Culmini Inc. ("Culmini", "Konnectology", "we" or "us") has created this privacy policy (this "Policy") in order to demonstrate its commitment to user, visitor, subscriber, and customer privacy with regard to the Culmini web site and user platform located at www.konnectology.com and other affiliated websites (the "Website"). Privacy on the Website is of great importance to us. Because we gather important information from our users, visitors, subscribers and customers (collectively "Subscribers" or "you" or "your"), we have established this Policy as a means to communicate our information gathering and dissemination practices. By accessing the Website, you acknowledge and agree to this Policy and also agree to the Terms of Use of the Website.
This Privacy Statement sets forth our current privacy practices with regard to the information you share with us. By accessing the Website, you acknowledge and fully understand the Policy and agree to the terms. If you do not agree to the terms of this Policy, you may not use the Website.
Culmini collects certain information from and about its users three ways: directly from our Web Server logs, from users, and with Cookies.
When you visit the Website, we may collect usage information. Examples of information we may collect include:
This information is temporarily stored in association with your account and is then aggregated with other data and is no longer associated with your account. The log information will be used to operate and improve the service and will not be correlated with your use of other Culmini services.
Visitors to our website register to access or purchase services. When you register, we will request some personal information such as email and other relevant information. If you are purchasing a service, we will request financial information. Any financial information we collect is used only to bill you for the services you purchased. It may be shared with a third party for billing purposes. If you purchase by credit card, this information may be forwarded to your credit card provider. For other types of registrations, we will ask for the relevant information. You may also be asked to disclose personal information to us so that we can provide information to you. For example, such data includes but is not limited to your gender, age, weight, height, blood type, and limited medical history such as prior hospitalizations and cause of ESRD, transplant centers you selected on the site, questions, notes your enter on the site.
As the Website evolves we ask for additional personal information.
You have no obligation to disclose personal information, but failure to disclose information may affect your use of the Website.
You may be invited to receive an email newsletter or other correspondence by providing an email address. Your email address and any information will not be distributed or shared with third parties unless it is to transact such business as you have contracted us to do, to comply with any legal processes and/or law enforcement requests, or in order to conduct any business related to your use of the Website. We may also email (or send via other methods) information regarding updates to the Website or Culmini, and may send a newsletter, or other correspondence. You will have an opportunity to unsubscribe to any emails or mailings by clicking on an "unsubscribe" hyperlink contained in promotional emails we send you. Even if you are removed from any such list, if you use the Website, you may continue to receive email correspondence Culmini. Any opt-out by you is not deemed valid until processed by Culmini. Culmini shall not be liable for problems with the opt-out procedures.
Culmini will not disclose personally identifiable information we collect from you to third parties without your permission except to the extent necessary including:
However, Culmini reserves the right to analyze de-identified personal information to improve the services we provide you through the Website. Culmini also reserves the right to share aggregated statistics on de-identified user personal information with third parties.
When you view the Website, we may store some information on your computer's hard drive. This information will be in the form of a "Cookie." Most web browsers automatically accept Cookies, but you can change your browser to prevent that. Without accepting a Cookie, your use of the Website may be affected. Culmini reserves the right to share aggregated site statistics with third parties, but does not allow other companies to place cookies on our website unless there is a temporary, overriding customer value.
The research behind the Konnectology tools is funded by the National Institutes of Health and approved by an Institutional Review Board. This research is necessary for Culmini to continue to provide the best services and information to Konnectology members: patients and their families. Your membership indicates that you consent to the use of unidentified aggregate data on how you use the Konnectology web tools. The following are the details of the research funded by the National Institutes of Health.
You are being asked to be in a research study that will try to determine the extent to which the Konnectology web tools are helpful resources to patients as they discuss transplant center options with their physician.
Your participation will involve your consent to analyze your usage of the Konnectology website and your hospital selections in a way that cannot identify you. This means that in the research your usage of the site will not be linked to your registration email information. Your participation will involve any time you use the site.
There are no known risks associated with being in this research. You will be told about any new information that might change your decision to be in this study. You may not receive a direct benefit if you agree to participate. However, people in the future may benefit from the information obtained from this research. Your alternative is to use the site but not have the data from your usage of Konnectology used in the research. Contact Dr. Petrou at cpetrou@konnectology.com and your usage data will be removed.
There are no additional costs to you for participating.
Contact Dr. Constantia Petrou at 650-504-6716 or cpetrou@konnectology.com for questions about the research or if you think you have been harmed as a result of joining this research. Contact the Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) if you have questions about your rights as a research subject: 1-800-562-4789. WIRB is a group of people who perform independent review of research.
The information about you that will be collected for this research will be protected in the following way:
Results from this research will be published in peer reviewed scientific journals for the benefit of doctors treating their patients, as well as other publications for the benefit of the patient community and their families. Your individual Konnectology usage data will not be revealed in these publications. Only aggregate data will be published.
This information is shared so the research can be conducted and properly monitored. This permission will not end unless you cancel it. You may cancel it by sending written notice to the study doctor at cpetrou@konnectology.com. Your decision to be in this study is voluntary. You will not be penalized or lose benefits if you decide not to participate or if you decide to stop participating. Your part in this study may be stopped at any time by the study doctor or the sponsor without your consent for any of the following reasons:
We take appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure or destruction of data. These include internal reviews of our data collection, storage and processing practices and security measures, including appropriate encryption and physical security measures to guard against unauthorized access to systems where we store personal data.
We restrict access to personal information to Culmini employees, contractors and agents who need to know that information in order to process it on our behalf. These individuals are bound by confidentiality obligations and may be subject to discipline, including termination and criminal prosecution, if they fail to meet these obligations.
However, please note that data that is transported over an open network, such as the Internet or e-mail, may be accessible to anybody. We cannot guarantee the confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted via such open networks. When disclosing any personal information via an open network, you should remain mindful of the fact that it is potentially accessible to others, and consequently, can be collected and used by others without your consent. In particular, while individual data packets are often encrypted, the names of the sender and recipient are not. A third party may therefore be able to trace an existing bank account or relationship or one that is subsequently created. Even if both the sender and recipient are located in the same country data may also be transmitted via such networks to other countries regularly and without controls, including to countries that do not afford the same level of data protection as your country of domicile.
Your data may be lost during transmission or may be accessed by unauthorized parties. We do not accept any liability for direct or indirect losses as regards the security of your information or data during its transfer via Internet. Please use other means of communication if you think this is necessary or prudent for security reasons.
We will provide you with the means to ensure that personally identifiable information in your web account file is correct and current. You may review this information for a fee by emailing us. You can update or remove your information at any time by logging into your account and editing your information but you should be aware that archival or back-up copies of said information will not cease to exist and Culmini shall not be liable for any problems in this editing process. You can view your account to confirm that your edits have been made to the extent available on the Website.
Culmini has the discretion to occasionally update this privacy statement. When we do, we will also revise the "updated" date at the top of this Privacy page. We encourage you to periodically review this privacy statement to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal information we collect. Your continued use of the service constitutes your agreement to this privacy statement and any updates.
Related services and offerings with links from this website, including vendor and transplant center sites, have their own privacy statements that can be viewed by clicking on the corresponding links within each respective website. Since we do not have direct control over the policies or practices of participating merchants and other third parties, we are not responsible for the privacy practices or contents of those sites. We recommend and encourage that you always review the privacy policies of merchants or other third parties before you provide any personal information or complete any transaction with such parties.
If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, you should contact us at support@konnectology.com.