Website privacy policy

Effective Date: October 15, 2024

City of Hope^® (“COH” or “we” or “us”) have prepared this Privacy Policy to help you understand how we use and disclose the information we collect from or about you when you use any City of Hope website (including without limitation, cityofhope.org, cancercenter.com, cancerfighters.com) and other digital services that we own or operate and that links to this Privacy Policy (together, the “Services”).

Please review this Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into and made part of our Terms of Use. By using the Services, you confirm that you understand and agree to the provisions contained in these documents. If you do not understand our Privacy Policy, please contact us using the information below. If you do not agree to our Privacy Policy or Terms of Use, you may not use the Services.

Please use the below links to navigate our Privacy Policy:

• How We Collect Your Information & What Information We Collect
• How We Use Your Information
• Data Collection Technologies
• With Whom We Share Your Information
• Your Rights
• Your California Privacy Rights
• How We Protect Your Information
• Children’s Privacy Rights
• Note to International Users
• Third Party Links and Services
• Changes to this Privacy Statement
• How to Contact Us
• Disclaimers
• Copyright Information
• Key Definitions

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PRIVACY POLICY DOES NOT APPLY TO YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION. We may receive your Protected Health Information when you, for example, schedule an appointment, provide your Protected Health Information through the MyCityofHope portal, the online bill pay portal, or while you are receiving treatment from us. Protected Health Information is treated in accordance with our Notices of Privacy Practices, available here. If you have any questions about City of Hope's use or disclosure of your Protected Health Information, please review the Notice of Privacy Practices. Alternatively, you may contact us using the information below. We may link Usage Information and/or Personal Information to your Protected Health Information. In such circumstances, we will treat such linked information as Protected Health Information on a going-forward basis.

What information we collect & how we collect your information

As addressed in more detail below in the description of how personal information is collected, we collect the following categories of personal information:

• Identifiers (e.g., name, contact information including email address, username, password, online and device IDs);
• Employment-related information;
• Demographic information (e.g. date of birth and gender);
• Geographic information;
• Health information (e.g., personal or family medical history and insurance information, insurance provider, and type of insurance);
• Other information such as billing information and religious affiliation); and
• Inferences regarding preferences or other characteristics.

We may collect your information in the following ways:

• Directly from you
  • When you voluntarily share your information with us or Your Content, we will collect Personal Information that you voluntarily provide, including in the following contexts:
    • when you register for a user account or create a user profile we may collect your name, contact information, username, password, and additional information you share on your account, profile, or registration form;
    • when you send us an email, communicate with us through our interactive services such as during a chat session, or otherwise contact us, we may collect your name, contact information, and any other Personal Information you share in the communications you send;
    • when you sign up to receive newsletters and other updates, or subscribe to our podcasts or news feeds, we may collect your email address and other information about your device or operating system;
    • when you register for an event we may collect your contact and other information necessary to reserve your space at specific events;
    • when you apply for a job using our online application we may collect your name, contact information and employment information included in your application;
    • when you complete a cancer risk questionnaire or request a consultation or appointment we may collect your name, contact information, date of birth, gender, geographic location, personal or family medical history, insurance information, and other health information;
    • when you request to verify your insurance coverage we may collect your name, contact information, insurance provider, type of insurance, and additional information to verify your information;
    • when you request information about a City of Hope location or about clinical trials we may collect your contact information, general geographic location, and information about your inquiry;
    • when you donate we may collect some information about your donation, name, contact information, and billing information; and
    • when you apply to be a ministry leader or request ministry resource materials we may collect your name, contact information, and religious affiliation; and
    • when you request an appointment; and
    • when you request materials or information; and
    • when you subscribe to email communications services; and
    • when you provide information on surveys or feedback forms; and
    • when you use email links to City of Hope departments or individuals.
  • When you post information publicly. Certain features of the Services allow you to publicly share with or communicate Your Content to City of Hope and other City of Hope users. For instance, you may post comments, share images, or start a discussion on several of our Services, which will display publicly once submitted. We cannot control the actions of other users of our Services with whom you choose to share Your Content. We recommend that you carefully consider whether to disclose your Personal Information in any public posting or forum.
  • When you use our Services to share information with others. We may collect Personal Information when you share Your Content or communicate with others using our Services. For example, when you send a message to other City of Hope users through your profile on Cancer Fighters we may collect some information about you or the individual you are sending to such as your name, your email address, and the recipient’s email address.

• Passively
  • We collect information from you automatically when you use our Services. When you navigate the Services, we and our vendors may collect Usage Information through a variety of technical methods, including Cookies and Web Beacons, and other technologies (collectively, “Data Collection Technologies”). For more information about how we use Data Collection Technologies, please see the section titled “Data Collection Technologies” below. To learn how to exercise your choices about Data Collection Technologies, please see the section titled “Your Rights.”
  • Use of Cookies. City of Hope may use cookies on occasion to track the number of people who visit our site from certain other websites and how they utilize our website. The cookies we use do not personally identify individuals by their name, email address, health status or any other personal attribute. Some general information about visitors to our site is collected automatically. This may include the domain from which you access the internet, the web browser you use (such as Microsoft Edge, Firefox or Safari), the date and time of the visit to our site, the pages that are visited, the internet address of the website from which you linked directly to us, and the name and release number of the web browser software you are using. Our company and our trusted third parties may share with one another anonymous versions of user information collected at this site. We may use that information to link to and issue anonymous cookies containing demographic or intent-based data for online behavioral advertising purposes. Such cookies do not contain personally identifiable information. If you would like to opt out of online behavioral advertising, click on one of these links: aboutads.info/choices or networkadvertising.org/choices.
  • This information will never be linked to your personal identity, used to contact you or released to an outside entity in any way, unless you request that we do so (see the "Personal Information" section below). Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but provide an option for blocking the acceptance of cookies.
• From third parties
  • We may collect your information from sources other than you, such as from your friends and family and certain service providers. For example, a friend or family member may contact us on your behalf for information about our Services or refer you to our Services. If you provide City of Hope with Personal Information pertaining to someone other than yourself, you must have that person’s consent to share his or her Personal Information with us or otherwise contact us on that person’s behalf.
• Through social media
  • We may collect your Personal Information and/or Usage Information if you connect to us through social media. The Personal Information and Usage Information we collect will depend on your privacy settings for that social media.
  • When you share Your Content publicly, you share it at your own risk. If you choose not to provide us with your Personal Information, you may still be able to access and use some of our Services. Note, however, that certain features of our Services that require your information may not be accessible to you.
    

How we use your information

We use your Personal Information and Usage Information to operate, provide, analyze, and improve the Services, consistent with our commitments in this Privacy Policy.  If you voluntarily choose to provide personal information, it may be viewed by various people at City of Hope in the process of responding to your online request.

We use the information we collect for our business purposes, including:

• Providing you the Services and fulfilling your requests. We may use your information to register you, administer your account and profile, enable financial transactions, or provide you the information and services that you request, including information about health care and health-related services and resources.
• Communicating with you. We may contact you to share information and marketing materials that we think might be of interest to you. You may unsubscribe from receiving marketing emails from us by using the “Unsubscribe” link included in the marketing email. We may also send you administrative messages such as support updates, technical notices, security alerts, and administrative messages about changes to this Privacy Policy, our Terms of Use, or City of Hope.
• Enhancing your experience. We use your information to personalize and enhance your experience when you use the Services, such as tailoring content and advertising and remembering your preferences.
• Monitoring, improving, and developing Services. Your information helps us improve the content and functionality of our Services. For example, we may use our users’ demographics, interests, and behaviors to create new features and content. We may also use your information to monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with the Services.
• Preventing illegal activities. We use your information to detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent transactions and other illegal activities. We also may use your information to protect the rights and property of City of Hope and others.
• As disclosed. In addition to those purposes listed above, we may use your information for any other purpose disclosed to you at the time of collection. Where required, we will obtain your consent prior to using information as disclosed.
  

We may link Usage Information to Personal Information we have collected about you. If we do so, we will treat such linked information as Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We may de-identify or aggregate your information with those of users of the Services. This de-identified or Aggregate Information may be used by us for any lawful purpose, including for data mining and analytics.

Data collection technologies

We use Cookies and other Data Collection Technologies to provide you with a better experience when you use the Services. Data Collection Technologies help you log on to the Services, remember your settings and preferences, help us keep your information safe and secure, and enable our partners to serve ads for our products or Services, including those targeted to your interests.

For example, we partner with Google Analytics, who uses Cookies to track your interactions with our Services. Google then collects that information and reports it back to us. This information helps us improve our Services so that we can better serve users like you. For more information on Google Analytics, visit https://support.google.com/analytics.

Although most browsers and devices accept Cookies and other Data Collection Technologies by default, their settings usually allow you to clear or decline Cookies. If you disable Cookies, some of the features of our Services may not function properly.

Interest Based Advertising: We may use vendors to serve advertisements on our behalf across the Internet. These advertising vendors may collect (through the use of Data Collection Technologies) information about your visits to and interactions with our Services or other websites to target general advertisements about City of Hope related to health and wellness interests or philanthropy interests, for example. If you would like more information about this practice, please visit the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) at https://optout.networkadvertising.org/#!/. To learn more about how to opt out of interest-based advertising, please visit the “Your Rights” section below. We will not use vendors to serve targeted advertisements for City of Hope related specifically to cancer or diabetes.

Third Party Advertising: We may use third-party features (e.g., social media sharing tools) or otherwise allow third parties to collect information about your use of the Services. We do not control how such third parties process information. To learn more about how to opt out of interest-based advertising that may be supported by third-party activities, please visit the “Your Rights” section below.

Use of Dynamic Phone Numbers: We may use dynamic number insertion (“DNI”) technology to assess the effectiveness of our Services and to optimize the content and customer service you receive. DNI technology involves randomly assigning a unique and dynamic phone number to your browser when you visit the Services. If you call that phone number, we and our DNI vendor will be able to link that phone number to: (1) the phone number you use to call us; and (2) certain Usage Information about your use of the Services. When you call a dynamic phone number, the information that we may link to it will become Protected Health Information and treated in accordance with our Notice of Privacy Practices found here. 

Please note: Some web browsers incorporate a “Do Not Track” feature (“DNT”) that signals to the websites that you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. Our Services do not currently respond to web browser DNT signals. For more information about DNT signals, please visit http://allaboutdnt.com. 

With whom we share your information

We may share your information for the reason(s) disclosed to you at the time we collect it, with your consent as required, at your direction, as well as for our business purposes in the following ways:

• With our partners. We may share your Personal Information with our partners. Partners are third parties (other companies and individuals) who we may collaborate with for a variety of reasons. If we share your Personal Information with a partner, the privacy practices of such partner, and laws applicable to such partner, will govern the partner’s use and disclosure of your Personal Information.
• With our vendors. We may share your Personal Information with our vendors as necessary to enable them to provide services to us. Vendors are third parties (other companies and individuals) that support the operation and maintenance of our Services and that have agreed to keep the Personal Information we share with them confidential.
• With our commonly owned entities. We may share your Personal Information with other companies under common ownership and control of COH, as described in the definition of COH below. We do this in order to provide you better service, fulfill your requests, and improve your experience.
• For legal purposes. We may share your Personal Information as reasonably necessary to comply with law or a legal process (including a court or government order or subpoena) or government reporting obligation, to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, intellectual property infringement, security or technical issues, to enforce this Privacy Policy and/or the Terms of Use or otherwise address misuse of the Services, and to protect the rights, property or safety of COH, our members and users, and/or the public.
• During a corporate transaction. If City of Hope is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale, liquidation, or transfer of business or assets, information collected from and about users may be transferred to one or more third parties involved in such transaction and, upon such transfer, the relevant third-party privacy policy or policies may govern further use of the information.
  

The following categories of your personal information may be shared with these parties to achieve our business purposes:

• Identifiers (e.g., name, contact information including email address, username, password, online and device IDs);
• Employment-related information;
• Demographic information (e.g. date of birth and gender);
• Geographic information;
• Health information (e.g., personal or family medical history and insurance information, insurance provider, and type of insurance);
• Other information such as billing information and religious affiliation); and
• Inferences regarding preferences or other characteristics

We reserve the right to share or sell Aggregate Information and other de-identified information to third parties for their own internal purposes, and publicly disclose such Aggregate Information and de-identified information, for example, in our marketing materials and research reports. We may also share Usage Information with third parties to enable certain functionalities of our Services, such as social media plug-ins (“share” and “like” buttons).

If website visitors choose to provide City of Hope with personal information, we will never sell or rent this information without your consent, except if we are required to do so by law.

From time to time, City of Hope may exchange donor contact information with other trustworthy nonprofit organizations. This practice helps us to find new City of Hope supporters. This process is carefully monitored at all times. You may opt-out by calling (866) 683-4673 or sending an email to giving@coh.org.

Your rights

Your preferences about how we use your information are important to us and, when possible, we aim to honor them. We offer the following rights that you can exercise with regard to your Personal Information.

• Access and modify your Personal Information. You may contact us using the information below to request access to or modification of the Personal Information we maintain about you.
• Opt out of marketing and other communications. You can request to manage marketing and certain other communications such as our newsletters and certain other notifications by calling us using the information below or the “Unsubscribe” link in our emails.
• Managing Cookies and Other Data Collection Technologies. You have a number of options to manage or limit how we and our vendors use Cookies and other Data Collection Technologies including for advertising:
• To prevent your data from being used by Google Analytics, you can install Google’s opt-out browser add-on, available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
• For information about your options for opting out of receiving ads based on your web browsing history from our advertising partners, where possible, please visit http://optout.aboutads.info/. You may also opt out of interest-based advertising through the NAI by visiting http://optout.networkadvertising.org/#!/ and following NAI’s on-screen instructions. Note that if you opt out through the NAI, you will still receive advertising, but the advertising will not be tailored to your interests. In addition, if you opt out through NAI and later delete your Cookies, use a different browser, or buy a new device, you will need to opt out of interest-based advertising again.
• Check your mobile device for settings that control ads based on your interactions with the applications on your device. For example, on your iOS device, enable the “Limit Ad Tracking” setting, and on your Android device, enable the “Opt out of Ads Personalization” setting.
• You may be able to disable cookies or choose the types of cookies you wish to allow. Please refer to your browser settings.

Your California privacy rights

The California Consumer Privacy Act, effective January 1, 2020, provides California residents with additional rights and disclosures. In addition, California’s long-standing “California Shine the Light” law provides that California residents may request certain details about how their personal information is shared with third-parties for their direct marketing purposes. The California rights do not apply to Protected Health Information we maintain but you may have other rights in relation to such information.

If you are a California resident and have used our Services, you can request a list of the personal information we have shared with third parties for their marketing purposes, if any. We will also give you a list of the third parties that have received your information. You can make a request one time each year. To make a request, please contact us as described in the How to Contact Us section, below. In your letter, mention that you are a California resident and that you are making a “California Shine the Light” inquiry. We will respond to you within 30 days.

• The California Consumer Privacy Act provides California residents with the following privacy rights:
  • As a California resident, you have a right to request us to disclose to you, no more than twice in a 12-month period, the personal information about you that we collect, use, disclose, and sell during the preceding 12 months. Such disclosure includes:
    • The categories of personal information that we've collected and sold about you, or shared for a business purpose with our service providers;
    • The sources from which we collected such information;
    • The third parties with whom we've shared that personal information and to whom we've sold that personal information;
    • The business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling that personal information; and
    • The specific pieces of personal information we've collected about you.
• The right to delete:
  • As a California resident, you have the right to request the deletion of personal information that we have collected from you. We have the right, however, to deny your deletion request when the information is necessary for us or a service provider to do any of the following:
    • Complete your transaction;
    • Provide you a good or service;
    • Perform a contract between us and you;
    • Protect your security and prosecute those responsible for breaching it;
    • Fix our system in the case of a bug;
    • Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interests that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws;
    • Comply with a legal obligation; or
    • Make other internal and lawful uses of the information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.
• The right to opt out of sales:
  • As a California resident, you have a right to direct us to not sell your personal information.
  • We do not, however, sell your personal information to third parties. We have not sold your personal information in the preceding 12 months. We do, however, reserve the right to share Aggregate Information and other de-identified information to third parties for their own internal purposes as described in the “With whom we share your information” section of this Privacy Policy.

We will not discriminate against you because you exercised your rights under this section of the Privacy Policy.

How we protect your information

The security of Personal Information is important to us. We use reasonable safeguards aimed to protect against unauthorized use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction of the Personal Information we collect and maintain. You should keep in mind, however, that no data transmitted over the Internet is 100% secure and any information disclosed online can potentially be collected and used by parties other than the intended recipient. As a result, while we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit to or from our Services.

If you are concerned about providing sensitive information, you may wish to do so via phone, regular mail or during a personal consultation, rather than electronically.

Children's privacy rights

City of Hope encourages parents to monitor their children's use of the Internet when viewing and accessing City of Hope online Services.

City of Hope online Services are not designed for, intended to attract, or directed toward children under the age of thirteen. If we become aware that a user is under the age of thirteen and has provided Personal Information to us without prior parental consent, we will remove Personal Information provided by such underage user from our database.

Note to international users

Our Services are intended for individuals located in the United States. If you are outside of the United States and access the Services or submit your Personal Information to us, please be advised that U.S. law may not offer the same privacy protections as the law of your jurisdiction. If you visit our Services or contact us from outside of the United States, please be advised that (1) any information you provide to us or that we automatically collect will be received in the United States and may be transferred to other jurisdictions; and (2) that by using our Services or submitting information, you explicitly authorize its processing in the United States and subsequent transfers outside the United States in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You agree that you will not access the services from the European Union or the European Economic Area.

Third party links and services

We provide links to third party websites operated by organizations not affiliated with City of Hope. City of Hope does not review or endorse, and is not responsible for, the privacy practices of these organizations. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of each and every website that you visit. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by COH through the Services.

Changes to this privacy policy

As we improve our Services over time, we may need to update this Privacy Policy to reflect new ways we may collect, use, and disclose your Personal Information. When we update this Privacy Policy, we will post a new Effective Date. If we make material changes that would impact your use of the Services or your privacy, we will endeavor to notify you of the changes prior to the changes taking effect, such as by posting a notice directly on the Services, by sending an email notification (if you have provided your email address to us), or by any other reasonable method.

How to contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our use of your Personal Information collected through the Services, please contact us at:

City of Hope
Attn: Chief Privacy Officer
1500 E. Duarte Road
Duarte, CA 91010
(877) 660-4543

Effective August 1, 2024, if you wish to contact us to submit a request under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, please feel free to contact us by email at ccpa_request@coh.org or by writing to us at the address above.

Disclaimers

City of Hope provides the information on our websites as a courtesy. It is designed for informational and educational purposes only. It should not be construed as medical advice nor should it be used for diagnostic or treatment purposes. If you feel you have a health problem, please consult a medical professional.

City of Hope in no way warranties or represents, whether expressly or implied, as to the accuracy, currency or entirety of any information contained or referenced in this site. City of Hope assumes no liability for any errors or omissions in the content of this site. City of Hope does not assume any risk for your use of this website. References to specific treatments, products, or services do not constitute or imply recommendation or endorsement by City of Hope. The individual views and opinions expressed on our websites does not necessarily reflect those of the City of Hope organization.

By accessing our websites, you assume full responsibility without limitation or qualification for the use of the information herein. Further, you agree that in no event will City of Hope or any party involved in the creation, production, or delivery of this site or any site linked to it be liable in any manner whatsoever for any decision, action or non-action taken based on information provided herein.

These terms and conditions set forth in this disclaimer are subject to change and update at any time. By choosing to visit this site, you are bound by the terms set forth in this document, and by such revisions as they are posted.

No website is a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you have a health problem, please consult a medical professional.

Copyright information

All material contained within our websites is the sole property of City of Hope. Everything that you see or hear on the site is copyrighted. This includes but is not restricted to all written and graphical content, text, images, photographs, illustrations, audio, video, logos and computer programming code.

Material displayed on CityofHope.org may be downloaded for noncommercial, personal use only. Material displayed on the site may not be distributed, modified, reproduced or reused in any way for personal, public or commercial purposes without the written consent of City of Hope or its designees.

The trademarks, logos and service marks displayed on our websites are registered and unregistered marks of City of Hope and others.

City of Hope does not warrant or represent that your use of materials displayed on our websites will not infringe the rights of third parties not owned by or affiliated with City of Hope.

Any unauthorized use of material on our websites may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and communications regulations and statutes. City of Hope will aggressively enforce its copyright and intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law.

If you have any questions about copyright issues related to our websites, please contact us. Members of the press may contact our Media Relations department at (800) 888-5323 or email media@coh.org regarding reuse rights.

Key definitions

“Aggregate Information” is information that has been combined with information about other users and analyzed or evaluated as a whole, such that no specific individual may be reasonably identified. For example, Aggregate Information may include a statement indicating that a certain percentage of our website users have chatted with our representatives to learn more about services.

“City of Hope” (or “COH”) means City of Hope (“Company”) and all entities under common control including but not limited to, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, home health agencies, physician practices, outpatient imaging centers, outpatient care centers, joint ventures, and ambulatory clinics.

“Cookies” are small text files that are placed on your hard disk by a webpage server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to your browser or device, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the Cookie to you. For more information about how we use Cookies, please see the section titled “Data Collection Technologies”.

“Health Care Providers” are providers, doctors, specialists, professionals, and other organizations who deliver health care services to you and/or take part in your treatment. Health Care Providers may include both your COH and non-COH Health Care Providers.

“Personal Information” is information that can be used to identify, contact, or locate you. Examples of Personal Information include your name, address, email address, telephone number, and other information you provide. If we combine non-identifiable information with other information in a way that allows us to identify you, we will treat such combined information as Personal Information.

“Protected Health Information” is information that is protected by the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act, and their implementing regulations (collectively, “HIPAA”).

“Usage Information” is information that we automatically collect about the device or devices you use to access our Services and your use of the Services. Usage Information may include your IP address, domain server, type of device(s) and web browser(s) used to access the Services, referring webpage or other source through which you accessed the Services, and other statistics and information associated with the interaction between your browser or device. Usage Information does not usually, by itself, uniquely identify you but may be treated as Personal Information in certain circumstances.

“Web Beacons” (also known as “clear GIFs” and “pixel tags”) are small bits of code embedded in web pages or in emails that are used to monitor the behavior of a website user or recipient of an email.

“Your Content” is the information, comments, photos, images, video, data, text, and other content that you may post, upload, store, share, send, or display on the Services, including, without limitation your name, voice, photograph, video and/or likeness.