Web Privacy Statement

The following discloses the information gathering and dissemination practices of the official Virginia Commonwealth University Health System webpages (defined as an Institutional Web Page in the VCU Web Publishing Guidelines) and is in accordance with the following statement.

It is the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia that personal information about citizens will be collected only to the extent necessary to provide the service or benefit desired; that only appropriate information will be collected; that the citizen shall understand the reason the information is collected and be able to examine their personal record which is maintained by a public body.

In addition to the VCU Health System Web Privacy Statement, specific notices about the collection and use of any personal information associated with pages requesting such information will be available.

If using the VCU Health MyChart app, your location is gathered in the background, even when the app is not running.

What Type of Information is Collected
When you visit the VCU Health System website we collect various types of information in order to provide you with improved services.

Non-personal, Website Usage Data
We collect non-personal website usage data for statistical reporting purposes in order to assess demands and usage to provide you with a better website. This usage data may include information such as:

• Your IP (Internet Protocol) address
• Date and time of access
• Pages visited and time spent on those pages
• Type of browser and version used
• Referring web page, if any
• Unique device identifiers
• Other diagnostic data

Personal Data
Some VCU Health System websites require us to collect personal information in order to provide services that you have requested. If you choose to share personal information with us by sending an email message or by filling out an electronic form with personal information, we will use the information only for the purposes you authorized or in support of related programs of the health system. Should you not desire to provide this personal information, we will be unable to provide you some of the services we offer online.
Personal data may include, but is not limited to:

• Email address
• First and last name
• Phone number
• Address, city, state and zip/postal code

We do not sell or license your information. These are the limited ways we interact with your information in connection with our mobile apps:

• When you choose to add a profile photo to our mobile apps, you may select an existing photo on your device or take a new photo using the camera app on your device. If you select an existing photo on your device, we store a copy of your chosen photo in app-private storage on your device. If you use the camera app on your device to take a new photo, the photo you take is first saved to your camera app and then also saved to app-private storage on your device. If you remove the photo from your profile or delete our mobile apps, the copy of the photo is deleted from the app-private storage, but the photo saved to your camera app remains available in your camera app until you choose to delete it. If you already have a photo stored in your profile through your healthcare organization – we do not interact with that photo in any way.
• When you choose to use Apple’s HealthKit or Google Fit, we create encrypted identifiers to identify recipients of your Apple’s HealthKit or Google Fit data and store them on your device in app-private storage. If you choose to stop using Apple HealthKit or Google Fit or delete our mobile apps, the identifiers are deleted.
• When you choose to view documents from your healthcare organization (such as letters or images) using our mobile apps, to make the files viewable for you we temporarily store copies on your device in app-private storage. The temporary copies are deleted when you close your session on our mobile apps.
• If your healthcare organization offers automatic appointment arrival and you choose to enable it, we temporarily store identifiers and times for your upcoming appointments in app-private storage to detect when you arrive for an upcoming appointment. If you choose to stop using our mobile apps or you disable automatic appointment arrival, the identifiers are deleted.
• If your healthcare organization offers location-based check in for in-person appointments, or allows you to find healthcare providers near you, you may choose to allow our mobile apps to interact with your location data for those purposes. We do not store your location data.
• If your healthcare organization allows you to notify front desk staff electronically when you arrive for an appointment, you may choose to allow our mobile apps to interact with your Bluetooth data for this purpose. We do not store your Bluetooth data.
• While you use our apps, we collect non-identifying information so we can provide customer service to you or your healthcare organization and understand how people use our mobile apps so we can improve our products. This information includes the time you began using the app, the healthcare organization you interacted with, any error messages or codes, the model of device used and its operating system, and the version of our mobile app used. If you use Android devices, we also collect your connection type (cellular or WiFi) during an error.
• You may contact us through the methods listed on our website. If you contact us, we may keep a record of the communication. You can decide how much information you want to share with us in those cases.

Your Healthcare Organizations
To use our mobile apps, you must have an account with a healthcare organization using Epic’s software. Because of this, your use of our mobile apps is also subject to your healthcare organization’s privacy policy. Please contact your healthcare organization if you have any questions about their privacy policy.

For Android Users – Required Google Play Disclosures for Certain Health Apps

Google has determined our mobile apps are subject to their COVID-19 apps requirements. As a result, we are required to provide the following information so we can make our mobile apps available to you in the Play store.

• Our mobile apps interact with your microphone only if you choose to use your microphone to navigate our mobile apps. Our mobile apps interact with your camera roll only if you choose to add a profile photo to a profile in our mobile apps. This information is not used in connection with COVID-19.
• Our mobile apps access, collect, use, and share your information as stated above in the section titled, “The Limited Ways We Use Your Information.”
• Our mobile apps were not created specifically for the COVID-19 pandemic. They existed before the COVID-19 pandemic to allow you to access your health information on file with your healthcare organization. Your healthcare organization may allow you to access COVID-19-related vaccination information, laboratory test results, and documents with illness-related information using our mobile apps. You may choose if or how you want to access, display, or use the information – just like you can make those decisions about health information relating to other conditions, services, tests, or vaccinations.
• Your healthcare organization may allow you to use our mobile apps to conduct telehealth appointments with your healthcare providers. Our mobile apps only provide the technical support for those appointments to happen. We do not interact with any health information about you exchanged during any telehealth appointments.

Cookies: What Are Cookies and What Do We Do with Them?
Cookies are files with small amounts of data sent from a website and stored on your computer through your web browser. Tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags and scripts to collect and track information, and to improve and analyze our service. Cookies and similar tracking technologies are anonymous identifiers not associated with your personal identity. We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on services, to prepare customized web pages and improve services.

The VCU Health System website uses cookies to identify users and remember information to track a visitor’s path throughout the site to better understand how each person uses our site and what information is most helpful.

How to Stop or Unsubscribe From Receiving Communication From Us
If your email address is on record with us, we may periodically send you educational or informational communication about topics, services or events that we believe may interest you. Instructions for how to unsubscribe or stop receiving these messages are included in each communication that we send. However, we will still send you pertinent information related to your healthcare treatment based on your preferences in VCU Health MyChart.

Analytics
VCU Health System may use third party companies, such as Google Analytics, in order to perform analysis on how our services are used. Third parties have access to your data that is collected only to perform the necessary monitoring and analyses for our services.
You can opt-out of having your activity available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visit activity.

Sponsored Content
VCU Health System may provide names, email addresses and/or phone numbers collected by the VCU Health System to digital services, including social media platforms, search engines and data aggregators for the purpose of reaching audiences via those platforms to promote the VCU Health System and its services. Specifically:

• VCU Health System-managed social media pages have access to data collected by social media platforms. The data gathered does not normally contain any identifiable information and is mainly used for statistical insights into understanding the success of posts, campaigns and networks. You may receive ads based on the statistical data you supply to social media networks. You can opt out of this service by changing your privacy settings within each social media network. For information and links on opt-out options for ads delivered through social media networks, please see the following section on “Cookie, web beacon and other web privacy controls.”
• Occasionally, some VCU Health System social media pages may use third party tools such as a data aggregator to pull publicly available data from these pages, such as profile names, comments and other social interaction information. This information may be cross-referenced with personal data that has been gathered with informed consent, such as mailing lists. VCU Health System social media pages that participate in this type of data aggregation will have information on how to opt out in the “About” section of their social media pages.

Cookie, Web Beacon and Other Web Privacy Controls
As an internet user, you have a variety of tools to control cookies, web beacons and similar technologies. Please note that the blocking of cookies and web beacons may impact your experience with VCU Health web content.

To find out more about cookies, web beacons or similar technology used to deliver advertisements, and how to opt out of them, please review the following external resources maintained by other organizations:

• youradchoices.com
• optout.networkadvertising.org

Security
Virginia Commonwealth University hosts the VCU Health System web pages and provides the following security:

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online, consistent with VCU policies and the laws and regulations of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Information Disclosure
Any personal information that one chooses to supply will be maintained exclusively within VCU Health System and will not be supplied to any other non-VCU Health System entity or organization except as provided by law. Information you provide is only used to provide requested services and for internal statistics.

Links to Other Sites
This site contains links to external (non-VCU Health System) websites. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to its site. VCU Health System is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such websites. We recommend you review the privacy policy of every site that you visit.

Google Maps API: Maps on our website are hosted by Google Maps, a third-party. By accessing Google Maps on our website, you are agreeing to Google’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.