Privacy Policy
Gopi Akash, LLC operates this website (the “Site”), and the services related to or offered on the Site (the “Services”). These Services may include, without limitation, tools, applications, email services, bulletin and message boards, chat areas, news groups, forums, communities, calendars and downloadable mobile applications related to the Site or provided through the Site. WeightlossTales.com also contains advertisements, affiliate links, promotions and sponsored areas.
We provide you this privacy policy (the “Policy”) to help you understand the kinds of information we may gather about you when you visit the Site or use any of our Services, how we may use and disclose the information, and how you can control, correct and/or update the information. Our legal basis for collecting and processing your personal data is based on your consent, which can be withdrawn as described below, or that the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract, i.e., a precondition to our agreement to provide you with medical information.
To be clear about the terminology we are using, when we use the phrase “Personal Data: or Information” in this Policy, we mean information that can be used to identify or contact a person, like a person’s full name, address, email address or phone number. When we use the phrase “Anonymous Information” in this Policy, we mean information that cannot reasonably be used to identify individual persons.
By visiting this Site or using the Services, you are accepting the policies and practices described in this Policy. Each time you visit the Site or use the Services, you agree and expressly consent to our collection, use and disclosure of the information that you provide as described in this Policy.
Your Personal Information will be processed by us in the United States.
1. What Personal Data We Collect
We receive information about you in the following ways:
A. Information You Voluntarily Provide Us
We collect and maintain personal data that you voluntarily submit to us during your use of the Site and Services. For example:
to engage a Site’s social networking function, you may add to your profile by providing information about your interests;
if you sign-up to receive a newsletter, or participate in social networking activities, you may provide us contact information (e.g., email or physical address); and
when you participate in sponsored or unsponsored market research surveys you may be asked to provide personal information in addition to providing your responses to the survey questions; and
you may provide us with Personal Information in the course of email, or customer support interactions.
You may choose not to provide us with certain information, but this may stop you from gaining access to a Service or limit the features that you can use. For more information, please see the How We Use Your Information section below
B. Information We Collect Through Your Use of the Site
As you use the Site and Services, certain information may also be passively collected. Through cookies, pixels, web beacons, log files and other technologies, information may be collected about how you use the Site and the Services in addition to Internet Protocol (IP) address and browser information. For example, we may track the e-mails that are opened, links that are clicked, or web pages visited. Your IP address may indicate that your computer or device is located in New York City and this information may be used to deliver advertisements relevant to New York City users. The information allows for the delivery of more helpful information, programs, tools and advertisements. Please see the Cookies and Targeted Advertising sections below for more information.
C. Information Received From Third Parties
We may gather information from third party sources, including governmental agencies, other aggregators of health consumption information or business partners. Online and/or offline information received from third parties may be combined with the information already collected from you via the Site and Services. The third party information is used for a variety of purposes including to verify other information about you (e.g., verify your mailing address to send you requested products or services) and to enhance the content and advertising provided to you. Information from third parties may also be used to verify and update registration information and confirm licensure status.
2. How We Use Personal Data
Your Personal Data will be used in the ways described below or as described at the time that the information is collected.
A. Advertising
Advertisements that you see are customized based upon: (i) the information that you provide (e.g., age, gender, stated area of practice and other information in your profile); (ii) geographic location information which may be determined through your IP address, from your mobile device or other ways; (iii) data received from third parties or (iv) your visits on the Site or use of the Services (commonly referred to as “Behavioral Advertising”). Please see the Cookies and Targeted Advertising section below for more information on the use of cookies and the information collected for Behavioral Advertising.
You can limit the way advertising is tailored to you by deleting the cookies that we have placed on your browser. Please see the section below on Cookies, Web Beacons and IP Address Information for more information.
B. To Provide the Site and Services
Your Personal Information is used as necessary or appropriate to provide you the Site and Services, including to:
administer your account;
register you and provide you access to the Site or Services;
respond to your inquiries or requests that you direct to us;
fulfill your requests for products or services;
send communications and administrative emails about the Site or Services;
personalize and better tailor the features, performance and support of the Site and Services for your use;
send you promotional/marketing information, newsletters, offers or other information regarding opportunities and functionality that we think would be of particular interest to you;
improve the quality of the Site and the Services, and analyze, benchmark and conduct research on user data and user interactions with the Site and Services.
3. Cookies and Similar Technologies
A. Cookies, Web Beacons and IP Address Information
“Cookies” are small pieces of information that a website places on your browser when you visit that website. Cookies may be used to provide you with a more personal and interactive experience with the Site and Services. For example, cookies may be used to control what advertisements you see, the sequence of advertisements and to make sure you don’t see the same advertisement too many times. For polls, cookies may be used to help ensure that an individual can’t vote more than once on a particular question or issue. We do not store Personal Information in any cookies on your computer.
Cookies can be removed by following your Internet browser’s directions within the help tab. In order to use certain Services offered through the Site, your web browser must accept cookies. If you choose to disable cookies, some aspects of the Site may not work properly, and you may not be able to access our Services.
Cookies, pixels, web beacons (which are usually small, transparent graphic images), operating system and device information and navigational data like Uniform Resource Locators (URL) may be used to gather information regarding the date and time of your visit, the features and information for which you searched and viewed, the email you opened or on which advertisements you clicked. This type of information is collected to make the Site and Services more useful to you and to tailor the experience with us to meet your special interests and needs.
An “Internet Protocol Address” or “IP Address” is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you use the Internet. We, or our service providers, may use your IP Address when you access the Site or Services or use other means to assist with delivering geographically targeted content and advertisements.
B. Targeted Advertising
Companies that we work with may use cookies for purposes including understanding web usage patterns of users who see advertisements on the Site, controlling the sequence of advertisements you see, making sure you don’t see the same advertisement too many times, determining your interests and tailoring advertisements and promotions based on those interests. For example, if you read an article about a particular health condition on the Site, cookies from a vendor may be used to later serve you an advertisement for a product related to the viewed article. These third party vendors may connect information about pages you visit on our Site with information about pages you visit on other websites and show you advertising based on this combined information. The advertisement may appear when you are visiting a different section of the Site or any other website on the Internet if the website also has a relationship with our vendor.
You can choose to limit Behavioral Advertising on the Sites by clicking here and opting-out of cookies placed by those vendors listed. After you opt-out, you will still see advertisements but the advertising may not be as relevant to your interests. If you change your computer, change your browser, or delete your cookies, you will need to renew your opt-out. The Site currently is not setup to process or respond to “Do Not Track” settings or signals from web browsers.
We do adhere to the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising of the Digital Advertising Alliance (for more information click here).
C. Information Collected by Third Party Advertisers
Advertisers or other third parties on the Site may also engage in Behavioral Advertising and use cookies and web beacons in the manner described above. We do not control these advertisers or other parties’ use of cookies or web beacons or what they do with the information they collect. Many third party vendors that engage in Behavioral Advertising participate in the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) and/or the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) and abide by NAI and/or DAA principles. If you wish to opt out of participating in advertising programs conducted by NAI and DAA members or learn more about the NAI and DAA, please go to the NAI Opt-Out website and DAA Choice Page and follow the instructions. After you opt-out, you will still see advertisements, but the advertising may not be as relevant to your interests. If you change your computer, change your browser or delete your cookies, you will need to renew your opt-out.
4. Reasons We Share Personal Data
Your Personal Information may be shared with third parties as specifically approved by you or under the circumstances described below. If you do not want us to use or disclose Personal Information collected about you in the ways identified in this Policy, you should not use the Site or Services.
A. Sharing of Information with Advertisers
When you are exposed to an advertisement on the Services (whether on the Site or in a newsletter, app or another Service) or visit an advertiser supported area on the Services, site may provide your personal information (such as name, specialty, NPI number, and country of residence) and information about your engagement with the Services (e.g., whether you viewed, interacted with or requested information about promotional content) to advertisers and/or such advertisers’ agents as well as to potential advertisers and their agents. While engaging with a promotional program on the Site, you may also be asked to provide additional Personal Information which may be used to supplement the information that you provided during registration. We will not provide these third parties with your personal contact information such as email or postal address without your consent. We are not responsible for how these third parties use your information.
B. Disclosure for Legal Reasons
We may disclose and release your Personal Information to third parties: (a) to comply with valid legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order; or (b) in special cases, such as a physical threat to you or others, a threat to homeland security, a threat to our system or network, or in any cases in which we believe it is reasonably necessary to investigate or prevent harm, fraud, abuse, illegal conduct or a violation or alleged violation of this Policy or other agreement we may have with you.
C. Agents and Contractors
We may provide your Personal Information to service providers who work on our behalf or help us to operate our business, the Site and the Services. Examples of such service providers include vendors and suppliers that provide us with technology, services and/or content for sending email, analyzing data, research, providing advertising and marketing assistance and providing customer service. Access to your Personal Information by these service providers is limited to the information reasonably necessary to perform their limited functions.
D. Aggregated, Anonymous Information
We may share Aggregated Anonymous Information about you with third parties. “Aggregated Anonymous Information” is your Anonymous Information that is combined with the Anonymous Information of other users.
E. Contests, Sweepstakes and Promotions.
Some or all of the information collected during promotions, contests or sweepstakes (“Promotions”) may be disclosed publicly. It may also be shared with other third parties as disclosed at the time of collection or in the Promotion rules. These third parties may include a provider of prizes in order to update you of your status of you prize or other fulfillment needs or a co-sponsor who may use your Personal Information to administer the Promotion or for their marketing purposes, but only in conformance with their privacy policy as made available to you at the time of collection. WeightlossTales.com is not responsible for such third party’s privacy policy or practices. When you participate in a Promotion, you are subject to any official rules for that Promotion, which may contain additional information about the specific privacy practices associated with the Promotion.
F. Research, Sponsors and Ways That You Approve at the Time of Collection.
We may collect Personal Information about you and share it with third parties to the extent that you give us permission at the time of collection. We sometimes gather Personal Information on behalf of a sponsor in association with an offer or promotion. When participating in a survey, in addition to providing your responses to the survey questions, you may provide Personal Information that may be combined with information that you have already provided at registration or that we have received from third party sources. We may provide this information to third parties including the survey sponsor or the promotion sponsor. In such a case, we will provide you clear notice at the time of collection that the information is being collected on the sponsor’s behalf.
G. Within Our Company; Changes to Our Company.
We may share your Personal Information with any of our subsidiaries, joint ventures or other companies under common control. Additionally, in the event we go through a business transition such as a merger, acquisition by another company or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your Personal Information may be among the assets transferred. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur and are permitted by this Policy.
5. Message Boards and Chats
We may make message boards and other interactive forums available as part of the Services. You should be aware that any information which you post to these interactive forums or otherwise choose to make publicly available, including your Personal Information, may be disclosed and available to all users who have access to that portion of the Site or Services. By using these interactive forums, you agree that we are not responsible for any information that you disclose or communicate in such forums, and any disclosures you make are at your own risk.
6. Children’s Information
The Site and Services are not directed or intended for children under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from individuals under 18 years of age. If you are under 18 years of age, you should not register or provide Personal Information on the Site or through the Services. If you are the parent or guardian of a child whom you believe has disclosed Personal Information to us, please contact us so that we may delete and remove such child’s information from our systems.
7. Co-branded Sections of the Site
Certain portions of the Site may be co-branded with a business partner and subject to a different privacy policy that is the partner’s privacy policy (the “Co-branded Policy”). The partner’s collection, use and dissemination practices regarding any data or Personal Information provided by, or obtained from users of these co-branded portions of the Site will be governed by the Co-branded Policy. Please read the Co-branded Policy for each co-branded site before providing any Personal Information.
8. Third Party Links
The Site may link to websites operated by third parties that we do not control. We do not monitor, control or endorse the information collection or privacy practices of any third parties. We encourage you to become familiar with the privacy practices of every website you visit and to contact them if you have any questions about their respective privacy policies and practices. This Policy applies solely to information collected by us through the Site or Services and does not apply to these third party websites. The ability to access information of third parties from the Site or Services, or links to other websites or locations, is for your convenience only and does not signify our endorsement of such third parties, their products, services, websites, locations or their content.
9. Security
We undertake reasonable security measures to help protect the data that resides on our servers. However, no security system is impenetrable. We do not warrant the security of our servers, nor do we warrant that your information, including Personal Information, will be completely secure or not be intercepted while being transmitted over the Internet.
10. How To Contact Us
If you have any questions regarding privacy or this Policy, you may contact us.
11. Privacy Policy Changes
We reserve the right to change, modify, add or remove portions of this Policy at any time and without prior notice, and any changes will become effective immediately upon being posted unless we advise you otherwise. Your continued use of the Site or Services after this Policy has been amended shall be deemed to be your continued acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Policy, as amended. We encourage you to bookmark this webpage and review this Policy regularly.
12. Your Consent
By using our site, you consent to our privacy policy.