Last Updated: April 14, 2025
The Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI) is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who visit our website, alcmi.org, and who provide us with their personal information.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information. By using our website, you consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
1. Information We Collect
We collect the following types of personal information from users of our website:
- Contact Information: This includes your name, email address, phone number, and physical address, which you may provide when filling out forms on our website.
- Demographic Information: This may include information such as your age, gender, and location, which you may voluntarily provide in our forms.
- Health and Medical History Information: When you express interest in participating in clinical trials, we may collect information about your health and medical history relevant to potential study eligibility.
- Donations: When you make a charitable donation, we use a third-party payment service provider to collect and process payment information to process your transaction.
- Website Usage Information: We use general web-based tools, including cookies and Google Analytics, to collect information about your interaction with our website, such as your browser type, operating system, referring URLs, pages visited, and the dates and times of your visits. This information is generally used to analyze website traffic and improve our website's functionality.
2. How We Collect Information
We collect your personal information through the following methods:
- Directly from You: When you fill out forms on our website to express interest in clinical trials or contact us with inquiries.
- Indirectly: In some cases, other websites may direct you to our website to fill out our forms. We collect the information you provide through those forms.
- Automatically: Through the use of cookies and Google Analytics, as described in Section 1, to collect website usage information.
3. Purposes of Processing Your Personal Information
We collect and process your personal information for the following purposes:
- Research Purposes: To screen potential clinical trial participants and assess their eligibility for specific lung cancer studies.
- Communication: To contact you via email or phone to discuss your interest in clinical trials and gather more in-depth information to determine potential eligibility.
- Website Improvement: To analyze website usage and trends to improve the functionality and content of our website.
- Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal processes, including those related to research and healthcare.
4. Sharing Your Personal Information
We may share your personal information with the following categories of third parties:
- Researchers at Oncology Institutions: We may share your information with researchers at other oncology institutions based on the specific needs of a clinical trial for which you may be eligible.
- Service Providers: We may engage third-party service providers to assist with website hosting, data analysis, and other services necessary for our operations. These providers are contractually obligated to protect your personal information.
- Legal Authorities: We may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in response to valid legal process, such as a court order or subpoena.
5. Data Retention
For individuals who submit their information through our website expressing interest in clinical trials, their contact information is generally used for initial contact within a few days. After this initial contact, this information is not actively used for screening purposes. We do not currently have a specific established retention period for this initial contact information but aim to retain it only as long as necessary for the initial screening process and any follow-up directly related to that initial inquiry.
For individuals who do enroll in a clinical trial, the retention of their information, including health and medical history and potentially biological samples, will be governed by the specific protocols of the clinical trial and applicable legal and regulatory requirements, including HIPAA. This information, including specimen retention details, will be disclosed to trial participants during the formal enrollment process through HIPAA-compliant forms.
6. Security of Your Personal Information
We take reasonable measures to protect the personal information we collect from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:
- HTTPS: Ensuring our website uses secure HTTPS protocol for data transmission.
- Firewalls: Implementing firewall technology to protect our network from unauthorized access.
- Limited Access: Restricting access to personal information to our internal enrollment and study team who have a need to know for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
Please be aware that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
7. Your Rights Under HIPAA (for Health and Medical Information)
As a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your Protected Health Information (PHI). If you enroll in a clinical trial, your rights regarding your PHI will be outlined in the HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices that you will receive during the formal enrollment process. These rights may include the right to:
- Access your PHI.
- Request amendments to your PHI.
- Receive an accounting of certain disclosures of your PHI.
- Request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your PHI.
- Receive confidential communications of your PHI.
- File a complaint with us or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.
For general inquiries related to your personal information collected through the website (that are not specifically related to your rights as a participant in a clinical trial governed by HIPAA), please contact us using the information provided in Section 9.
8. Children's Privacy
Our website and services are not directed towards children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to delete such information.
9. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:
Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute
1100 Industrial Road, Suite 1
San Carlos, CA 94070
Email: info@alcmi.org
Phone: (650) 598-2857
10. Updates to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy occasionally to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will post a notice on our website of any material changes to this Privacy Policy. The date of the last update will be indicated at the top of the policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any updates.