Search:
Privacy Policy and Consent Statement
Privacy Statement

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.



Last updated 01.03.2005

Advert
Advert
Advert

NetDoctor.co.uk: Home
News and features: News | News archive | Newsletter | Features
Encyclopaedia: Diseases | Examinations | Medicines
Premium services: Opinion Health | StayQuit | thediet
Health finance: Accident and sickness | Critical illness | Life insurance | Private medical insurance | Travel insurance
Health centres: ADHD | Allergy and asthma | Children's health | Depression | Diabetes | Erectile dysfunction (Impotence) | Heart, blood and circulation | Men's health | Nutrition | Oral health | Pregnancy and birth | Private medical insurance | Self-pay treatment | Sex and relationships | Smoking cessation | Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) | Travel medicine | Women's health | All health centres
Discussion and support: Discussion forums | Support groups
Services: Ask the doctor | Find a hospital | Search Medline | Test yourself
Information: About NetDoctor | Commercial opportunities | Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Contact us


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.

© Copyright 1998-2006 NetDoctor.co.uk - All rights reserved
NetDoctor.co.uk is a registered trademark