Terms of Use

Consent To Use of Website 

This website is owned and operated by Blue Shield of California Foundation (the “Foundation”). Please read the following terms and conditions (“Terms of Use”) carefully and completely before using this website. The Terms of Use set forth a variety of information, including but not limited to, the Foundation’s disclaimers of warranty, privacy policy, limitation of liability and indemnification. By using this site and the links accessible through this site, you expressly agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and any other terms and conditions set out throughout the site. The information, materials and resources contained on and accessible through this site are made available to you by the Foundation and its suppliers and vendors, subject to your agreement to the terms and conditions listed herein.  Please note that use of some areas of this website, such as specific sections offering features and functionality for current and prospective grantees may be subject to additional terms and conditions.

Any activity on this website is subject to monitoring by the Foundation. By using this website, you are consenting to such monitoring and agree that the Foundation may use the results of such monitoring without limitation.

If you do not agree with these Terms of Use, please do not use this website.

It is a condition of your use of this website that you do not restrict or inhibit any other user from using this website. 

Privacy Statement 

All personal information that you, as a site user, provide on this site is handled and protected as set forth in the Foundation’s Internet privacy policy, which is incorporated here by this reference. 

Linking Policy

Written permission is required from the Foundation’s Web Master to create a link from an external website to the Foundation’s home page or any pages within the Foundation’s website. 

General Prohibitions 

You agree not to do any of the following while using this site or content contained on the site:

  • Post, publish or transmit any text, graphics or other material that: (i) is false or misleading; (ii) is defamatory; (iii) invades another’s privacy; (iv) is obscene, pornographic, or offensive; (v) promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any individual or group; (vi) infringes another’s rights, including any intellectual property rights; (vii) violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law or regulation; or (viii) would give rise to civil liability;
  • Access, tamper with, or use any non-public areas of the site or the Foundation’s computer systems;
  • Attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system or network or breach any security or authentication measures;
  • Attempt to access or search the site or content with any engine, software, tool, agent, device or mechanism other than software and/or search agents provided by the Foundation or other generally available third party web browsers;
  • Send unsolicited email, junk mail, “spam”, promotional or advertising for products or services, or chain letters;
  • Forge any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any electronic communication or posting, or in any way use the site or content to send altered, deceptive or false source-identifying information;
  • Attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any of the software used to provide the site or content;
  • Interfere with, or attempt to interfere with, the access of any user, host or network, including without limitation sending a virus, overloading, flooding, spamming, or mail-bombing the Site;
  • Impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity; or
  • Use the site or content in any way that violates any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including but not limited to those pertaining to consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination, false advertising or export control).

Interactive Features

The Foundation may offer certain interactive features through this site from time to time.  Interactive features may include the opportunity to post or upload content, share information, and evaluate the Foundation.

By using any of these interactive features, you represent and warrant that:

  • You are the sole author and owner of all intellectual property rights contained content submitted to the Foundation; and
  • You are at least 18 years of age.

With respect to any content you submit to the site, you further represent, warrant and agree that 

  • The content is accurate, and does not contain any information you know to be false or misleading;
  • The content does not infringe any third party’s copyright, patent, trade secret, or other confidential or proprietary rights, nor rights of publicity or privacy;
  • You have not been compensated or granted any consideration by any third party to submit the content;
  • The content does not include any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, or other contact information; and
  • Nothing within any content submitted, nor use of that content, would violate these Terms of Use or any applicable laws.

For any content that you submit, you hereby grant to the Foundation a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, display, distribute, modify, and create derivative works based upon any content you submit, including incorporating the content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. You further voluntarily waive any “moral rights” you may have in such content.

All content that you submit may be used at the Foundation’s sole discretion. The Foundation reserves the right to change, condense or delete any content on the site that the Foundation deems, in its sole discretion, to violate content guidelines or any other provision of these Terms of Use. The Foundation does not guarantee that you will have any recourse through the Foundation or third parties to edit or delete any content you have submitted. The Foundation reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission for any reason. You acknowledge that you, not the Foundation, are responsible for the contents of your submission. None of the content that you submit shall be subject to any obligation of confidentiality on the part of the Foundation, its agents, affiliates, partners or third party service providers and their respective directors, officers and employees.

Should you provide your email address in connection with your submitted content, you agree that the Foundation and its third party service providers may use your email address to contact you about the content and for other administrative purposes.

Service Marks/Trademarks/Copyrights

Blue Shield of California Foundation is a servicemark of the  Blue Shield Association. All materials on this server and this Internet site, including the site's design, layout, and organization, are owned and copyrighted by the Foundation or its suppliers or vendors, and is protected by copyright law.

It is the Foundation’s policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other applicable intellectual property laws, which may include removing or disabling access to material claimed to be the subject of infringing activity.  Pursuant to 17 United States Code Section 512(c)(2) (Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998), the Foundation’s designated agent for notice of alleged copyright infringement appearing on the Site is:

Rachael Kagan, Director of Communications and Public Affairs
315 Montgomery Street, Suite 1200
San Francisco, CA 94104

ph: (415) 229-6080
fax: 415-229-6268

email: Rachael.Kagan [at] blueshieldcafoundation.org

Filing a notice of infringement with the Foundation requires compliance with the requirements specified in Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.  The text of this statute can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office website, http://www.copyright.gov (visited December, 2010).

Restrictions on Use of Materials/Information on Website 

Only personal use of such materials is permitted, which means that you may access, download, or print such materials for your personal, non-commercial use only. You agree not to change or delete any copyright or proprietary notice from materials downloaded from this site or any site accessible through this site.

Without the prior written permission of the Foundation (or the applicable Foundation supplier or vendor), you may not publish, copy, reproduce, distribute, transfer, upload, post, transmit, or otherwise use any materials contained on this site, or any materials accessible through this site, in whole or in part. Requests for the Foundation’s permission to publish, copy, reproduce, distribute, transfer, or otherwise use such materials should be e-mailed to the Foundation’s Web Master. 

Disclaimer 

INFORMATION, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, MATERIALS AND OTHER RESOURCES ON THIS WEBSITE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE FOUNDATION AND ITS SUPPLIERS AND VENDORS DISCLAIM ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THE INFORMATION, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, MATERIALS, AND ANY OTHER RESOURCES CONTAINED ON OR ACCESSIBLE THROUGH THIS SITE. NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION IS MADE THAT THE INFORMATION ON THIS SITE IS ERROR-FREE.

All information provided on this Website is intended only for informational purposes and for your general knowledge. The opinions expressed by third parties through interactive features of the site are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Foundation.  The Foundation does not endorse any specific product, service or third parties in interactive features of the site.  

While the Foundation and its suppliers and vendors will attempt to keep the information and the resources contained on or accessible through this site both timely and accurate, the Foundation and its suppliers and vendors make no guarantees, and disclaim any implied warranty or representation about the information's or the resources' accuracy, relevance, timeliness, completeness, or appropriateness for a particular purpose.

Your use of this site is also subject to all additional disclaimers and caveats that may appear throughout the site.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you. 

Links to Other Internet Sites

This site also includes links to other Internet sites created and maintained by the Foundation's suppliers and vendors. Be aware that the Foundation does not endorse, control, makes no guarantees about, and disclaims any express or implied representations or warranties about the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, completeness, or appropriateness for a particular purpose of the information or the resources contained on these or any other Internet sites. Further, the inclusion of these links is intended neither to reflect the importance of these other sites nor to endorse any of the views expressed in, or products or services offered by, these other sites.

The Foundation is not responsible for the content, security, or privacy practices of other Internet sites.  You access and use these and any other Internet sites, including the information, services, products, materials, and any other resources contained on them, solely at your own risk. Please review any terms of use and privacy statements of other Internet sites you visit.   

Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE FOUNDATION, ITS AFFILIATES OR ITS SUPPLIERS OR VENDORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM ANY LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LITIGATION, OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS, WHETHER BASED ON BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SITE, WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THIS SITE, OR WITH THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO MAKE AVAILABLE ANY INFORMATION, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, MATERIALS, OR OTHER RESOURCES CONTAINED ON OR ACCESSIBLE THROUGH THIS SITE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THE LIMITATIONS SET FORTH ABOVE ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF THIS AGREEMENT AND THE SITE WOULD NOT BE PROVIDED TO YOU ABSENT SUCH LIMITATIONS. 

Indemnification 

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Foundation and its suppliers and vendors from any liability, loss, claim, and expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) related to your violation of these terms and conditions.

Changes to This Site

Information on this website may be changed or updated without notice. The Foundation and its vendors and suppliers have no obligation to update information presented on this website, so information contained herein may be out of date at any given time. The Foundation may also make improvements and/or changes in the programs described in this information at any time without notice.

The Foundation and its suppliers and vendors may change or modify the information, services, products, materials, and any other resources contained on or accessible through this site, or discontinue this site altogether, at any time without notice.

The Foundation may modify this Agreement at any time, and such modifications shall be effective immediately upon posting of the modified terms and conditions. Accordingly, you agree to review the terms and conditions periodically, and your continued use of this site shall be deemed your acceptance of the modified terms and conditions. 

Miscellaneous

The Foundation’s failure to insist upon strict enforcement of any provision(s) of these terms and conditions shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right.

These terms and conditions and the resolution of any dispute related to these terms and conditions on this site shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of California, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. Any legal action or proceeding between the Foundation or its suppliers or vendors and you related to these terms and conditions on this site shall be brought exclusively in a state or federal court of competent jurisdiction sitting in the County of San Francisco, California, or the Northern District of California.

health