American College of Surgeons
Patients as Partners
Patient Education Website
Disclaimer | Copyright Information | Privacy Policy | Web Content
Disclaimer
The information published on this website is intended to educate you about specific medical conditions and surgical procedures. The content is not intended to take the place of a discussion with a qualified surgeon who is familiar with your medical situation. It is important to remember that each individual is different, and the reasons for—and outcomes of—any operation depend on the patient's individual condition. If you have questions or concerns after reading any information on this website, you should discuss them openly and honestly with your surgeon.
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a scientific and educational organization that is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. It was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the quality of care for the surgical patient. The ACS has endeavored to present information for prospective surgical patients based on current scientific information; there is no warranty on the timeliness, accuracy, or usefulness of this content.
Copyright Information
This website and all contents are copyright, 1996-2010 by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), Chicago, IL 60611-3211, all rights reserved.
The contents of this website may be downloaded and printed out for more convenient reading use, but the contents may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, without prior written permission of the American College of Surgeons.
American College of Surgeon's Privacy Policy
The American College of Surgeons ("ACS") is committed to protecting the privacy and security of each and every user of our website and interactive educational products. Please take a moment to carefully read and understand our Privacy Policy. If you have any questions or comments regarding this Policy, we invite you to contact ACS using the contact information below.
ACS uses various technologies to protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of information volunteered or collected from all of its users. We do not require anyone to divulge any personally identifiable information to use our website. ACS on occasion requires a user to register, when for example certain products are purchased. ACS will not collect personal information about you unless the information is provided voluntarily by you.
I. Information ACS Collects
Information Collected From You
The personally identifiable information we request from you may include your: (i) country of residence, (ii) first, middle and last name, (iii) age and date of birth, (iv) highest level of education attained, (v) job title, (vi) home or office phone and fax numbers, (vii) employer's name and address, (viii) home or office address, (ix) home or office e-mail address, (x) ACS member identification number, user ID, and password, and (xi) credit card information (only if purchases are made).
Information Collected Through Technology
Primarily to tailor ACS sites to your needs, ACS collects information using technology, such as IP addresses and cookies. For example, your IP address provides ACS with non-personally identifiable information about how you entered the Internet, namely through your Internet service provider, your company or some other source, and can permit ACS to identify the frequency with which you visit ACS sites. Standard features in Internet browser software such as "cookies" allow websites to track certain user activities by assigning each of our visitors a unique number that resides on your computer. ACS uses cookies to make our sites more interesting and useful (for example, cookies let us know which of our sites you have been visiting and which you have not).
Information Is Not Collected On-Line From Children Under 13
ACS does not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information on-line from children under the age of 13.
II. How ACS Uses That Information
ACS uses the information collected to enable a user to: (i) purchase ACS educational materials for purposes of obtaining Continuing Medical Education ("CME") credit, (ii) pay membership dues, (iii) make Political Action Committee and charitable contributions, (iv) to purchase other ACS products, (v) to receive ACS newsletters and product and/or service announcements, and (vi) to participate in ACS sponsored meetings, programs, and activities.
III. Security Measures Taken To Protect Personally Identifiable Information
ACS uses firewalls, vulnerability scans and secure server encryption technology to protect personally identifiable information. ACS also employs internal physical and technologic security measures to detect and block unauthorized intrusions to its computer systems.
IV. Information Sharing With Third Parties
Limited personally identifiable information we request from you (namely, your name and home or office address) is occasionally sold to third parties, generally for educational programs. For example, the list of registrants to a Clinical Congress may be sold to exhibitors to the Clinical Congress. Moreover, personally identifiable information is occasionally shared with third parties so that these parties can send you promotional material about goods and services offered by the ACS or the third parties.
V. Updating Contact Information and Opt-Out Choices
ACS enables users of its website and interactive educational products to update contact information and to opt-out of the collection of personally identifiable information by e-mail, telephone, or regular mail. Please use the contact information listed below.
VI. Questions or Comments
If you have any questions or comments about the American College of Surgeons' privacy policy, please contact us at:
American College of Surgeons
Privacy Policy Coordinator
633 North Saint Clair Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611-3211
Tel: 312.202.5000
E-mail: postmaster@facs.org
The ACS Privacy Policy was effective as of April 8, 2005. This privacy policy information was last updated April 29, 2005.
Web Content
ABOUT ACS WEB CONTENT
- The American College of Surgeons (ACS) patient education Web pages are funded and maintained by ACS.
- ACS requires a clear differentiation between content and advertising. Advertisers must not play a role in selecting or editing health information.
- Information on this website is frequently updated.
- The primary purpose of our Web pages is educational. Most content is available to the public at no charge.
Links Criteria
Several ACS Patient Education Web pages contains content that link to other websites. The quality guidelines we use in evaluating links to outside Web pages are listed below.
- The organization’s mission must relate to ACS goals and standards.
- The source of the content is established, respected, and dependable.
- The information provided is appropriate to the audience level, easy to use, and well organized.
- Links posted on ACS Web pages are evaluated/reviewed/quality filtered.
Disclaimer | Copyright Information | Privacy Policy | Web Content