Privacy Policy - ElderCounsel

ElderCounsel Privacy Policy

Last Update: December 1, 2021

The ElderCounsel website (www.eldercounsel.com), drafting software (ElderDocx®, EC TransferCalc™, and products we may develop in the future), Law as a Business, and other related services, including the online ElderCounsel store (collectively, “ElderCounsel Services” or “Services”) are provided by ElderCounsel, LLC and its related companies and affiliates (“ElderCounsel,” “us,” or “we”). ElderCounsel is a membership-based organization featuring a collaborative network of thousands of practitioners throughout all fifty states. This Privacy Policy explains how information is collected, used, and disclosed by ElderCounsel, and applies to information we collect when you use or access ElderCounsel Services or when you otherwise interact with us. We respect the privacy rights of users and recognize the importance of protecting information collected about you. If you use the Services as part of an entity or organization that has an agreement with ElderCounsel (like your employer), or if you enter into an agreement directly with ElderCounsel, the terms of that agreement will control any inconsistency between such an agreement and this Privacy Policy.

Changes to This Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any changes, we will notify you by revising the “Last Update” date at the top of this Policy. In some cases, we could notify you of changes by email or notice through the ElderCounsel Services. If there are material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you more directly by email or notice through the ElderCounsel Services, prior to the change becoming effective. We encourage you to review our Privacy Policy whenever you access any ElderCounsel Services to stay informed about our information practices and the ways you can help protect your privacy. Your use of any of the ElderCounsel Services after the posting of such changes will constitute your consent to such changes.

What Rights Do You Have Regarding Your Information?

You have the following rights with regard to your information (Your Privacy Rights):

Minor Eraser Law: Any user who is under the age of eighteen has the right to view, correct, or remove content posted by that user as a registered user of ElderCounsel Services. ElderCounsel does not register users who are below eighteen years of age.

Right to Be Informed: At or before the point of collection, you have the right to be informed about the categories of personal information that are being collected from you and the purposes for which such categories are being used. This privacy notice intends to set out such information.

Right of Disclosure: You have the right for us to disclose to you the categories and specific pieces of personal information that we have collected from you, the sources of such information, the business purposes for such collection, and the categories of third parties with whom we have shared such personal information. You also have the right to request that we disclose to you a list of categories of personal information that we have disclosed to third parties for their marketing purposes and the identity of those third parties.

Right to Delete: You have the right to request that we delete any personal information collected from or about you. If you exercise this right, we will then also direct any third parties that we have shared your information with to also delete your personal information. If you request that we delete your personal information, you may not be able to participate in certain ElderCounsel Services which may require the use of your personal information to function properly.

Right of Correction: If you believe that any information we have about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to correct that information.

Right to Opt-out of Sale: You have the right to request that we do not sell your personal information. Note that we do not sell your personal information.

Right to Opt-out of Automated Decision-making Technology: You have the right to opt-out of profiling via automated decision-making technology. Note that we do not profile via automated decision-making technology.

Right to Non-discrimination: We cannot discriminate against you if you exercise any of the above rights. We cannot deny you good or services, charge you a different price for goods or services, provide you with a different level of goods or services, or suggest that you will be charged a different price or a different level or quality of goods or services, should you choose to exercise your rights.

If you would like to exercise any of the above rights, you must submit a Verifiable Consumer Request. You can submit this request or ask questions by calling 888-789-9908 ext. 560, sending an email to [email protected], or filling out a form here. We will respond to your request as soon as possible, but in no event longer than 45 days.

Promotional and Newsletter Communications: You may opt out of receiving promotional and newsletter emails from ElderCounsel by following the opt-out instructions provided in those emails. You may also opt out of receiving promotional emails and other promotional communications from us at any time by emailing [email protected] with your specific request. If you opt out, we may still send you nonpromotional communications, such as security alerts, notices related to your access to or use of the ElderCounsel Services, notices about your online account, and notices about our ongoing business relations.

Cookies: Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can likely choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies or to prompt you before accepting such a cookie. Please note that if you choose to remove or reject browser cookies, this could affect the availability or functionality of the ElderCounsel Services.

What Information Do We Collect?

We collect sensitive personal information, such as your social security number, driver’s license number, state identification card or passport number, your log-in information, financial account, debit card or credit card number, or your precise geolocation. We collect identifiers, such as real name, alias name, postal address, online identifier, IP address, email address, and account number. We collect customer records information, such as signature, telephone number, education information, or current or previous employment information. We collect commercial information, such as records of products or services purchase, obtained, or considered. We collect internet or other electronic network activity information, such as browsing history, search history, or information regarding your interaction with our website. We collect geolocation data, education information, and professional or employment-related information. We collect inferences from these categories to establish preferences, characteristics, and behaviors.

How Do We Collect Information?

Information You Provide to Us

We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information when you do any of the following: complete an application form, register with any of the ElderCounsel Services for an account; create or modify your profile and online account; access and use the Services (including, but not limited to, when you upload, download, collaborate on, or share files or other information); participate in any interactive features of the ElderCounsel Services; participate in a survey, contest, promotion, sweepstakes, activity, or event; make a purchase; apply for a job; request customer support; or communicate with us via third-party social media sites or otherwise communicate with us.

The types of information we collect directly from you may include your name, username, business and home email address, postal address, phone number, information about your data storage preferences, employer’s name, employer’s address, your job title, transactional information (including services purchased or subscribed to and billing address), as well as any contact or other information you choose to provide. We also store the files and other information that you upload or provide to the ElderCounsel Services, which may include client-specific information (“your content”).

We collect your business contact information for several reasons: 1) it is generally the preferred contact address by members receiving membership information from ElderCounsel, both electronic or regular mail; 2) we use it for membership surveys to better serve you in the future; and 3) for restricted direct marketing purposes by third-party vendors.

All third parties with whom business contact information is shared are prohibited from releasing the information to anyone else or from using it for purposes other than those outlined above. Email addresses are not shared with third parties except forums that provide continuing education credits if you apply for such credits in connection with one of our educational offerings. Email addresses of members and non-members who register to attend the annual Symposium (or similar conferences) may be shared at ElderCounsel’s sole discretion with certain strategic partners who support the event. Each situation will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

We collect your home contact information to contact you if mail to your business address is returned. None of your home information is shared with any outside third-party vendor except with respect to technical services necessary to maintain or audit ElderCounsel ‘s databases. These outside vendors are prohibited from sharing your home contact information with anyone else, unless you have provided your home address as your primary contact information. If you have given us only your home contact information on your membership application or renewal, then you must contact us if you do not wish to share it with third-party vendors for marketing purposes. Please contact Account Management at 888-789-9908 ext. 588 between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET, or email [email protected] if you wish not to share your information with third-party vendors.

You agree not to upload or collaborate on Protected Health Information (“PHI”), as defined under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability of 1996 Act, as amended (“HIPAA”), or any other personally identifiable information that you don’t want ElderCounsel to have and that will be handled as provided in this Privacy Policy. ElderCounsel disclaims all liability for the sharing, disclosure, or storage of such PHI, and other personally identifiable information.

ElderCounsel Website Surveys, Conference, and Product Orders

We request information from you on our order form when you are planning to attend an ElderCounsel conference or to purchase a product or service from us. Attendees must provide contact information (such as name and shipping address) and financial information (credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill your order. If we have trouble processing an order, this contact information is used to get in touch with you.

We may also post surveys on our website that collect information from the respondent. Such information is not distributed to third parties but is used for purposes of monitoring and improving the ElderCounsel Services. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code, age level). Contact information will be used to notify any winners of survey results.

ElderCounsel Contests

From time to time we may request information from users who participate in our contests, via our website, email, or other media. Participation in these contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether to disclose this information. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code, age level). Contact information will be used to notify any winners of prizes.

Information We Collect Automatically When You Use the ElderCounsel Services

When you access or use the ElderCounsel Services, we may automatically collect information about you, including the following:

Usage Information: the applications and features you use; the pages you visit; the names and number of occurrences of interviews you run; general design choices you make; the sizes and names of the files or folders you upload and download or access while using the ElderCounsel Services; the ElderCounsel content you access, and any actions taken in connection with the access and use of your content in the ElderCounsel Services.

Log Information: your internet protocol (“IP”) address; access times; browser type and language; internet service provider (“ISP”); the pages that you visit; the content you use; and the uniform resource locator (“URL”) of the webpage you visited before navigating to the ElderCounsel Services.

Device Information: the hardware model; operating system and version; unique device identifiers; mobile network information (as allowed by the mobile network); and platform information (as allowed by the specific platform type).

Client Specific Information: We store client-specific information in strict compliance with our security policy, but we DO NOT monitor or use that information for any purpose. Client-specific information is stored solely to make it available to you as a part of your use of the ElderCounsel Services.

Information Collected by Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

We use various technologies to collect information, which may include saving cookies to your computer or mobile device. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us to improve the ElderCounsel Services and your experience, customize your experience and preferences, potentially allow you to access and use the ElderCounsel Services without re-entering your user credentials, understand which areas and features of the ElderCounsel Services are most popular, and count visits. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, please see Your Choices below.

The use of cookies by third parties you may sign into from ElderCounsel Services or third-party applications is not covered by our privacy policy. We do not have access or control over such cookies. We may also collect information using web beacons (also known as tracking pixels). Web beacons are electronic images (also called gifs) that may be used in the ElderCounsel Services or in emails that help us deliver cookies, count visits, understand usage and campaign effectiveness, and determine whether an email has been opened and acted upon.

Information We Collect from Other Sources

We may also obtain information from third parties and combine that with information we collect through the ElderCounsel Services. For example, we may have access to certain information from a third-party social media service if you create or log into your online account through the service or otherwise provide us with access to information from the service. Any access that we may have to such information from a third-party social media service is in accordance with the authorization procedures determined by the social media service.

Personal Information on ElderCounsel Member Directory

If you participate in ElderCounsel’s Member Directory, information that you have posted on the site, such as your email address and other contact information, may be “scraped,” or copied, from our website by third parties who could use this information to market products or services to you. Please be aware that ElderCounsel has no way of controlling information posted on a publicly accessible website and that you are solely responsible for any information posted in connection with our Member Directory.

Social Media Features and Widgets

ElderCounsel Services include social media features, such as the Facebook like button, and widgets. These features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Social media features and widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on the ElderCounsel Services. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.

Blogs

ElderCounsel Services offer publicly accessible blogs or community forums. You should be aware that any information you provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them.

Links to Third-Party Websites

We may place links on the ElderCounsel Services to third-party websites. When you click on a link to a third-party website from ElderCounsel Services, your activity and use on the linked website is governed by that website’s policies, not by those of ElderCounsel. We encourage you to visit their websites and review their privacy and user policies.

How Do We Use Your Information?

We may use the information we collect about you for a variety of purposes, including to:

Provide, operate, maintain, and improve the ElderCounsel Services;
Enable you to access and use the ElderCounsel Services, including uploading, downloading, collaborating on, sharing Content, and sending emails on your behalf;
Send you technical notices, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
Provide and deliver the services and features you request, process and complete transactions, and send you related information, including purchase confirmations and invoices;
Respond to your comments, questions, and requests, and provide customer service and support;
Communicate with you about services, features, surveys, newsletters, offers, promotions, contests, and events, and provide other news or information about ElderCounsel Services and our select partners;
Process and deliver contest or sweepstakes entries and rewards;
Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with the ElderCounsel Services and for marketing or advertising purposes;
Investigate and prevent fraudulent transactions, unauthorized access to the ElderCounsel Services, and other illegal activities;
Personalize and improve the ElderCounsel Services and provide content, features, and advertisements that match your interests and preferences or otherwise customize your experience on the ElderCounsel Services;
Link or combine with other information we receive from third parties to help understand your needs, and provide you with better service;
Enable you to communicate, collaborate, and share files with users you designate; and
For other purposes about which we notify you, including through a notification using ElderCounsel Services.

Sharing and Disclosure of Information

We will not share personal information about you or your content with any third parties except as described in this Privacy Policy or in connection with the ElderCounsel Services. For example, we may share personal information about you including as follows:

Vendors, Consultants and Other Service Providers: We may share your information with third-party vendors, consultants, and other service providers who are working on our behalf and require access to your information to carry out that work, such as to process billing, provide customer support, etc.

Compliance with Laws: We may disclose your information to a third party (a) if we believe that disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; (b) to enforce our agreements, policies, and terms of service; (c) to protect the security or integrity of the ElderCounsel Services; (d) to protect ElderCounsel Services, our customers, or the public from harm or illegal activities; or (e) to respond to an emergency that we believe in good faith requires us to disclose information to assist in preventing the death or serious bodily injury of any person.

Business Transfers: We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.

Aggregated or Anonymized Data: We may also share aggregated or anonymized information with third parties that does not directly identify you.

Third-Party Providers: To the extent required under any agreements we have with third-party providers, we may share information about you with one or more third parties, including providers of services through our online store. Such third parties may use and transmit such information to, and share it with, third parties that may be in other countries in order to provide services to users of our online store, including but not limited to transaction processing and fraud prevention.

Retaining Information

It is our intention to only collect, use, and retain information from you that is reasonably necessary to provide you with Services. We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you Services. We will retain and use your information to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We will not retain your information for longer than reasonably necessary for the purpose of providing you Services.

How Do We Keep Your Information Secure?

We take every reasonable precaution to protect our users’ information. When you submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and off-line to the best of our ability.

When our registration or order form asks you to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number and/or social security number), that information is encrypted and is protected with one of the leading encryption software in the industry—Secure Sockets Layer (“SSL”). While on a secure page, such as an order form, the lock icon on your browser (such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer) becomes locked, as opposed to unlocked, or open, when you are just surfing. In addition, the URL will start with “https://” rather than “http://”.

To further protect your security, when you place an order on the website we discard your credit card information after the card is authorized. For this reason, you need to enter your credit card information with each order.

You can view our Security Policy here.

If you have any questions about the security on our website, you can send an email to [email protected].

Contacting Us

Any questions about this Privacy Policy should be addressed to [email protected] or to PO Box 1428, Bend, OR 97709. Or, you can reach us at 888-789-9908 ext. 560.