• Privacy Statement for Consumers

• Privacy Statement for Mental Health Professionals

HelpHorizons.com, Inc. is committed to respecting and protecting the privacy of its visitors. This Privacy Statement will describe the information that we collect from our users, the ways to update your information, and how we keep your information private and secure. Future changes to our privacy statement will be announced on the Web site at least one week prior to the effective date of the change.

The only information obtained by this Web site about individual visitors is information that is supplied voluntarily by those visitors. Only statistical information about our members as a group (their usage habits and demographics) may be shared with a partner of HelpHorizons.com.

Because this Web site wants to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices published. This Web site has agreed to notify you of:

• What personally identifiable information of yours or third party personally identification is collected from you through the Web site
• The organization collecting the information
• How the information is used
• With whom the information may be shared
• What choices are available to you regarding collection, use and distribution of the information
• The kind of security procedures that are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under HelpHorizons.com, Inc. control
• How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first call 617-338-2214, or send an e-mail to HHinfo@workplaceoptions.com. 

I. Registration Information

When becoming a registered member of this site, users are asked to provide personal information about themselves. You may add or update any of your information in the "Your Profile" section of the Web site.

Required information consists of:

(1) Username
(2) Password/Confirmation
(3) E-mail address
(4) Date of birth
(5) Gender

Optional information consists of much more detailed information, such as your name, address, phone number, marital status, and parental status. However, none of that personal information is required, and you could opt to withhold all of it and still successfully proceed through the secondary registration process. The only thing you must do to successfully complete this stage of registration is indicate what time zone you are in; the calendar functions of the Web site would not function correctly without this.

Information entered into your profile will be provided to a mental health professional member if you voluntarily choose to enter into a professional relationship with that member through HelpHorizons.com. The required information from your profile is always provided to the professional member upon entering a relationship, while optional information is only sent to those professionals who specifically require it.

All personal information is otherwise private, and will not be made available to any external party, company, other user of the Web site, other person, or other entity in general, without the express consent of the user. The staff of HelpHorizons.com access user information only for legitimate, authorized administrative purposes.

There are three important exceptions to our assurances of confidentiality:

1. United States law requires that any suspicion of risk of child or elder abuse be reported to welfare authorities or law enforcement authorities. If a professional believes that a child or elder is at risk of being abused, has already been abused, or that someone who previously abused children or elders is still a threat, they will often make an effort to report it to social services agencies and/or the police.
2. Most United States courts have the power to subpoena our records and a professional's records if you are involved in a court case in which your relationship with HelpHorizons.com, Inc., or the professional is somehow relevant. Although this may be rare, if you have any questions, it is better to contact your lawyer prior to disclosing any information you may deem private.
3. If someone's life is in danger, the professional may choose to report it. This applies to potential cases of suicide or homicide.

IF YOU ARE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING SUICIDE RIGHT NOW, PLEASE LOG OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND TELEPHONE YOUR LOCAL POLICE OR EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.

II. Cookies

A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, that is sent to your browser from a Web site's computers and stored on your computer's hard drive. Each web site can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a Web site to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites. HelpHorizons.com's cookie usage is not tied in with any personally identifiable information.

HelpHorizons.com uses cookies to:

• Store your user ID on your computer, to allow an integrated login to the message board software. This cookie is stored only while your Web browser is open and is removed when you close your Web browsing software.
• Record that you were referred to our site by one of our select partner sites. This cookie is stored in order to appropriately reimburse our partner sites for the referral.

Choices about cookies:

• You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. (Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.)
• You may reject all cookies sent to you by HelpHorizons.com without experiencing any loss of Web site functionality.

III. Security Procedures

HelpHorizons.com uses strict security measures to safeguard your privacy.

• All users, including consumers, professionals, and staff of HelpHorizons.com, are required to login to access the site's main functionality and services. The login is protected by Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology.
• All information collected by HelpHorizons.com is stored in a secured database in a locked, secured facility monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by full-time, trained security personnel. The computer servers are furthermore locked in a secure cabinet which is physically accessible to authorized personnel only. Electronic access to the servers is available only through a virtual private network and the network is further protected by a monitored firewall.
• Secure e-mail and chat sessions between mental health professionals and users takes place behind several layers of security, including SSL encryption technology.
• Teleconferencing takes advantage of Microsoft NetMeeting, which is also capable of encrypted communications.
• Data files are monitored by systems to protect the availability and integrity of all data stored within our databases.
• Users are automatically logged off of their accounts after a timeout period has been reached.
• HelpHorizons.com does not allow users to automatically save (or cache) login information onto their computers (although a user's Web browser may provide such an option that is beyond our control).

IV. Updating and Reviewing Your Personal Information

You can update your personal information yourself through the "Your Profile" link found at the top right corner of the Web site. Because we do everything we can to keep your information confidential, we cannot change it for you. As stated earlier, HelpHorizons.com staff members only have access to your "primary" information. Furthermore, staff members with access to any user information must read and understand this privacy agreement, and are subject to immediate termination in the event that they violate it in any manner.

If you want to un-register from HelpHorizons.com completely, please send an e-mail to HHinfo@workplaceoptions.com containing your first and last name, date of birth, and the de-registration request, and we will promptly delete your profile from our records. However, please be aware that any mental health professionals with whom you have begun a relationship through this Web site will still have your information in their personal records.

If you forget your password, send an e-mail stating that to HHinfo@workplaceoptions.com. We will e-mail your username and password to the e-mail address you used for registration.

V. Newsletter

HelpHorizons.com offers a newsletter to its users, to occasionally (not more than once a month) inform them of updates, changes, and news about the company and our services. Users may choose to subscribe to this newsletter at the time of their registration, or opt-out of subscribing to it. Subscription to the newsletter is voluntary and limited only to information published directly by HelpHorizons.com; your subscription is not used to market other services from any other party outside of HelpHorizons.com.

Users may unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time by choosing the "Your Profile" link found at the bottom of the Web site or by choosing "Edit my Profile" on the HelpHorizons.com homepage once logged in. Then choose "Edit my General Profile." There is a checkbox on this screen that allows you to subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time. Alternatively, you can also send an email to Customer Service with your request to be unsubscribed.

VI. Chat Rooms and Message Boards

Any information that is posted within chat rooms, message boards, or any other public areas may be seen by third parties and is not controlled by HelpHorizons.com. Any links to a third party from our site is not subject to our policy. Please refer to the privacy policies on each of these sites before entering any information about yourself.

VII. Payment Information

If you choose to contact a mental health professional through HelpHorizons.com, you will be presented with that professional's personal brochure and fee agreement. If that professional prefers to be paid via credit or check card, you will be asked to supply your credit or check card information at that time. Your credit or check card is processed directly through HelpHorizons.com, which uses a third-party verification and billing system (Cybercash) in order to bill the appropriate charge to your account. The only information shared with this third-party billing system is your name, account number, expiration date on the card, and charge amount. Neither HelpHorizons.com nor Cybercash will use this information for any purpose other than that of processing these transactions. All charges will appear on your statement as "HelpHorizons.com, Inc." Professionals within the HelpHorizons.com network are then reimbursed directly from their HelpHorizons.com account. This allows you to interact with multiple professionals within the HelpHorizons.com network and never worry about having to share your personal financial information with more than one person. We take care of all the billing through your single HelpHorizons.com account.

VIII. Log Files

HelpHorizons.com maintains log files which collect visitor information pertaining to a user's visit on the HelpHorizons.com Web site. These log files contain statistical data used to analyze traffic patterns, specifically the user's Internet Protocol (IP) address, the date and time of the visit, the file requested by the user, the size of the file requested by the user, the status of the request (e.g., whether the request was successfully served by our Web server software), and the referring URL which generated the request. This data is not tied in with any personally identifiable information and is used in aggregate form only.

IX. Third Party Relationships

HelpHorizons.com maintains relationships with a variety of third-party business partners, including MedCareers.com, FTD.com, and Amazon.com.

MedCareers.com
MedCareers.com is HelpHorizons.com's jobs partner in our Virtual Office area. This partnership provides HelpHorizons.com's users access to MedCareers.com's database of professional jobs in the behavioral healthcare industry. The only information exchanged with MedCareers.com is the user's HelpHorizons.com username and password, to authenticate the user on the MedCareers.com Web site.

Amazon.com
Amazon.com is HelpHorizons.com's books partner in our ShopHorizons area. This partnership provides HelpHorizons.com's users access to Amazon.com's catalog of books and related items. The only information exhcanged with Amazon.com is that the user has come from HelpHorizons.com in accessing their site. HelpHorizons.com receives a small referral fee if the user then proceeds to make a purchase at Amazon.com.

X. Notification of Changes

If we are going to use your personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify you via email. You will have a choice as to whether or not we use your information in this different manner. In addition, if we make any material changes in our privacy practices that do not affect user information already stored in our database, we will post a prominent notice on our web site notifying users of the change. In some cases where we post the notice we will also email users, who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of the changes in our privacy practices.

XI. Contacting HelpHorizons.com

At any time when a user contacts HelpHorizons.com to make a query, suggestion, or comment, the user will not be subject to receiving any communications other than the response(s) to the initial question or comment, unless specifically requested by the user (e.g., no user will ever be defaulted into receiving any secondary or promotional material as a result of the contact). If you have any questions about HelpHorizon.com's Privacy Statement, the practices of this Web site, or your dealings with this Web site, you may contact us:

Chief Privacy Officer
HelpHorizons.com, Inc.
HHinfo@workplaceoptions.com

The following is an overview of how HelpHorizons.com utilizes a mental health professional's personal and practice information.

A mental health professional's personal information (for example, his or her home address, credit card number, etc.) will never be sold to or shared with a third party, unless that professional expressly gives us the permission to do so (and, in fact, HelpHorizons.com currently does not ask for that permission in any way). It is available only to the staff of HelpHorizons.com, and will be used only for administrative purposes.

A professional's practice information (specifically, his or her name, gender, work address, work phone number, professional degrees, and bio - nothing more) will be made available to the general public through our directory of professionals. HelpHorizons.com, Inc. considers placement in the directory to be one of the primary benefits of being a member of this Web site, as well as an integral part of the way this Web site functions. Mental health professionals that object to the posting of their practice information online should not become members of HelpHorizons.com.

There is one exception to our assurances of confidentiality: HelpHorizons.com reserves the right to submit a mental health professional's personal and practice information to a professional background-checking organization. We do so to protect our consumer users, which is understandably this Company's chief concern. The organization to whom we submit this information will, like HelpHorizons.com, not sell or share it with any other party in any way. If you would like to know the name or other information about any background-checking organizations we use, refer to the contact information at the end of this document.

Employees of HelpHorizons.com that have access to our member's records must read and abide by this Privacy Statement, and are subject to immediate termination in the event that they violate it in any manner.

Because this Web site wants to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices published. This Web site has agreed to notify you of:

• What personally identifiable information of yours or third party personally identification is collected from you through the Web site
• The organization collecting the information
• How the information is used
• With whom the information may be shared
• What choices are available to you regarding collection, use and distribution of the information
• The kind of security procedures that are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under HelpHorizons.com, Inc. control
• How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first call 617-338-2214, or send an e-mail to HHinfo@workplaceoptions.com. 

I. Registration

For a mental health professional to register for a Virtual Office, he or she must provide certain information to HelpHorizons.com. This includes:

(1) Username
(2) Password/Verification of Password
(3) Full Name
(4) Gender
(5) Date of birth
(6) Social Security number
(7) Fax number
(8) E-mail address
(9) Home address
(10) Phone number
(11) Work address (if different than one above)
(12) Work phone number (if different than the one above)
(13) State license number
(14) License renewal date
(15) Malpractice insurance carrier
(16) Insurance policy number
(17) Policy expiration date
(18) Professional degree(s), year(s) received, and granting institution(s).

After a professional has been approved for use of a Virtual Office, he or she is guided through a second stage of "registration" - the customization of his or her Office, and the process of setting up an account with HelpHorizons.com. This involves providing HelpHorizons.com with credit card information (which we will use to bill the professional after the end of their free trial), creating a "bio" that consumers can access, customizing the Office's billing features, and other steps of that nature.

A professional automatically receives welcome/instructional e-mails when registering, and when granted a Virtual Office.

II. Cookies

A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, that is sent to your browser from a Web site's computers and stored on your computer's hard drive. Each web site can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a Web site to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites. HelpHorizons.com's cookie usage is not tied in with any personally identifiable information.

HelpHorizons.com uses cookies to:

• Store your user ID on your computer, to allow an integrated login to the message board software. This cookie is stored only while your Web browser is open and is removed when you close your Web browsing software.
• Record that you were referred to our site by one of our select partner sites. This cookie is stored in order to appropriately reimburse our partner sites for the referral.

Choices about cookies:

• You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. (Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.)
• You may reject all cookies sent to you by HelpHorizons.com without experiencing any loss of Web site functionality.

III. Security Procedures

HelpHorizons.com uses strict security measures to safeguard your privacy.

• All users, including consumers, professionals, and staff of HelpHorizons.com, are required to login to access the site's main functionality and services. The login is protected by Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology.
• All information collected by HelpHorizons.com is stored in a secured database in a locked, secured facility monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by full-time, trained security personnel. The computer servers are furthermore locked in a secure cabinet which is physically accessible to authorized personnel only. Electronic access to the servers is available only through a virtual private network and the network is further protected by a monitored firewall.
• Secure e-mail and chat sessions between mental health professionals and users takes place behind several layers of security, including SSL encryption technology.
• Teleconferencing takes advantage of Microsoft NetMeeting, which is also capable of encrypted communications.
• Data files are monitored by automated systems to protect the availability and integrity of all data stored within our databases.
• Users are automatically logged off of their accounts after a timeout period has been reached.
• HelpHorizons.com does not allow users to automatically save (or cache) login information onto their computers (although a user's Web browser may provide such an option that is beyond our control).

IV. Updating/Reviewing Your Personal Information

You can update your information yourself through the "Customize" link found at the top right corner of the Web site. If you ever forget your password, you can call us and we will (after confirming your identity) give you a new one.

V. Newsletter

HelpHorizons.com offers a newsletter to its users, to occasionally (not more than once a month) inform them of updates, changes, and news about the company and our services. Users may choose to subscribe to this newsletter at the time of their registration, or opt-out of subscribing to it. Subscription to the newsletter is voluntary and limited only to information published directly by HelpHorizons.com; your subscription is not used to market other services from any other party outside of HelpHorizons.com.

Users may unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time by choosing the "Customize" link found at the top right corner of the Web site or by choosing "Edit my Profile" on the Virtual Office homepage once logged in. Then choose "General Profile." There is a checkbox on this screen that allows you to subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time. Alternatively, you can also send an email to Customer Service with your request to be unsubscribed.

VI. Chat Rooms and Message Boards

Any information that is posted within chat rooms, message boards, or any other public areas may be seen by third parties and is not controlled by HelpHorizons.com. Any links to a third party from our site is not subject to our policy. Please refer to the Privacy policies on each of these sites before entering any information about yourself.

VII. Payment Information

Your credit or check card is processed directly through HelpHorizons.com, which uses a third-party verification and billing system (Cybercash) in order to bill the appropriate charge to your account. The only information shared with this third-party billing system is your name, account number, expiration date on the card, and charge amount. Neither HelpHorizons.com nor Cybercash will use this information for any purpose other than that of processing these transactions. Payments are billed to a user's credit or check card account from "HelpHorizons.com, Inc."

VIII. Log Files

HelpHorizons.com maintains log files which collect visitor information pertaining to a user's visit on the HelpHorizons.com Web site. These log files contain statistical data used to analyze traffic patterns, specifically the user's Internet Protocol (IP) address, the date and time of the visit, the file requested by the user, the size of the file requested by the user, the status of the request (e.g., whether the request was successfully served by our Web server software), and the referring URL which generated the request. This data is not tied in with any personally identifiable information and is used in aggregate form only.

IX. Third Party Relationships

HelpHorizons.com maintains relationships with a variety of third-party business partners, including MedCareers.com, FTD.com, and Amazon.com.

MedCareers.com
MedCareers.com is HelpHorizons.com's jobs partner in our Virtual Office area. This partnership provides HelpHorizons.com's users access to MedCareers.com's database of professional jobs in the behavioral healthcare industry. The only information exchanged with MedCareers.com is the user's HelpHorizons.com username and password, to authenticate the user on the MedCareers.com Web site.

FTD.com
FTD.com is HelpHorizons.com's flowers partner in our ShopHorizons area. This partnership provides HelpHorizons.com's users access to FTD.com's catalog of flowers and related gifts. The only information exchanged with FTD.com is that the user has come from HelpHorizons.com in accessing their site. HelpHorizons.com receives a small referral fee if the user then proceeds to make a purchase at FTD.com.

Amazon.com
Amazon.com is HelpHorizons.com's books partner in our ShopHorizons area. This partnership provides HelpHorizons.com's users access to Amazon.com's catalog of books and related items. The only information exhcanged with Amazon.com is that the user has come from HelpHorizons.com in accessing their site. HelpHorizons.com receives a small referral fee if the user then proceeds to make a purchase at Amazon.com.

X. Notification of Changes

If we are going to use your personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify you via email. You will have a choice as to whether or not we use your information in this different manner. In addition, if we make any material changes in our privacy practices that do not affect user information already stored in our database, we will post a prominent notice on our web site notifying users of the change. In some cases where we post the notice we will also email users, who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of the changes in our privacy practices.

XI. Contacting HelpHorizons.com

At any time when a user contacts HelpHorizons.com to make a query, suggestion, or comment, the user will not be subject to receiving any communications other than the response(s) to the initial question or comment, unless specifically requested by the user (e.g., no user will ever be defaulted into receiving any secondary or promotional material as a result of the contact). If you have any questions about HelpHorizon.com's Privacy Statement, the practices of this Web site, or your dealings with this Web site, you may contact us:

Chief Privacy Officer
HelpHorizons.com, Inc.
HHinfo@workplaceoptions.com

Last updated: August 14, 2001

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