THE BLOOD CONNECTION INCORPORATED

Privacy Policy

Last modified: February 25, 2015

Introduction

Thank you for your blood and blood component donations.  The Blood Connection, Incorporated (“TBC” or “We”) respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy.

This policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the websites thebloodconnection.org and   TBCRewards.com (our “Websites”) and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting and disclosing that information.

This policy applies to information we collect:

On these Websites;

  • In e-mail, text and other electronic messages between you and these Websites;
  • Through desktop applications you download from these Websites or mobile access which we may provide, which allow dedicated non-browser-based interaction between you and these Websites;
  • In connection with the rewards activities involving our Websites.

It does not apply to information collected by:

  • Us offline, as provided in the donor preparation and donation process, or through any other means, including on any websites other than the Websites above operated by or for TBC (except for blood type and eligibility information, to which this policy does apply); or
  • Any third party websites, including through any application or content that may link to or be accessible from or on the Websites (for example, the tangocard.com website which you may visit and use in connection with the TBC Rewards Program).

Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Websites. By accessing or using our Websites, you agree to this privacy policy. This policy may change from time to time. Your continued use of these Websites after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.

Children Under the Age of 16

Our Websites are not intended for children under 16 years of age. Blood donors must be at least 16 years of age (with parental consent) or 17 and older.  Therefore, these websites are not intended for any users under that age.  Generally, interactive use of our Websites is not intended for use by anyone who is not old enough to enter into a binding legal agreement.  Further, no one under age 16 may provide any personal or other information to or on the Websites. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you are under the age required to enter into a binding legal agreement, do not use or provide any information on this Websites or on or through any of its features or register on the Websites, or redeem any rewards through the Websites, or use any of the interactive or public comment features of the Websites or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address or any screen name or user name you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 16 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 16, please contact us at:

TBCRewards@thebloodconnection.org
Support phone number:  864-751-1154 (or 800-392-6551 ext. 1207)

Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It

We collect several types of information from and about users of our Websites, including information:

  • By which you may be personally identified, such as name, postal address, birth date, gender, e-mail address, how many times you have donated at other blood banks, telephone numbers, appointment dates, host organization and host contact names, host addresses, host blood drive experience, host street address, phone numbers, phone messages from you and contacts from you including voice messages, such as second thoughts about blood safety, or questions or discomfort advice from you as well as voice messages and data entry concerning information updates from you and feedback from you, or comments or explanations how we might help you or any other identifier by which you may be contacted online or offline (“personal information”);
  • That is about you but individually does not identify you, such as blood type, your next eligible donation date or whether you are deferred temporarily, indefinitely, or permanently, as well as whether a donor may be deceased; and/or
  • About your internet connection, the device or equipment you use to access our Websites and usage details;
  • About your rewards activity from Tango Card, Inc., the fulfillment service company.

We collect this information:

  • Directly from you when you provide it to us;
  • Automatically as you navigate through the site. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, location and information collected through cookies and other tracking technologies;
  • From third parties, for example, Drum Creative, LLC, Clearbuilt Technologies, Inc., and their associated service providers, for example, Tango Card, Inc., Mandrill, Inc., and other business affiliates who may provide services or goods in connection with our services and TBC Rewards Program.

Information You Provide to Us

The information we collect on or through our Websites may include:

  • Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Websites or to which you consent. This includes information provided at the time of registering to use our Websites, scheduling a donation, sending an inquiry or message, or requesting services or using the TBC Rewards Program. We may also ask you for information when you enter a contest or promotion sponsored by us, and when you report a problem with our Websites or those of others involved in the TBC Rewards Program;
  • Records and copies of your correspondence (including e-mail addresses), if you contact us and demographic information;
  • Your responses to surveys that we or our representatives or service providers might ask you to complete for research or quality purposes;
  • Details of transactions you carry out through our Websites and in connection with your rewards activities and the fulfillment of your reward order;
  • Your search queries on the Websites.

Although we limit access to information you provide us, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.  Additionally, we cannot control the actions of other users of the Websites.  Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that information communicated to us or anyone connected with our services or Rewards Program over the Internet will not be viewed by unauthorized persons.

Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies

As you navigate through and interact with our Websites, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns, including:

  • Details of your visits to our Websites, including traffic data, location data, logs and other communication data and the resources that you access and use on the Websites;
  • Information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address, operating system and browser type.

We also may use these technologies to collect information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites or other online services (for example, Google® tracking).

The information we collect automatically includes statistical or demographic data and may include personal information, or we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways, or that we receive from third parties. It helps us to improve our Websites and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to:

  • Estimate our audience size and usage patterns;
  • Improve or adjust our services and programs;
  • Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Websites according to your individual interests;
  • Speed up your searches;
  • Recognize you when you return to our Websites.

The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include:

  • Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on the hard drive of your computer. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Websites. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Websites.

We may tie information collected to personal information about you that we collect from other sources or that you provide to us.

We use third parties to host our Websites and provide technology services.  We contractually require those with whom we contract to comply with our privacy requirements and applicable laws.  We and they may use cookies.  These service providers are permitted to share your information with another party only as needed in connection with TBC’s activities and services, the TBC Rewards Program, and related communications with you or to you, such as potential requests for donations.  You may opt out of the donor rewards program by not participating.  If you do not agree with the different terms of service or privacy policies of any service provider, such as Tango Card, Inc., or any Tango merchants to whom you may voluntarily provide information, you can choose not to participate.  Some of those entities may use data technologies and data collection different from those which TBC uses.

Of course, apart from our Websites, TBC possesses separate donor information related to blood donor activities.  This Privacy Policy does not apply to information unrelated to the Websites (except that donor blood type and eligibility to next donate information is used in connection with the TBC Rewards Program).

How We Use Your Information

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:

To present our Websites and their contents to you; and to operate, improve and personalize our products and services, including the reward products and services we offer.  We also may use the information to communicate with you, for example, informing you about your account and security updates and reward activities;

  • To provide you with information, rewards, products or services that you request from us;
  • To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it;
  • To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any dealings between you and us;
  • To notify you about changes to our Websites or any products or services we offer or provide through the Websites;
  • To allow you to participate in interactive features on our Websites;
  • In any other way we may describe when you provide the information;
  • For any other purpose with your consent;
  • We may use or disclose your information as required by applicable law or regulation, including the requirements related to certain ineligible donors.

We may also use your information to contact you about our services and donation needs that may be of interest to you and to notify you of campaigns or types of blood needed in particular situations.  If you do not want us to use your information in this way, please check the relevant box located on the form on which we collect your data and adjust your user preferences in your account profile.  For more information, see Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information.

Creating De-identified Personal Information

We may encode or obfuscate your personal information to create de-identified personal information that removes any information that enables a user or organization to be identified.  We may use the de-identified information for our own internal purposes, for data aggregation and analytics, and/or when providing User Content, such as feedback, to an organization.  TBC may also encode or obfuscate the Personal Information to create de-identified personal information for data aggregation, feedback analytics, or comparative analysis.

Disclosure of Your Information

We may disclose aggregated information about our donors, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.

  • We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy:
  • To contractors, service providers and other third parties we use to support our business and who are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.  Please review the terms of any linked websites or third party websites for information as to how they may use your information;
  • To a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution or other sale or transfer of some or all of TBC’s assets, under any circumstance in which personal information held by TBC about our Websites users is among the assets transferred in accordance with applicable law;
  • To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it, including reward activity and redemptions;
  • For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information;
  • With your consent.

We may also disclose your personal information:

  • To comply with any court order, law or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request or subpoena;
  • To convey the necessary information to the rewards fulfillment service provider(s), to enforce or apply our Terms of Use and our terms of reward redemption, and regulatory authorities and agencies, and in connection with other agreements with TBC;
  • If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of TBC, our donors or customers or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of blood or blood product use, safety or risk reduction.

Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information

We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:

  • Tracking Technologies and Advertising. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. To learn how you can manage your Flash cookie settings, visit the Flash player settings page on Adobe’s Websites. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of these sites may then be inaccessible or not function properly.
  • Campaign or Promotional Offers from TBC. If you do not wish to have your e-mail address/contact information used by TBC for campaigns or to promote our own services, you can opt-out of the rewards program entirely by not participating or submitting any information, or, by checking the relevant box located on the form on which we collect your data (the registration or scheduling form) or at any other time by logging into the Websites and adjusting your user preferences in your account profile by checking or unchecking the relevant boxes or by sending us an e-mail stating your request to TBCRewards@thebloodconnection.org. If we have sent you a campaign or promotional e-mail, you may send us a return e-mail, or an email to TBCRewards@thebloodconnection.org asking to be omitted from future e-mail distributions.

Accessing and Correcting Your Information

You can review and change your personal information by logging into your TBC Rewards dashboard, selecting your profile information and modifying as needed.

You may also send us an e-mail at TBCRewards@thebloodconnection.org to request access to, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. However, consistent with your authorization given outside of the Websites in connection with your blood donation and the applicable laws and regulations, we cannot delete your personal information as a blood donor.  We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect.

Proper access and use of information provided on the Websites, including User Contributions in the form of messages sent to us, is governed by our Terms of Use.

Data Security

We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration and disclosure.  All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers or those of our service providers and business partners, Drum Creative, and Clearbuilt Technologies, Inc., behind firewalls.  Some information is also used by their support providers.  Please also see: Mandrill/Mail Chimp (privacy policy at http://mandrill.com/privacy/ and terms of use at http://mandrill.com/terms/), and Tango Card, Inc. (privacy policy at https://www.tangocard.com/privacy and Tango Cards Terms of Service at https://www.tangocard.com/terms-of-service).  All transactions, including reward transactions and scheduling or profile data transmission to us and our representative companies will be transmitted using at least SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security technology for establishing an encrypted link.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.  We urge you to be careful about giving out information in public areas of any websites, including social media and message boards. The information you share in public areas may be viewed by any user of the websites.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Websites. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Websites.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you by e-mail to the primary e-mail address specified in your account and/or through a notice on the Websites’ home pages. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable e-mail address for you, and for periodically visiting our Websites and this privacy policy to check for any changes.

Contact Information

To ask questions or comment about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, contact us at:

TBCRewards@thebloodconnection.org
Support phone number:  864-751-1154 or Toll Free at 800-392-6551 ext. 1207

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