Privacy Policy
Each Individual's privacy is important to the Medical University
of South Carolina. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice
explaining our online information policy and practices. Our privacy
and public records obligations are governed by applicable State and
Federal Statutes. Certain information related to medical records and
personal health information is deemed privileged and is protected while
most other information, although confidential may still be accessible
through the South Carolina "Freedom of Information" statutes or through
judicial processes.
Information Collection Notice
This notice applies to all information collected by or submitted
to official MUSC Web sites. The following information explains the Internet/Intranet
privacy policy and practices that the University has adopted for its
official Web sites. In legal terms, it shall not be construed as a contractual
promise, and the University reserves the right to amend it at any time
without notice.
In addition to this explanation of policy and practice, the University
encourages its schools, departments, divisions and other units contributing
to its official Web pages to provide specific notices about the collection
and use of any personal information associated with those pages. The
following information is therefore general, and we encourage you to
read page-specific notices to ensure that you understand precisely the
applicable privacy policies and practices which relate to those specific
pages.
When you access our Web pages, MUSC collects a series of information.
Some of this information is collected automatically each time you visit
any of our Web pages. Other optional information is collected only when
the visitor and/or client chooses to provide us with specific information.
The following is an overview of the information which we collect:
Information which we automatically collected from each visitor:
Information which we automatically collected with each visit to MUSC's
official web sites:
- Internet domain and internet address of the computer you are
using
- Identification of the page or service you are requesting
- Type of web browser you are using
- Type of operating system you are using
- The date and time of access.
- The amount of time you spent on our site
- The path (links) you took to arrive at our Web. Examples include,
Google™, Yahoo® or any of the various other search engines with
links to MUSC
- Internet "cookie information"
Optional information you provide to us: When you
choose to communicate with us via e-mail we collect the following information:
- Your name as it appears on your e-mail
- e-mail address
- Date and time of communication
- The content of your e-mail.
When you choose to communicate with us through online forms we may
collect the following information or in some cases this information
may be passed onto a trusted third party for processing your request.
In such cases we will make every effort to provide notice of such exchange
of information to any of our trusted partners. Examples of the type
of optional information we may collect include:
- Any data you choose to fill in
- Any information you provide us on the form, including credit
or debit card information if you are ordering a product or making
a payment, as well as information about other people if you are
ordering a gift and want it sent directly to the recipient's address.
How We Use The Information We Collect
Visitor / client information is used to route the requested Web information
page to your computer browser for viewing. In theory, the requested
Web page and the routing information could be discerned by other entities
involved in transmitting the requested page to you. We do not control
the privacy practices of those entities. The information we collect
automatically each time you visit our sites helps us to better respond
to your request in an appropriate format. In addition, this information
is also used to better develop our sites to meet the demands of our
audience.
The optional information we collect is essential for us to provide
services or information tailored more specifically to your needs or
to forward your message or inquiry to another entity that is better
able to do so.
We may keep client information from our systems indefinitely after
the Web page is transmitted, but we do not try to obtain any information
to link it to the individuals who browse our Web site However, on rare
occasions when a "hacker" attempts to breach computer security, logs
of access information are retained to permit a security investigation
and in such cases may be forwarded together with any other relevant
information in our possession to law enforcement agencies.
Under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, any records
in our possession at the time of a Freedom of Information Request might
be subject to being inspected by or disclosed to members of the public
for any purpose they may desire. As indicated above, client information
may be retained after transmission of the requested Web page and might
be subject to disclosure.
We use the information you provide about yourself when placing an
order or request only to complete that order or request. We do not share
this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary
to complete that order or request. Similarly, we use the information
you provide about someone else when placing an order or request only
to complete that order or request. Again, we do not share this information
with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that
order or request.
We generally use return e-mail addresses only to answer the e-mail
we receive. Such addresses are generally not used for any other purpose
unless authorized to do so by the originator of the e-mail communication.
Finally, we never use or share the personally identifiable information
provided to us online in ways unrelated to the ones described above
without a clear notice on the particular site and without also providing
you an opportunity to opt-out. Any use of your information other than
for those purposes or in conjunction with the notice provided at the
time of the collection of such information is strictly prohibited by
the Medical University of South Carolina.
Use of Internet "Cookies"
Some official University Web sites use "cookies." Often a cookie
enables the University Web site to tailor what you see according to
the way you entered our site.
Providing Information Is Your Choice
There is no legal requirement for you to provide any information
at our Web site However, we cannot deliver certain services to you without
routing certain required information to the appropriate parties. Failure
of your browser to provide nonessential technical information (such
as Web "Cookies") will not prevent your use of our Web site but may
prevent certain features from working. For any optional information
that is requested at the Web site, failure to provide the requested
information will mean that the particular feature or service associated
with that part of the Web page may not be available to you.
Our Commitment to Data 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 the policies of the University and
with the laws and regulations of the State of South Carolina.
How to Contact Us
Should you have other questions or concerns about these privacy policies
and practices, please contact "webmaster" at
webmaster@musc.edu.