Welcome to the website of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation (“we” or “the Foundation”). This publicly accessible website (www.ibxfoundation.org, or the “Site”) is designed to make it easier for visitors to learn about the Foundation’s programs and to apply for Foundation grants. When users access the Site, they are using a service provided by the Foundation, a condition of which is the user’s agreement to be bound by this Website Privacy Policy.
As with all online resources, we appreciate that visitors to our Site are concerned about the privacy of their personal information. This Privacy Policy discloses the Foundation’s policy for collecting, using and disseminating information obtained through its Site. By visiting the Site and/or accessing, viewing, or using the material on the Site, you indicate that you understand and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions of Website Access. If you do not wish to be bound by this Privacy Policy, the Terms and Conditions of Website Access, or any other policies or procedures posted on our Site (all of which are incorporated herein by reference), you should immediately terminate your connection to the Site.
We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of this Privacy Policy at any time. Your continued use of the Site following reasonable notice of such modifications will be conclusively deemed acceptance of any changes to this Privacy Policy. You agree that notice of changes to the Privacy Policy posted on the Site constitutes reasonable and sufficient notice. At all times, you are bound by the then-current version of the Privacy Policy and all applicable laws. We highly recommend that you review this Privacy Policy from time to time to ensure that you are familiar with the most recent version.
1. Collection and Use of Information from Visitors to the Foundation’s Website
When you visit www.ibxfoundation.org, the Foundation may collect and/or track:
- “Non-personally identifiable information,” which means anonymous information about website users that does not include user names, contact information, or other personal information. Non-personally identifiable information includes information such as home server domain names, your type of computer, files downloaded, search engines used, users’ operating system and type of web browser, searches performed, and access times. The Foundation may use non-personally identifiable information to customize the Foundation’s website for users and to service or upgrade the Site.
- “Aggregated information,” which means non-personally identifiable information organized to provide summaries of use of the Site. This includes statistics regarding the number and duration of Site visits in a given period. The Foundation may use aggregated information to ascertain usage patterns, and to carry out activities such as negotiating with vendors of Internet services.
- “Personal information,” which includes information that would allow someone to identify or contact the Site’s users (or individuals or entities associated with such users), as further described below.
When you access the Site, you may choose to give the Foundation information about (i) yourself, (ii) the employer or other organization on whose behalf you are contacting the Foundation, (iii) other individuals associated with such employer or other organization, and (iv) beneficiaries of activities conducted by such employer or other organization. You may also be communicating information regarding the proposed use of Foundation grant monies or reporting on the actual use of such funds and the recipients thereof. Personal information includes any information or data you provide through this Site that is individually identifiable, such as a name, address, postal address, email address, phone number, and other personally identifiable information that you voluntarily provide to the Foundation either online or by email in connection with Foundation activities. It also includes information linking a specific Site visitor to searches performed.
This Privacy Policy does not address personal information that you provide to us in other contexts (e.g., through a business relationship not handled through the Site). The Foundation may use your personal information to address your requests for information or Foundation services and may also use it at some point in the future to effect transactions involving the Foundation.
2. Use of Personal Information; Disclosure to Third Parties of Personal Information Collected Through the Website
The Foundation may use the online personal information for a number of different reasons, including feedback purposes, improving or customizing the design and content of our Site, and to protect our rights or property. Personal information that visitors voluntarily provide to the Foundation, online or offline, may be added to our databases and used for future communications, which may include Site updates, communications regarding new Foundation grant opportunities, the confirmation of transactions with the Foundation, information regarding upcoming events, and other purposes. Further, the Foundation may disclose personal information in connection with the conduct of audits, responding to legal and/or regulatory requirements (including filings required to be submitted to regulatory authorities in accordance with applicable law), enforcing the Foundation’s policies, or in responding to complaints or safety or security concerns. The Foundation may also share your personal information with: (a) members of the Foundation’s corporate family, its affiliates, and any successors; (b) other companies or organizations that work with, or on behalf of, the Foundation to provide services; (c) law enforcement or other governmental officials in response to a verified request relating to a criminal investigation or alleged illegal activity; and/or (d) other legal entities, in connection with the assignment, merger or other transfer of the Foundation’s activities to such an entity. The Foundation will disclose personal information in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
The Foundation may also disclose personal information in the following circumstances:
- Employees of Independence Blue Cross administer and support the Site and carry out the Foundation’s day-to-day activities. Such employees, as well as employees of any successor company, will have access to personal information collected through the Site. Independence Blue Cross employees are subject to the company’s code of conduct, which requires such employees to preserve the confidentiality of information accessed or acquired in the performance of their duties.
- The Foundation or Independence Blue Cross may contract with third party vendors to provide support services for the Site, and in the performance of services such vendors may have the ability to access to personal information. Such access will be subject to the terms of standard confidentiality agreements entered into between vendors and the Foundation or Independence Blue Cross.
Except as described above, or unless otherwise specifically authorized by a visitor, the Foundation will not sell, rent, license, or disclose personal information collected through the Site to unaffiliated third parties.
3. Automatically Collected Information and Anonymous Information
To better serve you, we use “cookies” to customize your browsing experience. Cookies are simple text files stored by your browser, and they provide a method of distinguishing among visitors to our Site. We use “cookies” to store a randomly generated tag on your computer such that when you revisit our Site, we may recognize the visitor by the Internet cookie and customize the visitor’s experience accordingly. The cookies created on your computer by using our Site do not contain personally identifiable information. You may refuse a cookie or delete the cookies file from your computer at any time by using any one of a number of widely available methods.
Some of Site’s web pages may use web beacons in conjunction with cookies to compile aggregate statistics about Site usage. A web beacon is an electronic image (also referred to as an “action tag,” “single-pixel,” or “clear GIF”) that is commonly used to track the traffic patterns of users from one web page to another in order to maximize web traffic flow and to otherwise analyze the effectiveness of web sites. Some web beacons may be unusable if you elect to reject their associated cookies.
In addition to collecting these types of information, the Foundation collects aggregate queries for internal reporting and targeted external communications. The Foundation also counts, tracks, and aggregates the visitor's activity into the Foundation’s analysis of general traffic flow at the Site. To these ends, the Foundation may merge information about you into aggregated group data and other databases. In some cases, the Foundation may remove personal identifiers from personal information and maintain it in aggregate form that may later be combined with other information to generate anonymous, aggregated statistical information. Such anonymous, group data may be shared on an aggregated basis with the Foundation’s affiliates, business partners, service providers and/or vendors; if it does so, the Foundation will not disclose your individual identity (except as otherwise permitted under this Privacy Policy).
4. Links to Other Websites
The Site may include links to other organizations’ websites for your convenience in locating information relevant to the Foundation’s activities. Please be advised that when you link to these other sites you are leaving our Site, and that these other sites are maintained by organizations over which the Foundation and Independence Blue Cross may have no control.
Accordingly, a link to any of these sites does not constitute endorsement of the content, viewpoint, policies, products, or services provided or advertised on that site. Such third party sites may have their own terms and conditions and privacy policies, or no policy at all. Once you link to a third party website you are subject to any terms and conditions of that site including, but not limited to, its privacy policy, and the Website Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions of Website Access for our Site do not apply to your use of such third-party sites. The Foundation does not guarantee that you will receive an alert that you are leaving our Site and linking to a third-party website. It is your responsibility to determine when you have left the Foundation’s Site.
5. Security Measures
The Foundation and Independence Blue Cross have implemented numerous security features to prevent the unauthorized release of or access to personal information. For example, employees of Independence Blue Cross involved in administering the Site are required to certify their understanding that information acquired in connection with the performance of their duties is considered confidential, that it is important to safeguard such information, and that Independence Blue Cross will take appropriate action against any employee who fails to adhere to the requisite security standards of conduct.
Although the Foundation has endeavored to create a secure and reliable Site for users, you should be aware that the confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted to/from the Foundation via this Site or by email cannot be guaranteed. Although the Foundation and Independence Blue Cross take reasonable precautions to assess the reliability of the Site’s security features, we rely on the statements of vendors of security products and services as part of the Foundation’s security evaluation. We urge you to take every precaution to protect your personal information when you are on the Internet. Neither the Foundation nor Independence Blue Cross is responsible for the security of information transmitted via the Internet. Visitors who prefer to communicate with the Foundation in another manner other than through our Site can write to us via regular mail at: Independence Blue Cross Foundation, 28th Floor, 1901 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103–1480. If you prefer email, you can write to us at ibxfoundation@ibx.com.
6. Collection of Online Personal Data From Children
No person under 18 years of age is permitted to use this Site. The Foundation does not direct this Site to children under the age of 18 years, or knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. Adults should not assist minors in accessing this Site. When visitors enter personal information on our Site, the visitor is representing to us that he/she is an adult over 18 years old.
7. Foundation’s Right to Contact Visitor
The Foundation reserves the right to contact Site visitors regarding policies or agreements relevant to those who visit the Site.
8. Opt-Out/Changes/Questions
At certain locations on the Site where information about you is requested, the Site provides you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from the Foundation. You may also review and request changes to your personal information that the Foundation has collected, including the removal of your personal information from the Foundation’s databases using any of the following options: (a) send your request via email to ibxfoundation@ibx.com; (b) send your request by regular mail to: Independence Blue Cross Foundation, 28th Floor, 1901 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103–1480. Complete removal may not be immediate, however, and in some instances, all archival copies may be impossible to delete.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or about the Foundation’s handling of your information, please contact ibxfoundation@ibx.com.