This Privacy Statement for the UCare-ChewFree.com website is effective September 2014. If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should contact the director of the UCare research study, Laura Akers, Ph.D., at Oregon Research Institute, 1776 Millrace Drive, Eugene, OR 97403; phone 541-484-2123.
The privacy practices of this site have been reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Oregon Research Institute in compliance with the regulations on protection of human subjects established by the Office of Human Research Protections of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
What kind of information do we collect?
This site is part of a research project conducted by Oregon Research Institute and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (grant #1-R01-DA033422). We are located at 1776 Millrace Drive, Eugene, Oregon, 97403. The principal investigator of this project is Laura Akers, Ph.D.
We collect the same type of information at this site that we collect in all of our other research projects. This includes participant name, address, phone number, demographic information, tobacco use history, and other information typically collected in research projects related to quitting tobacco. We also collect information that is unique to projects conducted on the Internet, such as e-mail address and data on movement within the web site. Each person is assigned a participant number that is attached to all of that person’s data, and no one outside the project’s staff has access to identifying data about any participant. Forum participants create a username that is attached to their posts, but they are encouraged to choose a name that does not compromise their privacy.
We collect data from participants at several points: during eligibility screening, during new user registration, in an enrollment survey, and in follow-up surveys. The questions that we ask during screening and registration are required for use of the site. The questions in the enrollment and follow-up surveys are optional but very important to the evaluation of how well the tobacco cessation program works.
We also collect data on participants “passively” without asking questions. This type of data includes information on your movement within the site and the choices you make within the program. For example, we keep track of which links you click on and your use of the Discussions and the Ask an Expert forum. This will help us learn which parts of the program are visited most often and which are most useful to the people who use this website. We also collect the type of information that is normally collected by many websites, such as IP address, browser type, and the site you come to us from.
Cookies
A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user's computer for record-keeping purposes. We use session ID cookies on this site, which help the website server associate a particular client machine with a particular session stored on the server. These cookies expire when you close your browser. We do not link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our site. If you reject cookies, you will not be able to use the site.
Who has access to the information?
The information is collected by Oregon Research Institute, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to behavioral research in the public interest. Click http://www.ori.org to learn more about Oregon Research Institute (ORI). Our contractor for developing the software for this site is InterVision Media, Inc. (InterVision). All ORI and InterVision staff members with access to information about study participants have signed a confidentiality agreement not to disclose any information about participants and have completed human subjects protection training in the responsible conduct of research.
In the unlikely event that we receive a subpoena or court order to share information about a participant with law enforcement officials, we anticipate that we would comply.
Participants making posts or comments in the social part of the website (the Discussions and Ask an Expert features) should also note that the research staff has an ethical responsibility to notify officials if necessary to protect participants or others from harm to themselves or others. For example, if a participant makes a post threatening to harm herself or another person, it is our responsibility to notify the appropriate authorities.
Social Components of the UCare Website
If you choose to post in the Discussions or Ask an Expert feature on this site, you should be aware that any personally identifiable information you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other users of these website features, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these website features. Further, before your initial post within the website you will be asked to read and agree to Community Guidelines, including an agreement not to post information on how others may contact you. If you do post such information, we will remove it.
How do we use the information?
The information we collect from participants is used to further scientific knowledge about tobacco cessation. The findings of this study will be reported to our sponsor, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and to the scientific community, through professional journals and presentations at conferences. All information has been presented in summary form, and no individuals will ever be identified.
This is not a commercial site, and information about you is never used to try to sell you any products or services. Your e-mail address, and other information about you, will never be shared with any vendor. We do not share, sell, rent, or trade personal identifying information with any third parties for any promotional purposes.