The Relief institute’s primary mission is to put patient’s first, which includes the commitment to protecting your privacy and taking extreme care of your personal information. This policy will help you understand how we use and protect your data. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at privacy@reliefinstitute.com.  We appreciate your interest in the Relief Institute.

Effective Date: January 1, 2021

BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SERVICES, YOU AGREE TO THE PRACTICES AND POLICIES OUTLINED IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND YOU HEREBY CONSENT TO THE COLLECTION, USE, AND SHARING OF YOUR INFORMATION AS DESCRIBED IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY, YOU CANNOT USE THE SERVICES. IF YOU USE THE SERVICES ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE (SUCH AS YOUR CHILD) OR AN ENTITY (SUCH AS YOUR EMPLOYER), YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU ARE AUTHORIZED BY SUCH INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY TO ACCEPT THIS PRIVACY POLICY ON SUCH INDIVIDUAL’S OR ENTITY’S BEHALF.

Introduction

The Relief Institute, LLC (“us,” “we,” “Relief”, “Relief Institute”) is committed to respecting the privacy rights of our customers, visitors, and other users of the Reliefinstitute.com (the “Website”) and related websites, applications, services and mobile applications provided by the Relief Institute and on/in which this Privacy Policy is posted or referenced (collectively, the “Services”).  This Privacy Policy will give you confidence as you use the Services and to demonstrate our commitment to the protection of privacy. This Privacy Policy covers our practices with respect to personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) that we gather when you use our Services. This Privacy Policy does not apply to any other web service or digital service that you may be able to access through the Services or any web service or digital services of the Relief Institute’s business partners, each of which have data collection, storage and use practices and policies that may differ from this Privacy Policy.  

Remember that your use of the Services is at all times subject to the Agreement (as the term “Agreement” is defined in our Terms of Service), which incorporates this Privacy Policy. Any capitalized term used but not defined in this Privacy Policy shall have the meaning in the Agreement.

Collection of Information

When you open the Website, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends.  This data may include information such as your device’s IP address, browser type and version, operating system type and version, language preferences or the webpage you were visiting  before you came to the Relief Institute Website and Services, pages of the Website and Services that you visit, the time spent on those pages, information you search for on the Website’, access times and dates, and other statistics.  

Information collected automatically is used only to identify potential cases of abuse and establish statistical information regarding the usage and traffic of the Relief Institute Website and Services.  This statistical information is not otherwise aggregated in such a way that would identify any particular user of the system.  

Collection of Personal Information

You can access the Website and Services without telling us who you are or revealing any information by which someone could identify you as a specific, identifiable individual.  If, however you wish to use some of the features on the Website, you may be asked to provide certain Personal Information (e.g. name, email address).  When you voluntarily provide us with such Personal Information this could include but not limited to the following:  

• Contact information such as email address, address, phone number, etc.; 
• Demographic information such as your gender, your date of birth and your zip code; 
• Medical Insurance information such as your insurance provider, insurance plan, member ID, group ID and payer ID; 
• Supportive Medical information such as any health information you choose to share with us, as well as, additional information on any other healthcare providers and/or healthcare professionals you have visited, your reasons for visit, your dates of visit, your medical history, and other medical and health information you choose to share with us;  
• Other identifying information that you voluntarily choose to provide to us, including without limitation unique identifiers such as passwords, and Personal Information in emails or letters that you send to us; and
• Any payment information such as credit card details, bank details, etc. 

Some of the information we collect is directly from you via the Website and Services.  However, we may also collect Personal Information about you from other sources such as public databases, social media platforms, third-party data providers, and our joint marketing partners.  Personal Information we collect from other sources may include demographic information, such as age and gender, device information, such as IP addresses, location, such as city and state, and online behavioral data, such as information about your use of social media websites, page view information and search results and links.  You can choose not to provide us with your Personal Information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of some of the features on the Website.  Users who are uncertain about what information is mandatory are welcome to contact us.

How We Collect Information

We collect information (including Personal Information and Traffic Data) when you use and interact with the Website and Services, or Care Coordination Team, and in some cases from third party sources. Such means of collection include:

• When you use the interactive tools and services, such as searching for Healthcare Providers, conditions, treatments, insurance, completion of the form fill on the Website, and/or Patient History forms provided by the Healthcare provider. 
• When you voluntarily provide information in free-form text boxes through the Website or other media (Facebook) or through responses to surveys, questionnaires and the like;
• If you download our mobile application or use a location-enabled browser, we may receive information about your location and mobile device, as applicable;
• Through cookies, web beacons, analytics services and other tracking technology; and
• When you use the “Contact Us” function on the Site, send us an email or otherwise contact us.

Use and Processing of Collected Information

In order to make the Website and Services available to you, or to meet a legal obligation, we need to collect and use certain Personal Information.  If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide you with the requested products or services.  Any information we collect from you may be used for the following purposes;

• Create and manage user accounts
• Delivering the products, services, and information you request
• Providing, maintaining, administering, or expanding Services
• Performing business analyses
• Improve product or services
• Send administrative information
• Send marketing and promotional communications
• Respond to inquiries and offer support
• Request user feedback
• Improve user experience
• Post customer reviews
• Deliver targeted advertising 
• Enforce terms and conditions
• Protect from abuse and malicious users
• Respond to legal requests and prevent harm
• Run and operate the Website and Services 

Processing your Personal Information depends on how you interact with the Website and Services, where you are located and if one of the following applies: (i) you have given your consent for one or more specific purposes; this, however, does not apply, whenever the processing of Personal Information  is subject to California Consumer Privacy Act or European data protection law; (ii) provision of information is necessary for the performance of an agreement with you and/or for any pre-contractual obligations thereof; (iii) processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligation to which you are subject; (iv) processing is related to a task that is carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us; (v) processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party. 

Note that under some legislations we may be allowed to process information until you object to such processing (by opting out), without having to rely on consent or any other of the following legal bases below.  In any case, we will be happy to clarify specific legal bases that applies to the processing, and in particular whether the provision of Personal Information is a statutory or contractual requirement, or requirement necessary to enter into a contract.  

Billing and Payments

In case of services requiring payment, we request credit card or other payment account information, which will be used solely for processing payments. Your purchase transaction data is stored only as long as is necessary to complete your purchase transaction. After that is complete, your purchase transaction information is deleted. Where necessary for processing future payments and subject to your prior consent, your financial information will be stored in encrypted form on secure servers of our reputed payment gateway service provider who is beholden to treating your Personal Information in accordance with this Policy. All direct payment gateways adhere to the latest security standards as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Sensitive and private data exchange happens over a SSL secured communication channel and is encrypted and protected with digital signatures, and the Website and Services are also in compliance with PCI vulnerability standards in order to create as secure of an environment as possible for Users. Scans for malware are performed on a regular basis for additional security and protection.

Managing Information

You are able to delete certain Personal Information we have about you. The Personal Information you can delete may change as the Website and Services change. When you delete Personal Information, however, we may maintain a copy of the unrevised Personal Information in our records for the duration necessary to comply with our obligations to our affiliates and partners, and for the purposes described below. If you would like to delete your Personal Information or permanently delete your account, you can do so by contacting us.

Disclosure of Information

Under federal law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), some demographic, health and/or health-related information that Relief Institute collects as part of providing the Services may be considered “protected health information” or “PHI”.  More Specifically, when the Relief Institute receives identifiable information about you from or on behalf of your Healthcare Providers, this information is considered PHI.  

HIPAA provides specific protections for the privacy and security of PHI and restricts how PHI is used and disclosed.  The Relief Institute may only use and disclose your PHI in ways permitted by your Healthcare Provider (s).  Your Personal information that is not PHI is governed by this Privacy Policy and your Personal Information that is PHI is used and disclosed only as permitted by your Healthcare Provider (s).

In addition, depending on the requested Services or as necessary to complete any transaction or provide any service you have requested, we may share your information with your consent with our trusted third parties that work with us, any other affiliates and subsidiaries we rely upon to assist in the operation of the Website and Services available to you. We do not share Personal Information with unaffiliated third parties. These service providers are not authorized to use or disclose your information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements. We may share your Personal Information for these purposes only with third parties whose privacy policies are consistent with ours or who agree to abide by our policies with respect to Personal Information. These third parties are given Personal Information they need only in order to perform their designated functions, and we do not authorize them to use or disclose Personal Information for their own marketing or other purposes.

We will disclose any Personal Information we collect, use or receive if required or permitted by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, or similar legal process, and when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.

In the event we go through a business transition, such as a merger or acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your user account, and Personal Information will likely be among the assets transferred.

Retention of information

We will retain and use your Personal Information for the period necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. We may use any aggregated data derived from or incorporating your Personal Information after you update or delete it, but not in a manner that would identify you personally. Once the retention period expires, Personal Information shall be deleted. Therefore, the right to access, the right to erasure, the right to rectification and the right to data portability cannot be enforced after the expiration of the retention period.  Therefore, the right to access, the right to erasure, the right to rectification and the right to data portability cannot be enforced after the expiration of the retention period. 

The Rights of Users

You may exercise certain rights regarding your information processed by us. In particular, you have the right to do the following: (i) you have the right to withdraw consent where you have previously given your consent to the processing of your information; (ii) you have the right to object to the processing of your information if the processing is carried out on a legal basis other than consent; (iii) you have the right to learn if information is being processed by us, obtain disclosure regarding certain aspects of the processing and obtain a copy of the information undergoing processing; (iv) you have the right to verify the accuracy of your information and ask for it to be updated or corrected; (v) you have the right, under certain circumstances, to restrict the processing of your information, in which case, we will not process your information for any purpose other than storing it; (vi) you have the right, under certain circumstances, to obtain the erasure of your Personal Information from us; (vii) you have the right to receive your information in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and, if technically feasible, to have it transmitted to another controller without any hindrance. This provision is applicable provided that your information is processed by automated means and that the processing is based on your consent, on a contract which you are part of or on pre-contractual obligations thereof.

California privacy rights

In addition to the rights as explained in this Policy, California residents who provide Personal Information (as defined in the statute) to obtain products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us, once a calendar year, information about the Personal Information we shared, if any, with other businesses for marketing uses. If applicable, this information would include the categories of Personal Information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared such personal information for the immediately prior calendar year (e.g., requests made in the current year will receive information about the prior year). To obtain this information please contact us.

How to exercise these rights

Any requests to exercise your rights can be directed to Relief Institute through the contact details provided in this document. Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests. Your request must provide sufficient information that allows us to verify that you are the person you are claiming to be or that you are the authorized representative of such person. You must include sufficient details to allow us to properly understand the request and respond to it. We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information unless we first verify your identity or authority to make such a request and confirm that the Personal Information relates to you.

How long we retain your information

We retain your Personal Information about you for as long as you have access to the Website and Services with us or as otherwise necessary to provide you Services.  In some cases, we retain your Personal Information for longer, if doing so is necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes or collect fees owed, prevent fraud, enforce the Agreement, or as otherwise permitted or required by applicable law, rule or regulation.  Afterwards, we retain some information in a aggregated form but not in a way that would identify you personally. 

Privacy of children

We do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from children under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, please do not submit any Personal Information through the Website and Services. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to help enforce this Policy by instructing their children never to provide Personal Information through the Website and Services without their permission. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 18 has provided Personal Information to us through the Website and Services, please contact us. You must also be old enough to consent to the processing of your Personal Information in your country (in some countries we may allow your parent or guardian to do so on your behalf).

Cookies

The Website and Services use “cookies” to help personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

We may use cookies to collect, store, and track information for statistical purposes to operate the Website and Services. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. To learn more about cookies and how to manage them, visit internetcookies.org

Do Not Track signals

Some browsers incorporate a Do Not Track feature that signals to websites you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. Tracking is not the same as using or collecting information in connection with a website. For these purposes, tracking refers to collecting personally identifiable information from consumers who use or visit a website or online service as they move across different websites over time. The Website and Services do not track its visitors over time and across third party websites. However, some third-party sites may keep track of your browsing activities when they serve you content, which enables them to tailor what they present to you.

Advertisements

We may display online advertisements and we may share aggregated and non-identifying information about our customers that we or our advertisers collect through your use of the Website and Services. We do not share personally identi8able information about individual customers with advertisers. In some instances, we may use this aggregated and non-identifying information to deliver tailored advertisements to the intended audience.

We may also permit certain third-party companies to help us tailor advertising that we think may be of interest to users and to collect and use other data about user activities on the Website. These companies may deliver ads that might place cookies and otherwise track user behavior.

Affiliates

We may disclose information about you to our affiliates for the purpose of being able to offer you related or additional products and services. Any information relating to you that we provide to our affiliates will be treated by those affiliates in accordance with the terms of this Policy.

Email marketing

We offer electronic newsletters to which you may voluntarily subscribe at any time. We are committed to keeping your e-mail address con8dential and will not disclose your email address to any third parties except as allowed in the information use and processing section or for the purposes of utilizing a third -party provider to send such emails. We will maintain the information sent via e-mail in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

In compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, all e-mails sent from us will clearly state who the e-mail is from and provide clear information on how to contact the sender. You may choose to stop receiving our newsletter or marketing emails by following the unsubscribe instructions included in these emails or by contacting us. However, you will continue to receive essential transactional emails.

Links to other resources

The Website and Services contain links to other resources that are not owned or controlled by us. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other resources or third parties. We encourage you to be aware when you leave the Website and Services and to read the privacy statements of each and every resource that may collect Personal Information.

Information security

We secure information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards in an effort to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of Personal Information in its control and custody. However, no data transmission over the Internet or wireless network can be guaranteed. Therefore, while we strive to protect your Personal Information, you acknowledge that (i) there are security and privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond our control; (ii) the security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and the Website and Services cannot be guaranteed; and (iii) any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party, despite best efforts.

Data breach

In the event we become aware that the security of the Website and Services has been compromised or users Personal Information has been disclosed to unrelated third parties as a result of external activity, including, but not limited to, security attacks or fraud, we reserve the right to take reasonably appropriate measures, including, but not limited to, investigation and reporting, as well as notification to and cooperation with law enforcement authorities. In the event of a data breach, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals if we believe that there is a reasonable risk of harm to the user as a result of the breach or if notice is otherwise required by law. When we do, we will send you an email, mail you a letter.

Changes and amendments

We reserve the right to modify this Policy or its terms relating to the Website and Services from time to time in our discretion and will notify you of any material changes to the way in which we treat Personal Information. When we do, we will post a notification on the main page of the Website. We may also provide notice to you in other ways in our discretion, such as through contact information you have provided. Any updated version of this Policy will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Policy unless otherwise specified. Your continued use of the Website and Services after the effective date of the revised Policy (or such other act specified at that time) will constitute your consent to those changes. However, we will not, without your consent, use your Personal Information in a manner materially different than what was stated at the time your Personal Information was collected.

Acceptance of this policy

You acknowledge that you have read this Policy and agree to all its terms and conditions. By accessing and using the Website and Services you agree to be bound by this Policy. If you do not agree to abide by the terms of this Policy, you are not authorized to access or use the Website and Services.

Contacting us

If you would like to contact us to understand more about this Policy or wish to contact us concerning any matter relating to individual rights and your Personal Information, you may send an email to privacy@reliefnstitute.com or at:

 The Relief Institute, LLC
2591 Dallas Parkway Ste. 300
Frisco, Texas 75034
Phone: (214) 571-4587

This document was last updated on January 1, 2021