Privacy Policy

Welcome to Blue Shield of California Foundation's website, and thank you for your interest. This website is owned and operated by Blue Shield of California Foundation. Blue Shield of California Foundation respects your privacy, and this Internet Privacy Policy explains the ways in which we may collect, use, and disclose personal information from visitors to our website, and explains the options that you have regarding such use and disclosure.

This Internet Privacy Policy applies to Blue Shield of California Foundation’s publicly available websites, including any subsites and any password protected sections of those websites. For convenience, we will refer to all of these sites in this Internet Privacy Policy as the “Blue Shield of California Foundation sites."

Changes to this Internet Privacy Policy will be posted here on www.blueshieldcafoundation.org/privacy-policy, and we suggest you check periodically for any updates that may be posted.

Please note that the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites may contain links to other websites. This Internet Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of sites other than the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites, and we suggest you review the privacy polices associated with those sites and contact the owners of those sites if you have questions regarding their information practices.

What Information We Collect

The Blue Shield of California Foundation sites may collect both personally identifiable information and non-personally identifiable (or 'aggregated') information.

  • "Personally Identifiable Information" (or "PII") is that information which can be used to identify you as an individual or to contact you. A few examples of when and why Blue Shield of California Foundation would collect PII on the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites include:
    • Individuals who apply for grants may be asked for their name, address, telephone number, email address, and other identifying information about themselves or their organization.
    • Individuals seeking employment with Blue Shield of California Foundation may be asked to provide their name, address, telephone number, email address, and other identifying information, as well as a resume.
    • Individuals contacting Blue Shield of California Foundation with inquiries or questions.
  • "Aggregated Information" may include non-personally identifiable information such as the IP (Internet Protocol) address, browser type, and operating system of visitors to the site, pages viewed on the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites, or search terms entered.

Like many sites on the Internet, the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites may also use "cookies" to collect information. A "cookie" is a small data file that is transferred to your computer and stored there through your Internet browser software. Cookies allow for users to view pages without having to log in repeatedly throughout a session, and can be used to track Aggregated Information. Where a visitor has logged into a password protected portion of the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites, the cookie may also contain a user ID number.

How We Use the Information We Collect

We use the PII you provide on the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites to facilitate services or functions you may be visiting the sites to use. For example, information you provide via online applications for grants may be used in the evaluation of your application and the verification of grant eligibility. Information you provide related to employment opportunities with Blue Shield of California Foundation may be used to evaluate and process your candidacy for employment. We may also use your information to contact you or communicate with you per your request. Where we collect such information, all such data will be used in accordance with the security measures described below.

Any PII that you provide through the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites may be combined with information collected offline. For example, where an individual has provided initial information via offline (i.e., paper) applications, that information may be combined with your online accounts (including the PII you submitted online) when you register. In some instances we may also combine your PII with information we receive from other sources.

We use Aggregated Information to assist in providing online features and functionality. We also use such information to track website usage, and to assist us in maintaining and improving the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites.

Disclosure of Information

In order to provide you with quality service, we may also share your PII or Aggregated Information with vendors who assist in maintaining and improving the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites, or who assist us in providing related services. We may also share your PII or Aggregated Information with third-party web consultants and vendors that provide services in support of the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites including online applications for grants; or vendors who provide us with website technology.

In some circumstances, Blue Shield of California Foundation may be required by law to share your PII or Aggregated Information with third parties, law enforcement or other governmental entities. We also reserve the right to share your PII or Aggregated Information as needed, in our judgment, to protect Blue Shield of California Foundation or its employees, from loss or liability. If Blue Shield of California Foundation were to merge with another entity, then the new entity may retain and use the information you have provided to us as described in this Internet Privacy Policy.

Choice and Making Changes

The Blue Shield of California Foundation sites provide various ways in which you may exercise choice as to how, and the extent to which, we may use your PII. For example, some information requested may be noted as optional for you to provide. While providing us with the requested information will enable us to better serve you, we respect your choice to not provide certain information.

Certain electronic communications may also separately include the opportunity for you to opt out of similar communications in the future. Please note that we reserve the right to send all information as required by law or important information that relates to your primary relationship with us. 

Registrants on the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites may also access and edit their registration information by using profile management tools available after they log in to the relevant Blue Shield of California Foundation sites. Because Aggregated Information is not retained by us in a manner that identifies you as an individual, it may not be viewed or changed by you.

Security

We have implemented and maintain physical, administrative and electronic security measures with regard to the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites that are designed to safeguard your information from improper access or use. For example, when collecting, using or transmitting sensitive electronic information, we encrypt the transmission using SSL ("Secure Sockets Layer") or other similar technology. We also maintain physically secured locations for server operations, use technological safeguards such as firewalls, password protection, and encryption, and limit access to sensitive information to those individuals with a legitimate business need to access such information.

We ask that you assist us in maintaining the safety and security of the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites. We suggest that you use passwords that are not easily guessed by others, and that include at least 8 characters, include both letters, numbers, special characters, and mix uppercase with lowercase text. We also recommend you safeguard your password to prevent unwanted disclosure.

Contact Us

Blue Shield of California Foundation respects your privacy and wants you to feel comfortable with how your information is protected. Should you have questions or concerns about the privacy of your information, or if you have any information regarding the unauthorized use of the Blue Shield of California Foundation sites, we encourage you to contact us at:

Blue Shield of California Foundation
Attn: Rachael Kagan, Director of Communications and Public Affairs
Email: bscf [at] blueshieldcafoundation.org

Last updated: July, 2011

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