Home » Inteleos/ARDMS/APCA/POCUS Certification Academy Website Privacy Policies – Effective Date – 5/25/2018

Overview

Welcome to Inteleos™ – a non-profit global certification organization that delivers rigorous assessments and cultivates a global community of professionals dedicated to the highest standards in healthcare and patient safety. Inteleos is the umbrella organization to the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography® (ARDMS®) and the Alliance for Physician Certification & Advancement™ (APCA™).

Together, Inteleos, ARDMS, APCA and the POCUS Certification Academy​ are dedicated to creating the standards of excellence in healthcare representing nearly 115,000 sonographers, physicians and medical professionals in approximately 70 countries.

Scope, Consent and Notice

When you access our website and/or register with us, you gain access to our vast knowledge and range of services to help you with your career and/or to provide you with general knowledge of our services. To efficiently deliver these resources and benefits to you, at times we need to share your information across our organization.  However, it is always with a focus on keeping your data secure. We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time by posting a revised version on our website. The revised version will be effective as of the published effective date. Consequently, each time you access or use our websites or otherwise engage with us, you accept and agree to the most current Privacy Policy. It is your responsibility to be aware of any such changes.  It is your responsibility to review and understand this Privacy Policy prior to providing your personal data to us.

Our websites contain links to other websites which are managed by third parties (including their use of cookies). As a user of links, it is your responsibility to understand those third parties’ privacy policies. Once you leave our websites using links, we have no control over information that is submitted to or collected by any third parties and are not responsible for other websites.

Collection of Personal Information

We collect and process personal data from the users of our websites and portals to provide our products, our services and websites and for other purposes. For a full list of how we use the personal information we collect please refer to the information below. Information we collect from you may include but is not limited to, your name, email address, mailing address, phone/fax numbers, date of birth, gender, payment information, education history, employment information, information related to your professional qualifications, designations and memberships and information about your use of our and third-party websites, products and services (“Personal Data”). You are not required to provide us with all of the Personal Data listed above, but if you do not do so when requested, we may not be able to process your application request or other request needed to maintain or renew your certification(s).

How We Use the Personal Information We Collect

Our legitimate purpose in collecting personal information is to enable you the ability to register with us and utilize our services for examination and certification. We may use your personal information in the following ways:

To provide Inteleos/ARDMS/APCA/POCUS Certification Academy Services and customer support;

To provide access to restricted parts of our websites;

For examination scheduling, administration and registration purposes;

To determine eligibility for your examination application;

To communicate with you regarding your certification status;

To respond to your requests and inquiries;

To process payments from you or to you (including, but not limited to, annual renewal fees, examination fees, or payments for any products or services that you choose to purchase from us and/or refunds and reimbursements);

To verify your identity during account creation and password reset processes;

To measure the performance of the Inteleos/ARDMS/APCA/POCUS Certification Academy Services and improve their content and layout;

To manage and protect our information technology infrastructure;

To provide targeted marketing and advertising, provide service update notices, and deliver promotional offers based on your communication preferences;

To request your participation in surveys, focus groups, or other initiatives which help us to gather information used to develop and enhance our products and services; and

To contact you at the telephone number given when you set up an account, by placing a voice call or sending a text message and may use(receive?) autodialed or prerecorded calls.

We may contact you via electronic means or postal mail to notify you regarding your account, as necessary to service your account.

Unless a longer retention period is allowable by applicable law, we will retain your information for as long as needed to cover any outstanding issues or queries that may arise in relation to your account or certification(s). This period of retention is subject to our review and alteration.

Finally, we may use your information of record to contact you as necessary to enforce our policies, applicable laws, or any agreement we may have with you.

Marketing

We respect your communication preferences, you can adjust your preferences by visiting the profile page in your MY ARDMS/MY APCA/MY POCUS account.

Any promotional emails that we send will include a link at the bottom of the email to unsubscribe.  You may not unsubscribe from notices regarding the renewal or maintenance of your certification(s).

For further information regarding how to manage your preferences related to targeted advertising, please see http://optout.networkadvertising.org/

How We Use Cookies and Similar Technologies

When you access our website or use Inteleos/ARDMS/APCA/POCUS Certification Academy Services, we (including companies we work with) may place small data files on your computer or other device. These data files may be cookies, pixel tags, e-tags, “Flash cookies,” or other local storage provided by your browser or associated applications (collectively “Cookies”). We use these technologies to recognize you as a customer; customize Inteleos/ARDMS/APCA Services, content, and advertising; measure promotional effectiveness; help ensure that your account security is not compromised; mitigate risk and prevent fraud; and to promote trust and safety across our sites and Inteleos/ARDMS/APCA Services.

Most Internet browsers automatically accept cookies. You may however configure your browser at any time in such a manner that no cookies are saved on your computer or that an indication always appears when you receive a new cookie.

You are free to decline our Cookies if your browser or browser add-on permits. However, declining our Cookies may interfere with your use of our website and Inteleos/ARDMS/APCA/POCUS Certification Academy Services.

For further information regarding how to control cookies in your browser, please click on this link:  www.aboutcookies.org

Inteleos uses Google Analytics to compile usage statistics. IP addresses are anonymized for Google Analytics.  You may review their privacy policies at  http://www.google.com/privacy. You may also review the link below for the Google Analytics opt-out add-on tool   https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

How We Protect Your Information

We realize that our customers trust us to protect their personal information. We take that task seriously and maintain reasonable and appropriate physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to help protect your personal information. While we attempt to protect the information in our possession, no security system is perfect, and we cannot guarantee that information about you will remain secure in all circumstances.

How We Share Personal Information with Other Third Parties

Our third-party service providers may only use your Personal Data as necessary to provide the requested services to us and each service provider is subject to a set of terms consistent with this Privacy Policy. We may disclose your Personal Data to third parties from time to time under the following circumstances:

Examination providers for the scheduling and delivery of our examinations;

You received a certification from us;

You request or authorize the disclosure of your personal details to a third party;

The information is disclosed as permitted by applicable law(s) and/or to comply with applicable law(s) (for example, to comply with a search warrant, subpoena or court order), or in the interest of public health and safety;

Digital credential providers for the delivery of digital badges earned through the credentialing process;

Learning technology delivery and improvement of our learning programs and the tracking of your progress;

Members of the Inteleos/ARDMS/APCA/POCUS Certification Academy corporate family to guide decisions about our products, services, and communications;

Customer Service: for customer service purposes, including to help service your account;

Service Providers: to enable service providers under contract with us to support our business operations, such as marketing, customer service and technology services. Our contracts dictate that these service providers only use your information in connection with the services they perform for us and not for their own benefit;

Legal and compliance consultants, such as external counsel, external auditors, or tax consultants;

Payment solution providers for the secure processing of payments you provide to us;

Advertising partners, including social media providers, for the delivery of targeted advertisements;

Fulfillment and postal vendors for the fulfillment of our products and services;

Our volunteers or committee members who perform various functions on our behalf;

For further information on how to manage your preferences related to targeted advertising, please see www.targetedadvertising.org

Subject Access/User Rights

As a user, you are subject to the following rights:

The right to be informed of the use of your Personal Data;

The right to access and/or to require the correction or erasure of your Personal Data*;

The right to block and/or object to the processing of your Personal Data*;

The right to not be subject to any decision based solely on automated processing of your Personal Data; and

The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.  If you have a complaint in relation to the processing of your data carried out under this Privacy Policy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. If you are located in the European Union, you can find the details of your local supervisory authority here.  http://ec.europa.eu/justice/article-29/structure/data-protection-authorities/index_en.htm

You may seek to exercise any of these rights by updating your information online (where possible) or by sending a written request to our –see contact details listed below:

*Subject to legal restrictions

How You Can Contact Us about Privacy Questions

You may seek to exercise any of these rights by updating your information online (where possible) or by sending a written request to the contact details listed below:

If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please send your concerns to privacy@inteleos.org

Inteleos – Risk Management Department

1401 Rockville Pike, Suite 600

Rockville, MD 20852

240-386-1710