Oyster ClinicalCommunities.net Privacy Policy

Oyster, operators of the Oyster ClinicalCommunities.net, does not send Spam or sell email addresses.

About Oyster and the Information We Collect
ClinicalCommunities.net is an online meeting place for healthcare professionals. To accomplish this, our users create their own profiles, which are shown to the people in their personal network. A personal network consists of user's in a shared medical specialty as well as the extended group of people that a user is connected to via other Networks. To fulfill the purpose of this site, some personal information we ask for is displayed to people within these networks.

Information submitted to, Collected/Tracked by Oyster
Oyster collects user-submitted account information such as name and email address to identify users and send notifications related to the use of the service. Oyster also collects user-submitted profile information such as job title, affiliation, specialty, address, etc.

Information not Directly Submitted by Users to Oyster
This is information we collect that is not personally identifiable, such as browser type and IP address. This information is gathered for all users to the site.

Use of Information by Oyster
Profile information as well as first name and photos are displayed to people in ClinicalCommunities.net, to support the function of the site as a networking community where users can interact with others. Email address and full name are used when a user invites a friend via email to join the service and when we send notifications to a user related to their use of the service. A user's email address is not shared or displayed with people by ClinicalCommunities.net. Users within a network communicate with each other through the Oyster service, without disclosing email addresses. We may use a user's email address to send updates or news regarding our site, but the user may choose not to receive email of this type.

Information that users do not submit to us
We use your server, IP address, and browser-type related information in the general administration of our website.

Links
This site may contain links to other websites. Please be aware that Oyster is not responsible for the privacy practices of other Web sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.

Use of Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information about the user. We use both session ID cookies and persistent cookies. For the session ID cookie, once users close the browser, the cookie simply terminates. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user's hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser help file directions. Cookies are used to manage sessions on our site. Users must enable cookies to use our site. Also, users may optionally use a cookie to remember their password in order to automatically log in to our site. We do not and will not use cookies to collect private information from any user which they did not intentionally submit to us.

Correcting/Updating or Removing Information
ClinicalCommunities.net users may modify or remove any of their personal information at any time by logging into their account and accessing Edit Profile.

Changes in Our Privacy Policy
If we change our privacy policy, we will post those changes here on our web site so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If we are going to use users' personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify users via email.

Invite a Colleague
If a user elects to use our Invite feature to invite a Colleague to our site, we ask them for the colleague's email address. Oyster will automatically send the colleage an email inviting them to join the site. Oyster does not sell these email addresses or use them to send any other communication besides invitations and invitation reminders. The colleague may contact Oyster to request the removal of this information from our database.

Forums
Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online - for example on Forums or through email - that information can be collected and used by others. In short, by posting personal information online that is publicly accessible, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return.

Patient confidentiality
Patient confidentiality must be maintained at all times. Patients must not be identified by name or by the use of personal information that will allow their identity to be known.

Security
Your Oyster account is password-protected. This web site takes every precaution to protect our users' information. We use industry standard measures to protect your information that is stored within our database. We limit the access to your information to those employees who need access to perform their job function. If you have any questions about the security at our website, please contact us.

Email Choice/Opt-out
Users who no longer wish to receive our email updates or news may opt-out of receiving these communications by following the instructions contained in the email.

Third Party Advertising
The ads appearing on this Web site are delivered to users by our Web advertising partners. Our Web advertising partners may set cookies. Doing this allows the ad network to recognize your computer each time they send you an online advertisement. In this way, ad networks may compile information about where you, or others who are using your computer, saw their advertisements and determine which ads are clicked on. This information allows an ad network to deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you. Oyster does not have access to or control of the cookies that may be placed by the third-party ad servers or ad networks. This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by Oyster and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.

Contacting the Web Site
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Web site, please contact us:

clinicalcommunities@oysterhc.co.uk