Privacy Policy

Thank you for your interest in the Gout Education Society. Your privacy is very important to the Gout Education Society (GES), and we are committed to protecting the information that you provide to us. We want to make sure that you (“you(r)” or “user(s)”) understand our policies and practices. We also provide opportunities for you to choose what information you give us and options to opt out. This policy shall apply to www.gouteducation.org (the “Website” or “Site”), our newsletter and email communications, any related applications or social media (“Apps”), and/or any other service provided by the Gout Education Society (“Gout Education Society” or “we” or “us”). The Site, all activities described in the preceding sentence, and/or any other service shall be referred to as the “Services.” To utilize and access the Services and Site, you agree to abide by the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Please read them carefully.

Please note there is a separate privacy policy applicable to our Gout Specialist Network.

By using the Site, you are also confirming that you have read and understand this policy, including how and why we use your information. If you do not wish to have us collect or process your personal information, you should not use the Services and should immediately cease use of this Site. You also understand that we use third-party services and apps, including WordPress.com (“WordPress”), Bluehost Inc. (“Bluehost”), Automattic Inc. (“Automattic”), Endurance International Group (“Endurance”), Constant Contact, Inc. (“Constant Contact”), Twitter, Inc. (“Twitter”), Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”), Google LLC (“Google”), Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”), and other third-party providers that may not be directly described in this Policy to deliver the Services. We are not responsible for the privacy policies, content, terms, etc. of these third parties.

You must be at least 18 years of age to use this Website. The Services are not targeted or designed in any way to minors and any person under the age of 18 viewing or using the Services should only do so with parental supervision and control. You are responsible for any and all Services activity conducted by a minor. If you are the parent or guardian of a child whom you believe has disclosed personal information to us, please contact us at info@GoutEducation.org so that you may review the information submitted and have such child’s information deleted and removed from our systems.

By using the Services, you understand that GES is operated in the United States. GES sees and can delete the information provided by you, but does not have its own servers. The Site is hosted by WordPress and Bluehost. Information is held on servers provided by WordPress and BlueHost, based in Orem, Utah, United States of America.

Contact details of the data controllers:

– WordPress.com (a subsidiary of Autommatic Inc.)

– Notice Address(es):

For US residents and residents outside of the Designated Countries (Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, and all countries located in Europe, including the UK and Republic of Ireland): Automattic Inc., 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110.

For residents in the Designated Countries: Aut O’Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd., Grand Canal Dock, 25 Herbert Pl., Dublin, D02 AY86, Ireland.

– Internet: https://www.automattic.com/privacy

– Phone: (877) 273-3049

– Online general mailbox available at https://www.automattic.com/contact/.

– Bluehost Inc. (a subsidiary of Endurance International Group)

– Notice Address(es)

For US residents: Bluehost, ATTN: Legal Department, 1500 N Priest Drive, Suite 200, Tempe, AZ 85281 and Data Protection Officer, 10 Corporate Drive, Burlington, MA 01803, USA.

For EU residents: AppMachine B.V., Sophialaan 32, 8911 AE Leeuwarden, Nederland and Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, Postbus 93374, 2509 AJ DEN HAAG, THE NETHERLANDS.

– EU Phone: (+31) – (0)70-888 85 00

– Email: legal@bluehost.com and privacy@endurance.com.

How your data is treated and transferred is detailed below.

Collection of Information

To use certain aspects of the Services you will need to enter, and we shall collect, a certain amount of personal information, which is detailed below. The purpose of such collection is to analyze details about our Website’s users’ activities so that we can track the number of visitors to our Site, how many times each page is accessed, the paths visitors take to access various pages, requests of downloads, and other usage details.

Whenever you access our Website, our server documents the pages visited; partners’ websites visited; and certain information about your computer, including your IP (Internet Protocol) address, operating system, web browser information and screen resolution. Each time you access the Internet, your computer is automatically assigned an IP address by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or network. When you visit pages on the Gout Education Society Website, our servers record your IP address in a log. These logs are then used for system administration (such as Site usage reporting and analysis) so that we can constantly improve the content we provide. We will not use your IP address or Website usage information for marketing purposes or sale.

If you do not wish to transmit personal information, do not use the Services. There are also opportunities to opt out of the collection of certain information or transmissions, which you may take advantage of when available.

Use of the Site.

While using, interacting with, participating in, or visiting the Site, you may be asked to communicate information from time to time through the Site to GES or its third party service providers. Such information may include Personal Information including, but not limited to, your first and last name, address, zip code, email, and/or phone number. You must not communicate the information of any person other than yourself. GES is the sole owner of the information collected and does not release, sell, or rent your Personal Information to third parties, vendors, or suppliers.

Protected Medical Information.

No medical information is collected nor should be transmitted through this Site. GES does not transmit or input any Protected Health Information as defined by HIPAA privacy regulations through this Site. ALL MEDICAL INFORMATION SHOULD ONLY BE COMMUNICATED DIRECTLY TO YOUR PHYSICIAN. If you have transmitted any medical information or believe there to be a breach of HIPAA by GES, please contact us.

The only exceptions to our protection of Personal Information are (a) to comply with valid legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order; or (b) a physical threat to you or others, a threat to homeland security, a threat to our system or network, or in any cases in which we believe it is reasonably necessary to investigate or prevent harm, fraud, abuse, illegal conduct or a violation or alleged violation of this Privacy Policy or other agreement we, or a third party, may have with you.

Newsletter and Resources.

You agree that by submitting your contact information you allow us to contact you or send you newsletters and other information via such contact information. The information you provide to us is sent to our email and then manually input into Constant Contact, which we use to send our newsletters. If your Personal Information changes or you no longer desire to be contacted directly, we encourage you to correct, update or remove the Personal Information the next time we email you. You may also opt to unsubscribe from any individual form of communication via the “unsubscribe” option provided in the communication. You can also contact us directly via the contact information provided at the conclusion of this Privacy Policy at any time.

Third-Party Service Providers.

This Site contains third-party service providers and information and links that we do not control. We do not monitor, control, or endorse the information collection or privacy practices of any third parties. Third-party service providers on the Site may also place, view, and/or use cookies, pixels, beacons, log files or other such technologies. GES does not use any of the information collected via these technologies to identify you or collect your Personal Information nor does GES provide any information to third parties. Users of this Site are subject to the privacy policy of any third party provider, when using a third party service through the Site. Users should consult any third party privacy policy and/or terms of use information. Most browsers accept cookies by default, however, you can attempt to disable cookies in your browser’s settings.

GES also uses independent third party service providers (such as marketing and advertising agencies) to aid in the carrying out of the Services. These service providers may also have access to information on the Site, and shall follow all procedures detailed in this Policy.

Data Storage.

We, or the third-party Site and App providers, may use third-party cloud storage providers such as Microsoft Remote Desktop or other providers to facilitate the functionality of our Services. The manner in which your information is used, stored, and disclosed is governed solely by the policies of such third-party service providers, and GES shall have no liability or responsibility for the privacy practices or other actions of any third-party site or service that may be enabled within the Service.

Should the Gout Education Society have a need to use your personally identifiable information for a purpose other than those stated here, we will request your permission before doing so.

Website Usage.

In order to ensure that our website is as useful as possible, the Gout Education Society may collect and retain details concerning visits to the Website. The purpose of such collection is to analyze details about our Website users’ activities so that we can track the number of visits to our Site, how many times each page is accessed, the paths visitors take to access various pages and other usage details. Whenever you access our Website, our server and other analytics services provided by Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other third parties, document the pages visited; partners’ websites visited; and certain information about your computer, including your IP (Internet Protocol) address, operating system, web browser information and screen resolution. Each time you access the Internet, your computer is automatically assigned an IP address by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or network. When you visit pages on the Gout Education Society Website, our servers record your IP address in a log. These logs are then used for system administration (such as Site usage reporting and analysis) so that we can constantly improve the content we provide. We will not use your IP address or Website usage information for marketing purposes.

Control of Information.

You are able to choose what information you provide and change your communication elections whenever you like. If you wish to have information removed from our databases at info@GoutEducation.org. You can only remove optional information without affecting the ability to use the Services. If you wish to have a copy of the data collected by us, you may contact us via the contact information stated at the bottom of this Policy.

We may send you communications via any of the contact information you provide us. Communications related to the functionality of the Services, transactions, or legal notices are required and you cannot opt out of them.

You may opt out of non-required communications such as notifications, newsletters, emails, etc.

You understand that changing your preferences or what information you share may affect your use of the Services.

Cookies.

A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that is transferred from a website to the hard drive of a computer. The web server, in turn, uses this information to present a visitor with custom web pages, session tracking, etc. The cookie identifies the web browser – not the visitor – so that the stored information can be sent back to the server when the browser requests a page from the server. A cookie will not let a website know any personally identifiable information such as a real name and address. We use cookies on our website but are not able to view any of the personally identifiable information they may collect. If you delete our cookies from your computer, your experience on our website will revert to a default state.

Security.

The Gout Education Society uses appropriate technical, administrative and physical safeguards to protect data that pertains to you from loss, misuse or alteration. In addition, we take steps to ensure that our safeguards take into account new known threats. Of course, no organization can guarantee the absolute security of personal information. You should keep in mind that Internet transmissions, particularly email transmissions, are never 100 percent secure or error-free. Accordingly, we also caution you to guard your own computer and password against unauthorized access by others. In the future, the Gout Education Society may incorporate new technologies as they evolve to ensure a reasonable level of protection at all times.

Links.

The Gout Education Society Website provides hyperlinks to other websites maintained by independent third parties. This privacy statement applies solely to the information collected directly by GES. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave this Site and to read the privacy policies of any website that you may visit.

Contact Us.

If you have any questions or you feel we have not addressed your concerns, please feel free to contact us at info@GoutEducation.org or (412) 456-4300.

This Policy was last updated January 2021.