Website Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

 

By continuing to use this website, you are acknowledging and agreeing to all of the practices described herein, as well as our terms of use and conditions which are incorporated herein by reference. Please read this policy carefully.

Boston Medical Center (BMC) is committed to protecting the privacy of its patients, families, donors, and visitors. This website should not be used as a substitute for medical advice from a physician or healthcare professional. Healthcare information obtained from this website could be misinterpreted or inappropriate for your condition. If you have a question about your health, we urge you to consult a physician or other healthcare professional directly.

Boston Medical Center assumes no responsibility for how the information obtained from its website is used or interpreted.  Boston Medical Center will not intentionally share the contents of any electronic communications with a third-party entity. The only exception will be the administration and maintenance of electronic donations, which is explained in the “Donations and Fundraising” section below. BMC cannot provide any assurances that the contents of your electronic communications will not become known or accessible to third-parties, due to the nature of electronic communications.

THE INTERNET IS NOT SECURE. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND AND ADVISE YOU NOT TO PROVIDE ANY CONFIDENTIAL OR SENSITIVE INFORMATION OVER THE INTERNET. IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO SO, IT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK!! ANY UNLAWFUL OR CRIMINAL CONTENT PROVIDED WILL BE SUBJECT TO LAW ENFORCEMENT REVIEW.

Information Collection, Use and Disclosure

 

Boston Medical Center obtains information voluntarily from online visitors to fulfill online requests, and to inform them of programs and events.  BMC will take reasonable steps to protect the integrity and confidentiality of personally identifiable information, which has been obtained through this website. Any information collected voluntarily from our website visitors will be used to develop or improve our programs and services. It will not be sold to any third-party marketing companies. However, we may use certain tracking technologies and pixels as described in the section below, “How We Use Cookies, Pixels and other Tracking Technologies,” which may collect some types of personally identifiable information for our website users.  

We may collect the following types of information from our website visitors:

  • Details of your visits to our website and the resources that you access, including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, including your IP address, the date and time you accessed or left the website, and which pages you viewed.  As noted above, some parts of our website use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect this information about your general internet usage.  See section below ‘How We Use Cookies and Pixels” to learn more. 

  • Information that you provide directly to us by filling in forms on our website, such as your name, e-mail address, and phone number. 
  • Information necessary to process an application for employment or volunteer opportunities such as your name, email address, past employment, address, phone number, birthday, gender, education and an emergency contact. 
  • Information to donate to a charitable organization, such as credit card information.
  • Information provided if you fill out a survey or questionnaire such as email address and open feedback. 
  • Information provided to us when you communicate with us for any reason. 

By submitting a telephone number to Boston Medical Center, you agree that a representative of Boston Medical Center, or a third party acting on our behalf, can contact you at the number you provide, potentially using automated technology (including texts/SMS messaging) or a pre-recorded message.  Your consent is not an obligation to receive any of our services.

In order to provide you with timely, efficient service in a cost effective manner, information you provide to BMC may be transferred to the appropriate BMC department or authorized staff member who require access to the information for business purposes so he or she can deliver the service or information you requested.

All personally identifiable information collected and aggregated for survey purposes will be de-identified and screened before it is shared with third-parties for analysis.  Boston Medical Center will only disclose personally identifiable information if required to by a search warrant, subpoena, court order, governmental regulations, to provide you with services or information that you request, to evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as part of bankruptcy, liquidation or similar proceeding, in which personally identifiable information held by us about our website users is among assets transferred, and/or as otherwise permitted or required by applicable laws.

Please refer to our "Notice of Privacy Practices" on the "For Patients & Visitors" section of our website for additional policies relating to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (Effective September 23, 2013).

E-mail

 

Boston Medical Center collects email addresses voluntarily submitted by our online visitors and from authorized third-party vendors. Those email addresses are stored within various email distribution lists so, BMC can periodically send out newsletters, brochures, and surveys.  At any time, you may request to opt-out of the communications listed above by using the unsubscribe link on our customer service web page or calling the BMC Office of Marketing at 617.638.8990.

If you email the medical center, your message will be forwarded to the appropriate department for processing.

DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE OR EMAIL FOR MEDICAL EMERGENCY SERVICES. CALL 911 OR YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY ASSITANCE NUMBER.

Boston Medical Center emails sent to patients containing protected health information (PHI) or personally identifiable information will be secured by an Identity-Based Encryption (IBE) system. For more information please contact the BMC Office of Marketing at 617.638.8990.

Forms

 

The following online forms are located within the Boston Medical Center website:

  • Treatment Referrals

  • Surveys, Questionnaires, Web Feedback, and other published materials
  • Job and volunteer applications

If you submit personally identifiable information in response to a career or volunteer opportunity, please be advised that your personally identifiable information will be distributed within the organization so the appropriate manager can contact you and potentially discuss the opportunity with you.

These forms may request confidential health or personally identifiable information, which will be treated with the same care used to treat patient information. Forms will be secured using 128bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. SSL is the industry standard protocol for protecting and securing online transactions and exchanges of confidential information.

Third-Party Website Links

 

Where appropriate, relevant Internet links are provided to third party websites. Boston Medical Center is not responsible for the privacy practices, availability, accuracy, or content of any website not owned or operated by Boston Medical Center. These links are provided to our online visitors as a convenient way to access helpful resources.  A link to another website does not imply an endorsement.  Links to external websites will be evaluated periodically for appropriateness and can be removed at any time. We encourage online visitors to read the privacy statements of any third-party websites they may visit. Boston Medical Center does not accept any responsibility or liability for such third party websites’ policies whatsoever as we have no control over them. 

How We Use Cookies, Pixels and other Tracking Technologies

 

A “cookie” is a piece of text which asks permission to be placed on your device’s hard drive. Once you agree, this cookie file is stored on the hard drive of your device.  They help us to improve our website.  They present the content from our website in the most effective manner for you and your device. 

Boston Medical Center’s website uses “cookies” to determine the number of times a page on our website has been accessed. The following pieces of information are collected through the cookies on our website in order for us to aggregate usage statistics, and to improve website functionality:

  • IP address and domain name

  • Time of visit
  • Operating system

All computers have the ability to decline cookies.  This can be done by activating the setting on your browser which enables you to decline the cookies. Please note that should you choose to decline certain cookies, you may be unable to access particular parts of our website. To see of the specific types of cookies the website uses, click here. Please note that some cookies are necessary for our website to operate and, as such, cannot be declined. However, such cookies do not collect any personally identifiable information. If you choose, you may use the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) WebChoices Tool to globally opt-out of third-party tracking via website cookies.

Additionally, our website uses pixels which are HTML code snippets that are loaded when a user visits a website or opens an email. It is useful for tracking user behavior and activity. With a tracking pixel, advertisers can acquire data for online marketing, web analysis or email marketing. If such data is analyzed in a particular way, the data collected through these pixels can be used for other purposes as well, for example retargeting/behavioral advertising. 

If you’d like to disable these tracking pixels, there are a number of ways in which you can prevent your data from being collected by tracking pixels: 

  • Set browser and email settings to be as restrictive as possible such that external graphics are only supported after permission, and HTML emails are not supported. Appropriate firewall settings can also be used to do this.
  • Some browser extensions can be used to make tracking pixels visible (e.g. PixelBlock, uBlock Origin, HTTPS Everywhere, etc.).

For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page target="”_blank”".

You can opt out of specific third-party targeted advertising by visiting the settings pages of those third parties, such as:

Donations and Fundraising

 

This website provides an opportunity for online visitors to make online donations or register for fundraising events to support Boston Medical Center. Online visitors will be required to provide their name, address, telephone number, email address and credit card number so we can process donations and event registrations. A receipt or confirmation email will be returned to the email address provided. Please double check all data before submitting your donation.  If you have questions regarding your online donation, please call the BMC Office of Development at 617.638.8990.

Boston Medical Center does not maintain or process credit card information. BMC’s Office of Development manages the content of the Donations and Fundraising website. The Donation and Fundraising website is hosted, secured, and maintained by a third-party. All donation pages are secured with 128bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to maintain data confidentiality.

Security

 

To secure your information, we have put in place commercially suitable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect on our website. 

Nonetheless, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure and therefore we cannot guarantee the security of data sent to us electronically on our website, and transmission of such data is therefore entirely at your own risk.

Phishing Scam Awareness

 

Phishing is a technique used by online thieves to try to get you to disclose your personally identifiable information under false pretenses. Phishing scams begin with email messages that appear to come from popular websites or websites that you trust. These messages may include logos similar to your bank or credit card company’s logos. If you get an email message asking for personally identifiable information, do not reply or click on the link in the message

Boston Medical Center will never request an online visitor to provide personal, health or financial information by email. Please notify the BMC Privacy Officer at 617.638.7224 immediately if you receive an email claiming to be from BMC requesting personal, health or financial information.

Additional tips and resources about protecting yourself online can be found within the AARP Cyber Safety Handbook (PDF) or the OnGuardOnline website. The handbook also has a number of useful tips regarding shopping safely on the Internet, handling junk email and protecting your computer.

Protecting Children

 

The Boston Medical Center website is not designed to attract children under the age of 13. However, there are select BMC websites and newsletters that are designed with children in mind (e.g., Halloweentownboston.com and Kids Helping Kids newsletter) and are meant to be viewed with an adult.

Boston Medical Center does not target children for the collection of information online and does not knowingly collect personally identifying information from anyone under the age of 13 unless we first obtain written and verifiable permission from the child's parent or legal guardian. Boston Medical Center encourages parents and guardians to spend time online with their children, so they can monitor their child’s online activities.

Policy Modifications

 

Boston Medical Center reserves the right to change this policy at any time, without advance notice. However, if Boston Medical Center makes any material changes to this policy, we will notify you by posting a notice on our website. Please review this policy periodically to keep informed of any changes or updates. Any dispute arising out of the use of this website shall be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Indemnification

 

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE YOU ARE USING THIS WEBSITE AT YOUR OWN RISK. THIS WEBSITE IS PROVIDED BY BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THIS WEBSITE, WEBSITE-RELATED SERVICES, AND/OR HYPERLINKED WEBSITES IS TO STOP USING THE SITE AND/OR THOSE SERVICES.

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOU ARE PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR BEHAVIOR ON THIS WEBSITE OR THE BEHAVIOR OF PERSONS UNDER YOUR CONTROL SUCH AS MINOR CHILDREN. YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY, DEFEND AND HOLD HARMLESS BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER, ITS AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, STAFF, BUSINESS PARTNERS, LICENSORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND ANY THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION PROVIDERS TO THE SERVICE FROM AND AGAINST ALL CLAIMS, LOSSES, EXPENSES, DAMAGES AND COSTS (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY AND INDIRECT DAMAGES), AND REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES, RESULTING FROM OR ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE, MISUSE, OR INABILITY TO USE THIS WEBSITE.

Copyright and Trademark

 

All content on this website is the exclusive property of Boston Medical Center unless noted otherwise and is protected by copyright laws.  Boston Medical Center’s service marks include, but are not limited to, "BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER", the Boston Medical Center logo, "Exceptional Care Without Exception" and “Exceptional Care. Without Exception”. The trademarks, service marks, and logos of other organizations used on this website are the property of their respective owners. Online visitors may print or download information from this website for personal, non-commercial use only. The contents of this website may not be distributed, modified, reproduced, or used, in whole or in part without the prior written consent of BMC. Requests can be sent to: webfeedback@bmc.org

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512 (the DMCA) Boston Medical Center (BMC) is registered as a Service Provider with the United States Copyright Office. Notifications of copyright infringement claims occurring within the BMC network should be reported to the BMC Marketing Department: webfeedback@bmc.org

Any such notice must be in writing, and must include the following information as required by the DMCA:

  • A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or the person authorized to act on its behalf

  • A description of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed
  • A description of the infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to permit BMC to locate the material
  • Your contact information, including your address, telephone number, and email
  • A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law
  • A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under the pains and penalties of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

How to Contact Us

 

Any questions or complaints with respect to this Privacy Policy should be directed to the compliance hotline  617.414.1800, 1.800.586.2627 or, please email: DG-PrivacyOfficer@bmc.org.

Thank you for your interest in Boston Medical Center.

Terms of Use 

 

Please read the following terms and conditions with care before using this website. By accessing or using our site, you consent to the following terms and conditions. We reserve the right to change this information at any time and therefore, we recommend that you review these terms regularly.

Last updated: January 23, 2023

We value your Privacy. 

Ownership

 

All pages within this website and any material available for download are the property of BMC and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates. The content on bmc.org is provided to you without charge as a convenience and for your informational purposes only. This website offers educational information on our organization, its services, health-related issues and resources. This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, medical diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician if you have any questions regarding a medical condition.

Acceptable Use

 

BMC hereby grants you a non-exclusive license to use the website solely for your personal, non-commercial use. Any unlawful use of this website or use inconsistent with these terms and conditions is prohibited and will result in an automatic termination of such license.

By submitting a telephone number to Boston Medical Center, you agree that a representative of Boston Medical Center, or a third party acting on its behalf, can contact you at the number you provide, potentially using automated technology (including texts/SMS messaging) or a pre-recorded message. Your consent is not an obligation to receive any of our services.

Copyright

 

The contents on bmc.org are copyrighted and may not be distributed, modified, reproduced or used, in whole or in part without the prior written consent of BMC.  Downloading or printing information from the website to a single computer for informational, personal and non-commercial use is permitted as long as all copyright or proprietary information remains intact or is added to the excerpt under "source".

Website Uptime

 

We take all reasonable steps so that our website is available 24 hours every day, 365 days per year. However, websites do sometimes encounter downtime due to server and other technical issues. Therefore, we will not be liable if this website is unavailable at any time. 

Our website may be temporarily unavailable due to issues such as system failure, maintenance or repair, or for reasons beyond our control. Where possible, we will try to give our users advance warning of maintenance issues, but shall not be obliged to do so.

Disclaimer of Warranties

 

In providing this website to you for your convenience and for informational purposes only, you use the site at your own risk. Although every effort is made to ensure that the material within this website is accurate and timely, we make no warranties or representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the contents, whether the contents are current, or free from changes caused by third parties. We assume no liability for interruptions, errors, computer viruses or other hazards resulting from your use of this website.

THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS.  WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REPRESENTATIONS OR ENDORSEMENTS WHATSOEVER WITH REGARD TO ANY INFORMATION OR SERVICE PROVIDED THROUGH THIS WEBSITE, INCLUDING, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR ANY OTHER WARRANTY, CONDITION, GUARANTY, OR REPRESENTATION, WHETHER ORAL OR IN WRITING, OR IN ELECTRONIC FORM.

BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER DOES NOT WARRANT OR ASSUME ANY LEGAL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR USEFULNESS OF ANY INFORMATION DESCRIBED WITHIN OR DERIVED FROM OUR WEBSITE OR OUR SERVICES.

No Medical Advice

 

All health and health-related information contained within this BMC website is intended to be general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for a visit with a healthcare professional. No information provided in this website may be considered medical advice. The information may not be relevant for your individual situation and may be misinterpreted. BMC assumes no responsibility for how you use information obtained from this site. Before making any decisions regarding your healthcare, ask your personal physician.

Limitation of Liability

 

YOUR USE OF OUR SITE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTIES FOR ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OR LOSSES OR INJURY YOU MAY INCUR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE OR OUR SERVICES, OR YOUR RELIANCE ON OR USE OF THE WEBSITE, THE INFORMATION OR SERVICES PROVIDED, OR THAT RESULT FROM MISTAKES, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, DELETIONS OR ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, OR ANY OF THE DATA OR OTHER MATERIALS TRANSMITTED THROUGH OR RESIDING ON OUR WEBSITE, REGARDLESS OF THE TYPE OF CLAIM OR THE NATURE OF THE CAUSE OF ACTION, EVEN IF WE HAVE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE OR LOSS.

Indemnification

 

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us, our officers, directors, employees, volunteers, agents, licensors, and suppliers, harmless from and against any claims, actions or demands, liabilities and settlements including without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees, resulting from or alleged to result from, your use of and access to the website or your violation of these Terms or your violation of any third party right, including without limitation any trademark, copyright or other proprietary or privacy right.

Links to Other Websites

 

As a convenience, we have included links to other internet websites not managed by BMC. BMC does not review, control or take responsibility for the accuracy of content on these websites. The websites we link to are owned and controlled by other organizations or parties. Their Privacy and Security Policies may differ from Boston Medical Center's policies.

Linking to other websites not managed by BMC does not imply endorsement or credibility of the service, information, or product(s) offered. BMC assumes no liability related to a user’s use on any linked websites. Your access to and use of these websites, including the information, services or products, is solely at your own risk.

Similarly, if a third party provides a link to our website, it does not necessarily reflect an official relationship with that third party.

Confidentiality

 

Please be aware that most information transmitted over the Internet is not secure; thus, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. Information of a confidential, proprietary or privileged nature should not be sent electronically to BMC. Any patient information transmitted to our website will be treated as non-confidential. Personal medical information should never be sent to our website.

Trademark Notice

 

The BMC logo is the trademark and service mark of BMC. All other trademarks, service marks and logos used in this site are the trademarks, service marks or logos of their respective owners.

User Conduct

 

When using our website, you shall not post or send to or from either the website:

     (a)    content for which you have not obtained all necessary consents

     (b)    content that is discriminatory, obscene, pornographic, defamatory, liable to incite racial hatred, in breach of confidentiality or privacy, which may cause annoyance or inconvenience to others, which encourages or constitutes conduct that would be deemed a criminal offense, give rise to a civil liability, or otherwise is contrary to the law in any applicable jurisdiction where our website is being used

     (c)     content which is harmful in nature including, and without limitation, computer viruses, Trojan horses, corrupted data, or other potentially harmful software or data.

We will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requiring us to disclose the identity or other details or any person posting materials to our website in breach of this Section.   

You shall not use our website while distracted or preoccupied, such as when operating a motor vehicle.  You should access our website only with due regard for your own safety and the safety of others.

Assignment 

 

These Terms, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you.

General

 

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, other terms or legal notices published by us on the website, and any other applicable agreements, shall constitute the entire agreement between us concerning use of the Site.  If any provision of these Terms is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms, which shall remain in full force and effect.  No waiver of any term shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term, and our failure to assert any right or provision under these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. YOU AGREE THAT ANY CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE WEBSITE MUST COMMENCE WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES. OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

Reservation of Rights

 

Our failure to enforce any provision of these terms shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right.

How to Contact Us

 

Any questions about these terms should be directed to the compliance hotline 617.414.1800, 1.800.586.2627 or, please email: DG-PrivacyOfficer@bmc.org.

©2023 Boston Medical Center. All Rights Reserved.