Web Privacy Notice

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and SIU HealthCare (referred to herein as SIU) maintain a variety of web servers under the siumed.edu and siumed.org domains. This notice serves to inform visitors and users of SIU websites about specific web privacy practices employed by SIU. SIU’s HIPAA  Notice of Privacy Practices is available here.

SIU uses its web presence to further its mission and is committed to respecting the privacy of web visitors. Personal information [1] will only be released when it is authorized by law; is permitted under University policies; or is clearly stated in a web site that information may be shared, and the user indicates consent by providing the information. Personal information provided by e-mail or other online means, such as a request for information, is used only for the purposes of serving that request and to ensure inquiries or comments are redirected to the person or unit best suited to respond to the request.

Specific web sites within SIU may adopt different privacy notices, as their specific needs require. Differing privacy notices must be posted on the sites that have adopted them. Any such notices cannot supersede applicable federal or state laws or regulations or University policies.

SIU collects data in a form that does not, on its own, permit direct association with any specific individual. SIU reserves the right to collect, use, transfer and disclose non-personal information for any purpose.

SIU’s servers automatically collect information on the Internet address of the user's computer, browser type, operating system, and pages visited. This information is used in aggregate to understand how visitors use the site and to manage system performance and/or address errors.

The School of Medicine is committed to fully complying with the State Agency Web Site Act (5 ILCS 177/1 et seq.) which became effective January 1, 2004. SIU’s websites, services, interactive applications, email messages and advertisements may use “cookies” and other technologies such as pixel tags and web beacons. These technologies help SIU better understand which parts of our websites people have visited, improve access and ease of use, and facilitate and measure the effectiveness of advertisements, web searches and content.

SIU uses third-parties to collect analytics information about site use and to serve advertisements based on a user’s past visits or interests. SIU utilizes general demographic and geographical location data to reach prospective consumers. Third-parties may include but are not limited to Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Ad-Words, and Facebook. Third-parties are covered by their own individual terms of use and privacy policies.

SIU believes that its use of cookies and other tracking technologies adds value to users not otherwise available. Online efforts can be tailored to deliver content for which consumers are searching and connect them with SIU content and healthcare providers who deliver those services. This enhanced ability to deliver appropriate and timely content helps SIU fulfill its mission to assist the people of central and southern Illinois in meeting their health-care needs through education, patient care, research and service to the community.

SIU treats information collected by cookies and other technologies as non-personal information.  To the extent that non-personal information is combined with personal information, SIU treats the combined information as personal information for the purposes of this privacy notice.

Please note that electronic communication, particularly email, is not necessarily secure against interception. Please do not send sensitive data (e.g., Social Security, bank account, personal health information or credit card numbers) by email or web form unless specifically requested by SIU.

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, SIU has put into place appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information it collects online.

SIU’s site contains links to other web sites. When a user leaves SIU’s site and visits another site, the privacy policy of that site governs its use. SIU is not responsible for the content of such web sites or their privacy practices.

If users have any questions about this privacy notice or any information gathered through an official SIU web site, they should contact webmaster@siumed.edu.

Revised: 7 March 2019