Effective Date: 1st October 2007
At 3G Doctor we understand that your health is very personal and private. We also appreciate the trust you place with us by sharing your personal information with us.
As part of our commitment to honouring your privacy, we provide this privacy policy to ensure you have the information you need to make an informed decision about sharing your information with us. We hope that it assures you of the respect we have for the handling and protection of your information but if you are in any way unsure please use the Contact Us page to let us know.
This policy is set out to provide you with information about the:
> information we collect and the ways in which we use it
> ways in which we communicate with our registered patients
> choices you have about the collection and use of your personal information
> ways in which we may share your information with third parties
> security measures that we use to safeguard your personal information and protect against its loss or misuse or alteration.
> control you have over your personal information
> ways in which we may update this policy.
> information we collect and the ways in which we use it
To use 3G Doctors health services you need to register. This is a quick and simple process and is completely free of charge. We require users to do this because we believe the best care can only be delivered through a personal and identifiable relationship between a patient and registered Doctor.
When you register we collect your personal information including your Name, Mobile Number, Postal Address, Date of Birth, Email Address, NHS Number.
Registering allows you to use the services of 3G Doctor including:
> Free use of tools to create your 3G Doctor Health Record
> Free Anytime, Anywhere Access to your 3G Doctor Health Record
> Anytime, Anywhere Access to the informed advice of our registered Doctors (£35 per consultation)
The information in your health record can be all self-reported using our Health Record Questionnaire and you will soon be able to supplement this records submitted on your behalf from your Doctor, Hospital, Health Insurer and others.
We collect personal and non-personal information to customize the content you see when visiting the 3G Doctor site, fulfil your requests for products or services, improve our services, and contact you. By knowing about you and your health we can deliver better and more relevant information, programs, tools, and care.
> Ways in which we communicate with our registered patients
We never communicate on private health matters with patients who are not registered because of issues with age, consent and confidentiality. For this reason we request that you never use our contact us page, email addresses or telephone number to reveal confidential information or request medical advice. The reason for this is because only when signed in can we all be sure your communications with us are secure and private.
Sometimes we will need to contact you with advice or to inform you of updates. We only ever use SMS or Email to do this and these will never include personally identifying information (except when you have completed a forgotten password request).
Other than when you request a password reminder there are only 2 messages that you will ever receive from 3G Doctor and they are:
"You have mail from 3G Doctor. Please sign in at the website to read this non urgent message"
"You have URGENT mail from 3G Doctor. Please sign into the website to read this important message"
We also communicate with patients using 3G Mobile Video Calling but these consultations only take place after you have arranged them through this website. At the beginning of the 3G Doctor consult our Doctors will always identify themselves and repeat to you the authentication message you entered during your questionnaire.
By ensuring that all communications between you and our Doctors occur within our secure website we can guard against interception and ensure eavesdroppers will not be able to retrieve confidential information by accessing your email or SMS inboxes.
Invitations: On the 3G Doctor website there is a "Tell a Friend" feature which will automatically send your friend an email invitation on your behalf. We will not use your friend's email address for any other purpose and it will not be retained by us.
> Choices you have about the collection and use of your personal information
We will never share information we obtain from you with third parties in any personally identifiable form. However, we may share aggregated, non-personal information in a form that does not permit you to be identified. This would include details such as our total patient numbers and statistics on members for example patient age demographics etc. We will only ever use this information with partners in order to plan and deliver new services and tools that can improve the health services that we can offer through 3G Doctor.
When you visit our site, our servers will automatically collect log information. This information may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, Browser Type/Language, Web page request, the date and time of your request, and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser. We collect log information so that we can properly administer our system and gather aggregate information about how our site is being used, including the pages visitors are viewing. As we expand into international markets we may use your IP address to determine your approximate geographic location in order to provide you with the relevant country specific version of the 3G Doctor service.
We collect anonymous information about your use of our site through cookies. The cookie does not tell us who you are. Only you can tell us that. The information collected by cookies helps to statistically monitor how many people are using our site and for what purpose. We do not store any identifying information in any cookies on your computer.
We never serve adverts on behalf of third parties that recognize "third party cookies" on your browser. No third parties are collecting information about your visits to our site and so you can be use that no one else is collecting information on you or connecting this with your personally identifiable information without your explicit consent. Because we guard your personal health information any advertising messages you do receive from 3G Doctor are tailored to your specific interests and are always intended on improving your health and quality of life.
> Ways in which we may share your information with third parties
We know how important it is to keep the information you've entrusted to us confidential. We will not rent, sell or share personal information about you with third parties except to provide you with a product or service you request or under certain circumstances as described below.
Disclosure for legal reasons: We may release personal information to third parties: (1) to comply with valid legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order; or (2) in special cases, such as a physical threat to you or others, a threat to national security, a threat to our system or network, or cases in which we believe it is reasonably necessary to investigate or prevent harm, fraud, abuse, or illegal conduct. In the event that we are legally compelled to disclose your personal information to a third party, we will make every reasonable effort to notify you unless doing so would violate the law or court order.
Agents and contractors: Contractors sometimes have access to your personal information in the course of assisting in operating our business and providing products or services to you. These contractors include vendors and suppliers that provide us with technology, services, and/or content for the operation and maintenance of our site. Contractors have an obligation under their contracts with us to keep your information confidential and to comply with our strict privacy and security policies.
Websites we link to: 3G Doctor may refer you to information on other websites. The content on these other sites cannot be guaranteed by 3G Doctor and we advise you to read the privacy policy that is posted on that site.
Aggregated, non-personal information: We may share aggregated information about you with third parties. This is information that is combined with the non-personal information of other users and does not allow you to be identified or contacted. Depending on the circumstances, we may or may not charge third parties for this aggregated information. We also may not limit the third parties' use of the aggregated information.
Changes in our corporate structure: If all or part of our company is sold, merged or otherwise transferred to another entity, the personal information you have provided at this site may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will take steps to ensure that, without your consent, any personal information that is transferred will not be used or shared in a manner inconsistent with the Privacy Policy under which it was collected.
> Security measures that we use to safeguard your personal information and protect against its loss or misuse or alteration.
We are committed to protecting the security of your information and use procedures and technology including:
Limiting access to your personal information to employees having a reasonable need to access this information to provide products and services to you. Employees who misuse information are subject to disciplinary action, including termination.
We have physical, technical and procedural safeguards to help protect your personal information.
In areas that contain your personal information, we use secure socket layer (SSL) encryption to help protect this information while it is in transit between our servers and your PC or Mobile browser.
We never use SMS, SMTP email or other forms of insecure electronic technologies for communication to convey personal or revealing information.
> Control you have over your personal information
The information you store with us is your personal information and remains your property at all times. Without your information it is not possible for us to offer the informed care of our registered Doctors. You are under no pressure to provide us with your information and we make it very easy for you to close your account with us at any time.
Your password is the key to your access of the 3G Doctor website. Choose it carefully making sure it's easy for you to remember but difficult for someone else to figure out. Don't use your name, address, phone number, initials, NHS or Social Security number, vehicle number plate or birthday. Likewise don't use names of your friends, family or pets, company names, common numerical sequences or indeed easy to guess words like "password". To help ensure your password is chosen carefully we require you create one that contains at least eight alpha numeric digits and we've made it possible for you to make it even more secure by using a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters. It is also important that you remember to change your password frequently and never give your password to anyone.
In the next few months we will be launching one time and time limited access passwords that you can give to your Doctors. These will help you safely share your medical information with Doctors you meet with and enable them to upload medical information on your behalf. More information will be made available to registered members as this service becomes available.
Always log out and close your browser after accessing the 3G Doctor website even when you are using a device you don't share with anyone else (such as your 3G mobile phone). Whenever you are finished using 3G Doctor simply select "Logout" then wait until the homepage shows and then close the browser. This will erase any information you have temporarily stored on your device.
Install antivirus software and spyware protection and be careful about downloading anything to your phone.. Many viruses and spyware programs are sent as email attachments or downloaded onto computer or phone along with unsuspicious looking applications. They can slip into your system without your knowledge the moment you open the email or install the application. Some viruses such as Trojan Horses can capture the contents of your system, including your passwords. Ensuring you only ever accept emails or software from reputable businesses and installing up-to-date antivirus and antispyware software will help thwart these and other unwanted programs.
Only use reputable wireless networks: Many people are finding that their WiFi enabled mobiles can access free WiFi networks or hotspots when they can find them. Whilst 90% of these networks are safe it is very hard to detect an "evil twin" (a dummy network set up to trick unsuspecting consumers into thinking they are logging onto a legitimate Wi-Fi service when they are in fact signing on to a rogue one). Your Mobile Operator Network will provide you with more specific information on your particular WiFi handset model which can ensure that it isn't vulnerable to exposure to these open networks.
Closing your 3G Doctor account is easy: All you need to do is sign in and let us know your intentions using the contact us page. We will send you a confirmation SMS and/or Email that you must reply to within 15 minutes in order to close your account permanently. Once you close your account by responding to the confirmation email, you will not be able to sign into the site to access any information you may have saved or created on the site, such as your Personal Health Record or Consultation Reports from previous consults you have had with our Doctors.
> Ways in which we may update this policy.
We reserve the right to update this Policy. Whenever there are material changes to the way we treat your personal information we will notify all registered users by posting a message in their 3G Doctor mailbox. We may also make nonmaterial changes to our policy that generally will not affect our use of your personal information. If you don't agree with the new policy, you always have the option of closing your account. Our current policy, identified by its effective date, will be posted on the Site, and you should check it frequently.
If you have any questions please contact us