Your privacy

In this section
Our privacy commitment
The information we collect and how we use it
Cookies
External links
Security
Your consent

Protecting your privacy is extremely important to us. We want you to feel comfortable using BestTreatments. Please take a few minutes to read our privacy policy.

Our privacy commitment

We will make every effort to protect your privacy by always using a high level of site security and sticking to strict company policies on how we store and use personal information.
When we ask for personal information, we will say clearly why we need the information and how we will use it.
We will never release, trade, sell or rent your personal information to any person, business, health organisation or other entity, except where this is to our third party contractors, bound by duties of confidentiality, or where we forward enquiries that can be more appropriately dealt with by NHS Direct.

The information we collect and how we use it

When you visit BestTreatments, an IP address is assigned to your computer through your Internet service provider (ISP). This may be the same or different each time you visit BestTreatments. Each time your computer receives information from BestTreatments your IP address is recorded on our server. We use these IP addresses to find out general information about how BestTreatments is used. We may track and keep a record of the pages you visit. We can't identify you from your IP address, but we can find out whether you are accessing BestTreatments from the UK.

We collect this information to get an idea of how people are using BestTreatments and which are the popular topics. This helps us improve what we offer on BestTreatments.

Searching

Our search tool allows you to type in words and phrases to track down information on conditions, treatments and symptoms. We keep a record of how visitors use the search tool. For example, we will note the phrases or the words you enter into the search box. We collect these records to learn how people search for information and find ways of improving the search tool. We will never link these search records to any other details about users.

Contacting us

We welcome your comments and questions. We will reply or forward your message to NHS Direct if appropriate. The message you send and the reply you get from us will not be encrypted. In the unlikely event that your email message is looked at by someone while it is travelling between your computer and us, this person will be able to read your message. When we get an email from you, we will store your email address and question in a secure way. We will never let anyone outside our organisation, other than our contractors and NHS Direct (who are all bound by duties of confidentiality), read your emails.

Access to BestTreatments is dependent on session cookies. When you access BestTreatments a temporary cookie is installed on your computer, showing that you are allowed to use BestTreatments. Cookies are small text files that are saved by your web browser and mean you can move around the site without having to sign in each time you look at a different page. We cannot tell who you are from these cookies. They simply tell us whether pages are being looked at by the same person or different people.

The cookies we use are session cookies, so they disappear when you exit your web browser.

Most browsers allow users to control cookies, including whether or not to accept them, and how to remove them. If you disable cookies on your computer you won't be able to use some of the more sophisticated features of BestTreatments.

More information about cookies can be found at http://www.aboutcookies.org.

External links

Occasionally, you will see links to websites that are not part of BestTreatments. Please remember that when you go to one of these sites, you are subject to that site's privacy policy and not to ours. You may wish to check the privacy policy for each site you visit.

Security

The information we collect about people visiting the site is stored in a secure place that no one else can get to. We have systems in place to protect data. One such system is called a firewall. It is a barrier that allows only permitted traffic through. It safeguards our computer systems and your information. We also use system logs and application logs to track all access. We review these logs regularly and investigate anything unusual.

'Perfect' security does not exist on the Internet, so despite our best efforts we cannot guarantee the security of the information you give to us online.

Your consent

When you visit BestTreatments, you consent to the use of any data we collect as set out in this policy. We may change our privacy policy from time to time so we recommend that you check this policy regularly.

If you have any questions, please contact us.