Privacy Policy
Last Updated: February 20, 2024
Privacy Policy
Timko Counseling Services, LLC (“TCS”, “we”) and the Couples Counseling Center (“CCC”, “we”) value your privacy. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how TCS and CCC collect, use, and disclose information obtained about our visitors to our website (the “Site”) and the services available through our Site (the “Services”), and how we use and disclose that information. The TCS/CCC Services have been developed for mental health providers (“Providers”) and for clients who have subscribed to the Services (“Clients”) to provide Clients with information about TCS/CCC services and provides a means to schedule appointments.
We understand the importance of a Client’s relationship with his or her mental health care providers and the importance of keeping your Personal Information private. Personal information identifies you as an individual, such as your name, treatment plan, social security number, postal address, email address, date of birth, and telephone number (“Personal Information”).
This Privacy Policy describes our practices in connection with information that we collect through your use of the Services and through the Site. You can visit the Site at any time without providing Personal Information, however, the Site may collect information about your visit automatically as described below in the Information We Collect Automatically section. By using the Services and/or the Site, you agree to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.
What Personal Information do we collect about you and why do we collect it?
Personal Information we collect from Clients and Authorized Caregivers
We may collect information about you in a variety of ways. The information we may collect on this Site includes:
Personal Data
Personally identifiable information, such as your name and email address may be voluntarily provided by the user for the purpose of being notified of our online message boards, and subscription to newsletters and promotional emails. You are under no obligation to provide us with your personal information of any kind, however, your refusal to do so may prevent you from using certain features of this Site. Please note that TCS/CCC has established Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) with external sites that, at your option, can be used to schedule an appointment or collect initial intake data on the client. See sections below for non-personal data that is collected.
Comments
Currently, this site does not collect Client comments. When/if visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. All Site comments are strictly moderated to ensure that no PHI is exposed from Site users or Providers. Comments can and will be deleted immediately if they are found to contain PHI or Personal Information. Client names would constitute PHI and would be removed from any moderated comments.
What is Personal Health Information?
“Protected Health Information” or PHI is individually identifiable health information which is created or received by or on behalf of a covered entity (for example, a health care provider or health plan) and which relates to the past, present or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual, the provision of health care to an individual, or the past, present or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual. Protected Health Information is further defined by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and is subject to the protections of HIPAA.
TCS/CCC does not collect Protected Health Information on this Site.
“Additional Health Information” is a subset of Health Information that does not fall within the category of PHI above. Examples of Additional Health Information follow:
- information related to past, present or future physical or mental health or conditions, the provision of health care to an individual;
- the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual but with the difference that such information was not created or received by us from or on behalf of a covered entity
TCS/CCC does not collect Additional Health Information on this Site.
Non-Personal Information We Collect Automatically
We may automatically collect the following information about your use of our Site or Services through cookies, web beacons, and other technologies including the following:
- your domain name;
- your browser type and operating system;
- web pages you view;
- links you click;
- your IP address;
- the length of time you visit our Site or use our Services;
- the URL that referred you to our Site, or the webpage that led you to our Site, and the following:
- access time, browser type, device ID, domain name, IP address, page views, and referring URL.
We also may collect the following information about your use of the Application:
- mobile device ID;
- location and language information;
- device name and model;
- operating system type, name, and version; and
- your activities within the Site.
We may combine this information with other information that we have collected about you, including, where applicable, your user name, name, and other personal information. Please see the Cookies Disclaimer on this Site for more information.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Our Use of Non-Cookie Tracking Mechanisms
Third-Party Analytics
We use automated devices and applications, such as Google Analytics, to evaluate usage of our Site and, to the extent permitted, our Applications. We also may use other analytic means to evaluate our Services. We use these tools to help us improve our Services, performance, and user experiences. These entities may use cookies and other tracking technologies to perform their services. We do not share your personal information with these third parties. With respect to Google Analytics specifically, we may collect some or all of the following information about your use of our Site and Applications, and we may be able to connect this information to other information we have about you:
We use automated devices and applications, such as Google Analytics, to evaluate usage of our Site and, to the extent permitted, our Applications. We also may use other analytic means to evaluate our Services. We use these tools to help us improve our Services, performance, and user experiences. These entities may use cookies and other tracking technologies to perform their services. We do not share your personal information with these third parties. With respect to Google Analytics specifically, we may collect some or all of the following information about your use of our Site and Applications, and we may be able to connect this information to other information we have about you:
- Pages visited, time of visit, and time spent on each page of the webpages
- Type of web browser
- Type of operating system (OS)
- Screen resolution
- IP address
Third-Party Links
Our Site and Services may contain links to third-party websites. Any access to and use of such linked websites is not governed by this Policy, but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third-party websites. We are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites.
Our Site and Services may contain links to third-party websites. Any access to and use of such linked websites is not governed by this Policy, but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third-party websites. We are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites.
Security of Personal Information
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect Personal Information under our control, and Protected Health Information is specifically per the HIPAA rules. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or data storage system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure (for example, if you feel that the security of any account you might have with us has been compromised), please immediately notify us of the problem by contacting us at ctimko@timkocounseling.com.
Access to My Personal Information
You may contact us directly if you would like to review, correct, update, delete or otherwise limit our use of your Personal Information that has been previously provided to us by sending us an email at ctimko@timkocounseling.com. In your request, please make clear what information you would like to have changed, whether you would like to have your Personal Information deleted from our database or otherwise let us know what limitations you would like to put on our use of your Personal Information. We will try to comply with your request as soon as reasonably practicable.
Please note that in order to comply with certain requests to limit use of your Personal Information we may need to terminate your account with us and your ability to access and use the Services, and you agree that we will not be liable to you for such termination. Although we will use reasonable efforts to do so, you understand that it may not be technologically possible to remove from our systems every record of your Personal Information. The need to back up our systems to protect information from inadvertent loss means a copy of your Personal Information may exist in a non-erasable form that will be difficult or impossible for us to locate or remove. We will retain your Personal Information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or allowed by law.
Children Under 16
The Services are not permitted for use by individuals under the age of sixteen (16) unless they have provided the written consent of their parents or legal guardians, and we request that these individuals do not provide Personal Information to us.
Changes to this Policy
This Policy is current as of the Effective Date set forth above. We may change this Policy from time to time, so please be sure to check back periodically. We will post any changes to this Policy on our Site, at www.couplescounselingcenter.online. Any change to this Privacy Policy will be effective for all information that we maintain, even information in existence before the change. Your use of the Site following these changes means that you accept the revised Privacy Policy.
Contacting TCS/CCC
If you have questions about the privacy aspects of our Services or would like to make a complaint about our compliance with this Privacy Policy, you may contact us at ctimko@timkocounseling.com, by calling (304) 534-8227, or at our mailing address: Timko Counseling Services, LLC. 726 E. Park Drive, #213, Fairmont, WV 26554.