Privacy
HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices: To read more about our privacy
practices regarding health and medical information under the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), visit our HIPAA Notice of
Privacy Practices.
Introduction
We recognize
that the privacy of your personal information is important. The purpose of this
policy is to let you know how we handle the information collected through the
use of this website. Portions of this website may describe privacy practices
applicable to specific types of information or to information provided on
specific web pages.
This policy does not apply to information collected through other means such as
by telephone or in person, although that information may be protected by other
privacy policies. As used in this policy, terms such as “we” or “our” and
“Company” refer to UnitedHealthcare and its current
and future affiliated entities, including our parent company UnitedHealth
Group.
This website is intended for a United States audience. Any information you
provide, including any personal information, will be transferred to and
processed by a computer server located within the United States.
Cookies and Tracking
The Company
uses various technologies, which may include “cookie” technology, to gather
information from our website visitors such as pages visited and how often they
are visited, and to enable certain features on this website. “Cookies” are
small text files that may be placed on your computer when you visit a website
or click on a URL. Cookies may include “single-session cookies” which generally
record information during only a single visit to a website and then are erased,
and “persistent” cookies which are generally stored on a computer unless or
until they are deleted or are set to expire.
You may disable cookies and similar items by adjusting your browser preferences
at any time; however, this may limit your ability to take advantage of all the
features on this website. You may also manage the use of “flash” technologies,
with the Flash
management tools available at Adobe's website. Note that we do not currently respond to web
browser “Do Not Track” signals that provide a method to opt out of the
collection of information about online activities over time and across
third-party websites or online services because, among other reasons, there is
no common definition of such signals and no industry-accepted standards for how
such signals should be interpreted.
We may also
allow third party service providers to use cookies and other technologies to
collect information and to track browsing activity over time and across third
party websites such as web browsers used to read our websites, which websites
are referring traffic or linking to our websites, and to deliver targeted
advertisements to you. We do not control these third party technologies and
their use is governed by the privacy policies of third parties using such
technologies. For more information about third party advertising networks and
similar entities that use these technologies, see www.aboutads.info/consumers, and to opt-out of such ad
networks’ and services’ advertising practices, go to www.aboutads.info/choices. Once you click the link, you may
choose to opt-out of such advertising from all participating advertising
companies or only advertising provided by specific advertising companies.
We may use
analytics companies to gather information and aggregate data from our website
visitors such as which pages are visited and how often they are visited, and to
enable certain features on our websites. Information is captured using various
technologies and may include cookies. If such technology is used, you may opt
out of it by clicking on the “Opt Out” link at the bottom of the home web page.
We may use and
disclose your activity information unless restricted by this policy or by law.
Some examples of the ways we use your activity information include:
Your Personal Information
This website may
include web pages that give you the opportunity to provide us with personal
information about yourself. You do not have to provide us with personal
information if you do not want to; however, that may limit your ability to use
certain functions of this website or to request certain services or
information.
We may use personal information for a number of purposes such as:
We may use
personal information to contact you through any contact information you provide
through this website, including any email address, telephone number, cell phone
number, text message number, or fax number. Please see the section below titled
"Our Online Communications
Practices."
We may also
share personal information within the Company, and we may combine personal
information that you provide us through this website with other information we
have received from you, whether online or offline, or from other sources such
as from our vendors. For example, if you have purchased a product or service
from us, we may combine personal information you provide through this website
with information regarding your receipt of the product or service.
Sharing Personal Information
We will only
share your personal information with third parties as outlined in this policy
and as otherwise permitted by law.
We may share personal information if all or part of the Company is sold,
merged, dissolved, acquired, or in a similar transaction.
We may share personal information in response to a court order, subpoena,
search warrant, law or regulation. We may cooperate with law enforcement
authorities in investigating and prosecuting activities that are illegal,
violate our rules, or may be harmful to other visitors.
If you submit information or a posting to a chat room, bulletin board, or
similar “chat” related portion of this website, the information you submit
along with your screen name will be visible to all visitors, and such visitors
may share with others. Therefore, please be thoughtful in what you write and
understand that this information may become public.
We may also share personal information with other third party companies that we
collaborate with or hire to perform services on our behalf. For example, we may
hire a company to help us send and manage email, and we might provide the
company with your email address and certain other information in order for them
to send you an email message on our behalf. Similarly, we may hire companies to
host or operate some of our websites and related computers and software
applications.
This website may permit you to view your visitor profile and related personal
information and to request changes to such information. If this function is
available, we will include a link on this website with a heading such as “My
Profile” or similar words. Clicking on the link will take you to a page through
which you may review your visitor profile and related personal information.
Website and Information Security
We maintain
reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to
protect the information that you provide on this website. However, no security
system is impenetrable and we cannot guarantee the security of our website, nor
can we guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while
being transmitted to us over the Internet, and we are not liable for the
illegal acts of third parties such as criminal hackers.
Our Online Communication Practices
We may send
electronic newsletters, notification of account status, and other
communications, such as marketing communications, on a periodic basis to
various individuals and organizations. We may also send email communications
regarding topics such as general health benefits, website updates, health
conditions, and general health topics. We offer you appropriate consent
mechanisms, such as opt-out, for marketing and certain other communications. As
examples, you may opt-out as provided for in a specific email communication or
contact us as described below in the section “Contact Us.” Please be aware that
opt-outs may not apply to certain types of communications, such as account
status, website updates, or other communications.
Information for Children Under 13
We will not
intentionally collect any personal information from children under the age of
13 through this website without receiving parental consent. If you think that
we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 13 through
this website, please contact us.
Contact Us
To contact us
regarding this policy and our related privacy practices, please contact us at:
UnitedHealthcare
Customer Service - Privacy Unit
PO Box 740815
Atlanta, GA 30374-0815
If you believe
we or any company associated with us has misused any of your information please
contact us immediately and report such misuse.
Effective date
The Effective
Date of this Privacy Policy is June 1, 2016.
Changes to this Website Privacy Policy
We may change this
policy. If we do so, such change will appear on this page of our website. We
will also provide appropriate notice and choices to you, on this website and in
other appropriate locations, based on the scope and extent of changes. You may
always visit this policy to learn of any updates.
Social Security Number Protection Policy
Protecting
personal information is important to UnitedHealthcare.
It is our policy to protect the confidentiality of Social Security numbers
("SSNs”) that we receive or collect in the course of business. We secure
the confidentiality of SSNs through various means, including physical,
technical, and administrative safeguards that are designed to protect against
unauthorized access. It is our policy to limit access to SSNs to that which is
lawful, and to prohibit unlawful disclosure of SSNs.
Are you using
social media? So are we! We encourage you to read, share, follow us and provide
commentary on Facebook®, Twitter®, Pinterest®,
Instagram® and other social media sites. Before you post, please
make sure you read our social media disclaimer:
We are under no
obligation to screen or monitor your posts or any other User Content, however,
we do make a reasonable effort to monitor participation to ensure that you stay
on topic, are courteous and avoid making offensive comments. Your posts and
User Content must adhere to the following requirements and cannot:
We reserve the
right to edit comments for content, remove off-topic contributions, delete
offensive comments or remarks, block offensive contributors and delete actual
or suspected spam content from any Social Media site. Please be aware that once
you post something online, there is the potential for numerous individuals to
read your words, even years from now. Therefore, we suggest that you exercise
caution when posting on any social media sites and that you not disclose
personally identifiable information like your location, medical record number,
personal medical information, financial information, etc. We are not
responsible for the content of any comments or responses posted by others to
any website or social media site managed or monitored by UnitedHealthcare.
We do not control the placement of any marketing or advertising displayed on
our pages by social media or third party organizations. The inclusion of
links to other websites does not imply any endorsement of the material on the
websites.
Please remember
that information posted on any of our social media platforms is for general
informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice and
should not replace a consultation with your health care professional. Always
consult an appropriate health care professional for your specific needs. If you
are experiencing a medical emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency
number. Some treatments mentioned on social media formats may not be covered by
your health plan. Please refer to your benefit plan documents for information
about coverage.
We reserve the
right to respond to any post or User Content and may occasionally privately
request your contact information to assist offline with your consent by routing
the matter to the appropriate persons or department for further handling. Any
further questions about your account, claims or benefits or request for
additional information can be addressed by visiting your member website or
calling the toll-free member phone number on the back of your health plan ID
card.
All trademarks
are the property of their respective owners.