Thank you for visiting us online. This Privacy Statement describes the personal information we collect online, the choices you can make about the information you provide to us, and how we protect that information.

Personal information is information that can identify an individual, such as a benefits enrollee, a participating dentist or other healthcare professional, or any Web site user. It includes most information that can be used to identify a person, such as their full name, mailing address, email address or telephone number.

 

You can visit our Web sites, obtain a referral to a dentist in your area, learn about our services, and read about dental health without providing your personal information. However, to participate in certain interactive services through our Web sites as well as special offers or programs that we offer, you may need to provide personal information. The personal information we may collect from you through our Web sites is related to the specific program in which you are enrolling. It may include, for example:

• Your name and contact information
• Your account number
• Authentication information if you are a licensed dentist

 

We are the sole owner of the information collected on this Web site. We do not sell, share or rent your information to third parties (marketers) for their own use, unless we first obtain your explicit consent to do so.

In some situations, we may share personal information with organizations affiliated with us, or with unaffiliated third parties to provide services to you on our behalf. We do not allow these third parties to use your information for any purpose other than that requested by us and require them to protect personal information received from us in a manner similar to the protections we offer.

If we should merge with, acquire, or be acquired by another company, personal information provided to us may be transferred to or shared with that organization.

 

As mentioned above, you may browse our Web site and learn about our services without providing personal information. However, if you decide to use certain interactive functions, you will need to complete a registration form. As part of that process, you will be asked to choose a password.

As with any password, you should not disclose it to third parties. If you register through our Web site, you should recognize that your personal information could potentially be compromised or improperly accessed if someone finds your password and uses it. If you suspect unauthorized use of your password, you should immediately take steps to change your password and notify us of potentially fraudulent activity.

 

Following registration, you can review and change the information you submitted during registration, including your password. You are responsible for updating this information if it changes. If you post messages to any public posting area on our Web site, you cannot change or remove your posting.

If you no longer desire our services, you may contact us via our information page or by writing our Customer Service Department at the address listed below.

 

From time to time, we may request information from users for surveys or contests. Your participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code or age bracket). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of improving our services to you or evaluating new products that may be of interest to you.

 

We may collect information about your use of our Web site through the use of cookies or log files. This information does not identify you personally. A cookie is a small piece of data (IT information) that we place on the computer. Cookies are used so you do not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on the Web site. We also use cookies so you do not have to re-key specific information when making multiple entries/searches. Cookies are required to gain access to the secured areas of our Web site. Access to these secured areas will not be granted if your computer browser is set to reject cookies. In addition, log files may be used while you are visiting this Web site. We use IP addresses to analyze trends, such as site usage, and administer the site. Links to Other Web Sites Within our Web site, there may be links to Web sites that do not belong to us. These external Web sites are not subject to this Privacy Statement as we do not control those Web sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of these external Web sites, and such links are not intended to be an endorsement of those sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our Web site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information.

 

Due to the rapidly evolving nature of information technologies, no transmission of data over the Internet can ever be fully guaranteed. However, we have appropriate technical, administrative and physical procedures in place to protect personal information from loss, misuse or alteration. We take steps to ensure that access to personal information is limited to individuals who have a business need consistent with the reason the information was provided. We maintain personal information in accordance with records guidelines, and train our employees on our privacy and security practices. When we contract with third parties to provide services for us that involve your personal information, we require that they protect your information in a manner similar to the protections we offer. Our Web sites are Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encrypted.

 

This Web site is not intended for children under the age of 13. When we collect information about children under the age of 13 who may receive benefits (via their parents or guardians) from us, we do so in compliance with applicable privacy laws. The information collected about children is that which is necessary to perform our services for them. Parents can obtain a copy of, correct or update the personal information of their child by contacting us at the address provided below. To protect children, we require proper authentication from you. You can also instruct us to remove your child's information from any registrations or other services in which they may have enrolled without disclosing that they were a minor.

 

We may, from time to time, update or change our Privacy Statement. We will notify you of any changes by posting our updated Privacy Statement on our Web site and inserting a new “Effective Date.” Changes to our Privacy Statement only apply to personal information collected after the updated Privacy Statement is posted. If we would like to use your data in a different manner than disclosed in this Privacy Statement, we will contact you (via the contact information provided to us, such as by mail or e-mail) to ask your permission to use the data in this new way, and to seek your consent to do so.

Contact Us If you have any questions about our security and privacy practices, please contact: Legal Department P.O. Box 30416 Lansing, MI 48909-7916 Effective Date