Legal Notice

Information Collection and Use
The data and information we collect through our website (“Site”) is used only to help the Center for Chronic Illness achieve our mission of promoting well-being and decreasing isolation for those impacted by ongoing health challenges through support and education. We collect and store only personal information that our Site users knowingly provide. We do not collect any personal information from users browsing our Site. Like many website operators, we do collect data that your browser sends whenever you visit our site (“Log Data”). This Log Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our Site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages and other statistics. In addition, we may use third party services such as Google Analytics that collect, monitor and analyze this information.

If you make a donation, fill out the contact form on our site, or sign up to receive our newsletter, you will be asked to provide certain information. If you are making a donation, you will be taken to our secured PayPal donation site where you will be asked for your mailing address and credit card information as well. We do not share or sell personal information about our participants and donors with third parties.

The Center for Chronic Illness hosts our web-based support groups on a web-based platform called "Support Groups Central" (also known as "Hey Peers"). In order to participate in our web-based support groups, you will be asked to create an account with these entities. Please refer to the Support Groups Central / Hey Peers privacy practices regarding these specific sites. In our administrative use of the Support Groups Central and Hey Peers websites, we do collect names, emails, location data, gender data, that you might share upon signing up. We also collect results of surveys which are administered after each support group meeting. This information is for internal use at the Center for Chronic Illness only. Please note we do not record either the audio or visuals of the support group meetings and do not save transcriptions used for the purposes of closed captioning.

Cookies
Cookies are files with a small amount of data, which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a web site and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Like many sites, we use “cookies” to collect information. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Site.

Security
The security of your personal information is important to us, but no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

This Privacy Policy is effective as of April 20, 2016 and will remain in effect except with respect to any changes in its provisions in the future, which will be in effect immediately after being posted on this page. We reserve the right to update or change our Privacy Policy at any time and you should check this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of our services after we post any modifications to the Privacy Policy on this page will constitute your acknowledgment of the modifications and your consent to abide and be bound by the modified Privacy Policy. If we make any material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you either through the email address you have provided us, or by placing a prominent notice on our website. If you are concerned with the handling of your personal information by the Center for Chronic Illness, please contact us at info@thecenterforchronicillness.org or 425-296-2705.

Mental Health Disclaimer

The Center for Chronic Illness provides support and education for those impacted by ongoing health challenges through professionally-facilitated peer support groups. The information and support provided may be psycho-educational in nature, however, our support groups are not counseling or psychotherapy groups. Additionally, the Center for Chronic Illness does not provide diagnoses, treatment plans, or collect confidential health information from our participants. Participation in our facilitated peer support groups does not create a psychotherapist/patient relationship and is not a substitute for counseling or psychotherapy provided by a licensed mental healthcare professional. This website and our email are not constantly monitored, and if you are in a need of immediate medical attention or crisis support, please call 9-1-1 or the National Suicide Hotline at 1-(800) 273-8255 without delay.

Medical Disclaimer

The Center for Chronic Illness ("CCI") is proud to be a source of information and support for those impacted by chronic illness. This website is meant to provide education and general information on living with chronic illness. Although the information and resources provided on our website are based on professional advice, published experience and expert opinion, such information does not represent therapeutic recommendation or prescription and is not meant to be a substitute for advice provided by a doctor or other qualified health care professional. This website and our email are not constantly monitored and if you are in need of immediate medical attention you should call 9-1-1 without delay. You should not use the information contained herein for diagnosing a health or fitness problem or disease. You should always consult with a doctor or other health care professional for medical advice or information about diagnosis and treatment.

Nondiscrimination Policy

This policy states the Center for Chronic Illness ("CCI")'s position on discrimination. This policy applies to all Center for Chronic Illness employees, volunteers, members, clients, and contractors.

CCI does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, religion, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, height, weight, physical or mental ability or disability, veteran status, military obligations, and marital status.

This policy also applies to training, opportunities for advancement, terminations, outside vendors, organization members and customers, service clients, use of contractors and consultants, and dealings with the general public.

Third Party Services

This website may contain links to websites and references to other professional offices that are unrelated to us and are owned and operated by third parties (“Third-Party Services”). CCI does not make any representations or warranties about any Third-Party Services you may access or visit by reason of this website. These links and references are provided solely as a convenience to you and do not constitute an endorsement or affiliation by CCI. CCI is not responsible for the contents of, or any products or services offered by, Third Party Services. You need to make your own independent decisions regarding your use of any Third-Party Service.