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Privacy Policy
Rainmakers,
Inc. (operator of PsychCafe at psychcafe.net) is
committed to respecting and protecting the privacy of its visitors. This
Privacy Statement will describe the information that we collect from our users,
the ways to update your information, and how we keep your information private
and secure.
The only
information obtained by this Web site about individual visitors is information
that is supplied voluntarily by those visitors. Only statistical information
about our members as a group (their usage habits and demographics) may be
shared with a partner of Rainmakers, Inc. No individual information may be
shared with third parties unless specifically stated in the Terms & Conditions.
Rainmakers,
Inc. strives to comply with the standards set by Health on the Net (HON).
Because this
Web site seeks to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it has agreed to
disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices published.
This Web site has agreed to notify you of:
- What personally identifiable information of
yours or third party personally identification is collected from you
through the Web site
- The organization collecting the information
- How the information is used
- With whom the information may be shared
- What choices are available to you regarding
collection, use and distribution of the information
- The kind of security procedures that are in
place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under Rainmakers,
Inc. control
- How you can correct any inaccuracies in the
information.
If you have
questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first call (773)
818-6423, or send an e-mail through our contact form.
I.
Registration Information
When becoming
a registered member of this site, users are asked to provide personal
information about themselves. You may add or update
any of your information in the "Edit Account Info" section of the Web
site.
Required information
consists of:
(1) Name
(2) Username
(3) Password/Confirmation
(4) E-mail address
(5) Telephone
Optional
information consists of much more detailed information. However, none of that
personal information is required, and you could opt to withhold all of it and
still successfully proceed through the secondary registration process.
Information
entered into your profile or on the intake form will be provided to a mental
health professional member if you voluntarily choose to enter into a professional
relationship with that member through psychcafe.net. The required information
from your profile is always provided to the professional member upon entering
a relationship, while optional information is only sent to those professionals
who specifically require it.
All
personal information is otherwise private, and will not be made available to
any external party, company, other user of the Web site, other person, or other
entity in general, without the express consent of the user unless specifically
stated in the Terms & Conditions. The staff of psychcafe.net
access user information only for legitimate, authorized administrative
purposes.
There are
three important exceptions to our assurances of confidentiality:
- United States law requires that any
suspicion of risk of child or elder abuse be reported to welfare
authorities or law enforcement authorities. If a professional believes
that a child or elder is at risk of being abused, has already been abused,
or that someone who previously abused children or elders is still a
threat, they will often make an effort to report it to social services
agencies and/or the police.
- Most United States courts have the
power to subpoena our records and a professional's records if you are
involved in a court case in which your relationship with Rainmakers, Inc.,
or the professional is somehow relevant. Although this may be rare, if you
have any questions, it is better to contact your lawyer prior to
disclosing any information you may deem private.
- If someone's life is in danger, the
professional may choose to report it. This applies to potential cases of
suicide or homicide.
IF YOU ARE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING SUICIDE RIGHT NOW, PLEASE LOG
OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND TELEPHONE YOUR LOCAL POLICE OR EMERGENCY MEDICAL
SERVICES.
Rainmakers,
Inc. does not routinely monitor user transactions on our Web site.
Professionals in the psychcafe.net network are responsible for all reporting
requirements.
II.
Cookies
A cookie is a
small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, that is sent to your browser from a Web site's
computers and stored on your computer's hard drive. Each web site can send its
own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to
protect your privacy) your browser only permits a Web site to access the cookies
it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites. Psychcafe.net's cookie usage is not tied in with any
personally identifiable information.
Psychcafe.net
uses cookies to:
- Store your user ID on your computer, to allow
an integrated login to the Web site.
- Record that you were referred to our site by
one of our select partner sites. This cookie is stored in order to
appropriately reimburse our partner sites for the referral.
Choices about
cookies:
- You can configure your browser to accept all
cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. (Each
browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser
to learn how to change your cookie preferences.)
- You may reject all cookies sent to you by psychcafe.net;
however, you may experience some loss of Web site functionality.
III.
Security Procedures
Psychcafe.net
uses strict security measures to safeguard your privacy.
- All users, including consumers, professionals,
and staff of psychcafe.net, are required to login to access the site's
main functionality and services.
- All information collected by psychcafe.net is
stored in a secured database in a locked, secured facility monitored 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. The computer servers are furthermore locked in
a secure cabinet which is physically accessible to authorized personnel
only. Electronic access to the servers is available only to authorized
users and the network is further protected by a monitored firewall.
- Secure e-mail and chat sessions between mental
health professionals and users takes place behind several layers of
security, including SSL encryption technology.
- Data files are monitored by systems to protect
the availability and integrity of all data stored within our databases.
- Users are automatically logged off of their
accounts after a timeout period has been reached.
IV.
Updating and Reviewing Your Personal Information
You can
update your personal information yourself through the "Account Info"
link found in the menu on the left side of the Web site. Because we do
everything we can to keep your information confidential, we cannot change it
for you. As stated earlier, psychcafe.net staff members only have access to
your "primary" information. Furthermore, staff members with access to
any user information must read and understand this privacy agreement, and are
subject to immediate termination in the event that they violate it in any
manner.
If you want
to deregister from psychcafe.net completely, please send
an e-mail containing
your first and last name, username, and the de-registration request, and
we will promptly delete your profile from our records. However, please be
aware that any mental health professionals with whom you have begun a relationship
through this Web site will still have your information in their personal records.
If you forget
your password, visit https://www.psychcafe.net/amember/login.php
and enter your username. Your password will be sent to the e-mail address you
used for registration.
V.
Newsletter
Psychcafe.net
offers newsletters to its users, to occasionally (not
more than once a week) inform them of updates, changes, and news about the
company and our services. Users may choose to subscribe to this or other
newsletters at anytime, or opt-out of subscribing to them. Subscription
to the newsletter is voluntary and limited only to information published
directly by psychcafe.net; your subscription is not used to market other
services from any other party outside of psychcafe.net.
Users may
unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time by choosing the "Account Info"
link found in the menu on the left side of the Web site or by choosing
"Edit Account Info" on the psychcafe.net homepage once logged in. There
is a checkbox on this screen that allows you to subscribe or unsubscribe from
the newsletter at any time. Alternatively, you can also send an email to Customer Service with your request to
be unsubscribed.
VI. Chat
Rooms and Message Boards
Any
information that is posted within chat rooms, message boards, or any other
public areas may be seen by third parties and is not controlled by psychcafe.net.
Any links to a third party from our site is not subject to our policy. Please
refer to the privacy policies on each of these sites before entering any
information about yourself.
VII.
Payment Information
If you choose
to contact a mental health professional through psychcafe.net, you will be
presented with a standard fee agreement. Your credit or check
card is processed directly through psychcafe.net, which uses a third-party
verification and billing system (PayPal) in order to
bill the appropriate charge to your account. Neither psychcafe.net nor PayPal
will use your billing information for any purpose other than that of processing
these transactions. All charges will appear on your statement as "PsychCafe".
VIII. Log
Files
Psychcafe.net
maintains log files which collect visitor information pertaining to a user's
visit on the psychcafe.net Web site. These log files contain statistical data
used to analyze traffic patterns, specifically the user's Internet Protocol
(IP) address, the date and time of the visit, the file requested by the user,
the size of the file requested by the user, the status of the request (e.g.,
whether the request was successfully served by our Web server software), and
the referring URL which generated the request. This data is not tied in with
any personally identifiable information and is used in aggregate form only.
IX. Third
Party Relationships
Psychcafe.net
currently maintains relationships with third-party business partners such as
Hushmail and Psyquel in order to provide PsychCafe members with a variety of
online services. Such partnerships may result in the sharing of necessary
personal information in order to enable access to services on third-party
websites. By agreement, shared information will NEVER be used for solicitation
purposes or for purposes beyond the enabling of access to third-party websites
and services. To view the privacy policy of third-party business partners,
please go to their respective websites.
X.
Notification of Changes
If we are
going to use your personally identifiable information in a manner different
from that stated at the time of collection we will notify you via email. You
will have a choice as to whether or not we use your information in this
different manner.
XI.
Contacting Psychcafe.net
At any time
when a user contacts psychcafe.net to make a query, suggestion, or comment, the
user will not be subject to receiving any communications other than the
response(s) to the initial question or comment, unless specifically requested
by the user (e.g., no user will ever be defaulted into receiving any secondary
or promotional material as a result of the contact). If you have any questions
about psychcafe.net's Privacy Statement, the
practices of this Web site, or your dealings with this Web site, you may
contact us through our contact form.
Privacy Policies of outsourced tools and third party partners are independent of PsychCafe.
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