Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) on the World Wide Web. Our websites are designed to make it easier and more efficient for Pennsylvania citizens and businesses to interact with the PHC4. But as with all online resources, we appreciate that many visitors to our sites will be concerned about their privacy. PHC4 is committed to preserving your privacy when you visit our sites.

This policy addresses the collection, security and access to information that may be obtained through the use of the sites maintained by PHC4. This policy covers the following topics:

• Information We Collect
• Public Disclosure
• Access
• Choice
• Cookies
• Linking
• Information Disclaimer

Information collected

If you visit a website maintained by PHC4 to read or download information, we collect the following information:

• The name of domain; for example, “xcompany.com” if you use a private internet access account, or “yourschool.edu”, if you are connecting from a university domain;
• An IP address; a number automatically assigned to your computer when you are using the internet;
• The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
• The Internet address of the website from which you linked directly to our site;
• The pages you visit within the PHC4’s site; and
• The links made to other websites through this site.

This information is collected for statistical analysis using standard third-party software programs to create summary statistics. The statistics are used for the purpose of determining what information is of most and least interest to all visitors and identifying system performance or problem areas. This information is not collected for commercial marketing purposes and the PHC4 does not sell information collected online for commercial marketing purposes.

If, during your visit to the PHC4’s websites, you voluntarily provide personally identifiable information, we will collect such information. Examples of personally identifiable information may include:

• An email address if you are communicating to us through email;
• Information you voluntarily submit to the PHC4 for the purposes of completing or submitting an application or form online; and
• Other information volunteered, such as survey information or content of email.

In general, please note the information collected, whether or not personally identifiable, is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video and other graphic formats you send us. Information is retained in accordance with existing laws and other PHC4 policies.

Public Disclosure

As a general rule, PHC4 does not disclose any personally identifiable information collected online except where you have given us permission, or where the information is public information under the Pennsylvania Right to Know Act 65 P.S. 66.1 et seq., or other applicable laws. Visitors should be aware that information collected by PHC4 on its websites may be subject to examination and inspection, if such information is a public record and not otherwise protected from disclosure.

Access

Any personally identifiable information you enter in a user profile will be open and accessible to you for review and modification.

Choice

You may decline participation in any activity that asks for information (e.g., surveys or emails). Your choice to not participate will have no effect on your ability to access information on the PHC4’s websites.

Cookies

To better serve you, we occasionally use “cookies” to customize your browsing experience. Cookies are simple text files stored by your web browser and they provide a method of distinguishing among visitors to the websites.

Cookies created on your computer by using our websites do not contain personally identifiable information and do not compromise your privacy or security. We use the cookie feature to store a randomly generated identifying tag on your computer. If you have further questions about cookies, the Computer Incident Advisory Capacity Unit that monitors computer problems for the U.S. Department of Energy issued a study on March 12, 1998, of the risks to users of cookies, titled “Information Bulletin 1-034: Internet Cookies”, http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/bulletins/i-034.shtml.

You can refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file from your computer at any time by using any one of a number of widely available methods.

Link Disclaimer

PHC4 provides links to other governmental agencies in the Commonwealth and the federal government. We also provide links to websites of other organizations in order to provide visitors with certain information. A link does not constitute an endorsement of content, viewpoint, policies, products or services of that website. Once you link to another website not maintained by PHC4, you are subject to the terms and conditions of that website, including but not limited to its privacy policy.

Information Disclaimer

Information provided on PHC4’s websites is intended to allow the public immediate access to public information. While all attempts are made to provide accurate, current and reliable information we recognize the possibility of human and/or mechanical error. Therefore, PHC4, its employees, officers and agencies expressly deny any warranty of the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance upon the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. Any person who relies upon such information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.