The following principles reflect Lee County Medical Society’s commitment to maintain the website visitor’s rights to privacy and the confidentiality of personal information. In this context, privacy refers to the right of the individual site visitor to choose whether to allow personal information to be collected, by the host site (in this case, LCMS) or by third parties, and to know what type of information is collected and how that information is used. Confidentiality is the right of an individual to not have personally identifiable information disclosed to others without that individual’s express informed consent.

The Internet has the potential to allow information about website use to be tracked in aggregate (which can help site developers understand site use and improve the experience of the viewer) and at the individual user level. Individual user information can improve the visitor's experience of the site by permitting personalization of the site related to the individual's particular interests or concerns. LCMS, however, takes extensive measures to ensure the safety and security of its website servers and to guard against divulging private information.

LCMS believes that all site visitors should have the opportunity to opt in or out of allowing personal information to be tracked. In addition, LCMS believes that website visitors should know who (i.e., the site organization or third party) is tracking personal information and the types of personal information that are tracked and should have the right to opt out of such information being collected at any time.

Principles

A link to the privacy policy of the LCMS website is provided on the footer of all web pages within the LCMS website. The website adheres to the privacy principles posted.

You may browse many areas of our website, including our home page, without disclosing any personal information about yourself. Within these areas we only collect and store the information that is automatically recognized by the webserver, such as your IP address and files you request from the server. We collect the personal data that you volunteer on registration, order, survey, or other forms, or by email. Additionally, some areas of our website might be available only to members and will require a login and password to access these areas. In order to be granted a login and password you may be asked some demographic information about yourself.

Registering on our site is optional. If you choose not to register or provide personal information, you can still use the public areas of our website. However, you will not be able to purchase items at member rates or be allowed access to private areas of our website. We view the customer information that we collect as a valuable and confidential asset of which we take great care to ensure its safety.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

LCMS may collect, retain, and use personal information about site visitors when the LCMS believes that such information would be useful in providing site visitors with products, services, and other opportunities, provided such use adheres to these principles and is within bounds of current regulations and law (http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/index.html). Individuals may agree to have such personal information collected or may choose not to, with the understanding that opting out of having such information collected prevents the site from being tailored to their needs and interests.

Names and email addresses of site visitors are not provided or released to a third party without the site visitor's express permission.

Email information, personal information about specific visitor's access and navigation, and information volunteered by site visitors, such as survey information and site registration information, may be used by LCMS to improve the site but are not shared with or sold to other organizations for commercial purposes without the site visitor's express permission. Such information may, however, be released to local, state, or federal law enforcement officials when requested under the appropriate law or laws.

LCMS may use email addresses voluntarily provided by site visitors to notify them about updates, products, services, activities, or upcoming events. Site visitors who do not wish to receive such notifications via email may opt out of receiving such information at any time.

Names and office addresses of LCMS staff are made available, in accordance with policy established by the LCMS Board of Directors, only for communications that are germane to the Society, practice of medicine or of interest to physicians or medical students as consumers.

Nonidentifiable website visitor data may be collected and used in aggregate to help shape and direct the creation and maintenance of content and to determine the type of advertisement to be seen by site visitors while on the LCMS site.

A cookie is a small file stored on the site user's computer or web server and is used to aid web page navigation. Two types of cookies are commonly used. A session cookie is a temporary file created whenever a website is accessed and is self-terminated based either on an expiration date (e.g., 3 hours from creation of the cookie) or by closing the web browser. A persistent cookie is a permanent file and must be deleted manually. Cookies referred to in the context of these guidelines are persistent cookies. A cookie function may be used on the site to track visitor practices to help determine which site features and services are most important and guide editorial direction. The cookie makes it possible for the user to access the site without requiring repeated entry of a username, allows the user to view different restricted areas of the site without reregistering, and allows the user to personalize the site for future use. Users who do not desire the functionality created by the cookie have the option of disabling the cookie function on their browser. This may disable some website functions for the user.

Email messages sent to a website may not be secure. Site visitors are discouraged from sending confidential information by email. Site visitors sending email accept the risk that a third party may intercept email messages. Email alerts and newsletters contain an “unsubscribe” option.

Security

Protecting the security of personal information submitted to LCMS is very important to us. We utilize a reputable online member database and management company (WildApricot) and employ reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect all personal information we collect and to reduce the risk of loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure or modification of your information. We also contract with a PCI compliant (Level I) payment provider (Affinipay) to provide simple, secure, streamlined ways to pay for our services. Nevertheless, data transmission over the internet is never 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use reasonable and appropriate means to protect your personal information, LCMS cannot warrant or guarantee the security of any personal information transmitted to LCMS online.

Our employees and processors who have access to personal data are obliged to respect the privacy of our visitors and the confidentiality of their personal data. If you have any inquiries about our privacy statement, please contact LCMS Executive Director Julie Ramirez at (239) 936-1645.