| BCBSRI knows how important your privacy is to you and maintains standards for the protection of your
privacy over the Internet. This Privacy Statement explains the types of information Blue Cross &
Blue Shield of Rhode Island and its family of companies ("BCBSRI") may obtain about visitors
to our website (Site), how we use or disclose the information, and the measures we take to protect
the privacy of your information. BCBSRI obtains information about its members from many sources, for
example, from the bills a member's doctor submits and the enrollment form a member or his/her employer
submits. However, this Online Privacy Statement is only about the information we obtain through this
Site. For information on BCBSRI's privacy practices concerning any identifiable health information
about you, go to BCBSRI's HIPAA Privacy.
If you have questions about this Privacy Statement or security at our Site, BCBSRI can be contacted
by mail at 500 Exchange Street, Providence Rhode Island, 02903-2699, attention Web Services, or by phone at 401-459-1000.
Collection of Information from Site Visitors
BCBSRI does not collect personally identifiable information from Site visitors unless they voluntarily
and explicitly provide it, for example, by sending e-mail to us, responding to information requests,
or filling out online registration forms or surveys. You can visit our website without sharing personal
information. However, in some instances, we need information from you, such as your name, zip code
or other personal information in order to respond to your inquiry, communicate with you, or allow
access to special member sections of our Site. BCBSRI will indicate which information is necessary
to fulfill your request and which information may be submitted on a voluntary basis.
BCBSRI's web server may automatically collect and/or track anonymous user information
such as the name of your Internet provider, files downloaded, search engine used, operating system
(e.g., macintosh or windows), and type of Web browser. We also collect aggregate, non-identifiable
information on search requests and on those pages visitors access.
Internet Cookies
BCBSRI may place Internet "cookies" on visitors' hard drives. Internet cookies save data
about individual visitors while within our Site. When the visitor revisits BCBSRI Site, BCBSRI may
recognize the visitor by the Internet cookie and customize the visitor's experience accordingly. Visitors
may decline Internet cookies, if any, by using the appropriate feature of their Web client software,
if available. However, a visitor declining cookies may be unable to use some features of this Site.
Use of Personally Identifiable Information Collected
Personally identifiable information collected by BCBSRI through this Site will be used for the reason
for which you voluntarily submit the information. In addition, individually identifiable information,
such as names, postal and e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and other personal information which visitors
voluntarily provide to BCBSRI may be added to the BCBSRI databases and used for future calls and mailings
regarding site updates, new BCBSRI health products and services, and upcoming events.
If you send us your comments or questions via e-mail, we will share your communications with our
customer service representatives and those employees most capable of addressing your questions and
concerns. We will retain your communication until we have done our very best to provide you with a
complete and satisfactory response and then we will either discard it or, in some cases, archive it.
Disclosure of Personal Data to Third Parties
In some situations, BCBSRI may disclose information we obtain through this Site to our agents (third
parties who provide services on our behalf), to enable them to perform functions for us. However,
these agents are contractually obligated to maintain the confidentiality of any data received in conformity
with BCBSRI privacy policies, state laws and Federal laws. Further, these agents may only use and
disclose information for the purposes of providing services on behalf of BCBSRI.
Security and Confidentiality of this Site
BCBSRI takes precautions to protect information our members submit to us via this Site. When we ask
users to enter personal information, we use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. The same procedures
apply when users ask to see any of their personal information that we maintain. Please be advised,
however, that any unencrypted communication or material transmitted to or from BCBSRI via this Site
or unencrypted e-mail may not be secure. Accordingly, BCBSRI is not responsible for the security of
information transmitted via the Internet or other global computer networks. To protect your privacy,
please do not use unencrypted e-mail or unencrypted transmissions to communicate information to us
that you consider to be confidential. For more private communication, visitors can contact BCBSRI
at the address or telephone number listed above.
Links
This Site contains links to other websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy
practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our Site and to
read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information.
This Privacy Statement applies solely to information collected by this Site.
BCBSRI's Right to Change this Online Privacy Statement
BCBSRI reserves the right to change this Online Privacy Statement at any time and will use reasonable
efforts to notify visitors of the existence and location of the new or revised Online Privacy Statement.
Any change to this Privacy Statement shall be effective as to any visitor that has accepted the BCBSRI
Web Site Terms and Conditions before the change was made. Notwithstanding the foregoing, BCBSRI will
comply with the requirements of any applicable law in notifying its members of changes in its Online
Privacy Statement. |
