Terms and Conditions of Use,
Legal Disclaimer, and Privacy Statement
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS and CONDITIONS of USE, LEGAL DISCLAIMER, and PRIVACY STATEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE |
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The Birth Survey Terms and Conditions of Use, Legal Disclaimer, and Privacy Statement contain important information about your rights and obligations as a user of TheBirthSurvey.com Website. All visitors to TheBirthSurvey.com Website are being provided access to TheBirthSurvey.com Website free of charge, subject to the following Terms and Conditions of Use. Please read, make sure you understand, and are willing to abide by the following Terms and Conditions of Use. If you have questions, please contact us at info@thebirthsurvey.com.
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| TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE: |
The Birth Survey and TheBirthSurvey.com Website (“Site”) are provided through a cooperative effort of its parent and related organizations, the Grassroots Advocates Committee (“GAC”) of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (“CIMS”), and many staff members and volunteers. As used in these Terms and Conditions of Use (“Terms”), Legal Disclaimer, and Privacy Statement, the terms “Parent and Related Organizations” will mean and include CIMS, GAC, the officers, directors, and staff of these organizations, and all volunteers and consultants associated with the development and maintenance of The Birth Survey and the Site. In order to use the Site, you must first agree to the Terms, Legal Disclaimer, and Privacy Statement. You may not use the Site if you do not accept the Terms. You can accept the Terms by (1) clicking to accept or agree to the Terms or by (2) actually using the Site. You understand and agree that The Birth Survey will treat your use of the Site as acceptance of the Terms, and your acceptance of our Legal Disclaimer and Privacy Statement from that point onwards. You may not use the Site and may not accept the Terms if you are not of legal age to form a binding contract with The Birth Survey, or you are a person barred from using the Site under the laws of the United States or other countries including the country in which you are resident or from which you use the Site. Before you continue, you should print off or save a local copy of the Terms for your records. Changes The Birth Survey may revise and update these Terms at any time. Your continued use of the Site will mean you accept all such changes.
Prohibited Abuses of the Site By filling out The Birth Survey in whole or part and submitting information to this Site, you affirm and agree to the following:
If you violate any of these Terms, your permission to use the Content automatically terminates and you must immediately destroy any copies you have made of any portion of the Content.
If you violate any of the Terms to which you have affirmed and agreed, you will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations, officers, directors, employees, volunteers, agents, licensors, and suppliers from any claim, demand, losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your breach of these Terms, your violation of law or the rights of any third party, or any activity related to your Internet account (including negligent and wrongful conduct). Release If you have a dispute with any other user or visitor to this Site, you release The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations from claims, demands, and damages (actual or consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes. The Site does not provide medical advice The contents of the Site ("Content") are provided for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment from your physician, midwife, or other health professional. Always seek the advice of a licensed healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your pregnancy and any medical condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Site. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor, midwife, or 911 immediately. The Birth Survey does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians, midwives, healthcare facilities, products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned on the Site. Reliance on any information provided by The Birth Survey, the consumers and other persons who have contributed information and opinions to The Birth Surveyor by officer, directors, employees, or volunteers of, or affiliated with CIMS, GAC, or others appearing on this Site at the invitation of The Birth Survey, or other visitors to this Site, is solely at your own risk. The Site may contain health-related or medical-related materials that are sexually explicit. You understand that by using the Site, you may be exposed to materials that you may find offensive, indecent or objectionable and that, in this respect, you use the Site at your own risk. Children's privacy We are committed to protecting the privacy of children. You should be aware that this Site is not intended or designed to attract children under the age of 13. We do not collect information from any person if we actually know that person is a child under the age of 13. Parental Controls and Child Safety Certain material available on the Internet is not appropriate for minors. You should be aware that parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filtering services) are commercially available that may assist you in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. For more information on finding current providers of such protection, visit http://www.getnetwise.org/ , a non-profit group dedicated to providing families and educators with the resources they need for learning about Internet safety, as well as advice on speaking to your children about their actions on the Internet. The Site reflects the opinions of submitters and not the opinion of The Birth Survey You agree to use the Site only for purposes that are permitted by the Terms, and any applicable law, regulation or generally accepted practices or guidelines in the relevant jurisdictions, including any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the United States or other relevant countries. You agree not to access or attempt to access any part of the Site by any means other than through the interface that is provided by The Birth Survey, unless you have been specifically allowed to do so in a separate written agreement with The Birth Survey. You specifically agree not to access or attempt to access any part of the Site through any automated means, including use of scripts, web robots, web spiders, or web crawlers. You agree that you will not engage in any activity that interferes with or disrupts the Site, or the servers and networks that are connected to the Site. You understand that the reviews of providers and facilities on The Birth Survey are written by anonymous members of the general public, and that Content should be considered the opinions of the general public. You understand that The Birth Survey does not dictate the content of reviews and that Content are not official opinions of The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations. You understand that The Birth Survey cannot guarantee that reviewers’ descriptions of providers or facilities are accurate, or that other consumers will agree with the reviewers’ assessments. You understand that material submitted to The Birth Survey is not fact-checked for content accuracy, and that all the material submitted on the Site could not be fact-checked for content accuracy. You understand that except in specific, certain cases, that the Content is updated automatically, and is not reviewed by the Birth Survey or its Parent and Related Organizations. You agree and accept that The Birth Survey does not take responsibility for any false or misleading information published about providers or facilities. You agree that Content is not censored for material that some may find offensive. You understand that The Birth Survey is unable to check material submitted for copyright availability. You agree not to hold The Birth Survey responsible for inaccuracies in Content contained on the Site, nor is the Birth Survey responsible for the negative results of any actions undertaken by an audience member at the suggestion of Content contained on the Site. You acknowledge that The Birth Survey advocates freedom of speech. Use of content Unless you have been specifically permitted to do so in a separate written agreement with The Birth Survey, you agree that you will not reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade or resell any material on the Site for any purpose. The Birth Survey authorizes you to view or download a single copy of the material on the Site solely for your personal, noncommercial use, but only so long as you include the following copyright notice: “Copyright © 2007-2008 TheBirthSurvey.com. All rights reserved.” and all other copyright, trademark, servicemark, and other proprietary rights notices contained on the Site which pertain to the material being copied. Any special rules for the use of certain software and other items accessible on the Site may be included elsewhere within the Site and are incorporated into these Terms by reference. The Content is protected by copyright under both United States and foreign laws. Title to the Content remains with the Site or its licensors. Any use of the Content not expressly permitted by these Terms is a breach of these Terms and may violate copyright, trademark, and other laws. If you violate any of these Terms, your permission to use the Content automatically terminates and you agree to destroy any copies you have made of any portion of the Content immediately. No license Except as authorized in these Terms, you are not being granted a license under any copyright, trademark, service mark, patent, or other intellectual property right in the data or the services, processes, or technology described or contained on this Site. All such rights are retained by The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations. The Birth Survey’s agent for copyright issues relating to this Site is as follows: email: info@motherfriendly.org Attn: Copyright Coordinator Links The Birth Survey may provide links to certain third-party websites. The Birth Survey does not necessarily recommend or endorse the content on any third-party websites. The Birth Survey is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites, websites framed within The Birth Survey Site, or third-party advertisements, and does not make any representations regarding their content or accuracy. Your use of third-party websites is at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such sites. The Birth Survey does not endorse any product advertised on the Site. You may not create framed links to the Site without express permission from The Birth Survey or one of its Parent and Related Organizations. Trade names, trademarks, service marks, etc. The names and logos of The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations and all related service names, designs, marks, and slogans are the trademarks and/or service marks of The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations respectively and/or collectively. You are not authorized to use any such names, logos, designs, marks, or slogans in any advertising, publicity, or in any other commercial manner without the prior written consent of The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations. Requests for authorization should be submitted to info@thebirthsurvey.com . License to The Birth Survey All data submitted to The Birth Survey shall be deemed and remain the property of The Birth Survey, which shall be free to use such data and information for the purposes stated herein. You grant The Birth Survey and all other persons or entities involved in the operation of the Site the right to transmit, monitor, retrieve, store, and use your information in connection with the operation of the Site. In providing information or comments through responses to the Survey, you grant us a non-exclusive license, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free right to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights (but no other rights) you have in the content in any media known now or in the future. Jurisdiction You expressly agree that exclusive jurisdiction for any dispute with The Birth Survey or its Parent and Related Organizations or in any way relating to your use of The Birth Survey Site, resides in the courts of the State of North Carolina and you further agree and expressly consent to the exercise of personal jurisdiction in the courts of the State of North Carolina in connection with any such dispute, including any claim involving The Birth Survey or its Parent and Related Organizations, or any employees, contractors, telecommunication providers, and content providers. These Terms, Legal Disclaimer, and Privacy Statement are governed by the internal substantive laws of the State of North Carolina, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. If any provision of these Terms, Legal Disclaimer, and Privacy Statement is found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms, Legal Disclaimer, and Privacy Statement, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any of these Terms, Legal Disclaimer, and Privacy Statement shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition. Mediation Option and Arbitration For any claim, the party requesting relief agrees to attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation, conducted by a professional mediator that the parties shall select, in good faith, by mutual agreement. If the parties are unable to resolve the dispute through mediation, then the party seeking relief agrees to resolve the dispute in a cost-effective manner through binding arbitration. Such arbitration shall be initiated through an established alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") provider or mechanism mutually agreed upon by the parties and shall be conducted in accordance with the rules and procedures of the American Arbitration Association. Complete agreement Except as expressly provided in a particular “legal notice” on The Birth Survey Site, these Terms, Legal Disclaimer, and Privacy Statement constitute the entire agreement between you and The Birth Survey with respect to the use of The Birth Survey Site, and Content.
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| DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY |
The use of the TheBirthSurvey.com Site and the Content is at your own risk. In using this Site, you understand and agree that The Birth Survey information is based upon various outside sources of data, including publicly-available government sources, and upon information and opinions provided by consumers of health care services. The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations make no predictions, warranties, guarantees, express or implied, about the quality of the health care services provided by any health care professional or health care facility listed in this survey. Neither The Birth Survey nor its Parent and Related Organizations is under any obligation to investigate the quality of such services. Although The Birth Survey makes every effort to update publicly-available information provided on the Site, you understand and agree that, since licenses and clinical privileges of health care professionals and licenses of health care facilities may expire or be changed, cancelled or revoked, you should always check such information for continued accuracy. Although we seek to have the best available data from public records, these records can be incomplete or inaccurate. Certain data collected by and made available on this Site has been derived from public sources, including without limitation, federal or state government agencies, including each state’s Department of Health. The BirthSurvey and its Parent and Related Organizations take no responsibility for such data, including without limitation, accuracy, content, or means of data collection. When using the Site, information will be transmitted over a medium that may be beyond the control and jurisdiction of The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations. Accordingly, The Birth Survey assumes no liability for or relating to the delay, failure, interruption, or corruption of any data or other information transmitted in connection with use of the Site. THIS SITE AND THE MATERIALS, INFORMATION, SERVICES, AND PRODUCTS IN THIS SITE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, TEXT, GRAPHICS, AND LINKS, ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. THE BIRTH SURVEY AND ITS PARENT AND RELATED ORGANIZATIONS, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTIES’ RIGHTS, FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE, FREEDOM FROM COMPUTER VIRUS, AND WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR COURSE OF PERFORMANCE. THE BIRTH SURVEY DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES THE SITE AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THE BIRTH SURVEY DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF THE MATERIALS IN THIS SITE IN TERMS OF THEIR COMPLETENESS, CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, ADEQUACY, USEFULNESS, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. Without limiting the foregoing, The Birth Survey, its licensors, and its suppliers make no representations or warranties about the following: 1. The accuracy, reliability, completeness, currentness, or timeliness of the Content, software, text, graphics, links, or communications provided on or through the use of the Site or The Birth Survey. 2. The satisfaction of any government regulations requiring disclosure of information on prescription drug products or the approval or compliance of any software tools with regard to the Content contained on the Site. The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations cannot and do not assume any responsibility or liability for any information you submit, or your or third parties’ use or misuse of information transmitted or received using The Birth Survey tools and services. In no event shall The Birth Survey, its Parent and Related Organizations or any third parties mentioned on The Birth Survey Site be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, incidental and consequential damages, personal injury or wrongful death, libel, slander, defamation, privacy violations, lost profits, unfair competition, or damages resulting from lost data or business interruption) resulting from the use of or inability to use The Birth Survey Site or the Content, or from the Content itself, whether based on warranty, contract, tort, or any other legal theory, and whether or not The Birth Survey, its Parent and Related Organizations, or any third parties mentioned on The Birth Survey Site are advised of the possibility of such damages. By using this Site, you agree that neither The Birth Survey nor any of its Parent and Related Organizations is or will be liable for any injury or damages, as listed herein, including but not limited to personal injury or death, caused by the use or misuse of the Site, Content, or Public Areas by yourself or any other person and you agree to file no claims or causes of action for damages or injunctive relief against The Birth Survey or its Parent and Related Organizations. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IN NO EVENT SHALL THE BIRTH SURVEY BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL, DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, EVEN IF THE BIRTH SURVEY HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER IN AN ACTION UNDER CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE, INABILITY TO USE, OR PERFORMANCE OF THE INFORMATION, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, AND MATERIALS AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. Any claims arising in connection with your use of the Site, any Content, or the Public Areas must be brought within one (1) year of the date of the event giving rise to such action occurred. Remedies under these Terms are exclusive and are limited to those expressly provided for in these Terms. Benefits and Risks of Participation There are no direct personal benefits to you for filling out The Birth Survey in whole or in part. It will take approximately fifteen (15) minutes to thirty (30) minutes to complete depending on your birth experience and your Internet connection. Although we do not anticipate any risk to you, there may be a small chance that recalling a traumatic or difficult birth experience may trigger unpleasant or traumatic memories. By participating in whole or part in The Birth Survey, you agree to assume that risk and will hold The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations harmless for any harm, emotional pain, or injury that might result. CONTACT US: Thank you for your cooperation. We hope you find The Birth Survey Site helpful and convenient to use! Questions or comments regarding The Birth Survey website, including any reports of non-functioning links, should be directed by electronic mail to info@thebirthsurvey.com or via U.S. mail to the following address: Coalition for Improving Maternity Services Attn: The Birth Survey We try to answer every email in a timely manner but are not always able to do so.
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| Privacy Policy |
The purpose of The Birth Survey is to allow women a mechanism to reflect on and share with others the quality of care they received during their most recent birth. The survey and subsequent results and reports are designed to be one possible tool for women when collecting information about providers and facilities in their area who provide maternity services. The private and protected health information you provide will be shared with the public so that other women and families will have access to information about health care services, professionals, and facilities that provide prenatal and birthing services in your geographic area. This information will be publicly accessible by any member of the public through our website tools. It may be accessed by others, such as, consumers, health professionals, and representatives of health care facilities, as well as by local, state, or federal government officials, or by health care or demographic researchers. We hope the data collected by The Birth Survey will not only help consumers to learn more about prenatal and birthing services in the community, but will also assist health care providers, managed care plans and insurance companies, and government agencies to understand the consumer’s perspective on these health care services. These data may also be used by health care providers, payor entities, and government agencies for benchmarking and other quality-improvement measures. This is how The Birth Survey will handle information learned about you from your visit to this Site. The information The Birth Survey receives depends upon what you do when visiting our Site. User Submissions Except for personally identifiable information The Birth Survey may collect from you under the guidelines of The Birth Survey Privacy Policy, any material, information or other communication you transmit, upload or post to this Site ("Communications") will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. The Birth Survey will have no obligations with respect to the Communications. The Birth Survey and its designees will be free to copy, disclose, distribute, incorporate and otherwise use the Communications and all data, images, sounds, text, and other things embodied therein for any and all commercial or noncommercial purposes. The Birth Survey collects the IP address of visitors to the Site, aggregate information on what pages consumers access or visit, user-specific information on what pages users access or visit, and information volunteered by the user in response to the Survey. The Birth Survey uses "cookies", for the convenience of users. Cookies allow the survey to keep track of answers provided and a user’s progress within the survey. "Cookies" are small test information files that your web browser places on your computer’s hard drive when you visit a website. Most browsers accept cookies automatically but can be configured not to accept them or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. The Birth Survey will not obtain personally-identifying information about you when you visit our Site, with the exception of IP addresses, unless you choose to provide such information. IP addresses can only be linked to you through a legal request process to your ISP provider. We collect IP addresses to facilitate compliance with our Terms, primarily, to ensure compliance with the requirement that a user with a given IP may only submit one survey per twelve-month period for a given provider or facility. Some exceptions may be made for public use computers such as those located in libraries; however, making such exceptions is at the discretion of The Birth Survey administrators. Completing the Survey will involve your protected health information. You will be asked to provide information about your age, state of health, and the health care services you received, including both prenatal care and the birth of your baby and postpartum. You will also be asked to specify your zip code (for demographic purposes only) and the month and year of your baby’s birth (to maintain a moving wall of data). You may decide, by participating in the Survey, to submit such protected health information. Should you decide to do so, your acceptance of the Terms, Legal Disclaimer, and Privacy Statement constitutes authorization to The Birth Survey under the federal HIPAA law and regulations and any applicable state or local privacy laws or regulations for The Birth Survey to use and make public such information. All such information will be made public only in aggregate form, combined with the information provided by all other persons submitting information. No information will be collected that identifies you or connects you to the data you give us beyond the exclusions presented here in. The data will be published only in the aggregate, without personally-identifying information linked or linkable to you. The only exception is that any comments you may make within the Survey may be made public individually rather than in aggregate form. However, no personally-identifying information will be made public in connection with the publication on this Site of such comments unless you include identifying information in your comments that we inadvertently publish. By participating in the survey, you consent to and authorize The Birth Survey and its Parent and Related Organizations to use and make public such information as described herein. If you complete all or part of the Survey, it means that you understand and authorize how we will use the information you give us and that you agree to take part in the Survey. Completing all or part of the Survey is voluntary, and you can stop answering questions at any time without penalty. Participation in The Birth Survey is anonymous. Your identity will not be known by us or provided to anyone and your answers will not be linked to your name in any way and will not appear anywhere in the data we collect, aggregate, or publish on this Site except as described herein. If you submit any false, inaccurate, misleading, malicious, or otherwise defamatory information, you agree not to hold the Birth Survey liable, and you understand that you may be held liable for your actions. If you believe that any information may be false, inaccurate, misleading, malicious, or otherwise defamatory, please contact The Birth Survey. |