HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices for U.S. Residents

Effective Date: September 11, 2024

Spears Market Dental Care (the “Practice,” “we” or “us”) is committed to protecting the privacy of users of the website located at [Insert URL] or any website owned, operated, licensed, or controlled by us (the “Site”). This Privacy Policy describes how we gather, use, and disclose information about you. This Privacy Policy applies solely to the information about you that we collect through the Site.

This Privacy Policy does not address personal information that you provide to us in other contexts (e.g., through a business relationship not handled through the Site). This Privacy Policy is in addition to, and does not replace, our Notice of Privacy Practices, which explains how we use and disclose your protected health information (“PHI”) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its implementing regulations, as amended (“HIPAA”). To the extent of a conflict between the terms of this Privacy Policy and the Notice of Privacy Practices with respect to PHI, the Notices of Privacy Practices will control how we use and disclose your PHI.

Acceptance of Privacy Policy

Please review this Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into and made part of our Terms of Use. By using the Site, you signify your acceptance of this Privacy Policy and signify your consent to our collection, use, and disclosure of your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Site. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes to these terms will mean that you accept those changes.

Disclaimer

The information and advice published or made available on the Site is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, nor does it establish or constitute a dentist-patient relationship. Please see your dentist promptly with any healthcare-related questions.

Collection of Personal Information

The Practice collects several types of information via the Site:

▪ Contact Information: The Practice may collect personal information such as name, email address, address, date of birth, phone number, and any other information you choose to provide us.

▪ Usage Information: The Practice and certain of our service providers may also collect certain information about the use of the Site and other information made available by your web browser or internet service provider (collectively, “Usage Information”). Usage Information may include your language settings, browser type operating system, numerical IP address, cookie or similar online identifiers, referring URL, location, and pages viewed. Some of this information, such as IP address, may constitute personal information under applicable laws. The Practice may obtain certain of this Usage Information by installing a “cookie” on your computer/device (or using a third party to do so) or using similar technologies such as pixels, web beacons, or software development kits that may forward such information to third parties. For additional information regarding our use of “Cookies,” see below.

Use of Personal Information

The Practice may use the information we collect for one or more of the following purposes:

▪ To provide and improve the content and functionality of the Site;

▪ To provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us;

▪ To identify visitors, customize the content and/or layout of pages for each individual visitor;

▪ To analyze traffic to the Site;

▪ To carry out research on customer demographics, interests and behaviors;

▪ To provide marketing messages relevant to your interests;

▪ To transact business with you such as to schedule an appointment;

▪ To respond to your inquiries or provide you with information regarding the Practice and the Site;

▪ As the Practice believes necessary or appropriate to: (i) comply with any legal, regulatory, or contractual obligation and to respond to requests from public and governmental authorities; (ii) investigate security breaches; (iii) enforce the Site’s Terms of Use; and (iv) protect the Practice’s rights, privacy, safety and property and the rights, privacy, safety and property of others;

▪ To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it;

▪ In any other way the Practice may describe when you provide the information; and

▪ For any other purpose with your consent.

Please note that our use of PHI is explained in the Notice of Privacy Practices.

Disclosure of Information

The Practice does not share your information with third parties, except as permitted by law. We may disclose your information to the following categories of third parties for our business purposes:

▪ Service providers, agents, contractors, consultants, and advisors, including the providers of advertising and marketing services;

▪ Any governmental agency, regulatory authority, or self-regulatory organization, including law enforcement, as needed to cooperate with proceedings, inquiries, or investigations by such authorities or in response to any requests made by such authorities, or to otherwise comply with legal or regulatory obligations;

▪ Third parties as needed to protect our legitimate interests, including to establish or defend our legal rights;

▪ Third parties in the event that we sell all or part of our business or make a sale or transfer of assets or are otherwise involved in a merger, restructuring, or business transfer; and

▪ Certain other persons to the extent authorized by you.

Security

Your privacy is very important to the Practice. We strive to use appropriate security measures for preventing your personal information from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered, or disclosed. Except as provided elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, we limit access to personal information in electronic databases to those persons in our organization who have a business need for such access. They will only process your personal information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality. However, you should know that no website operator, including the Practice, can fully eliminate security risks associated with personal information. While the Practice has endeavored to create a secure and reliable website for users, the confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted to/from the Site or via e-mail cannot be guaranteed.

Data Retention

The Practice retains your personal information for as long as necessary to accomplish the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer period is required under applicable law or is required to resolve disputes or protect our legal rights.

Third-Party Links on the Site

The Site may contain links to other, third-party websites. Please be aware that the Practice is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites. When you connect to a third-party website that is linked to our Site, we encourage you to read the privacy statements of that website. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by this Site.

Children Under the Age of 18

The Site is not intended for use by children under the age of 18. In accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (“COPPA”), the Practice does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. When the Practice receives information (with parental consent) from users under the age of 13, we will not share their personal information with third parties, regardless of their stated preference given at registration, in compliance with COPPA.

Cookies

Our Site uses cookies and related data collection technologies (“Cookies”) to gather general information about the browsing activities of visitors to the Site. This allows us to constantly improve our Site’s design by arranging the content in the most user-friendly manner and to continually meet the users’ needs. Cookies are simple text files stored on your web browser to provide a means of distinguishing among users of this website. You have the ability to accept or decline Cookies, and you can review your Internet browser settings, typically under the sections “Help” or “Internet Options,” to exercise choices you have for certain Cookies. Refusing or deleting these Cookies may limit your ability to take advantage of some features of this Site.

We may use the following types of Cookies: (i) strictly necessary Cookies to provide our online services, which are necessary for the Site to function; (ii) analytics cookies, which allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of the Site; and (iii) advertising cookies, which may be set through our advertising partners and used to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant ads.

Your Choices

If you become aware that the personal information we maintain about you is inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, irrelevant or out of date, you may contact us using the contact information at the bottom of this Privacy Policy.

Electronic Communications

You consent to receive electronic communications from the Practice, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically, via email, and/or on the Site satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

The Practice reserves the right to modify or amend this Privacy Policy at any time. All changes will be effective immediately upon posting to the Site. We display an effective date on the policy in the upper left corner of this Privacy Policy so that it will be easier for you to know when there has been a change. If we make any change to this Privacy Policy regarding use or disclosure of personal information, we will provide advance notice on the Site. Small changes or changes that do not significantly affect individual privacy interests may be made at any time and without prior notice. Your continued use of the Site after the effective date of this Privacy Policy (as modified from time to time) indicates your agreement to the terms hereof.

Questions About This Privacy Policy

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us by phone at (217) 540-5100, by email to
Privacy@mydentalmail.com or by mail to:

Corporate Compliance Officer
1200 Network Centre
Effingham, Illinois 62401