Solution Method Privacy

Your privacy and the security of any personal information you share through your membership activities on our site are very important to those of the at the Institute for Health Solutions. It is essential that you feel safe in your relationship with The Institute and with your relationship to other members on our website. We do not have advertising on our site and we do not share or sell Personally Identifying Information with those other than our Certified Solution Providers, Provisionally Certified Solution Providers, our staff at the Institute for Health Solutions and Sweetest Fruit Press and consultants of those organization for evaluation or research purposes.

Instant Connection

Any information you input into the instant connection, is never shared with anyone. When you move to the next screen, this information is erased. There is complete privacy in the instant connection.

Self-Test

When you complete the self-test, this information, likewise, is immediately deleted and not shared with anyone. There is complete privacy in the self-test.

Member Discussion Boards

No identifying information is posted. The only time that the name you use for posting is identified with the individual who posts is when that posting involves a safety violation, in which case an institute for health solutions staff member will contact you.

We Do Not Share

It is important to us that you know that our intention is not to share any information that is personal to you. Our website is private, with only those who are active in Solution Training and Institute for Health Solutions staff members posting on it. Posts are monitored for adherence to safety guidelines and all postings are anonymous in that your full name or other identifying information is not disclosed. We are dedicated to protecting the privacy of those who visit our website. This Privacy Policy governs the United States website operated by us (our "Website") and explains how we collect your personal information on our Website, how we protect such information, and the choices you have concerning the use of such information. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. Except as The Institute for Health Solutions and Sweetest Fruit Press (collectively, "we", "us", or "our") disclose in this Privacy Policy, we will not sell, share, license, trade, or rent your personal information to others.

We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post any changes to this Privacy Policy here so that you will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether we will disclose that information to anyone. Please refer back to this Privacy Policy on a regular basis. By using our Website , you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Please remember that this Privacy Policy applies only to information collected by our Website. We are not responsible for the privacy of any information you reveal or post in any of our discussion boards or through contact with Solution Providers, Institute for Health Solutions staff or members through The Buddy List ).

What Information About Me is Collected on Our Website?

We collect two types of information: personally identifiable information and non-personally identifiable information.

Personally Identifiable Information

Personally identifiable information is information that identifies you or can be used to identify or contact you ("Personally Identifiable Information"). Such Personally Identifiable Information may include your name, address, email address, telephone number, invoice history for services and products and billing and credit card information. We may request Personally Identifiable Information from you when you order materials or enroll in services offered through our Website. In these cases, we will collect Personally Identifiable Information from you only if you voluntarily submit such information to us. It is not our practice to sell, share, license, trade or rent your personally identifiable information other than as specified in this Privacy Policy. You do not have to provide us with any Personally Identifiable Information to visit our Website. However, if you choose to withhold requested information, you may not be able to visit all sections of our Website, order our products or enroll in our services.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information

When you become a registered user of our Website, subscribe to one of our current Online Products, or in connection with other Online Products we may make available on our Website from time to time, we also may collect information that by itself cannot be used to identify or contact you, such as demographic information (like age, profession or gender) and health information (like current weight) ("Non-Personally Identifiable Information"). Non-Personally Identifiable Information may also include user IP addresses, browser types, domain names, and other anonymous statistical data involving the use of our Website. Non-Personally Identifiable Information is used to help us understand who uses our Website and to improve and market our Website in general and our Online Products in particular.

Where and When is Information Collected on Our Website?

We may collect information (including information that is Personally Identifiable Information) from you in different manners and at different places and times on our Website, such as when you purchase products or enroll in services. The following is a description of the areas and/or manners in which we primarily collect information about you.

Becoming a Registered User and Subscription

In order to access certain products such as Solution Kits and Solution Mini-Group Programs or enroll in services such as coaching, telegroups and orientations, or to use the Group Finder, you must first complete certain steps. During these steps, you may be required to provide us with information (including Personally Identifiable Information) such as name, zip code and email address, and, if you purchase one of our products or services, credit card and billing information. This information is used to help us understand who uses our Website, to improve our Website and services and products and/or for subscription billing purposes. It is optional for you to provide evaluation and demographic information (such as gender, age and educational level) but providing this information is encouraged so we can provide a more personalized experience on our Website, as well as through our products and services.

Public Forums: The Solution Buddy List, Discussion Boards, Solution Circles, Groups and TeleGroups

We feature public forums such as discussion boards, a Buddy List and other similar activities where you and other users of our Website can communicate with one another. Enrollment in groups, telegroups and circles supported through our Website involve personal contact and sharing of Personally Identifiable Information as well. THIS PRIVACY POLICY DOES NOT PROTECT YOU WHEN YOU USE OUR PUBLIC FORUMS OR PROVIDE INFORMATION (INCLUDING PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION) ABOUT YOURSELF THROUGH THESE PUBLIC FORUMS. You should be aware that any information shared in a public forum such as a Solution Buddy List, Discussion Boards, Solution Circles, Groups and TeleGroups may be seen or collected by third parties that do not adhere to our Privacy Policy. You should think carefully before disclosing any information in any public forum that you can access through our Website.

Log Files

We also collect Non-Personally Identifiable Information through our Internet log files, which record data such as user IP addresses, browser types, domain names, and other anonymous statistical data involving the use of our Website. This information may be used to analyze trends, to administer the Website, to monitor our Website's use, and to gather general demographic information. We may link this information to Personally Identifiable Information for these and other purposes such as personalizing your experience on our Website and evaluating our Online Products in general.

Email or Refer a Friend

Through our referral tools for informing a friend about our Website,we will automatically send your friend a one-time email containing the information you request to be sent. If you elect to use these referral tools, we will collect from you certain Personally Identifiable Information about your friend which you have provided, such as your friend's name and email address.

Does Our Website Collect Information from Children Under 13 Years of Age?

We are committed to protecting the privacy of children. Our Website is not designed for or directed to children under the age of 13. We do not collect Personally Identifiable Information from any person we actually know is under the age of 13. We urge all parents or guardians to participate in their children's exploration of the Internet, and to teach their children about protecting their personal information while online.

What Does Our Website Do With the Information It Collects?

In general, we use the information collected on our Website to help us understand who uses our Website and how it is used, to personalize your online experience, to assist you in using our Online Products, to improve our Website, and for subscription billing purposes, if applicable.

If you become a registered user of our Website or subscribe to one of our Online Products, we may use your information to send you a welcoming email that may confirm your user name and password. If you "opt-in" we may send you electronic newsletters, contact you about Institute for Health Solutions products, services, information and news that may be of interest to you, and provide you with targeted feedback. If you no longer desire to receive these communications, we will provide you with the option to change your preferences. In addition, if you identify yourself to us by sending us an email with questions or comments, we may use your information (including Personally Identifiable Information) to respond to your questions or comments, and we may file your questions or comments for future reference. We may also use the information collected to send you important service announcements and updates regarding our Website or Online Products or, if you are a subscriber, about your billing account status. You will not be able to unsubscribe from these service announcements and updates as they contain important information relevant to your use of our Website and/or our Online Products.

We may also use the information gathered on our Website to perform statistical analysis of user behavior, to analyze and evaluate issues relating to nutrition, weight loss, behavior and fitness, or to evaluate and improve our Online Products. We may link some of this information to Personally Identifiable Information for internal purposes only or to assist you in your personal weight loss efforts.

When Does Our Website Disclose Information to Third Parties?

Except as set forth in this Privacy Policy or as specifically agreed to by you, we will not disclose any information we gather from you on our Website.

Affiliates

We may disclose information (including Personally Identifiable Information) about you to our Certified Solution Providers, such as letting them know that there are people in their community who are interested in becoming involved in Solution Training. For purposes of this Privacy Policy, "Affiliates" means any person or entity which directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by or is under common control with The Institute for Health Solutions. Any information relating to you that we provide to our Affiliates will be treated by those Affiliates in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Laws and Legal Rights

We may also disclose your information (including Personally Identifiable Information) if we believe in good faith that we are required to do so in order to comply with an applicable statute, regulation, rule or law, a subpoena, a search warrant, a court or regulatory order, or other valid legal process. We may disclose Personally Identifiable Information in special circumstances when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be violating our safety guidelines or to protect the safety and/or security of our users, our Website or the general public.

Third Parties

We may provide to third parties information about you that does not allow you to be identified or contacted, including where such information is combined with similar information of other users of our Website. For example, we might inform third parties regarding the number of participants who visit our site or who are currently involved in training in each Solution Kit. The third parties to which we may provide this information may be organizations that are considering offering The Solution, researchers who are interested in obtaining grant funding to study program effectiveness or evaluate the use of the method with different populations or in different settings, to the company that publishes training materials, Sweetest Fruit Press, and other similar parties.

Outside Contractors

We may employ independent contractors, vendors and suppliers (collectively, "Outside Contractors") to provide specific services and products related to our Website, such as hosting and maintaining our chat rooms, providing credit card processing and fraud screening, and developing applications for our Website and e-mail services. These Outside Contractors may sometimes have limited access to information collected on our Website, including your Personally Identifiable Information, in the course of providing products or services to us. Access to your Personally Identifiable Information by these contractors is limited to the information reasonably necessary in order for the Outside Contractors to perform their limited function for us. We also require that these contractors (I) protect the privacy of your Personally Identifiable Information consistent with this Privacy Policy, and (ii) not use or disclose your Personally Identifiable Information for any purpose other than providing us with products or services for which we contracted.

Third Party Sellers

We do not offer you products or services through a third party sellers.

Transfer of Our Organization

We reserve the right to transfer information to a third party in the event of a transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of The Institute for Health Solutions or Sweetest Fruit Press provided that the third party agrees to adhere to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Does This Privacy Policy Apply When I Link to Other Websites?

We do not link to other sites.

Is the Information Collected on Our Website Secure?

We want your information (including Personally Identifiable Information) to remain as secure as possible. We strive to provide secure transmission of your information from your computer to our servers through industry-standard techniques. To help ensure the integrity and privacy of the Personally Identifiable Information you provide to us via the Internet at the time you elect to become a registered user or subscribe to our Online Products, we use Secured Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology in transmitting such Personally Identifiable Information over the Internet to our servers. We secure the Personally Identifiable Information you provide on servers located in controlled, secure environments, protected from unauthorized access, use, or alteration. Only employees who need access to your information to perform a specific task or function are granted access to such information. In addition, all Institute for Health Solutions employees and providers and all Sweetest Fruit Press employees must abide by this Privacy Policy and are kept up-to-date on security practices. Any employee or provider who violates this Privacy Policy is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Notwithstanding the above commitments to protect your information (including Personally Identifiable Information) from loss, misuse or alteration by third parties, you should be aware that there is always some risk involved in transmitting information over the Internet. There is also some risk that others could find a way to thwart our security systems. As a result, while we strive to protect your information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security and privacy of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk.

What Choices Do I Have Regarding the Collection, Disclosure and Distribution of Personally Identifiable Information?

Except as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy, we will only use Personally Identifiable Information for the purposes described above or as otherwise disclosed at the time we request such information from you.

Can I Update or Correct My Personally Identifiable Information?

You can always contact us in order to (1) update or correct your Personally Identifiable Information, or (2) change your preferences with respect to communications and other information you receive from us, or Such updates, corrections, changes and deletions will not have an effect on other information that we maintain, or information that we have provided to third-parties in accordance with this Privacy Policy prior to such update, correction, change or deletion.

You should be aware that it is not technologically possible to remove each and every record of the information you have provided to us from our system. The need to back-up our systems to protect information from inadvertent loss means that a copy of your Personally Identifiable Information may exist in a non-erasable form that will be difficult or impossible for us to locate. We promise that promptly after receiving your request, all Personally Identifiable Information stored in databases we actively use and other readily searchable media will be updated, corrected, changed or deleted, as appropriate, as soon as reasonably practicable.

How Will I Become Aware of Any Changes to This Privacy Policy?

If we decide to change this Privacy Policy, we will post those changes on our Website so you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We may also make non-significant changes to our Privacy Policy that generally will not affect our use of your Personally Identifiable Information. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, you should not use our Website.

Who Do I Contact if I Have Any Privacy Questions?

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or feel that we are not abiding by the terms of our posted Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy Coordinator in any of the following ways:

Email our Privacy Coordinator at: operations@thepathway.org or fax our Privacy Coordinator at 415-457-4551.

BY USING OUR WEBSITE, YOU SIGNIFY YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY, YOU SHOULD NOT USE OUR WEBSITE. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF OUR WEBSITE FOLLOWING THE POSTING OF CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY WILL MEAN THAT YOU ACCEPT THOSE CHANGES.

Last modified March 6, 2007