Our Privacy Policy
We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of the users of our sites.
This privacy policy will advise you about how we protect your personal information, and about what choices you have concerning our use of such information. Please read this policy carefully. We may need to change this policy from time to time in order to address new issues and reflect changes on our sites. We will post those changes here so that you will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether we will disclose that information to anyone. Please refer back to this policy regularly. If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy, Please use our Contact Form
Scope of Privacy Policy
This policy applies to your use of all of the sites and services owned or operated by ARDS Foundation. Unless we say otherwise, all references to the ARDS Foundation in this policy include all such sites. This policy does not apply to your use of unaffiliated sites to which any of the ARDS Foundation Sites only links.
Your E-mail Address
When you subscribe to the ARDS Foundation Online Newsletter, your e-mail address will not be sold, rented, leased, loaned, bartered, made public or shared with anyone or any company. Should you elect to unsubscribe from the Newsletter, your email will be deleted from the corresponding database. If you provide your e-mail address via a form on this Web site, such as the Survivor Registry, ARDS Petition, Research Survey, your e-mail address will not sold, rented, leased, loaned, bartered, made public or shared with anyone or any company.
Personal Identification Information
We will never intentionally disclose any personal identification information about you as an individual user (such as, for example, your full name, street address, telephone number, credit card number or e-mail address) to any third party without having received your permission. We may request personal identification information from you in connection with your use of, or participation in, our contests, surveys, forums, subscription registrations, content submissions, chats, bulletin boards, discussion groups, requests for suggestions, and in connection with other activities, services or resources we make available on any of our sites. In all of these cases, we will collect personal identification information from you only if you voluntarily submit such information to us. If you do provide us with personal information, we may use it to conduct the activities described above. If you identify yourself to us by sending us an e-mail with questions or comments, we may use your personal information to respond to your questions or comments. We may file your comments for future reference, or we may discard the information after we have reviewed it. We have the following exceptions to these policies: We will release specific information about you or your account to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute or court order. We will also release specific information in special cases, such as if there is an attempted breach of the security of the ARDS Foundation Website, or a physical threat to you or others. Please note that if you give out personal information online — for example, through a message board or chat room — that information can be collected and used by third parties. Although we strive to protect our users’ privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of information you post in these forums. You disclose such information at your own risk.
Privacy of Children
ARDS Foundation understands that young people need special safeguards and privacy protection. We realize that they may not understand all the provisions of our policy or be able to make thoughtful decisions about the choices that are made available to our adult users. We urge all parents to participate in their children’s exploration of the Internet and any online services, and to teach their children about protecting their personal information while online. The ARDS Foundation Website is not directed to children under the age of 13. ARDS Foundation prohibits registration by children under the age of 13 for all interactive portions of the site including chats and message boards. ARDS Foundation knowingly will not collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. Note to Parents. If you have any concerns about the ARDS Foundation Website or their related services, Please use our Contact Form .
Non-PersonPolling
ARDS Foundation (ardsusa.org) offers interactive polls to users so they can easily share their opinions with other users and see what the ARDS Foundation (ardsusa.org) audience thinks about important issues. ARDS Foundation (ardsusa.org) uses a system to “tag” users after they have voted, so they can vote only once on a particular question. This tag is not correlated with information about individual users.
Surveys
Occasionally ARDS Foundation (ardsusa.org) conducts user surveys to better target our application demonstrations and content to our audience. We may share the aggregated usability information in these surveys with our partners. We never share any information about specific individuals with any third party.
Personal Identification Information and The Use Of Cookie Technology
We collect non-personal identification information through the use of “cookie” technology and/or IP address. Non-personal identification information might include the browser you use, the type of computer, the operating systems, the Internet service providers and other similar information. Our system also automatically gathers information about the areas you visit on our sites and about the links you may select from within our site to other areas of the World Wide Web or elsewhere online. We use such information in the aggregate to understand how our users as a group use the services and resources provided on our sites. This way we know which areas of our sites are favorites of our users, which areas need improvement, and what technologies are being used so that we may continually improve our sites. We may share this aggregate statistical information with our partners, suppliers and other third parties, but we will not share any individual names, personal navigational or other personal information. Some of our advertisers may display ads on our sites which solicit or contain technology to collect information about our users for the advertisers, but we will not permit such advertisers to collect any personal information from our users within our sites. Most browsers are set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you do so, please note that some parts of the ARDS Foundation ardsusa.org Website may not function properly.
Use of “Web bugs”
We do not use “Web bugs.” Some Internet security applications may misidentify static graphic elements used for layout purposes only as Web bugs. Consult your security program’s documentation for details on filtering unsuspicious images.
Links To Other Sites
Users will find advertising or other contents on our sites that link to the sites and services of our partners, suppliers, advertisers, sponsors, licensors and other third parties. In many cases, the links represent cooperative projects or are mutual links established with persons or entities connected with our sites. Although we initially visit the sites or services that are so linked, we do not control the contents or links that appear on these sites. In addition, these sites or services, including their contents and links, may be constantly changing. These sites and services may have their own privacy policies and customer service policies, or no policy (policies) at all. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third party sites or services before providing any of them with your personal information.
Security Policy
Protecting your privacy and your information is a top priority. We have taken careful measures to secure both your information and our physical premises. We exercise great care in providing secure transmission of your information from your PC to our servers. Our secure server software encrypts information, ensuring that all Internet transactions remain private (unless sent by an unsecured means, such as e-mail).
Your Acceptance of These Terms
By using any of the ARDS Foundation Website, you signify your acceptance of our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our sites. Your continued use of the ARDS Foundation Websites following the posting of changes to these terms will mean that you accept those changes.
