Website Privacy Policy

Effective Date: August 28, 2023

The Children's Hospital of Chicago Medical Center, and its Corporate Affiliates as set forth at the end of this Privacy Policy (collectively, "Lurie Children's", "we", "us" or "our"), respect your privacy. This Privacy Policy applies to information we collect when you use our website at www.luriechildrens.org, its subdomains, related websites controlled and/or maintained by Lurie Children’s, and mobile applications (collectively, the “Site”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect the personal information provided to us via the Site.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to any other data gathered or used by Lurie Children’s, including through websites not controlled or operated by us. This Privacy Policy does not cover any information collected by third-party sites, content, or applications that may link to or be accessible from or on the Site. Our Notice of Privacy Practices governs the collection and use of Protected Health Information. 

By using this Site, you consent to our collection, use, and processing of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is not a contract and does not create any contractual rights or obligations.

Changes to our Policy

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time without notice. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this Privacy Policy and, in some cases, we may provide you with additional notice (such as adding a statement to our homepage or sending you a notification). Therefore, please check this Privacy Policy periodically for updates and to stay informed about our information practices.

Personal Information We Collect

Lurie Children’s may collect certain information from you through the Site, including personal information (i.e., individual information that may be used to personally identify or contact you). We may collect this information actively (i.e., by collecting information you voluntarily give us) and passively (i.e., by collecting information automatically gathered from your computer).

Information You Provide

We collect information that you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information when you create an account or profile, use interactive features within the Site, share your story, subscribe to an email list or newsletter, make a donation, make a purchase from our store, apply for a job, or provide other information to us through the Site. 

Examples of information that we collect from you includes:

• Account Information – This can include your name, email address, password, address, phone number, date of birth, and other information you provide to establish an account or profile.
• Transaction Information – Transaction information may include credit card and billing information.  It could be collected if you pay a bill, buy a gift from our gift shop, or make a donation. A third-party payment processor may process transactions.
• Educational and professional Information – Educational and professional information may include your employment history, curriculum vitae, academic history, and other information provided in applying for a job via our Site.

If a vendor processes a transaction, we encourage you to read the vendor’s privacy policy and terms of conditions before providing personal information. We may not receive complete payment information for a vendor-processed transaction.  However, our vendor will provide us with personal information upon completion of the transaction, which may include your name, billing address, email address, telephone number, the amount of transaction, part of a credit card number, and why you are supporting Lurie Children’s (if making a donation).

You may also provide information to be published or displayed on a public area of the Site or transmitted to other users of the Site or third parties. Such posts and user contributions are posted and transmitted to others at your own risk.

Information We Automatically Collect

When you use the Site, we may automatically collect certain information about you, including:

• Log Information – We automatically collect certain log file information, such as your internet protocol address, operating system name and version, browser name and version, referring URL, access times, pages viewed, links clicked, and other information about your use of our Site. 
• Mobile Device Information – If you access the Site from a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet, we may collect information specific to your device such as the hardware model, operating system and version, unique device identifier and mobile network information. With your consent, we may collect information about your device’s location and certain native applications, such as your device’s camera, photo album, phonebook or calendar applications, to facilitate your use of certain features on the Site. If you do not wish to provide access to location information or native applications, please consult your device’s instructions for information on how to turn off these features. Please note that turning off these settings may affect certain Site features.
• Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies – We and our service providers use tracking technologies, including cookies and web beacons, to collect information about your Site usage. For more information about cookies and how to block them, see “How We Use Cookies” below. Web beacons are electronic images that may be used in our Site or emails and help deliver cookies, count visits, and understand usage and campaign effectiveness. You may still use the Site if you reject, block, or delete our cookies, but doing so may impact your experience on the Site.
• Third Party Analytics – We may use third party services to provide Site usage analytics.  Such third parties may use cookies, web beacons, and/or other technologies to collect information about your use of the Site, which may include limited information, such as browser name and version pages visited, time spent viewing any page, links clicked, and other information about your use of the Site. Such analytics may help us track Site usage, identify popular features, and improve the Site. If you wish to block, erase, or be warned of cookies for analytics purposes, please refer to your browser’s instructions or help screen to learn about these functions. You also have the option to turn off analytics cookies by using the cookie icon at the bottom of the Site to manage your cookie preferences.

Information We Collect From Other Sources

We may obtain information from other sources and use it as contemplated herein, including to provide the Site to and otherwise communicate with you. We may also collect information about you when you post content to our pages or feeds on third-party social media sites.

Use of Information

Lurie Children’s may use the information about you for various purposes, including to:

• Monitor Site use, as well as optimize performance and user experience;
• Communicate with you about updates, alerts, and provide you with technical notices;
• Communicate with you about our services and provide news and information that may be of interest to you;
• Respond to your comments, questions, and requests;
• Process employment and other applications;
• Maintain administrative records;
• Detect, investigate and prevent fraud or other illegal activities;
• Protect our rights and property;
• Process financial transactions such as bill payments, gift shop purchases, and donations;
• Improve and maintain the Site;
• Establish and maintain your accounts with us;
• Market and advertise products and services; and
• Carry out any other purpose for which the information was collected.

We also may use aggregated or de-identified information, which cannot reasonably be used to identify you. Once de-identified and aggregated so that data does not personally identify you (for example, we may aggregate data to refine our automation and improve care), it is no longer personal information. Such de-identified and/or aggregated information that does not identify individuals is not subject to this Privacy Policy.

Sharing of Information

Lurie Children’s may share information about you, including personal information, as follows or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:

• In response to requests from law enforcement or any judicial, administrative, or other legal proceeding, such as in response to a subpoena, if we believe disclosure is required by law;
• In connection with or during negotiations of any merger, sale of assets, financing, or acquisition of us by another party;
• Between and among our affiliates, subsidiaries, and other companies under common control and ownership;
• With your consent or at your direction;
• To investigate suspected fraud or violations of law;
• To protect and defend our rights and property;
• To protect our safety or the safety of the public or those who use our Site; and
• As otherwise permitted or required by law;

We may provide third parties with aggregate statistics about our visitors, traffic patterns, and related Site information. This data may reflect Site usage patterns gathered during visits to our Site each month.

Children’s Privacy

We are committed to protecting the privacy of children. Our Site is not intended or designed to attract children under age 13. We do not knowingly collect or use personal information from children under age 13 or knowingly disclose personal information from children under age 13 to any third-party without parental or legal guardian consent.

How We Protect Your Personal Information

Lurie Children’s is committed to maintaining reasonable physical, technical, and administrative measures to protect your personal information. Unfortunately, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of information that you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk.  

How We Use Cookies

Lurie Children’s and some of our vendors may use “cookies” to help us collect information about how you access, browse, and use the Site. Cookies are pieces of information that many websites store on your computer's hard drive when you visit them. In most cases, a web browser will automatically accept cookies. Cookies have different durations and functions. There are two types of duration cookies: session cookies and persistent cookies. A session cookie only lasts while actively browsing the Site.  A persistent cookie remains in your device’s storage until it is deleted or expired. There are two types of functionality cookies: essential and non-essential. An essential cookie is a cookie that is either used solely to carry out or facilitate a transmission to a server hosting a website or that is necessary to provide an online service. A non-essential cookie may enhance the performance or functionality of a website, be required to access a portion of a website, or be used for analytics or marketing. Lurie Children’s and our vendors may use one or more of the above-described cookies to facilitate access to various features of the Site.

On the Site, you can turn off certain types of cookies, including targeted advertising, personalization, and analytics, though doing so may impact your experience on the Site. To opt out of certain cookies, click the cookie icon at the bottom of the Site. For Site users who are European Economic Area (“EEA”) residents, click the cookie icon at the bottom of the Site to opt-in to certain cookies.  

Links to Third Party Sites

Our Site may contain links to other websites. Other websites may also reference or link to our Site. These other web sites are not controlled by Lurie Children’s. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our Site to read the privacy policies of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. We do not endorse, screen, or approve, and are not responsible for, the privacy practices or content of such other websites or mobile applications. Visiting these other websites is at your own risk. Please note that using the "Share" function from the Lurie Children's Site will lead you to a separate website or service governed by another party's privacy policy and terms.

How We Respond To “Do Not Track” Signals

Some web browsers have “Do Not Track” or similar features that allow you to tell each website you visit that you do not want your activities on that website tracked. At present, the Site does not respond to “Do Not Track” signals; consequently, the Site will continue to collect information about you even if your browser’s “Do Not Track” feature is activated.

Account Information

You may update, correct or modify information about you by contacting us at webmaster@luriechildrens.org. Please note that we may retain some information about you as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.

Opt-Out of Communications

You may “opt-out” of receiving communications from us, except to the extent that such information is necessary to complete any services or transaction you have entered into, by emailing us at webmaster@luriechildrens.org. You may unsubscribe from receiving marketing or other commercial emails from us by following the instructions included in the email. However, even if you opt-out of receiving such marketing or commercial communications, we retain the right to send you non-marketing communications consistent with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.

Mobile Application Push Notifications

With your consent, we may send promotional and non-promotional push notifications or alerts to your mobile device. You can unsubscribe from receiving these messages at any time by following the instructions included in the messages or replying STOP.

Users in the European Economic Area (“EEA”)

If you are a European Economic Area (“EEA”) resident, the following additional information applies with respect to personal data collected through your use of this Site. As drafted, this Privacy Notice is limited to the Site (and not general business operations). Any defined terms have the meaning given to them by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).

Legal Basis for Processing

 Lurie Children’s relies on the following lawful bases for processing your Personal Data:

• Consent – If we rely on your consent, we will provide transparent notice of the purposes for which we seek such consent at the time we collect your Personal Data. If we process any special categories of Personal Data as set out in Article 9(1) of the GDPR, we may request your explicit consent for such processing.
• Contractual Necessity – We may process your Personal Data if necessary to perform a contract to which you are a party or if you request the processing in order to enter into a contract.
• Legal – We may process your Personal Data as required by law.
• Public Interest – We may process your Personal Data for scientific or historical research or statistical purposes in the public interest, as authorized by applicable law.
• Legitimate Interests – We may process your Personal Data for our own legitimate interests, which may include internal administrative purposes, ensuring network and information security, and reporting possible criminal acts and threats to public security to a corporate authority.
• Compatible Purposes – We may process your Personal Data for purposes that are compatible with those described herein.

Data Retention

We will retain your Personal Data for as long as necessary to accomplish the purpose for which it was collected unless a longer period is required by law or needed to resolve a dispute or protect our legal rights. The criteria used to determine the retention period of your Personal Data will vary depending on the legal basis for our processing. If we rely on your consent for processing, we will retain your Personal Data for the time necessary to fulfill the agreement with you, subject to your right to erasure under certain circumstances. If we process your Personal Data to perform a contract, we will retain your Personal Data for the duration of the contract and an additional period of time to comply with the law or cover the period in which legal claims could arise out of the contract. If we process your Personal Data as required by law, we will retain your Personal Data for the duration of time we are required by law. If we process your Personal Data based on public interest, we will retain your Personal Data for the period of time necessary to fulfill the purposes of the business process in the public interest and for any period of time that may be required to document the public interest or business process under applicable law. If we process your Personal Data based on our legitimate interests, we will retain your Personal Data for a reasonable period of time based on the interest while taking into account your fundamental interests, rights and freedoms.

Data Subject Rights under GDPR

Under the GDPR, as an EEA resident you may have certain rights with respect to your Personal Data, which may include:

• The right to access - The right to certain information about your Personal Data.
• The right to rectification - The right to correct or complete your Personal Data.
• The right to erasure - The right to request the erasure of your Personal Data in certain circumstances.
• The right to restriction - The right to request a restriction on the processing of your Personal Data.
• The right to portability - The right to obtain your Personal Data in a format that can be easily transferred to another data controller.
• The right to withdraw - The right to withdraw your consent to processing where the legal basis of the processing was your consent.
• The right to complain to a supervisory authority where you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at webmaster@luriechildrens.org. In order to verify your identity, we may require you to provide certain personal information prior to accessing your Personal Data.

Cross-Border Transfer of Personal Data

Lurie Children’s processes your Personal Data in the U.S. When your Personal Data is processed by third parties, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to adequately protect your Personal Data, as required by applicable law. If the third-party is not located in the EEA or a country with adequate data protection, we may enter into standard contractual clauses with the third-party or rely on your consent or other safeguards as permitted by GDPR.

Affiliates

Our affiliates include:

• Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
• Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute
• Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Foundation
• Almost Home Kids
• Lurie Children’s Medical Group, Inc. 
• Lurie Children’s Health Services, LLC

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy, please contact us at webmaster@luriechildrens.org.