Privacy Policy

ASHT Privacy Policy Statement
The American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT) respects the privacy of its members and other visitors to its website. ASHT strongly believes that our members and visitors must be assured that information provided online is used responsibly and appropriately. To protect online privacy, ASHT has implemented the following policy.

NOTE: THIS POLICY APPLIES ONLY TO ONLINE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.

Information We Collect and How We Use It
ASHT collects two types of information about you when you visit our website: personal information (including, by way of example only, your name, address, telephone number, email address, demographic information, and credit card information) and non-personal, aggregate information (such as information regarding the pages on our site that you have visited and your IP address).

Personally Identifiable Information
ASHT does not collect personally identifiable information about you unless you choose to provide it. Personal information is collected through the membership dues renewal process, the registration process (for annual meeting, webinars, Hand Therapy Review Course, and Hands On Orthotics course), job bank orders, publication/merchandise purchases, and through other services or procedures that the ASHT may implement from time to time. You are not required to submit any personally identifiable information in order to access information in the public areas of our website.

To gain access to the "members-only" resources, Journal Club, ASHT Times, L-Codes and other personalized features on the ASHT website, members and other users are asked to register and provide limited personal information. This information is submitted voluntarily. If you do not wish for us to have your personal information, please do not provide it.

ASHT uses information voluntarily submitted by members and other visitors in the following ways:

  • ASHT member services and products – Generally, ASHT uses data collected to improve its own web content; to identify popular areas of the website; to respond to visitor and member needs, interests and preferences and to develop new products and services.
  • Disclosures to Third Parties – ASHT makes member contact information available to ASHT members and visitors through the “Find a Therapist” and “Find a Clinic” membership database. On occasion, ASHT sells member names and addresses in electronic, label format for one-time use only to approved requesters. The personal information that we may provide to third parties may include names and addresses provided by the members, but will not include phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses, or demographic information. Users may request that ASHT refrain from disclosing their information to third parties through an opt-out box that will appear on each form on which a user provides information. Alternatively, users may contact ASHT at info@asht.org or (856) 380-6856 to express their preferences if they determine at any time they do not wish to have the information shared.

Credit Card Information
ASHT does not disclose credit card information provided by its members and customers except to third parties that assist with processing credit card purchases. When members and customers choose to pay by using their credit cards, ASHT submits the information needed to obtain payment to the appropriate clearinghouse.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information
ASHT collects non-personally identifiable, aggregate information from visitors to our website. This non-personally identifiable information includes, but is not limited to, the number of hits per page, cookies, referrers, IP address, or other 'environmental' variables. ASHT does not link non-personally identifiable information with personally identifiable information.

Aggregate data are only used for internal and marketing purposes and do not provide any personally identifiable information.

"Cookies"
Cookies are files that contain information created by a web server that can be stored on a user's hard disk for future use ("persistent" cookie). Cookies transmit non-personal information back to the website. ASHT uses cookies in its virtual meeting rooms to facilitate automated activity. We may also use cookies to help us track traffic on our site. This information may be aggregated in an anonymous manner, and will help us better tailor our site and provide you with offers that we think may be of interest to you.

Cookies are not used to disseminate significant information about users over the internet or to analyze any information that users have knowingly or unknowingly provided. When a user logs in, the system will ask whether the user approves of the attachment of a cookie. Users may opt out of accepting a "persistent" cookie, however, the user will need to login each time they visit the site.

Choice

Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will notify you and post those changes on our website so you will always be aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances 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 you by way of an email. You will then have a choice as to whether or not we use your information in this different manner. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy in effect at the time that the information was collected.

Choices Available to the User
ASHT provides the following choices regarding the use of your information:

  • You may choose not to provide us with any personal information.
  • You may set your browser to not accept cookies, or to warn you when a cookie is being placed on your computer. If you choose not to accept cookies, however, your ability to navigate the website may be hindered.
  • If you would like to unsubscribe to any of our services or would like us to remove you from lists that may be provided to third parties, please send an email to info@asht.org. Please include your name and email address in the body of the message.
  • You may access the personal information we have collected about you and correct any inaccuracies by sending an email to info@asht.org.

Security
You understand and agree that "perfect" security does not exist anywhere, including on the internet. When you send your credit card information to us over our website, we encrypt this information between your computer and our server. Other information you send to this site, including email messages, will not be encrypted unless we advise you otherwise. The ASHT website is protected by a firewall and monitored for security.

Third Party Links
This website may contain links to other sites. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OR PRACTICES OF ANY OTHER SITES. We encourage our users to read the privacy statements of each and every website that they visit. This privacy statement applies solely to the ASHT website.

Special Policy Regarding Information from Children Under Thirteen
ASHT is a general audience website and is not targeted to children. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from any child under the age of 13. If it comes to our attention that we have collected such information, we delete it as soon as we discover it and do not use it or share it with third parties.

Legal Disclaimer
The ASHT website is designed to provide users with educational activities, scientific and meeting information, current societal news, public policy information, and other needs for hand therapy professionals. This information is not the same as retaining experts in these fields for advice. Nothing contained in this website is to be considered as the rendering of legal, medical, clinical, professional or other advice for specific cases, and users are responsible for obtaining such advice from their own clinicians. The information contained on this site is intended for educational, background and informational purposes only.