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Privacy Policy

The Department of Medicine is committed to preserving your right to privacy. We ensure that the confidentiality of your information is maintained and the collection, use and disclosure of your information is in compliance with the applicable privacy laws.

How is Your Information Collected and Used?

Information We Collect Via Server Logs

We strive to improve the access, design and functionality of our Web site so that you are able to find the information you are seeking easily and quickly. In order to do this, we need to determine what information visitors access most frequently, and we may do this by tracking statistics such as IP address, browser type, domain name, access times and referring Web site addresses. These statistics are used to improve our Web site and ensure that it provides an optimal Web experience for visitors.

When you come onto our site, the site will check to determine which browser you are using (i.e. Internet Explorer, Chrome) so that you are provided with the proper style sheet for that browser so that you may best view our site. We do not link server log information to any other data in a way that would enable us to identify individual visitors.

Information We Collect Via Google Analytics (Using Cookies)

The Department of Medicine uses Google Analytics to gather statistics on portions of its website. Google Analytics
employs cookies, a digital marker, to define user sessions.

A cookie is a small piece of text information that is sent to your browser when you access a website, such as ours. This text file contains important data that tells us how you are using our website. Google Analytics uses only first-party cookies for data analysis, which means that the cookies are linked to the Department of Medicine website domain(s), and we will only use the collected data and cookies for aggregate statistical analysis related to your browsing behaviour. The cookie files allow us to provide you with personalized information on your future visits to our websites; they are not used for any other purpose. If you wish, you may change the settings on your web browser to deny cookies or to warn you when cookies will
be deposited.

The following types of information are collected via Google Analytics and or Google Webmaster Tools:

  • Your internet domain and IP Address from which you accessed our website;
  • Hostname (a descriptive label that maps to an IP Address);
  • Type of browser and operating system you used to access our website;
  • Screen resolution of your monitor;
  • Date and time, you accessed our website;
  • Webpages you visited;
  • The address of any external website from which you linked to the University’s website;
  • Search terms;
  • Type of request (For example, a request for a page or an event);
  • Cookie values;
  • Language encoding.

Information We Collect Via Google Analytics (Using Cookies)

According to Google, the data collected cannot be altered or retrieved by services from other domains. If you choose, you can opt out by turning off cookies in the preferences settings in your browser. For more information on Google Analytics, please visit Google’s website.

The information collected by the analytics services is used by the Department of Medicine to improve our website as well as to provide our staff with the ability to better meet online content needs, improve our website, and improve our online visibility.

Information Provided Voluntarily in E-mail and Web Forms

The Department of Medicine websites do not automatically gather any personal information from you, such as your name, phone number or email address; this information is only obtained if you provide it voluntarily. Should you choose to provide us with your personal information, we will use that information to respond to your message and to help us get the information you have requested. This information may also be shared with our webmaster, web administrator or other employees as a means to continually improve service. This applies to services such as newsletter sign up, image download, online surveys and other similar services.

Examples of providing personal information voluntarily includes contacting us via email, completing an online form, newsletter sign up, image download, online surveys and other similar services. Any form or page that collects personal information will include a Statement of Purpose, which will notify you of the specific use and/or disclosure of your information; therefore, it is important that you read the statement before completing any forms.

External Website Links

This site contains links to external or third-party Web sites. The Department of Medicine is not responsible for the
privacy practices or the content of any third-party Web site.

Third Party Social Media

The Department of Medicine’s use of social media serves as an extension of its presence on the web. Social media accounts are public and not hosted on our web servers. Users who choose to interact with us via social media should read the terms of service and privacy policies of these third-party service providers and those of any applications you use to access them. The Department of Medicine uses services such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.