcancer.org stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time e-mail.

Online Credit Card Contributions

Users who choose to contribute to Breastcancer.org are required to provide their first name, last name, mailing address, donation amount, and credit card information in order to process the transaction. Breastcancer.org may mail you updates on our programs and support offerings. You may also receive future solicitations for donations to support these programs and offerings. Your mailing address will not be given to any third party. You may opt out of receiving such additional materials at any time by sending us a request to remove your mailing address from our list.

Processing of online transactions is done through Authorize.net, which is one of the world's leading processors of online credit card transactions. We utilize industry standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) servers to encrypt your information and prevent unauthorized access. In addition, this information will not be transferred, sold, given, or otherwise disclosed to any third parties not specifically involved in processing the transaction. Parties that are specifically involved in processing the transaction include Authorize.net, our bank, and your credit card company.

Providing your email address and phone number is optional when making an online donation. If you choose to provide your email address, we will email you a receipt of your donation. You also have a choice of whether to have your email address added to our Email Updates mailing list. Should you choose to provide it, your email address will not be sold or given to any third party. You may remove your email address from our Email Updates mailing list at any time by visiting the signup page. If you choose to provide your phone number, we may call you during our yearly fundraising drive. Should you choose to provide it, your phone number will not be sold or given to any third party. You may remove your phone number from our list at any time by sending us a removal request.

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on your computer's hard drive. Cookies contain information about you and your computer. A "session cookie" is a temporary file created when a web site is accessed. It ceases to exist (is self-terminated) either on the basis of an pre-set expiration date or time (e.g., three hours from creation of the cookie) or when you close your web browser. Once you close your browser, the cookie simply terminates (i.e., ceases to exist). Breastcancer.org uses session cookies in three places: Free Booklets by Mail, Tell-a-Friend, and Life-Lines e-mail greeting cards. This allows you to send more than one card or page without having to re-enter your own name and e-mail address each time.

A "persistent cookie" is a file that remains on your computer's hard drive for an extended period of time. Breastcancer.org uses persistent cookies to track aggregate user statistics on the site to help us determine how people move throughout the site, which areas are popular, and which links are unpopular or hard to see.

Advertisers or third party vendors who implement banner ads that link to our site from other sites may also set persistent cookies on our site. We do not have access to or control over these cookies, once we have given permission for them to set cookies for advertising or tracking purposes. We may receive information regarding aggregate traffic patterns as a result of these third party cookies.

You may remove persistent cookies at any time from your hard drive by following Internet browser "help file" directions.

Cookies are in no way linked to any personally identifiable information while on our site.

Web Beacons

Web beacons are tiny graphical images (usually 1x1 pixels) that are served from a third party advertiser or marketing firm. Web beacons allow that third party to set their own cookies on your hard drive—enabling them to track your Internet usage across many other web sites. Web beacons help us determine the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns on other websites. Web beacons are in no way linked to personally identifiable information while on our site.

Log Files

We use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. "IP addresses" are the equivalent of internet "mailing addresses." They tell other computers on the Internet where to send the information you have requested, such as new web pages or images. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information.

Sharing Information

We will share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. Partners can include providers of content and services, such as the American Cancer Society, as well as financial sponsors and advertisers. This is not linked to any personal information that can identify any individual person.

Links

This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that Breastcancer.org is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Security

This web site takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When you submit sensitive information via the web site, your information is protected both online and off-line as described in this policy statement. Please be aware, however, that e-mail messages sent to a web site may not be secure. Site visitors sending e-mail accept the risk that a third party may intercept e-mail messages. To protect our users' information once it is received by Breastcancer.org, we have the following policies:

On occasion, questions submitted by e-mail may be referred to a member of the Breastcancer.org Professional Advisory Board or Consumer Advisory Board, for answers and support. The name and e-mail address of the person submitting the question will not be shared with the member of the Professional Advisory Board to whom the question is referred.

All of our users' information is restricted in our offices. Only employees or independent contractors who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, Dr. Weiss, who personally responds to medical queries; a mail manager who e-mails a response from a medical expert to a site user) are granted access to personally identifiable information. ALL employees and independent contractors are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices.

Periodically, as well as any time new policies are added, our employees and independent contractors are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our customers' information is protected. If you have any questions about the security at our web site, please contact technical support.

Correction/Updating Personal Information:

If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your zip code), or if a user no longer desires our service, we will endeavor to provide a way to correct, update or remove that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done by contacting Customer Support. Users will receive a confirmation email stating that we have received their updated or corrected information and/or their request to have personal data removed.

Choice/Opt-out

Our users are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having their information used for purposes not directly related to our site, at the point where we ask for the information. For example, users who no longer wish to receive our e-mail Updates may opt-out of receiving these communications by following the Unsubscribe directions in the Update or by contacting us.

Notification of Changes

Users will be notified of any changes in our Privacy Policy by a link to the updated policy on the home page, including an icon indicating that the policy has recently changed. It is our commitment that our users will always be aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under circumstances, if any, we disclose it.

If, at any point, we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify users by way of an e-mail. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in this different manner. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.