Sleep Apnea Matters (web address: https://sleepapneamatters.com) is dedicated to raising awareness about the debilitating and sometimes deadly health consequences of sleep apnea. This policy explains our privacy practices.
What personal data we collect and why we collect it
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the blog posts on our site we collect the data submitted in the comment form along with the visitor’s IP address (unique Internet Protocol address assigned by an ISP or internet service provider) and certain details regarding the web browser used.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Contact forms
We collect name, email address and message text through our contact form if our visitors choose to use it. We do not sell, rent or otherwise share this information with third parties.
Newsletter registration
Our newsletter registration form collects names and email addresses. This allows us to distribute articles and promotional materials that may be of interest to our users. Subscribers can opt out of these communications at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in each email we send.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt to have your name, email address and website name and URL saved in cookies. This is for your convenience so you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies expire after one year.
Analytics
We use analytics software to track visitor trends on our site to learn how to better serve our users. The data tracked does not include personally-identifiable information.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
If you sign up for our newsletter, your name and email address is retained until you opt out, at which time your data is deleted from our newsletter distribution list.
What rights you have over your data
If you have submitted comments or signed up for our newsletter, you can request to receive an exported file containing that information. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you.
Where we send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
We use a third-party email distribution service to deliver our newsletter. We gather statistics regarding email-recipient activity such as email openings and clicks using industry standard technologies to help us improve. For more information, please see Mailchimp’s privacy policy.
How we protect your data
When one of our submission forms is used (e.g., blog comments, newsletter sign-up or webmail) we protect the information submitted by encrypting it. We deploy TLS or Transport Layer Security (formerly SSL, Secure Socket Layer) between our server and the user’s browser to ensure privacy.
Also, all information received is stored securely behind a firewall with access limited to internal personnel.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If we change our Privacy Policy we will post the changes to this online notice. If we make material changes we will notify you by email or by means of a notice on our home page at least thirty (30) days prior to the implementation of the changes.
March 12, 2019