Web Site User Privacy Rights
The Montreal Children's Hospital of the MUHC is strongly committed to protecting
the privacy of its online users: patients, families, donors, the media, and
others. We do not collect personally identifiable information about
individuals, except when it is knowingly provided by such individuals. We do
not share voluntarily provided, personally identifiable information for any
purpose other than its intended use. We will make certain to comply with
international standards for the storage and protection of the data in our care.
The Montreal Children's Hospital believes privacy on the Web is important, and
we encourage you to read our privacy policy carefully, so you will clearly
understand our commitment and our method of collecting and using information.
Information Collection and Use
Web log file data
We collect some basic Web log file data about site visitors. This information
includes domain names, Web site traffic patterns and server usage statistics.
This information is used for site management and administration and to improve
the content and overall performance of our site.
Data security
The Montreal Children's Hospital makes every reasonable effort to ensure that
all of the transactions that occur on our Web site are secure. We store
personally identifiable data with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to
protect information you may submit on our site. SSL is the industry standard
protocol. All off-line information is securely stored and is accessible only by
authorized Children's Hospital staff.
Online Forms
The Montreal Children's Hospital provides intake forms on our Web site which may
request confidential health information. These online forms are located on our
secure site.
Subscription to newsletter or press releases
If you subscribe to a newsletter, publication or press release published by The
Montreal Children's Hospital and distributed via e-mail, we will keep your
e-mail address in a private distribution list. Messages sent electronically do
not reveal recipients' e-mail addresses or any other personal information. The
Montreal Children's Hospital will only send messages to individuals who have
opted to subscribe and who have provided their e-mail address to us directly.
We do not use this e-mail address list for any other purpose, and we only add
individuals at their request. At any time, you may opt out by using the
unsubscribe link provided on our Web site and in the publication e-mail, which
will remove your information from the distribution list for that publication.
"Cookies" and how we use them
Cookies are packets of information that a Web site transfers to a user's
computer for record-keeping purposes. They are a means of keeping track of
users' preferences for content and alerting them to new content areas. Most
browsers allow you to turn off cookies if you do not want them tracking your
preferences.
The Montreal Children's Hospital (thechildren.com) does set and access cookies,
however, no cookies are used to track an identifiable user's movement through
this Web site. They are used only to enhance the usability of the site. You can
still use this site if you turn the cookies off.
Donations and Fundraising Events
When you donate to The Montreal Children's Hospital or the Montreal Children's
Hospital Foundation (childrenfoundation.com) or register for events, we ask you
to voluntarily provide your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and
credit card number so we can process your donation or event registration, send
you a receipt or confirmation and communicate with you if necessary. If you'd
like, you can provide that information another way (by phone or regular mail).
Third-Party Service Providers
The Montreal Children's Hospital may engage reputable third-party vendors to
help us manage our Web sites and allow us to better service our patients and
visitors. The hospital never shares with third parties any personally
identifiable information you provide when requesting information or making a
donation online, except as required by law.
Links to other sites
This site has links to other sites we think may be of interest to our visitors.
Their purpose is to provide visitors with convenient access to other sites that
might interest them. A link to another site does not imply an endorsement of
the site's content or services.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices of sites not owned by The
Montreal Children's Hospital. We encourage you to be aware of that when you
leave our site and to read privacy statements at any sites that collect
personally identifiable data.
E-mail communication
The Montreal Children's Hospital does not collect your e-mail address unless you
voluntarily submit it to us or choose to communicate with us via e-mail. We do
not sell or rent any e-mail addresses. We try to respond to e-mail messages
requiring a response within five business days. If you e-mail the hospital,
your message and e-mail address will be forwarded to the appropriate department
or program within the hospital. Please do not e-mail patient health
information, as that information is confidential and should only be discussed
with your physician.
How we use the information
The Montreal Children's Hospital uses the information you provide to fulfill
your online request, facilitate customer service and inform you of our programs
and events.
We do not rent, sell or otherwise provide visitors' personal information to
third parties, such as marketers.
We inform the companies that help The Montreal Children's Hospital with
donations made by credit card that they may not share or use personally
identifiable information for any other purpose.
We do not share any personally identifiable information we may collect in
surveys, although we may share aggregated survey results with analysts, as
described above. The aggregate data cannot be used to identify individuals and
participation in the survey is voluntary.
It is possible that we could be forced to disclose personally identifiable user
information in response to a search warrant, subpoena, or court order; that can
happen to any organization keeping records. Disclosures may also be appropriate
to protect our legal rights and the security or integrity of our Web site, or
to avoid liability. Those kinds of disclosures are highly unlikely, but
possible.
Policy changes
We will promptly post any changes to our privacy policy on all sites owned by
The Montreal Children's Hospital of the MUHC.
Deletion and removal of information
Non-identifiable information in our aggregate database will not be deleted. Like
all responsible Web site publishers, The Montreal Children's Hospital maintains
backup files as a protection against natural disasters, equipment failures, or
other disruptions. Backup files protect you and us because they lower the risk
of losing valuable data. Removing a record from our main files does not remove
that record from any backup systems. It may take up to six months before all
the information in a backup record is completely erased through the normal
recycling of backup files. In the meantime, as long as backup records exist,
they receive the same privacy and security protections as our other records.
Questions or comments?
Questions about The Montreal Children's Hospital or our privacy policy, may be
directed to:
The Montreal Children's Hospital
Public Relations and Communications
2300 Tupper Street
Montreal, Quebec
Canada, H3H 1P3