Effective November 25,2024
This Privacy Policy explains how Medical Education Institute, Inc., (“we” or “us”) collects, uses, shares and protects personal information. We respect the privacy of every individual who visits our website (“Website”) and/or purchases or otherwise uses our products and services, including our courses, education, message boards, groups (collectively, “Services”). This Privacy Policy is our commitment to transparency in communicating how we collect, use, and disclose your personal information as well as the choices you have with respect to such information.
BY USING OUR SERVICES OR VISITING OUR WEBSITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY OF THE TERMS OF THIS POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT USE OUR WEBSITE OR SERVICES OR OTHERWISE PROVIDE US WITH YOUR INFORMATION.
SCOPE OF POLICY
This Privacy Policy applies to how we collect, use, and disclose information from the following individuals:
Customers – individuals who purchase or otherwise use our Services.
Event/Marketing Participants – individuals who provide their information to us when they register for our webinars, subscribe to marketing material, participate in surveys or contests, or attend our other events.
Website Visitors – individuals who visit our Website, including those who opt to provide contact information to receive communications from us.
INFORMATION WE COLLECT
Customers. We ask for your information, which may include your name, email address, physical address, phone number, and credit card information. We do not process sensitive information. By providing us with this information, you represent that you own and consent to our use of such personal information.
Event/Marketing Participants. We may ask for your name, email address, physical address, and phone number to enable you to participate in events, surveys, contents, or to subscribe to marketing materials. Such participation is voluntary and you may choose whether or not to participate and therefore disclose this personal information.
Website Visitors. We may collect your name, email address, physical address, and phone number if you provide it to us when visiting our Website, including in connection with a contact request. In addition, we also collect information such as web server logs, internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, or other statistical information as part of aggregated data. We use Google Analytics to help us gather statistical information about the visitors to our Website. We will not associate this data with your personally identifiable data unless required to do so to cooperate with law enforcement activity or other governmental request or to comply with law. We may use this information to gain a better understanding of the users of our Website, to improve our Website, and to improve our Services. Depending on the type of browser and device that you use, you may have the ability to control the type of information that Google Analytics uses. To understand how Google Analytics collects and processes data, please visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.
HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION
We use the information we collect about you in the following ways:
To respond to any requests from you, including sales and support.
To contact you regarding any agreements or accepted terms that you may have with us for the Services.
To understand how our Services and Website are used.
To contact you regarding functionality changes to our Services or Website.
To improve our offerings, including developing new features and functionality for our Services and Website.
To collect payment and bill for our Services.
To diagnose and troubleshoot problems.
To find and prevent fraud.
To create your account and carry out other purposes as disclosed to you through the Website, or found in terms or an agreement between us and you.
To process the information for other purposes for which we obtain your consent.
HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION
We share the information we collect about you in the following ways:
We may share your information with third-party providers that provide services on our behalf. These companies may assist with processing credit card payments, marketing/communication support. Third-party providers may only process personal information pursuant to our instructions, and in compliance with this Privacy Policy and other applicable regulations.
As Required by Law or Similar Investigations. To comply with legal obligations (e.g. subpoena) or investigate potential legal violations. We may be required to share personal information in response to lawful requests from public authorities including to meet national security and/or law enforcement requirements.
Safety. We may disclose your information to protect and defend our safety and those of other users in connection with investigating and preventing fraud or security issues.
Consent. We may share your information for other ways not described above with your consent.
DATA RETENTION AND SECURITY
When we no longer have a legitimate business need or requirement to store your data, we will either delete it.
We take all reasonable steps to protect information we receive from you from loss, misuse or unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and/or destruction. We maintain technical, physical, and administrative safeguards to secure your information, and we use industry standard encryption for your data that is transferred over the internet. Despite our use of encryption, we cannot guarantee any method of transmission of information over the internet is 100% secure. If you have any questions about the security of your personal information, please contact us as detailed at the end of this Policy.
INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS
We are a US company and store your information in our data centers in the United States or, in limited cases, in the Netherlands. We may transfer your personal information to countries other than the country in which you live. Privacy laws in the locations where we handle your personal information may not be as protective as the privacy laws in your home country.
THIRD PARTY SITES AND SERVICES
The Website may contain links to other websites and services operated by third parties. These links are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party. We do not control third party websites, applications or services, and we are not responsible for their actions. Other websites and services follow different rules regarding their collection, use and sharing of your personal information. We encourage you to read their privacy policies to learn more.
NOTICE TO EUROPEAN USERS
The following applies to individuals in the European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom (UK):
Medical Education Institute is the controller of your personal information covered by this Privacy Policy for purposes of EEA and UK data protection legislation.
Legal bases for processing. We are required to inform you of the legal bases of our processing of your personal information, which are described in the table below.
| Processing Purpose | Legal Basis |
|---|---|
| To provide the Website and our Services and communicate with you. | You are subject to a contract with us and we need to use your personal information to provide services you have requested or take steps that you request prior to providing services. |
| To analyze our Service usage, improve our Services, and send you
marketing communications. For compliance, fraud prevention, and safety. |
These processing activities constitute our legitimate interests. We consider and balance the potential impact on your rights before we process your personal information for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal information for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). |
| For compliance with law. | Processing is necessary to comply with our legal obligations. |
| With your consent. | If we expressly ask for your consent prior to processing your information, our processing is based on your consent. Where we rely on your consent you have the right to withdraw it anytime in the manner indicated on the Website. |
| To share your personal information as described in this Policy. | This sharing constitutes our legitimate interests, and in some cases may be necessary to comply with our legal obligations. |
Retention. We will only retain your personal information for as long as
necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the
purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information,
we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal
information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or
disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we
process your personal information and whether we can achieve those
purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
Your Rights. EEA and UK data protection laws give you certain rights regarding your personal information. You may ask us to take the following actions in relation to your personal information that we hold:
Access. Provide you with information about our processing of your personal information and give you access to your personal information.
Correct. Update or correct inaccuracies in your personal information.
Delete. Delete your personal information.
Transfer. Transfer a machine-readable copy of your personal information to you or a third party of your choice
Restrict. Restrict the processing of your personal information.
Object. Object to our reliance on our legitimate interests as the basis of our processing of your personal information that impacts your rights.
You may submit these requests by contacting us as detailed at the end of this Privacy Policy. We may request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and process your request. Applicable law may require or permit us to decline your request. If we decline your request, we will tell you why, subject to legal restrictions. If you would like to submit a complaint about our use of your personal information or response to your requests regarding your personal information, you may contact us or submit a complaint to the data protection regulator in your jurisdiction. You can find your data protection regulator here.
Cross-Border Data Transfers. Any information you provide to us through the use of the Website may be stored, processed, transferred among, and accessed from the United States and other countries which may not guarantee the same level of protection of personal information as the one in which you reside. However, we will handle your personal information in accordance with this Policy regardless of where your personal information is kept. Regarding transfers from the EEA and UK to the United States, we rely on the derogations for transfers which are necessary to perform the transaction with you. Where required by law, you may request a copy of the suitable mechanisms we have in place by contacting us as detailed below. If you reside in other non-US jurisdictions outside the EEA and UK, your use of the Website or provision of any personal information constitutes your consent for the transfer of such data to the United States for the purposes identified above. If you have questions about cross-border transfers, please contact us as detailed below.
NOTICE TO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS
The following section applies to California residents.
We collect your personal information when you interact with our Website, use our Services, or otherwise communicate with us. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, “personal information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or device.
| Category of Personal Information Collected | Business Purpose of Collection | Source(s) of information |
|---|---|---|
| Identifiers, including real name, alias, mailing address, email address, account name, telephone numbers, and unique personal identifiers | To provide our Website and Services to you | Directly from you when you contact us, order Services, set up an account, or respond to promotions as well as through our authorized resellers if you purchase Services through them, and passively when you visit our Website or use our Services |
| Financial information, including credit card number or debit card number | To fulfill your orders for our Services | Directly from you or from our authorized resellers when you pay for Services |
| Commercial information, including Services purchased | To fulfill your orders for our Services | Directly from you or from our authorized resellers when you order our Services |
| Internet or other electronic network activity information, including browsing history, search history, and information regarding an individual’s interaction with an internet site, application, or advertisement | To provide you more relevant content, track original Website visits, and optimize your Website experience as well as to ensure our systems are properly functioning | Passively when you visit our Website or use our Services |
We will not collect additional categories of personal information or use the personal information we collected for materially different, unrelated, or incompatible business purposes without providing you notice. We will only retain your information as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.
Sharing Your Information. We do not share your personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes or otherwise sell your personal information, but we may disclose your personal information to third parties for a business purpose.
Your Rights. California residents have certain rights regarding your personal information:
Right to Know. You may request no more than twice in a 12-month period that we provide you with copies of specific personal information we have collected, sold, or disclosed about you. However, under California law, we cannot provide you with certain sensitive information, despite your request.
Right to Correct. You may request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
Right to Delete. You may request that we delete certain personal information we have collected about you, with certain exceptions.
Shine the Light. Under California’s “Shine the Light” law, you have the right to ask us once a year if we have shared your personal information with third parties for direct marketing purposes.
Exercising Your Rights. To exercise your rights above, please submit a request to us at info@mei.org. Please describe your request with sufficient detail so we can properly respond to your request. After receiving your request, we may need to contact you for further information and will notify you if your request has been granted or declined, or if an exception applies to your request. Only you or an individual designated as your authorized agent to act on your behalf may make a request related to your personal information. We may not discriminate against you if you choose to exercise your rights.
Responding to Your Rights Request. We will try to respond to your request within 45 days. If we need more time, we will contact you with the reason we need more time and the extension period. Our response will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with any request, if applicable. We will not charge a fee to process or respond to your request unless your request is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate prior to completing your request.
CHANGES TO PRIVACY POLICY
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, however, should we change the Privacy Policy in a material way, a notice will be posted on our Website along with the updated Privacy Policy.
COOKIE POLICY
What are Cookies? Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. In addition to our own cookies, we collaborate with various third-party service providers who also use cookies to help us optimize our website and understand more about the visitors to our website. For example, we use Google Analytics to provide us with demographic information about our visitors and to help us analyze how people use our website. Our third-party service providers include Google Analytics and Stripe.
CONTACT US
If you have any questions or concerns over this Privacy Policy, or wish to exercise any of your statutory rights, please contact us at info@mei.org.