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- Pledge on Privacy
The term "personal data" as used in this Policy refers to
information such as your name, birth date, e-mail address
or mailing address, that can be used to identify you. Novartis
will not process your personal data without your consent.
In processing your personal data, we pledge to fully comply
with internationally recognized standards of privacy protection.
In so doing, we ensure compliance by our staff with strict
standards of security and confidentiality.
The next sections explain how and when we collect personal
data from you.
- Intended Use of Personal Data
Most of our services do not require any form of registration,
allowing you to visit our site without telling us who you
are. However, some services may require registration. When
you register with us, you may need to complete certain fields
(some are required and some are optional), as well as choose
a user name and password. In these situations, if you choose
to withhold any personal data requested by us, it may not
be possible for you to gain access to certain parts of the
site and for us to respond to your query.
Novartis processes personal data for specific and limited
purposes which we inform you about when we ask you for information.
For example, we may collect and use personal data to provide
you with products or services, to bill you for products
and services you request, to market products and services
which we think may be if interest to you, or to communicate
with you for other purposes. Information you send to our
customer service department is used only to help resolve
your problem and is otherwise kept private.
Novartis keeps your data only for as long as is reasonably
needed for such purposes and in accordance with any applicable
legal or ethical reporting or documentation retention requirements.
- Non-Disclosure of Information
Novartis will not sell, share, or otherwise distribute your
personal data to third parties outside the Novartis group.
However, personal data may occasionally be transferred to
third parties who act for or on behalf of Novartis, or in
connection with the business of Novartis, for further processing
in accordance with the purpose(s) for which the data were
originally collected.
Where disclosure of personal data to a third party is likely
or necessary for whatever reason, Novartis will, wherever
possible, endeavor to ensure that the disclosure and intended
use of the data are clearly indicated.
Such third parties may operate different privacy policies.
However, we endeavor to ensure that such third parties provide
the same level of protection as Novartis and, where appropriate,
we will contractually require them to process data transferred
only for the purposes expressly authorized by Novartis.
We will not share with third parties any data about you
that is sensitive (e.g., medical information) in the absence
of your prior and explicit consent. Your consent may always
be revoked at a later date. If consent is revoked Novartis
may not be able to carry out certain requests made by you.
Novartis will, where practicable, inform third parties to
whom your data have been transferred of your withdrawal
of consent.
- Right of Access
You have the right to access and update your personal data
or to require their deletion. We endeavor to ensure that
personal data are up-to-date, accurate, and complete. If
you wish to access or correct your personal data held by
us, please e-mail our data protection officer at [
samuel.song@pharma.novartis.com].
Your requests will be dealt with in a prompt and proper
manner. No charge will be levied for complying with a correction
request, however, for all other requests Novartis may charge
a small fee to cover its costs. Requests to delete personal
data will be subject to any applicable legal and ethical
reporting or document filing or retention obligations imposed
on Novartis.
- Security and Confidentiality
To ensure the security and confidentiality of personal data
that Novartis collects on-line, Novartis uses data networks
protected, inter alia, by industry standard firewall and
password protection. Access to personal data is restricted
to those employees who have a need to use the data and who
have been trained to handle such data properly and observe
strict standards of confidentiality. If an employee breaches
our Privacy Policy he/she will be disciplined accordingly.
Staff compliance with our policies and procedures is regularly
audited and reviewed. While we cannot guarantee against
any loss, misuse or alteration to data, we try to prevent
such unfortunate occurrences.
- Data Transfer Abroad
Novartis is a global enterprise and has databases in different
jurisdictions. Novartis may transfer your data to one of
its databases outside your country of domicile. If the level
of privacy protection in a country does not comply with
recognized international standards, we will ensure that
data transfers to Novartis databases in that country are
adequately protected and that the transfer of data to third
parties in such countries will not occur unless we obtain
your express consent to such transfer in advance.
- Anonymous Data and "Cookies"
Most of the information that Novartis collects from its
website(s) is anonymous information, such as the pages you
visit and searches you perform. When you visit our website
we do not collect any personal data from you unless otherwise
authorized by you.
Anonymous information is processed by Novartis to help improve
the contents of the site and to compile aggregate statistics
about individuals using our site for internal, market research
purposes. In so doing, Novartis may install "cookies" that
collect the first level domain name of the user (e.g., "bigmail.com"
from an e-mail address of "john@bigmail.com") and the date
and time of access. "Cookies" by themselves cannot be used
to discover the identity of the user. A "cookie" is a small
piece of information which is sent to your browser and stored
on your computer's hard drive. Cookies do not damage your
computer. You can set your browser to notify you when you
receive a "cookie", this will enable you to decide if you
want to accept it or not.
- Spamming
Novartis does not condone "spamming". Spamming is defined
as sending unsolicited e-mails, usually of a commercial
nature, in large numbers and repeatedly to individuals with
whom the sender has had no previous contact or who have
declined to receive such communications.
In contrast, where Novartis believes that certain product,
health, or other information is of importance to you it
reserves the right to inform you by e-mail whilst giving
you the choice of opting out of such service.
- Personal Information and Children
Novartis will not knowingly collect, use or disclose personal
data from a minor under the age of 13, without obtaining
prior consent from a person with parental responsibility
(e.g., a parent or guardian) through direct off-line contact.
We will provide the parent with (i) notice of the specific
types of personal data being collected from the minor, and
(ii) the opportunity to object to any further collection,
use, or storage of such information. Novartis abides by
the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act in the U.S.
and respect similar laws designed to protect children found
in other countries.
- Links to Other Sites
This Privacy Policy applies only to Novartis' websites to
the exclusion of third party websites. Novartis may provide
links to other websites which we believe may be of interest
to our visitors. We aim to ensure that such websites are
of the highest standard. However, due to the nature of the
World Wide Web, Novartis cannot guarantee the standards
of every website link it provides or be responsible for
the contents of non-Novartis sites.
- Contact Novartis
If you have any queries or complaints about our compliance
with this Privacy Policy, or if you would like to make any
recommendations or comments to improve the quality of our
Privacy Policy, please e-mail us at [
samuel.song@pharma.novartis.com].
This privacy policy is effective as of July 1, 2000.
We aim to constantly improve the tools available to you
to manage the data that you provide to us. Please refer
to this page from time to time to review these and other
new features.
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