Thank you for visiting NetDoctor. Your privacy is important to
us. To better protect your privacy, we provide this notice explaining our
policy within this area. If you do not agree to the terms in this Policy, we
kindly ask you to leave the site.
Collection of data
NetDoctor’s site provides a number of services such as news, Ask
the Doctor, online discussion forums, communities (such as Smoking and
Depression, containing special in-depth information), health-related
programmes, voting polls, etc.
For some services, NetDoctor may require your e-mail address or
other personal information such as your name, age, sex, health information,
various habits and information for your profile. Providing us with this
personal and identifiable information is, of course, optional. However, in some
cases it may not be possible for us to provide the service in question without
receiving specific information from you.
Disclosure of data
NetDoctor will use the information received to provide
NetDoctor’s services and to improve the content of the site. In order to
provide the services, your personal data may in some situations be seen by
third parties, such as doctors or operations and maintenance contractors
repairing and maintaining NetDoctor's technical systems.
Also, NetDoctor syndicates content from its site to its
partners. As a consequence, any information that can be seen on NetDoctor’s
site may also be found on our partners' sites, such as the discussion forums
and Ask the Doctor services etc.
NetDoctor may further use the aggregate information to study
statistical results and produce summary reports. Such reports may be shared
with NetDoctor’s partners and advertisers, but the reports will not disclose
personally identifiable information.
Except from that stated above, NetDoctor will not disclose any
of your personally identifiable information without your permission except
under special circumstances, for instance if NetDoctor in good faith believes
that the law requires disclosure.
Any information collected by NetDoctor will be treated
confidentially.
Please remember that any information you reveal, including
personally identifiable information in a public forum such as in a discussion
forum or a chat, is not subject to this Privacy Policy and can be seen by third
parties unrelated to NetDoctor. It is therefore important that you carefully
consider what information you disclose in these areas.
Correcting/Updating/Storing Personal
Information
NetDoctor stores information only as long as it is necessary.
If your personal information changes (such as your address) or you no longer
want to use one of our services to which you have subscribed, we will provide a
way to correct, update, delete or remove your personal data. This can usually
be done by you at the member information page or by e-mailing our site
administrator.
Information from our discussion forums, chats and services such
as Ask the Doctor is stored in archives since it is considered useful to future
users.
NetDoctor’s Security Policy
As a global company NetDoctor has many national sites and users
all over the world. When you provide NetDoctor with personal information, that
information may be sent electronically to servers outside of the country where
you originally entered the information. In addition, that information may be
used, stored and processed outside of the country where you entered the
information. Whenever NetDoctor handles personal information, regardless of
where this occurs, NetDoctor takes every precaution to ensure that your
information is treated securely, for instance by encrypting the information
with SSL and by storing the information in a secure environment.
Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be
guaranteed to be 100 per cent secure. As a result, while we strive to protect
your personal information, NetDoctor cannot ensure or warrant the security of
any information you transmit to NetDoctor, and you do so at your own
risk.
Cookies
To give our users the best experience with our sites, a number
of our web pages use cookies. Cookies are small text files that we place on
your computer to store your preferences. Cookies, by themselves, do not tell us
your e-mail address or other personally identifiable information unless you
choose to provide this information to us by, for example, registering at one of
our sites. However, once you choose to provide the site with personally
identifiable information, this information may be linked to the data stored in
the cookie.
We use cookies to understand site-usage and to improve the
content and offerings on our sites. For example, we may use cookies to
personalise your experience at our web pages (eg to recognise you by name when
you return to our site) and to save your password in password-protected areas.
Nielsen//NetRatings, an independent measurement and research
company, gathers non-personal data regarding the visitors to our site on our
behalf using cookies and code which is embedded in the site. Both the cookies
and the embedded code provide non-personal statistical information about visits
to pages on the site, the duration of individual page view, paths taken by
visitors through the site, data on visitors' screen settings and other general
information. NetDoctor uses this type of information, as with that obtained
from other cookies used on the site, to help it improve the services to its
users.
If you wish to reject Nielsen//NetRating's cookie, you can use
the process set out below under 'How to find and control your cookies'. To
disable the embedded code, you will need to send requests directly to
webprivacy@netratings.com. Further information regarding Nielsen//NetRating's
privacy statement can be found at
http://www.netratings.com/privacy.jsp?section=leg_scs.
How to find and control your cookies
If you're using Netscape 6.0
On your Task Bar, click Edit, then
Preferences
Click on Advanced
Click on Cookies
If you're using Internet Explorer 6.0
Choose Tools, then
Internet Options
Click the Privacy Tab
Click on Custom Level
Click on the 'Advanced' button
Check the 'override automatic cookie handing' box and select
Accept, Block or Prompt for action as appropriate.
If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0 or 5.5
Choose Tools, then
Internet Options
Click the Security tab
Click on Custom Level
Scroll down to the sixth option to see how cookies are handled
by Internet Explorer 5 and change to Accept, Disable, or Prompt for action as
appropriate.
If you're using Internet Explorer 4.0
Choose View, then
Internet Options
Click the Advanced tab
Scroll down to the yellow exclamation icon under Security and
choose one of the three options to regulate your use of cookies.
If you're using Internet Explorer 3.0
You can View, Options, Advanced, then click on the button that
says Warn before Accepting Cookies.
If you're using Netscape Communicator 4.0
On your Task Bar, click
Edit, then
Preferences
Click on Advanced
Set your options in the box that says Cookies.
Links
NetDoctor’s websites contain links to other sites. Please
observe that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other
sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read
the privacy statements of each and every website collecting personally
identifiable information.
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our Privacy Policy, we will post those
changes on our website so our users may always know what information we
collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
We will use the information in accordance with the Privacy Policy under which
the information was collected.
Revised March, 2005 Copyright NetDoctor.
All rights reserved.
The materials in this web site are in no way
intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor. The web site does not have answers to all problems. Answers to specific problems may not apply to everyone. If you notice medical symptoms or feel ill, you should consult your doctor - for further information see our Terms and conditions.