Privacy Policy

Last updated on October 21, 2022

AskaPatient.com protects the patient's right to privacy. We recognize the benefits of providing health care consumers an anonymous way to share and compare their medication experiences with other patients. Unlike many other web sites, we do not require registration to use any portion of this site, and we do not require users to divulge their email address or any other personally identifying information.  Patients who post their email address along with their comments in the rate-your-medicine database do so at their own discretion. Browser cookies must be turned on to contribute ratings. Postings are monitored for spam, duplicates, and offensive postings. Please report spam so that it may be removed. Please also review our terms of use. You may choose to share your email address when you post a review so that you may communicate with other patients who may visit the site.  Those communications, which are by private email, are not archived, saved, or monitored by AskaPatient.

"Cookies" are used in certain parts of this web site.  They are small pieces of information that a website attaches to your browser when you visit that website. We may use both session cookies (which expire once you close your web browser) and persistent cookies (which stay on your computer until deleted).  For polls, for example, we may use cookies to help ensure that an individual can't vote more than once on a particular question or issue, or email the same person (patient) in our forum multiple times during a day. Cookies can be removed by following your Internet browser's directions within the help tab. In order to use certain parts of the site, your web browser must accept cookies. If you choose to disable cookies, some aspects of the site may not work properly.

An "Internet protocol address" or "IP Address" is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you use the Internet by your internet service provider. We  may track your IP Address when you access the site as part of our site analytics and usage data. Also, to combat automated bots from unauthorized scraping of content, javascript must be enabled and javascript trackers may monitor use that may signal bot scraping instead of regular consumer use. If you receive a "blocked" or "captcha" page, please email us or use the "contact us" form and we will try to assist.

Drug Reviews

We will remove postings and email addresses from the reviews database upon request. If you would like us to remove your drug review (post) or remove the ability to let other patients contact you (if you have signed up for that option), please email us or contact us so that we can remove the information.

Logins and Passwords

We don't offer log-on through the Facebook identification system or other "OpenID Login" systems for privacy reasons.  Once you sign into a web site through Facebook, your searches and page views and form usage are linked to your Facebook account and affiliates.  Most users of health care web sites want to keep their health care searches and postings confidential, so AskaPatient does not offer this as an option. You may sign up to receive a code/password so that you may update your rating during the course of your treatment with a particular drug.

Newsletter Privacy

The AskaPatient Health Newsletter is strictly opt-in, through sign-up forms on the site. We don't use the email list for any purpose other than to send you the biweekly newsletter, and you may unsubscribe at any time using the link in the email or by contacting us using the contact form on our web site.  We might occasionally have a sponsorship of the newsletter itself, which will always be disclosed within the newsletter. Unlike many other sites or newsletter publishers, we do not use your email address to do "remarketing" campaigns to you or use your email address to research or data-harvest your social media preferences, personal information, consumer profile, or physical address information.

Advertising

We do not include any third-party advertising in the store section or "contact patient" or "update ratings" sections of the web site. However, if you browse the other content pages of the site, depending on your browser settings, advertisers may automatically provide you with targeted advertisements. Unlike many other sites, we do not use Google Analytic's remarketing or demographics tracking.

We may use advertising service vendors to help present advertisements on portions of the website, including GourmetAds.com and TapNative. Some of our advertisers occasionally serve you cookies and technology called "beacons" as well. These vendors may collect non-personal data such as your browser type, your operating system, Web pages visited, time of visits, content viewed, ads viewed, and other clickstream data. The use of cookies, web beacons, or similar technologies by these advertising service vendors is subject to their own privacy policies. Check the section below on "Device Information" for more information

Third party advertising vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on users' site visits. Users may read more about Google's advertising policies here: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads To turn off Google's personalized advertising, go to the Google Ads Settings page or set up your browser to block such advertising. For information about opting out of Gourmet Ads and ad serving partners please visit https://www.gourmetads.com/about/privacy-policy  Or, you can choose a more comprehensive ad and third-party tracking tool as explained below.

You can check to see if your browser is blocking cookies (both at the site and third party cookies) at this web site: https://optout.aboutads.info/?c=2#!/ And also check your browser's privacy settings and adjust them as needed. One tool that might be helpful for blocking third party site tracking is Electronic Frontier Foundation's "Privacy Badger" that works with your browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera) to give you information about tracking behaviors present on various sites you visit. There are other browser add-ons, including Duck Duck Go, that can block trackers and ads. If using Chrome browser, check out the privacy and ad blocking extensions here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions?hl=en-US
If using Firefox, check for extensions here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/extensions/
If using Safari or mobile device, check your browser, app store, or device settings for options.

Also, you can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page at http://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1#!/Opting out does not usually mean that your information is not being collected or tracked, it just means that interest-based advertising (tailored for you from information that is gleaned from your electronic media use across various devices) may not be presented on your browser. Unlike many other sites, we do not use Google Analytic's remarketing or demographics tracking.


Store Privacy

This section describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you visit or make a purchase from the store at https://www.askapatient.com/store/ We have procedures to ensure that your personal information is handled in a safe, secure, and responsible manner.

ORDER INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When ordering or donating through the store, we may ask you for your name, e-mail address, mailing address, phone number, credit card information or other information. We refer to this information as “Order Information.”

DEVICE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When you visit the site, like most sites, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device.

“Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org

“Log files” track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.

HOW DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

When we talk about “Personal Information” in this section of the Privacy Policy, we are talking both about Order Information and Device Information.

We use the Order Information that we collect to fulfill any orders placed through the Site (including processing your payment information and providing you with invoices and/or order confirmations). Additionally, with your permission, we will use this Order Information to communicate with you if you sign up for newsletters.

We use the Device Information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud (in particular, your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our Site (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the Site.

SHARING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION & ANALYTICS

In the store, we use Ecwid to process your order. Read how Ecwid uses your Personal Information here: https://www.ecwid.com/privacy-policy. We also use Google Analytics and Cloudflare Insights (https://www.cloudflare.com/web-analytics/) to keep track of the number of page views and help us understand how our customers use the Site -- Read more about how Google uses your Personal Information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. You may opt-out of Google Analytics here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout or use a browser add-on such as Duck Duck Go Privacy Eseentials or blocking tools on your browser.  Unlike many other sites, we do not use Google Analytic's remarketing or demographics tracking.

You may opt-out of other kinds of tracking (including Cloudflare and advertising) using one of the many browser add-ons that can block trackers and ads. If using Chrome browser, check out the privacy and ad blocking extensions here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions?hl=en-US
If using Firefox, check for extensions here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/extensions/
If using Safari or mobile device, check your browser, app store, or device settings for options.

We may share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, such as to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other lawful request for information we receive.

YOUR RIGHTS

If you are a European resident, you have the right to access personal information we hold about you and to ask that your personal information be corrected, updated, or deleted. If you would like to exercise this right, please contact us through the contact information below.

Additionally, if you are a European resident we note that we are processing your information in order to fulfill contracts we might have with you (for example if you make an order through the Site). Additionally, please note that your information will be transferred outside of Europe into the United States.

California residents may make a request to records kept by the store pursuant to their rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act by contacting us at [email protected].

DATA RETENTION

When you place an order through the Site store, we will maintain your Order Information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete this information.

PAYMENT INFORMATION PRIVACY

We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, other debit or credit cards; your payment information is secure. The site does not receive your credit card information. Only Square, a reputable credit card processor, authorize and process your credit card information.


Changes

We may update this privacy policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons.

Questions

Questions regarding our Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, or other policy-related material can be directed through the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page. Or email at support [at] askapatient.com.