We at Planned Parenthood of Pasadena (PPP) want this site to be a safe and private place for users. PPP will do its part by not requiring you to register or provide any information at all to use most features of this Web site. In turn, you can do your part by reading this policy and taking the steps outlined below.

There are certain actions and areas of the site that will require you to provide personal information, such as

1. becoming a member of our activist network
2. sending an e-mail question
3. making a donation

Any time you provide personal information, you should be mindful of the terms of this privacy policy, as it will govern our use of the information you have provided. You should be aware that for certain actions, we may electronically provide a copy of our HIPAA Privacy Policy and that privacy policy will govern our use of the information you have provided.

We will update this privacy policy as we deem necessary, so be sure to reread it from time to time. By submitting information to us, you agree that PPP may use the information in accordance with this privacy policy.

Personal Information You Choose to Provide

In order to gain access to certain areas of our site, you may choose to provide information. If you do submit information to us, we will use that information for the purposes for which it was submitted. We may also use your information in other ways, such as to contact you about other Planned Parenthood activities and/or fundraising campaigns or as otherwise disclosed to you at the point of collection, and we may share your information with other like-minded organizations, including other Planned Parenthood entities, for similar purposes. For example

a. If you join our e-mail list, we will have a record of your e-mail address and all other information you choose to provide. We may contact you by e-mail about a broad range of Planned Parenthood activities.

b. If you make an online donation to PPFA, your information will be added to Planned Parenthood's donor list and database, and you will be contacted about other Planned Parenthood activities, news, and/or fundraising campaigns.

c. If you join or opt-in to our activist network, you will receive informational updates and action alerts on reproductive rights issues. You will also be added to Planned Parenthood's donor list and database and will receive fundraising campaign communications and news from Planned Parenthood. Our activist network is an electronic network, and therefore we need an e-mail address to contact you. We also need your full postal address in order for our systems to match you to the correct state and federal districts, thereby ensuring that you are primarily sending messages to your designated elected officials.

d. We will receive any other information you choose to provide, such as optional information or "personal stories" you submit. By submitting the story to us, you give us permission to edit it, post it on the Web site, and use it in appropriate settings designed to illustrate the importance of reproductive health freedoms. To protect your privacy, please do not include any identifying information in your "personal story."

You should be aware that we use third-party vendors to provide services on this site and in our offline business operations. The information that you submit on this site may be provided to those vendors on a confidential basis so that those vendors can provide services (such as maintaining our database, sending e-mail messages to activists, facilitating our fundraising activities and campaigns, or processing credit card transactions) on our behalf.

Other than as described in this privacy policy, or as may be necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of our organization, our clients, or others, or as may be necessary to comply with applicable law, PPP will not give or sell the personal information you provide online.

Financial Information You Choose to Provide

If you choose to make an online donation to PPFA, you will have to provide your credit card billing information. As this information is collected and transferred over the Internet to our secure server, it is encrypted using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, the industry standard security technology that is designed to protect sensitive information. Our donation pages display the Verisign Secure Site Seal to assure you that our Web site is authentic and that all transactions are secured by SSL encryption. If you are making a donation, the credit card information that you provide at the time of donation is used only to process your donation and will not be used for any other purposes.

Information Automatically Collected and Stored

As is true of most Web sites you enter, we automatically collect and store some information about your computer and your visit and store it in log files. This information includes information such as your computer's (or your ISP?s) Internet Protocol (IP) address (this is not your e-mail address); the domain from which you access the Internet (e.g., "AOL.com" or "Princeton.edu"); the name, version, and specifications of your computer and your computer's operating system; the Internet address of the Web site, if any, from which you came to our site; the date and time you arrived at our site and how long you spent on the site; and which pages you visited.

We use this information to formulate statistics (possibly with the help of outside experts) that show the number of visitors to the different sections of our site and to help us make our site more useful to visitors. For example, we use the browser information to help us design our Web site so that as many people as possible will be able to view the pages correctly. These statistics do not reveal personal information.

Use of Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are either placed on your computer's hard drive ("persistent cookies") or in your computer's Random Access Memory ("session cookies"). We use both persistent cookies and session cookies on www.plannedparenthood.org.

Session Cookies: We use session cookies to make it easier for you to navigate certain sections of our Web site. If you choose to provide personal information by using an interactive application on our site, such as by joining our e-mail list, or registering with our activist network, or making an online donation to PPFA, we place a session cookie on your computer so that you will be recognized as you move around the Web pages. Unless you opt-in to change these session cookies to persistent cookies (see Persistent Cookies below), the information is only used for the duration of your browser session. For example, if you join our activist network and then navigate through different pages of the Web site, the cookie will maintain the information you entered when you filled out the activist registration page. As you move through the site, any fields requiring information about you that has already been captured will automatically appear. However, once you close your browser window, the session cookie times out. If you open a new browser window and return to our Web site, your personal information fields will not be filled automatically.

Persistent Cookies: We use persistent cookies to provide greater accuracy in our analysis of the information that is automatically collected about your visit to our site. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time. These cookies do not collect personal information. We do not link the information collected through these cookies with other personal data that you provide to us.

In certain circumstances, you may be given the option to turn a session cookie into a persistent cookie on your computer (e.g., "Would you like us to remember your password?" messages). If you opt to turn a session cookie into a persistent cookie, that persistent cookie will remember your personal information (e.g., user name and password) and will not time out at the end of your browser session. See "Your Help is Needed" for more information.

Disabling Cookies: Persistent cookies leave a record on your computer that you have visited our site. However, you have the ability to remove cookies from your computer. Your Internet browser's "Help" section will give you information on how to delete cookies. In addition, there are many Web sites that provide browser- and operating system-specific information on how to delete cookies. When thinking about whether you want to delete cookies, you should be aware that some sites require cookies to function properly. If you delete cookies, you may have to re-register with some sites or you may notice difficulty in browsing some sites after you delete cookies.

Clear Gifs (Web Beacons)

We employ a software technology called clear gifs (a.k.a. Web Beacons) that help us better manage content on our site by informing us what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of Web users. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on a user's computer hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on Web pages and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. We do not link the information gathered through clear gifs with other personal data that you provide to us.

Security

This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. The security measures used on this site include, but are not limited to, industry-standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, Verisign certificates, firewalls, and internal policies to maintain the security of stored data. While we follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100 percent secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

When you donate to PPFA through this Web site, you will have a personal subscription management page, where you will be able to edit your personal information, as well as review your messaging and advocacy records. Access to your personal subscription management page is controlled to protect the privacy of your data - our Web site requires that you log on with your e-mail address and personal password to access your personal subscription management page. The log-on process may be automated if you choose to accept the placement of a persistent cookie on your PC. See "Use of Cookies" and "Your Help Is Needed" for more information on persistent cookies.

Remember, many breaches of security occur when users are not vigilant in protecting their own information. The next section of our privacy policy suggests some actions you can take to help control the security of your personal information.

Your Help Is Needed

Although PPP does its best to protect your privacy on our site, we need your help.

a. You have control over your own privacy. Think carefully before providing any personal information.

b. Although this site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control, no e-mail or Web transmission is completely secure against interception. If you are worried because your communication is very sensitive, do not send it via e-mail or submit it online. Click here for additional ways to contact us.

c. Remember that we cannot protect your privacy once you leave our site, such as by "hyperlink." So when you visit other Web sites including Web pages within www.plannedparenthood.org that belong to other Planned Parenthood organizations, check each one's privacy policy yourself, and be careful about the information you offer up.

d. You should be aware that in certain areas of this site we utilize personalization measures designed to make your site experience more enjoyable (i.e., personalized links in e-mail that allow data fields to be automatically populated with certain personal information). We need your help to protect the information embedded in these links. You should always keep your e-mail account information secure and not allow others to access your e-mail account.

e. In addition, you should only forward our e-mail messages to others through the "Tell A Friend" buttons or links provided within the e-mail. When you use your e-mail system's forwarding capabilities (i.e., not "Tell a Friend"), others may be able to take actions in your name and/or access your personal information.

f. You may be given the option to turn on a persistent cookie on your computer (see Use of Cookies above). Remember that once you have set a persistent cookie that is linked to your personal information, anyone can access your personal information by using your computer.

g. In addition to the records left on your computer by cookies, your browser and operating system contain other records of your Web browsing and other actions (e.g., browser history). As with cookies, you can find information about how to clear these history trails in your browser's "Help" section or through other Web sites that provide detailed information for each browser and operating system. See Use of Cookies - Disabling Cookies above.

How to Unsubscribe or Contact PPP About Your Information

If you do not want to receive any e-mail from us in the future, visit your personal subscription management page to deactivate your account or click here to learn other ways to contact us. Note that your donation and/or activist records will remain in Planned Parenthood's databases, but your log-in and e-mail address will be deactivated.

© 2005 Planned Parenthood® of Pasadena. All rights reserved. Planned Parenthood® and the logo of "nested Ps" are registered trademarks of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.

Privacy related to Health Information

NOTICE OF HEALTH INFORMATION PRIVACY PRACTICES

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED OR DISCLOSED BY PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF PASADENA AND HOW TO ACCESS THIS INFORMATION

PLEASE REVIEW THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY

If you have any questions about this notice, please contact Planned Parenthood of Pasadena's Privacy Official at (626) 794-5737.

OUR PLEDGE REGARDING YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION

We understand that health information about you and your healthcare is personal. We are committed to protecting health information about you. We will create a record of the care and services you receive from us. We do so to provide you with quality care and to comply with any legal or regulatory requirements.
This Notice applies to all of the records generated or received by Planned Parenthood of Pasadena, whether we documented the health information, or another doctor forwarded it to us. This Notice will tell you the ways in which we may use or disclose health information about you. This Notice also describes your rights to the health information we keep about you, and describe certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information.
Our pledge regarding your health information is backed-up by Federal law. The privacy and security provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ('HIPAA') require us to:

• Make sure that health information that identifies you is kept private;
• Make available this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information about you; and
• Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

The following categories describe different ways that we may use or disclose health information about you. Unless otherwise noted each of these uses and disclosures may be made without your permission. For each category of use or disclosure, we will explain what we mean and give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, unless we ask for a separate authorization, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

For Treatment. We may use health information about you to provide you with healthcare treatment and services. We may disclose health information about you to doctors, nurses, technicians, health students, volunteers, or other personnel who are involved in taking care of you. They may work at our offices, at a hospital if you are hospitalized under our supervision, or at another doctor's office, lab, pharmacy, or other healthcare provider to whom we may refer you for consultation, to take x-rays, to perform lab tests, to have prescriptions filled, or for other treatment purposes. For example, a doctor treating you may need to know if you have diabetes because diabetes may slow the healing process. We may provide that information to a physician treating you at another institution.

For Payment: We may use and disclose health information about you so that the treatment and services you receive from us may be billed to and payment collected from you, an insurance company, a state Medicaid agency or a third party. For example, we may need to give your health insurance plan information about your office visit so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the visit. Alternatively, we may need to give your health information to the state Medicaid agency so that we may be reimbursed for providing services to you. In some instances, we may need to tell your health plan about a treatment you are going to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.

For Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose health information about you for operations of our healthcare practice. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run our practice and make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. For example, we may use health information to review our treatment and services and to evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also combine health information about many patients to decide what additional services we should offer, what services are not needed, whether certain new treatments are effective, or to compare how we are doing with others and to see where we can make improvements. We may remove information that identifies you from this set of health information so others may use it to study healthcare delivery without learning who our specific patients are.

Appointment Reminders: We may use and disclose health information to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment. Please let us know if you do not wish to have us contact you concerning your appointment, or if you wish to have us use a different telephone number or address to contact you for this purpose.

Research. There may be situations where we want to use and disclose health information about you for research purposes. For example, a research project may involve comparing the efficacy of one medication over another. For any research project that uses your health information, we will either obtain an authorization from you or ask an Institutional Review or Privacy Board to waive the requirement to obtain authorization from you. A waiver of authorization will be based upon assurances from a review board that the researchers will adequately protect your health information.

As Required By Law. We will disclose health information about you when required to do so by federal, state, or local law.
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use and disclose health information about you when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.

Military and Veterans. If you are a member of the armed forces or are separated/discharged from military services, we may release health information about you as required by military command authorities or the Department of Veterans Affairs as may be applicable. We may also release health information about foreign military personnel to the appropriate foreign military authorities.

Workers' Compensation. We may release health information about you for workers' compensation or similar programs. These programs provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.
Public Health Risks. We may disclose health information about you for public health activities. These activities generally include the following:
· To prevent or control disease, injury or disability;
· To report births and deaths;
· To report child abuse or neglect;
· To report reactions to medications or problems with products;
· To notify people of recalls of products they may be using;
· To notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition;
· To notify the appropriate government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. We will only make this disclosure if you agree or when required or authorized by law.

Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.

Lawsuits and Disputes. If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose health information about you in response to an order issued by a court or administrative tribunal. We may also disclose health information about you in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only after efforts have been made to tell you about the request and you have time to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

Law Enforcement. We may release health information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official:
· In response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process;
· To identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person;
· If you are the victim of a crime and we are unable to obtain your consent;
· About a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct;
· In an instance of criminal conduct at our facility; and
· In emergency circumstances to report a crime; the location of the crime or victims; or the identity, description, or location of the person who committed the crime.
Such releases of information will be made only after efforts have been made to tell you about the request and you have time to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

Coroners, Health Examiners and Funeral Directors. We may release health information to a coroner or health examiner. This may be necessary, for example, to identify a deceased person or determine the cause of death. We may also release health information about patients to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.

Inmates. If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release health information about you to the correctional institution or law enforcement official. This release would be necessary: (1) for the institution to provide you with healthcare; (2) to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others; or (3) for the safety and security of the correctional institution.

OTHER USES OF HEALTH INFORMATION

Other uses and disclosures of health information not covered by this Notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written permission. If you provide us permission to use or disclose health information about you, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your permission, we will no longer use or disclose health information about you for the reasons covered by your written authorization. You understand that we are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your permission, and that we are required to retain the records of the care that we provided to you.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

You have the following rights regarding health information we maintain about you:
Right to Inspect and Copy: You have certain rights to inspect and copy health information that may be used to make decisions about your care. Usually, this includes health and billing records. To inspect and copy health information that may be used to make decisions about you, you must submit your request in writing on a form provided by us to: 'The Privacy Official at Planned Parenthood of Pasadena.' If you request a copy of your health information, we may charge a fee for the costs of locating, copying, mailing or other supplies and services associated with your request.
We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain very limited circumstances. If you are denied access to health information, you may in certain instances request that the denial be reviewed. Another licensed healthcare professional chosen by our practice will review your request and the denial. The person conducting the review will not be the person who denied your initial request. We will comply with the outcome of the review.

Right to Amend. If you feel that health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment for as long as we keep the information. To request an amendment, your request must be made in writing on a form provided by us and submitted to: 'The Privacy Official at Planned Parenthood of Pasadena.'
We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not the form provided by us and does not include a reason to support the request. In addition, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that:
· Was not created by us, unless the person or entity that created the information is no longer available to make the amendment;
· Is not part of the health information kept by or for our practice;
· Is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy; or
· Is accurate and complete.
Any amendment we make to your health information will be disclosed to those with whom we disclose information as previously specified.

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to request a list (accounting) of any disclosures of your health information we have made, except for uses and disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations, as previously described.
To request this list of disclosures, you must submit your request on a form that we will provide to you. Your request must state a time period that may not be longer than six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003 [The compliance date of the Privacy Regulation]. The first list of disclosures you request within a 12-month period will be free. For additional lists, we may charge you for the costs of providing the list. We will notify you of the cost involved and you may choose to withdraw or modify your request at that time before any costs are incurred. We will mail you a list of disclosures in paper form within 30 days of your request, or notify you if we are unable to supply the list within that time period and by what date we can supply the list; but this date should not exceed a total of 60 days from the date you made the request.
Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the health information we use or disclose about you for treatment, payment, or health care operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the health information we disclose about you to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care. For example, you could ask that access to your health information be denied to a particular member of our workforce who is known to you personally.
While we will try to accommodate your request for restrictions, we are not required to do so if it is not feasible for us to ensure our compliance with law or we believe it will negatively impact the care we may provide you. If we do agree, we will comply with your request unless the information is needed to provide you emergency treatment. To request a restriction, you must make your request on a form that we will provide you. In your request, you must tell us what information you want to limit and to whom you want the limits to apply.
Right to Request Confidential Communications. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about health matters in a certain manner or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail to a post office box. During our intake process, we will ask you how you wish to receive communications about your health care or for any other instructions on notifying you about your health information. We will accommodate all reasonable requests.
Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice. You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this Notice at any time upon request.

Minors have all the rights outlined in the Notice with respect to health information relating to reproductive healthcare to which they can consent. This includes medical, hospital, or surgical care related to treatment or prevention of pregnancy. Under California law, if you are a minor with legal capacity to give informed consent to an abortion, you have the same rights as an adult with respect to health information relating to your abortion. If you are a minor or a person with a guardian obtaining healthcare that is not related to reproductive health your parent or legal guardian does not have the right to access your medical record and make certain decisions regarding the uses and disclosures of you health information if you are legally authorized to consent to the treatment.

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

We reserve the right to change this Notice. We reserve the right to make the revised or changed Notice effective for health information we already have about you as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current Notice in our facility. The Notice contains the effective date on the first page.

COMPLAINTS

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with us, contact: 'The Privacy Official at Planned Parenthood of Pasadena'. All complaints must be submitted in writing. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.