Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

This is the official way of saying you will not be getting marketing or third-party emails by participating in CreakyJoints. No spam from us!

We take your privacy as seriously as we take your health.

CreakyJoints Official Privacy Policy

Welcome to CreakyJoints [www.creakyjoints.org], owned and operated by Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF, We, Us, Or, Our). GHLF is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses. We are an online collaborative collection of health related topics. We advocate nationally for improved access to care and educate about the importance of diagnosis, early and innovative medical intervention, long-term lifestyle improvement, and therapeutic compliance. Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information as a Visitor (Meaning you are simply browsing the site without logging into a registered account) and Members (Meaning you have registered an account (“Your Account”).The policy covers use of our website, surveys, and software (“Services”) and your control over Our collection and use of your information. Please review the following terms and conditions carefully (“Terms of Use”). Both Visitors and Members agree to be bound by these terms each time you access Our website or use Our Services.

How We Collect and Use Information

1) Personally Identifiable Information: Personally Identifiable Information is information that can be used to identify you as an individual (“PII”). We only collect PII when You provide such information directly to Us while using Our Services.

a) Types of Personally Identifiable Information You Directly Provide Us:

Visitors are not required to provide us with any PII in order to use Our Services. However, please note that usage of the Services may be limited. Members will provide such PII as their first and last name and e-mail address to create Your Account. You may further choose to provide such PII as your birth date, phone number, zip code, race/ethnicity, and health information in usage of a portion of Our Services. Each aspect of Our Service that allows you to provide PII will specifically identify which kind of PII you are providing. You will always have the option to not provide us any PII at your own will and discretion. We may also retain the contents of any messages you send to us or through our Service and we may collect information you provide in User Content that you post to the Service.

b) Personally Identifiable Information 3rd Parties May Provide Us:

3rd parties may deliver PII about You to US either now or in the future. For example, if you access our Services through a 3rd party connection or log-in (i.e. via Facebook by “following”, “liking”, or a link) that 3rd party may pass certain information about your use of its service to CreakyJoints and GHLF. This information could include, but is not limited to, the user ID associated with your 3rd party account (i.e. Your Facebook UID), an access token necessary to access that service, any information that you have permitted the 3rd party to share with us, and any information you have made public in connection with their service. PLEASE, review and adjust your privacy settings on 3rd party websites/services before linking or connecting them to CreakyJoints.

c) Use of Personally Identifiable Information:

DON’T WORRY! We take your privacy as seriously as your health. We will protect and never share or sell your PII to any 3rd party. Your PII stays internal and We and only We may use PII we receive in the following non-exclusive ways: 1) to facilitate the creation of and secure your Account on our Network; 2) Identify you as a user in our system; 3) provide improved administration of our site and services; 4) provide the services you request; 5) to communicate directly to you (i.e. sending you emails containing newsletters, health advice, special offers, and invitations to participate in survey; you will have the option to opt-out if you do not want to receive such email messages); 6) to send you Service-related emails (i.e. security notices, account verification, changes/updates to the Services, etc.; you may not opt-out of Service related emails.); 7) and to customize and improve the quality of your experience on our website.

2) Non-Personally Identifiable Information: Non- Personally Identifiable Information is information that CANNOT be used to identify you as an individual (“NPII”). We may collect, use, and disclose the following types of NPII:

a) Analytics Information:

We use 3rd Party Analytics tools to help us measure traffic and usage trends for the Service. These tools collect information sent by your browser as part of a web page request, including the web pages you visit, your browser add-ons, your browsers’ width and height, and other information that assists us in improving the Service. We may also combine your PII with these 3rd party analytics information to build a broader profile of You so that we can serve You better.

b) Cookies Information:

When you visit the Service, we may send one or more cookies (a tiny text file containing a string of alphanumeric characters) to your computer that uniquely identifies your browser and lets CreakyJoints help you log in faster and enhance your navigation through the site. A cookie can also tell us about how You use the Service (i.e. the pages you view, the links you click, and any other actions you partake in on the Service) and allow us to track your usage of the service over time. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive after you close your browser. Your browser may use persistent cookies on subsequent visits to the site. You can remove persistent cookies by following the directions on your web browser. A session cookie is temporary and disappears after you close your browser. You can configure your browser to inform when a cookie is being sent and/or to refuse all cookies. However, please note that some features of the Service may not function properly if the ability to accept cookies is disabled.

c) Log File Information:

Log file information is automatically reported by your browser each time you access a web page. When you use our service, our servers (whether operated by us or a 3rd party) automatically record certain log file information. This information may contain such anonymous data as your web request, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, referring / exit pages and URLs, number of clicks and how you interact with links on the Service, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, etc.

d) Clear GIFs/Web Beacons Information:

Clear GIFS are used to anonymously track the online usage patterns of our Users. We may employ clear GIFS in such instances such as when you use our Service or in our HTML-based emails sent to our users (in order to track which email are opened and which links are clicked by the recipients). This information merely allows us to improve our service.

e) Device Identifiers:

When you access the Service via a mobile device (i.e. a smartphone, tablet, etc.) we may access, collect, monitor, and/or remotely store one or more “device identifiers” such as a unique device identifier (“UDID”).  Device Identifiers are small data files or similar data structures stored on or associated with your mobile device. They uniquely identify your mobile device. A device identifier may be data stored in connection with the device hardware, data stored in connection with the device’s operating system or other software, or data sent to the device by CreakyJoints. A device Identifier may remain persistently on the device, to help you log in faster and enhance your navigation through the Service. Some features of the Service may not function properly if the availability or use of device identifiers is impaired or disabled.

f) Location Data:

We may access, collect, monitor, and/or remotely store “location data” when you use a mobile device to access the Service. This can include GPS coordinates or similar information regarding the location of your mobile device. This information can inform us about how you browse and use the Service. Some features of the Service, particularly location-based services, may not function properly if the availability or use of location data is impaired or disabled.

g) Use of Non-Personally Identifiable Information We Collect:

We may use cookies, log file, device identifiers, location data and clear GIFs information to: 1) remember information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the site; 2) provide custom, personalized content and information; 3) monitor and improve the effectiveness of our Service; 4) monitor aggregate metrics such as total number of visitors, traffic, and demographic patterns; 5) diagnose or fix technology problems 6) help you access your information faster after you log in.

Sharing of Your Information

1) Personally Identifiable Information: We will not rent, sell, nor share your PII to 3rd parties outside of CreakyJoints or GHLF and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates without your consent. We mean it. CreakyJoints will protect your PII, as noted above. However, please be aware of the following:

a) Privacy of Your User Content:

If you elect to post something in a public area of our Service (i.e. commenting on a post), and PII or content that you voluntarily disclose for posting to the Service, such as User Content, becomes available to the public, as controlled by any applicable privacy settings. If you remove information that you posted to the Service, copies may remain viewable in cached and archived pages of the Service, or if other Users have copied or saved that information.

b) In the Event of a Change of Control:

GHLF is a non-profit organization, so it is not subject to being bought or sold the way for-profit companies are. We may merge with another non-profit and that non-profit might have access to PII information, such as Member’s Names, E-mail addresses, User Content, and other User Information related to the Service.  However, the recipient of such information will continue to be bound by the terms of this privacy policy

c) Instances Where We Are Required to Share Your Personally Identifiable Information:

CreakyJoints will disclose PII where we are required to do so by law or subpoena or if we reasonably believe that such action is necessary to 1) comply with the law and the reasonable requests of law enforcement; b) protect the security and integrity of our Service; c) exercise or protect the rights, property, or personal safety of CreakyJoints, our Visitors and/or Members, or others. In all cases, we will try to notify you of any requests by law enforcement or by civil subpoenas, and give you the opportunity to object to the release of this information before we release it.

2) Non-Personally Identifiable Information:

We may share NPII, including information obtained through tools such as surveys, polling questions, 3rd party data collection tools (i.e. Nike Wristband, CERT iPhone App, etc.), cookies, log files, device identifiers, location data and clear GIFs (such as anonymous usage data, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, number of clicks, etc.) in any manner permitted for PII; and ii) with our 3rd party health research partners for the purposes described above in the section “How We Collect and Use Information”.

Please remember, any data we share with a 3rd party will stripped of all personally identifying characteristics and may be aggregated, helping to ensure anonymity.

How We Store and Protect Your Information

1) Storage and Processing: PII collected through the Service may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which CreakyJoints or its subsidiaries, affiliates, or service providers maintain facilities. In the process of storing and protecting your information, CreakyJoints may transfer information that we collect about you, including PII, to affiliated entities, or to other 3rd parties across borders and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions around the world. If you are located in the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that differ from US law, please note that we may transfer information, including PII, to a country and jurisdiction that does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction, and you consent to the transfer of information to the US or any other country in which CreakyJoints or its subsidiaries, affiliates or service providers maintain facilities and the use and disclosure of information about you , including PII, as described in this Privacy Policy.

2) Keeping Your Information Safe: CreakyJoints cares about the security of your information more than anything and as a result, we use commercially reasonable safeguards to preserve the integrity and security of all information collected through the Service. However, CreakyJoints cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to CreakyJoints or guarantee that information on the Service may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed. CreakyJoints is not responsible for the functionality or security measures of any 3rd party.

3)Compromise of information:  In the event that there is a breach of security and any information that is under our control is compromised, CreakyJoints will take reasonable steps to investigate the situation and, where appropriate, notify those individuals whose information may have been compromised and take any other steps in accordance with any applicable laws and regulations.

Your Choices About Your Information

1) Opting out of collection of Personally Identifiable Information: You may, at your own will and discretion, decline to submit any PII information through the Service, in which case CreakyJoints may not be able to provide You certain services.

2) Opting out of collection of Non-Personally Identifiable Information: You may, at your own will and discretion, decline to submit any NPII through our surveys or poll questions. Please refer to your mobile device, browser’s, and any 3rd party technology’s and application’s technical information for instructions on how to delete and disable cookies, tracking/recording tools, and transfer of gathered information. Note that disabling cookies on your mobile device or browser may disable features available through the Service.

Children’s Privacy

CreakyJoints does not knowingly collect or solicit and PII information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to register as members. The Service and its content are not directed at children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do NOT send any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, or email address. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we may have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at CreakyJoints, 515 N. Midland Ave, Upper Nyack, NY  10960. Attention: Privacy Manager, or by phone at 845-348-0400, or email to info@ghlf.org.

Other Web Sites and Services

We are not responsible for the practices employed by websites or services linked to or from the Service, including the information or content contained therein. Please remember that when you use a link to go from the Service to another website, our Privacy Policy ceases to apply. Your browsing and interaction on any 3rd party website or service, including those that have a link on our website, are subject to that 3rd party’s own rules and policies. In addition, you agree that we are not responsible and we do not have control over any 3rd parties that you authorize to access your User Content. If you are using a 3rd party website or service (i.e. Facebook) and you allow such 3rd party access to your User Content you do so at your own risk.

Terms of Liability During Usage of Our Services

1) Limits of Liability: CreakyJoints disclaims all liability arising out of usage of our Services. In no event will we or our officers, employees, directors, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, or licensors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of revenues, profits, goodwill, use, data, or other intangible losses arising out of or related to your use of or access to, or the inability to use or to access our Services. We will not be liable for any damages arising from the usage of any 3rd party website that link to or are linked from our Services.

Without limiting the foregoing, We do not accept any liability for damage to Your computer system or loss of data that results from Your use of the Website and We cannot guarantee that any files that You download are free from viruses, contamination, or destructive features. Although We use all reasonable efforts to correct any errors or omissions as soon as possible once we learn of them, we do not warrant that the information on Our Services will be free from errors or omissions. We do not warrant that the website will be available uninterrupted and in a fully operating condition.

You agree to indemnify, save, and hold CreakyJoints, its affiliated companies, contractors, employees, agents and its 3rd party suppliers, licensors, and partners harmless from any claims, losses, damages, liabilities, including legal fees and expenses, arising out of your use or misuse of the CreakyJoints site, any violation by You of these Terms of Use, or any breach of the representations, warranties, and covenants made by You herein. CreakyJoints reserves the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which You are required to indemnify Us. You agree to cooperate with CreakyJoints’ and GHLF’s defense of these claims. CreakyJoints will make reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action, or proceeding upon becoming aware of it.

Access to the Services may be suspended temporarily or without notice in the case of system failure, maintenance or repair or for reasons reasonably beyond our control. All content on the Services is provided ‘as is’ and ‘as available’. We do not make any representation or give any warranty, and hereby disclaim all express or implied warranties, in respect of the Website or its content, including, without limitation, any advice given (either personal, medical, or general). Any decisions or action taken by You on the basis of information provided on our Services are at Your sole discretion and risk and You should obtain individual professional advice where necessary.

The failure of CreakyJoints to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Use will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. Any waiver of any provision of these Terms of Use will be effective only if in writing and signed by CreakyJoints.

2) Jurisdiction: These Terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. For any Users inside the United States, you agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use or CreakyJoints will be filed on in the state or federal courts in and for Rockland or New York Counties, New York. You hereby consent and submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such action

3) Severability: If any provision of these Terms or any Guidelines is held to be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision will be limited or eliminated from these Terms of Use to the minimum extent necessary and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions

4) Assignment: These Terms of Use and related Guidelines, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by You, but may be assigned by CreakyJoints without restriction. Any Assignment attempted to be made in violation of these Terms of Use shall be void.

5) Survival: Upon Termination of these Terms, any provision which, by its nature or express terms should survive, will survive such termination or expiration.

6) Headings: The Heading references throughout are for convenience purposes only, do not constitute a part of these Terms of Use, and will not be deemed to limit or affect any of the provisions presented.

7) Entire Agreement: These Terms of Use, constitute the entire agreement between you and CreakyJoints relating to the subject matter throughout and will not be modified except by a change to these Terms of Use.

Terms of Conduct

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate Your Account and prevent you from using our Services without notice at our discretion for violations of our Terms of Conduct or if there are reasonable grounds to believe you have breached any of the restrictions set above or henceforth, or otherwise acted in any manner that represents ill-will toward any other Member.

1) You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password and for restricting access to your computer. You agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password. If you have reason to believe that your account is no longer secure (i.e. in the event of a loss, theft, or unauthorized disclosure of your account ID, password, etc.) then You agree to immediately notify CreakyJoints or GHLF. You may be liable for the losses incurred by Us or others due to any unauthorized use of Your Account

2) CreakyJoints is not available to persons under the age of 13 or any Users previously suspended or removed from the Services by CreakyJoints. By using our Services, you acknowledge that you are at least 13 years of age or older

3) You may not sell, trade, or transfer a membership account to another person or accept or use an account that was not originally yours.

4) You may not impersonate any person or entity, falsely claim an affiliation with any person or entity, forge another person’s digital signature, misrepresent the source, identity, or content of information transmitted via CreakyJoints site, or perform any other similar fraudulent activity.

5) Your participation in our Services is based upon the assumption that all information you provide regarding yourself is truthful and accurate. Providing misleading or false information is sufficient reason for us to terminate your account

6) You represent that you have the proper authorization to submit all content that you submit through the site (“User Postings”). You agree to grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid, fully sub-licensable, worldwide license to use, reproduce, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, modify, make, have made, sell, offer for sale, import and otherwise exploit the content in all User Postings now known and later generated. By submitting User Content you grant each User of CreakyJoints a non-exclusive license to access and use your User Postings. You are solely responsible for your User Postings and the consequences of posting or publishing them.

7) We reserve the right to remove any content posted by you or other members at our sole discretion, for reasons including, but not limited to, that it is unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, fraudulent, obscene, or otherwise objectionable, or because it may infringe or violate any party’s intellectual property or privacy.

8) You understand and agree that you may encounter material with which you disagree or find objectionable, and that you use the website with this understanding and acceptance and do not hold Us liable.

9) We may not endorse, support, or ensure the accuracy, truthfulness, or reliability of content posted in our Services, unless otherwise noted. We do not endorse any opinion expressed in our Services, unless otherwise noted.

10) The CreakyJoints name and logo is a Registered Trademark in the U.S. and in cooperating countries. Any use of the CreakyJoints name and/or logo that in any manner that is not approvable by us may result in termination of Your Account.

11) You will not send or distribute unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials or spam, or stalk, harass, or unreasonably disturb any other Member.

12) You are not permitted to make available any content or initiate any communication that infringes upon the patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyright, or other proprietary rights of 3rd parties, whether personal, corporate or governmental.

13) You may not use Our Services for any illegal purpose, or in violation of any local, state, national, or international law including, but not limited to, laws governing intellectual property and other proprietary rights and data protection and privacy.

14) You may not remove, circumvent, disable, damage, or otherwise interfere with security features related to Our Services or User Postings, features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content accessible through the Our Services, or features that enforce limitation on the use of Our Services or User Postings.

15) You may not reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of CreakyJoints or any part thereof.

16) You may not modify, adapt, translate, or create derivative works based upon the CreakyJoints site or any part thereof.

17) You may not intentionally interfere with or damage operation of the CreakyJoints or any User’s enjoyment of them, by any means, including uploading or otherwise disseminating viruses, adware, spyware, worms or other malicious code.

18) You are subject to any additional posted guidelines or rules applicable to specific services and features which may be posted from time to time.

Ownership

1) Proprietary Rights: TheCreakyJoints Site is owned and operated by Global Healthy Living Foundation. The visual interfaces, graphics, design, compilation, information, computer code (including source code or object code), products, software, services, and all other elements of the CreakyJoints Site provided by GHLF (“Materials”) are protected by United States copyright, trade dress, patent, and trademark laws, international conventions, and all other relevant intellectual property and proprietary rights and applicable laws. Except for User Postings that are provided and owned by Users, all Materials contained on CreakyJoints Site are the property of CreakyJoints or its subsidiaries or affiliated companies and/or 3rd party licensors. All trademarks, service marks, and trade names are proprietary to CreakyJoints or its affiliates and/or 3rd part licensors. Except as expressly authorized by CreakyJoints, You agree not to sell license, distribute, copy, modify, publicly perform or display, transmit, publish, edit, adapt, create derivative works from or otherwise make unauthorized use of the Materials. CreakyJoints reserves all rights not expressly granted in these Terms of Use.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the Service, please contact us at CreakyJoints, 515 N. Midland Ave, Upper Nyack, NY  10960, or by phone at 845-348-0400 or by email at info@ghlf.org.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

CreakyJoints may, in its sole discretion, modify or update this Privacy Policy from time to time, and so you should review this page periodically. When we change the policy in a material manner we will update the ‘last modified’ date at the bottom of this page.

Last modified August 18, 2013.