Privacy Statement
Privacy is a vital part of the therapeutic process. In our email exchanges, we will safeguard your personal information just as we do for face to face clients. We will not release your information to anyone without your prior approval, unless required to do so by law. While no one can completely guarantee information security during transit, there are a number of steps we can take to enhance the overall security of our exchange.
Keeping your Private Information, Private
What can you do to help keep your email private? One important step is that you refrain from sending email over an intranet at work; you can almost count on such email being monitored. The next most vulnerable link is access to your computer; anyone with access to your computer potentially has access to information stored on or processed by that computer... including your email. A password-secured log on procedure can help keep your computer secure, but it does not guarantee privacy. Perhaps the least likely threat to your privacy is interception of an email during transit over your private internet access account. Just as it is possible to "tap" a telephone line or "bug" a therapist's office, it is possible to intercept email messages. Possible, but not very likely. If the possibility of email interception feels too risky to you, you can use an encrypted email exchange.
SAFe-mail and Hush Mail are both web based encrypted email services. You can sign up for an account that is, strangely enough, free. Using Safe-mail or Hush Mail may be a little slower than simply sending unencrypted emails, and there is limited storage space at Safe-mail (although you can purchase additional space). If you want heightened security, however, either of these options are an excellent choice.
How We Use Information We Collect
The Information We Collect From Clients:
This notice applies to all information collected or submitted on the
MyOnlineTherapy.com website. On some pages, you can meet with a licensed
counselor and engage in counseling services, order products and/or make
requests. The types of personal information collected at these pages
can include:
(1) Clientname
(2) Password /Confirmation
(3) First name
(4) Middle name
(5) Last name
(6) E-mail address
(7) Date of birth
(8) State
(9) Gender
(10) Phone number
(11) Credit/Debit Card Information
(12) A psychosocial history
Some of this information, excluding bank information, is supplied to any therapist or counselor with which a client enters into a relationship. Otherwise, only information necessary to set up an account and payment information is available to the staff of MyOnlineTherapy.com, and is only accessed for administrative purposes (or at the client’s request). You may add or update any of your information at any time. All personal information is otherwise private, and will not be made available to any other client of the Web site, or any other person or entity in general, without the consent of the client. Furthermore, the staff of MyOnlineTherapy.com will only access client information for administrative purposes. If you are engaging in Online Therapy with a therapist or counselor, he or she should make you aware of other exceptions to confidentiality such as, but is not limited to, suspected cases of child abuse, dependent adult abuse, elder abuse, and in cases where the client is a danger to self or to others.
The Information We Collect from Therapists:
This notice applies to all information collected or submitted on the MyOnlineTherapy.com website from psychotherapists providing services on the website. The types of personal information collected from the therapists can include:
(1) First name
(2) Middle name
(3) Last name
(4) E-mail address
(5) Date of birth
(6) State
(7) Gender
(8) Phone number
(9) Office address
(10) Office phone number
(11) Liability insurance information
(12) Type of license
(13) License number
(14) Specialties
(15) Languages spoken
The Way We Use Information:
If you are engaging in Online Therapy and/or counseling, we will provide the client with your first and last name. The client can also select a therapist by specialty, gender, location and language. We use your license and malpractice information to verify that you are a valid licensed and insured therapist in the state in which you reside. We use your office address, unless you notify us otherwise, to send a payment to you. We use the information you provide about yourself when placing an order only to complete that order. We do not share this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that order. We use return email addresses to answer the email we receive. Such addresses are not used for any other purpose and are not shared with outside parties. We use non-identifying and aggregate information to better design our website and to share with advertisers. For example, we may tell an advertiser that X number of individuals visited a certain area on our website, or that Y number of men and Z number of women filled out our registration form, but we would not disclose anything that could be used to identify those individuals. Finally, we do not use or share the personally identifiable information provided to us online in ways unrelated to the ones described above without also providing you an opportunity to opt-out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the client’s hard drive containing information about the client. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information while on our site. Once the client closes their browser, the cookie simply terminates.
Links
This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we, MyOnlineTherapy.com, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our clients to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.
Surveys & Contests
From time-to-time our site requests information from clients via surveys. Participation in these surveys is voluntary and the client therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The information supplied is not linked to any personally identifiable information.
Security
This website takes precautions to protect our Clients’ information. When clients submit sensitive information via the website, their information is protected both online and off-line. When our Intake Form asks clients to enter sensitive information (such as date of birth and/or Social Security number), that information is encrypted and is protected with the quality encryption software, e.g., SSL. While on a secure page, such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when you are just ‘surfing’.
How to Access, Correct or Update Your Information
At any time, you may later review or update the personal information we have collected online from you by contacting us at: info@myonlinetherapy.com.
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page so our clients are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify clients by way of an email. Clients will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in this different manner. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.
Legal Disclaimer
Though we make every effort to preserve your privacy we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site.
Contacting MyOnlineTherapy.com
If you have any questions about MyOnlineTherapy.com’s Privacy Policy, the practices of this Web site, or your dealings with this Web site, you can email us at: info@myonlinetherapy.com.
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