Last Updated: February 2017
The Syrian American Medical Society (“SAMS”) has developed this Privacy Policy statement (“Privacy Policy”) to assist visitors to or end users of (referenced herein with “you” or “your” or generally, as a “user”) website(s) owned and operated by SAMS (www.sams-usa.net) or the mobile and social media versions thereof (referenced collectively herein and for the purposes of this Privacy Policy as the “Site”) in understanding the personally identifiable information (“PII”) collection and use practices for the Site. PII, as such term is used herein, includes information that can identify a specific individual, such as a name, address, phone number, or email address. Please review this Privacy Policy before using or submitting PII to the Site. If you do not agree with the Privacy Policy, do not use the Site.
Information We Collect
THE TYPES OF DATA COLLECTED BY SAMS WILL VARY WITH YOUR PARTICULAR USE OF THE SITE. Below, SAMS provides detail on the type(s) of PII SAMS may collect through the Site.
Contact Information: SAMS may collect certain contact information, such as, without limitation, your name, phone number, address, and email address.
Demographic & Survey Information: SAMS may collect demographic and general profile data (e.g., educational, professional, and geographic information).
Financial Information: SAMS may collect credit or debit card information.
Transactional Information: SAMS may create and maintain a database of aggregated information about the transactions that occur on the Site (e.g., tool or feature (and related database) utilization and activity, navigation, exit page tracking, or content selection data).
Technical Information: SAMS may also collect Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from users of the Site as well as the date and time of access and the Web page(s) accessed. SAMS may also catalog the type of computer, browser, or operating system used by you.
Use of Information: SAMS may use PII collected from the Site to operate the Site, provide, and/or enhance certain of its features, tools, and functionality, and to otherwise provide and improve the quality of the Site. Below please find additional information on how SAMS may use PII collected from the Site.
Contact Information: SAMS may use your contact information in connection with the provision of its materials, services, and content to enable you to make donations and facilitate your participation in activities, events, and programs, made available through the Site. SAMS may also use your contact information to (i) advertise its events, programs, or services, (ii) create a personalized experience for you when using the Site, (iii) provide you with news, materials, and information, (iv) assist with security or fraud prevention or response measures, (v) facilitate a website feature or tool that requires user input, (vi) to get in touch with you with respect to any (a) transactions conducted through the Site, such as registering for an event (or program), or making a donation, (b) support request or question you bring to SAMS’ attention, (c) material changes made by SAMS to the Site’s policies and/or agreements, or (d) new programs, events, products, or services offered by SAMS, or (vii) for any other lawful purposes as determined by SAMS in its sole discretion.
We also may share your contact information with third parties including, without limitation, SAMS’ vendors, members, or business partners, to (i) facilitate or implement the foregoing, (ii) advertise the services or activities of others, (iii) provide, improve, or advise you of SAMS’ programs, volunteer opportunities, events, or services, (iv) process donations, or (v) allow for online registration for programs or events, and/or for other internal business purposes. In addition, SAMS may (x) supplement the PII collected from you with information about you obtained from other sources, such as, without limitation, from SAMS’ affiliates, vendors, or business partners, or (y) engage in cross-border transfers of PII in order to provide or enhance SAMS’ ability to provide or advertise SAMS’ programs, events, or services or software solutions and/or the programs, events, products, services, or software solutions of others.
Demographic & Survey Information: SAMS may use demographic information for marketing, administrative, management, and monitoring purposes in order to continue to provide or improve the Site. In addition, SAMS may share survey results and aggregated demographic data collected through the Site with its vendors, members, business partners, the general public, the news media, and with the U.S. Government and state governments, not only as may be required by law, but also for advertising purposes, for release to third parties, and to participate in government programs and initiatives. But, such survey or aggregated information will not identify any particular user.
Financial Information: SAMS will use financial information to facilitate donations or other identified transactions.
Transactional Information: SAMS may use transactional information for marketing, administrative, and support purposes in order to provide or improve any software solutions, programs, events, products or services that SAMS may offer. In addition, SAMS may also share such transactional data on an aggregated basis (which will not identify any particular user) with or to third parties, including, without limitation, vendors, advertisers, or business partners.
Technical Information: SAMS may use technical information, such as your IP address or browser type, to help diagnose problems with SAMS’ servers, analyze Site usage trends, track user movements on the Site, and to otherwise improve, manage, and monitor the Site.
Business Transactions: In the event that SAMS goes through a business transaction, such as a bankruptcy event, merger, investment transaction, or acquisition by another entity involving the sale of all or a portion of its assets, please note that the PII collected and retained by SAMS may be among the assets transferred or reviewed.
Legal Action: SAMS may disclose PII when legally required to do so in accordance with subpoenas, government requests or regulations, or legal proceedings. SAMS may also disclose PII to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of the Site or as is otherwise required to limit legal liability, protect or defend SAMS’ rights, property, or interests, or protect the safety, rights, or property of others.
Cookies & Similar Technologies: SAMS or its vendors may use cookies and/or other similar data collection or tracking techniques to enhance and/or monitor your experience while using the Site. Cookies and other related techniques are generally pieces of information, which SAMS’ uses for record-keeping purposes and which the Site may transfer to SAMS and/or your computer’s Web browser for storage on SAMS’ server(s) or your computer’s hard drive. Cookies and other related techniques enable SAMS to manage and/or customize your experience on the Site, which may include available advertisements. Cookies and other related techniques also make Web-surfing or Site review easier by automatically performing certain functions such as saving your personal preferences and by providing targeted content. Many consider the use of cookies or similar data collection to be industry standard practices. Consequently, your Web browser is likely set to accept cookies or allow other identifiers. If you would prefer not to receive cookies or allow identifiers, however, you can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse cookies or surf anonymously. If you choose to have your browser refuse cookies or surf anonymously, you should understand that it is possible that some areas of the Site will not function properly or as quickly.
Links to Third Party Sites: To the extent hyperlinks or gateways are utilized to access external or third party sites (not controlled, owned, or operated by SAMS), you should be aware that these external or third party sites may collect PII and are not subject to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies only to the Site. SAMS suggests that you check the privacy policies of other Web sites to determine how the proprietors of these third party sites will utilize your PII.
Social Media: This Site may include social media features. These features may collect information from you, such as which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Social media features are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Site. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the entity providing it. Please see below for more information on advertising activities on our Site.
Digital Advertising: “Third party advertising companies may collect data about your visit to our Sites and others to provide you more relevant advertising here and elsewhere on the Internet. This type of advertising is known as Online Behavioral Advertising. You can stop this collection and use of data for these purposes by companies participating in the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) by visiting the “Opt Out From Online Behavioral Advertising” website. By opting out, the ads you see may be less relevant, and you may still continue to see other non-targeted advertisements on our Sites and elsewhere.”
SAMS may partner with ad networks and other ad serving providers (“Advertising Providers”) who serve ads on behalf of SAMS and others on non-affiliated sites. Some of those ads may be personalized, meaning that they are intended to be relevant to you based on information Advertising Providers collect about your visits to the Site and elsewhere on the Internet over time.
You may visit www.aboutads.info to learn more about this type of advertising and how to opt-out of this type of advertising by companies participating in the Digital Advertising Alliance self-regulatory program. Note that electing to opt out will not stop advertising from appearing in your browser or applications. It may make the ads you see less relevant to your interest. In addition, note that if you use a different browser or erase cookies from your browser, you may need to renew your opt-out choice. Google Analytics service is installed on the Site. Information about data that Google Analytics collects is available here.
Data Security: SAMS maintains data security measures for the Site to protect the PII under its control against unauthorized access and disclosure. These measures include the implementation of reasonable technical, physical and administrative data security safeguards. More sensitive information, namely, your credit or debit card number, are encrypted and protected with the encryption software SSL when transmitted to SAMS. Credit card information is not stored or re-used. SAMS also requires that the vendors SAMS engages with respect to the Site (and use of the PII) employ reasonable safeguards when carrying out their services on SAMS’ behalf.
Opt-Out: The collection, use, and sharing of your PII may be necessary for SAMS to provide certain features, programs, events, resources, products, services and software solutions made available on the Site, and to operate and/or improve the Site. However, under other circumstances, you can decide if you wish to provide your PII to SAMS or opt-out of doing so. Specifically, users may opt-out of including the PII they provide to SAMS in connection with the following activities: (i) email communications, newsletters, or postal or facsimile communications sent by SAMS, and (ii) sharing arrangements with SAMS’ vendors or business partners to facilitate communication or advertising. SAMS also recommends review of your browser settings to determine if additional opt-outs are available. You may also opt-out by communicating with us through the contact information below.
What about Children? SAMS cares about the safety of children on its Site and encourages parents and guardians to monitor their children’s use of the Internet. Although the Site is suitable for a general audience, the Site is intended for use only by users who are over eighteen (18) years of age. Accordingly, SAMS does not knowingly solicit PII from children or send them requests for personal information. If you become aware that your child has provided PII to SAMS, please contact SAMS immediately so that such information can be deleted and SAMS otherwise discontinues any further services provided to such child.
What about Governing Law? This Privacy Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia, U.S.A. If you are located outside of the United States when you use the Site, any information you submit thereto will be transferred to the United States. Accordingly, by using the Site and submitting PII thereto, you therefore authorize the transfer of your PII to the United States. If any part of this Privacy Policy is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law, then the invalid or unenforceable provision or part will be deemed suspended by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision or part and the remainder of this Privacy Policy shall continue in full force and effect.
Changes in SAMS’ Privacy Policy: SAMS reserves the right in its sole discretion to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If SAMS makes changes to this Privacy Policy, SAMS will post those changes at this location or otherwise provide you notice of any material changes. Please review this Privacy Policy on a periodic basis. If you do not agree with the Privacy Policy, do not use the Site.
Contact Us: If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to opt-out or have the PII under SAMS’ control deleted or modified, you can contact Syrian American Medical Society at P.O. Box 34115, Washington, DC 20043 (mailing address), 1012 14th Street, NW, Suite 1500 Washington, D.C. 20005 (physical address), (202) 930-7802 (phone), or info@sams-usa.net (e-mail support).
