TRUSTe Privacy Statement
Epocrates, Inc. is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to build users' trust and confidence in the Internet by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy statement covers the website www.epocrates.com. Because this website wants to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe.
This site also complies with EU Safe Harbor framework as set forth by the Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use and retention of data from the European Union.
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What to do if you have questions or concerns about the TRUSTe privacy statement
If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first
contact Epocrates Customer Support at support@epocrates.com.
If you do not receive acknowledgment of your inquiry or your inquiry has not
been satisfactorily addressed, you should then contact TRUSTe at http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php.
TRUSTe will then serve as a liaison with Epocrates to resolve your concerns.
However, please understand that the TRUSTe Privacy Program covers only information
that is collected through the Epocrates website, and does not cover information that may
be collected through software downloaded from the website.
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Epocrates Privacy Policy
We recognize that when you choose to provide us with information about yourself, you trust us to act in a responsible manner. We take this trust very seriously, and that's why we have put a policy in place to protect your personal information. This policy allows us to document our commitment to you that we will not sell or share your personally identifiable information, including your name, email address, or the information you look up in our medical references, without your permission or as required by law.
The Epocrates Privacy Policy set out below describes our policies and practices
regarding the information we collect from you, how we use that information, and
our commitment to you to safeguard that information.
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1. What information does Epocrates collect?
At times, we may request that you voluntarily supply us with personal information.
Generally this information is requested when you register for a mobile software subscription or online service or when you provide information in connection with an online transaction. For example:
- When you order, we ask you for your name, email address, shipping and billing addresses, telephone number, and credit card information so that we can complete the transaction.
- When you register with Epocrates, we ask for demographic and contact information
including your name, email address, date of birth, profession, specialty, and
medical school so that we can provide you with more customized service
and information.
- There may be other instances when we ask you for information. For example, when you participate in a survey or product test or when you enter a contest or other promotional event, we may ask for additional personal information. The information collected, its purpose, and how/by whom it will be used will be explained to you at the point of collection.
Additionally, when you use Epocrates products, we may track your use of the product, including responses to opportunities to receive further information about clinical messages that you found interesting, as well as what screens you personally review. We use this information to better understand what content or services our users prefer and ultimately provide you with a better experience. For more information on this practice, please refer to "Does Epocrates track your use of its products?" below.
We may also supplement your data with information from third parties, including the AMA. For example, if you are a physician, we compare the name, medical school and graduation information you provide with the AMA database to help verify the accuracy of our subscriber database.
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2. How does Epocrates use the information we collect?
We use the information we collect to improve our products and services and provide you with the best possible customer experience.
One of Epocrates' strengths is its community of subscribers. At Epocrates,
we strive to extend beyond our applications and provide other services that bring
additional value to our subscribers. This includes services such as our Epocrates
Honors and Advocate programs, and, in particular, DocAlert messages. DocAlert messages are brief, timely messages that are sent to the entire subscriber base, if warranted (such as safety alerts from the FDA), but more often are delivered to select groups of subscribers, for example, a particular sub-specialty. In order to make sure we are targeting the most relevant content to our subscribers, we need to understand who our subscribers are and collect information that will assist us in tailoring subscribers' experiences.
Your satisfaction with our services is essential to our success, and so we
use the information we collect carefully. Epocrates uses your personal information
to operate our website and/or complete your transactions, and to assist with the
continual improvement of the content and functionality of Epocrates products. For
this reason, we monitor customer traffic patterns and usage to help us improve
the design, layout, and usability of our products and to provide content and
product features of interest to you.
We use contact and demographic information to alert you to developments in
the use of pharmaceuticals, from new approved drugs to new studies on existing
drugs. We also use this information to contact you regarding relevant Epocrates
services and products. For instance, we may contact you (for example, by email
or through PDA-based or desktop messaging products) to let you know that we have
released a new product or service or a new version of an existing product, that
there are new drug interactions of which you should be aware, or that we are
modifying one of our policies. We may also use contact and demographic information
to send you materials from some of our partners, to invite you to provide us
with feedback or to participate in a survey being conducted by one of our partners.
If you do not wish to receive these kinds of emails, you may choose to opt out
by updating your profile. See "What access does Epocrates give you to your personal information?"
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3. Does Epocrates track your use of its products?
Epocrates collects usage information about our products, such as
which clinical messages have been read or what screens are viewed. We use this
data to improve our subscriber experience and to prioritize new product development.
For example, if such tracking data were to show that a significant number of our subscribers are accessing dosing information, we may decide to add additional or more extensive dosing calculators in future product updates.
Please note that WE DO NOT SELL PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION about your use of Epocrates products to any third parties, including Pharmaceutical Companies, HMOs or others.
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4. How does Epocrates protect your information?
Epocrates safeguards the security of the data you send us with physical, electronic, and managerial procedures.
These procedures include limiting access to the information in various ways depending on the nature of the information as well as training our employees on the proper handling of subscriber information. While we believe we have taken appropriate measures to protect the information that we have received, we urge you to take every precaution to protect your personal data when you are on the Internet. Change your passwords often, use a combination of letters and numbers, and make sure you use a secure browser.
When you place orders or access your account information, we offer the use of a secure server. The secure server software (SSL) encrypts all information you input before it is sent to us. Furthermore, we take extra steps to protect this data from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.
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5. Will Epocrates share the information it collects with others?
Please be assured that Epocrates:
- Does not share or sell our subscribers' names, email addresses or contact information;
- Does not disclose the identity of our subscribers; and
- Does not disclose information on how subscribers are using Epocrates products except in aggregate or non-personally identifiable form.
Epocrates may provide aggregate or non-personally identifiable statistics about our customers, sales, product usage or traffic patterns, and related website information, but these statistics will not include any personally identifying information. For example, we may share aggregated demographic data about our subscribers, such as the number of Epocrates subscribers in California or that psychiatrists have more need for drug interaction information relating to psychotropic drugs than primary care practitioners.
Tracking data is also used internally by Epocrates primarily for developing and
enhancing products and improving technical usability. For more information, refer
to "How does Epocrates use the information we collect?"
Note: We obviously must disclose certain information to credit card processors
when you make an online purchase. The service providers we use are not permitted
to use your information for any secondary purposes. Epocrates may also disclose
personal information as allowed or required by applicable law, including making
disclosures that are necessary or advisable to: (a) protect the rights, safety
or property of subscribers of our website and products, the public, or Epocrates,
and (b) conform to legal or regulatory requirements. No other disclosures of
personally identifiable information will be made without your prior consent.
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6. What access does Epocrates give you to your personal information?
You may delete any inaccuracies or update your Epocrates profile, including your personal information and email preferences, at any time.
You have the option of correcting, updating and/or changing contact and demographic information and other information previously provided and stored in our database. If you wish to correct, update or change your information, simply update your profile.
Epocrates also aims to provide you with relevant information on a variety of topics through our newsletters and other email communications. At the same time, we understand that not every subscriber is interested in all of the information and opportunities we offer. So that you may customize your experience with Epocrates, we ask you to select the type of emails that you want to receive. The initial selection is made during the registration process, but you can opt into or out of any of these email services at any time by updating your profile as described below or by sending an email to support@epocrates.com. Your request will be processed within 7 days.
How to update your profile:
Please visit the home page of our website at www.epocrates.com,
click on "My Account", and then sign in using your email address
and password. To opt in or out of email communications, go to the bottom of the
form and make the selection of your choices. If you select a box, you will NOT receive
emails of the type listed. You may also request profile changes by sending an
email to support@epocrates.com.
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7. How does Epocrates use "cookies" and log files?
"Cookies" are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer's hard drive. We
use both session cookies and persistent cookies on our website to help us provide
you with a more personalized experience. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually change your browser settings to prevent that if you would rather not store the information for future use. Disabling cookies in your browser, however, may prevent access to some parts of our website.
As is true of most websites, we gather and use certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp. We use this information to analyze trends, to administer the website, to track users’ movements around the website and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We do not link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our website.
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8. How does Epocrates link with other websites?
The Epocrates website contains links to and from other websites. Epocrates does not share your personal information with those websites and is not responsible for their privacy practices. We encourage you to learn about the privacy policies of those companies.
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9. Does Epocrates keep email addresses of recipients who receive forwarded content?
If you chose to use our service to send a colleague or friend clinical information from an Epocrates communication (e.g. email, newsletter) or from Epocrates Online, we will ask for that person's email address. We will automatically send a one-time email with the clinical information requested by the sender. Epocrates does not use the recipients email address for anything other than the intended one time use. Epocrates does not store the recipients email address except in the case when the recipient requests we include them in future Epocrates communications.
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10. Does Epocrates obtain consent prior to posting any testimonials?
We post customer testimonials on our web site which may contain personally identifiable information such as the customer's name. We do obtain the customer's consent to post their name, prior to posting the testimonial.
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11. Is Epocrates responsible for personally identifiable information on our blog?
If you contribute to a blog on the Epocrates website, you should be aware that any personally identifiable information you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other users of these forums, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these forums.
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12. Is this privacy statement subject to change?
Yes. The Epocrates Privacy Policy is subject to change at any time.
By using our website, you consent to the collection and use of this information by Epocrates as disclosed in this statement. If we decide to materially change our privacy practices, we will post a prominent notice of those changes on the homepage and/or send an email so that you are always kept informed of what data we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it. Please check this page for changes from time to time to make sure you are aware of our latest privacy practices.
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13. Important Terms
In this policy, when we use the term "we" or "our", we mean both Epocrates and third parties with whom Epocrates contracts to assist in its business operations. These contractors may, however, only access your information in furtherance of their services to Epocrates and may not use or disclose your information except as permitted by Epocrates.
What is "personally identifiable" information?
When reviewing any privacy policy on the Internet, you should be familiar with the terms "personally identifiable" and "non-personally identifiable" information. "Personally identifiable information" is any information that can be used to identify, contact or locate you as an individual, as well as any additional data tied to such information. Common examples are your name and email address, along with purchase information associated with those fields. Non-personally identifiable information is information — either in "profile" or "aggregate" form — that, in contrast, is not intended to identify you as an individual. For instance, we may store a profile of an oncologist in New York without linking this information to a name, address, or other personally identifiable information. We may also aggregate information to produce general data, such as figures that show that half of our subscribers are over thirty-five years old.
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