Last Updated December 31, 2012
The JAMA Network™ is a consortium of peer-reviewed print and online medical publications that includes JAMA® and 9 JAMA specialty journals. The JAMA Network Publications are owned and published by the American Medical Association (AMA).
The web sites hosting JAMA & JAMA specialty journals have been guided by the Principles Governing AMA Publications Web Sites (Winker MA, Flanagin A, Chi-Lum B, et al. Guidelines for medical and health information sites on the Internet: principles governing AMA Web sites. JAMA. 2000;283:1600-1606.) These guidelines were first published March 22/29, 2000, and have evolved over time. This privacy policy was updated and posted May 14, 2012 in connection with the launch of The JAMA Network™ platform and websites, which we refer to as the “JAMA Network portal” or simply JN.
"The JAMA Network platform and websites" or “JAMA Network portal” include the various components referred to above including all journal content products, services, features, functionalities, content related sites, and other information accessible through the JAMA Network portal [whether provided by the AMA or any third party]. Related sites include JAMA on Facebook, JAMA on Twitter, Medical Meetings, The JAMA Network CME, For The Media, JAMAevidence, AMA Manual of Style, JAMA Career Center®, and Author in the Room® with IHI.
E-mail addresses and other personal information. The JAMA Network websites and JN portal are committed to preserving site visitors' privacy of personal information. The JN portal does not collect personal information from a site visitor unless that visitor explicitly and intentionally provides it.
Collection, retention, and use of personal information about site visitors will occur if you choose to interact with the JAMA Network for example, you can choose to subscribe to JAMA and/or the nine medical JAMA specialty journals, receive e-mail notifications regarding tables of contents, topic collections, and article alerts whether or not you are a subscriber, or learn about new offerings from the JAMA Network. Depending on the type of product or service that you request, you may be asked to provide different personal information. The JN portal may require your name, address, telephone number, e mail address, credit card number, Internet protocol (IP) address, and/or other identifying information. For a specific listing of the type of personal information collected, please refer to the appropriate online form.
The JAMA Network portal may use your personal information collected via the sites (in addition to the e-mail address information use outlined above) for the following purposes:
-
Provide access to journal content.
-
Process, fulfill, and follow-up on orders.
-
Answer your e-mails.
-
Send information you request.
-
Send and process surveys.
-
Ensure the JAMA Network Publications are relevant to your needs.
-
Recommend content that suits you.
-
Notify you about new products/services, special offers, upgrades and other related information from JAMA and other Network Publications.
All e-mail alerts contain an "unsubscribe" option in case you want to discontinue the alert(s) at any time.
The JAMA Network portal also occasionally hires other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, including, but not limited to, packaging, mailing, and delivering purchases, answering customer questions about products or services, sending postal mail, and processing event registration. We will provide those companies only the information they need to deliver the service, and they are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.
The JAMA Network portal may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to legal requirements or comply with legal process served on the AMA, (b) protect and defend the rights or property of AMA, or (c) protect the personal safety of AMA personnel or members of the public in urgent circumstances.
In addition to the uses identified above, if the site visitor is a physician or medical student and changes his or her personal information on the JAMA Network portal, that information may be incorporated into the AMA’s physician database commonly known as the Physician Masterfile. The exception to this rule is e-mail addresses; e-mail addresses provided on the JAMA Network portal are not incorporated into the Physician Masterfile. The AMA has licensed its Physician Masterfile to third parties for more than 50 years. This information is licensed to database licensees under strict guidelines. The names and addresses of physicians and medical students in the AMA Physician Masterfile are made available only for communications that are germane to the practice of medicine or of interest to physicians or medical students as consumers. For further information about the Physician Masterfile, click here.
Advertising. The JAMA Network websites and portal use third parties to serve advertisements and analyze related data. Non-identifiable website visitor data may be collected and used in aggregate to determine the type of advertisement to be seen by site visitors while on the JN portal. Advertisements use persistent cookies (defined below) to identify the number of unique computers from which viewers have viewed an advertisement and to manage the number of times a viewer will see an advertisement and similar advertising efficiencies. No personally identifiable information is collected from the persistent cookie.
Website Analytics. Non-identifiable website visitor data may be collected and used in aggregate to help shape and direct the creation and maintenance of content.
Cookies. A cookie is a small file stored on the site user's computer or Web server and is used to aid Web page navigation. Session cookies are temporary files created when a user signs in on the website or uses the personalized features such as purchasing temporary access to an article or site-wide access. Session cookies are removed when a user logs off or when the browser is closed. Persistent cookies are permanent files and must be deleted manually. Persistent cookies are used on the JAMA Network portal (1) when a user asks to save user name and password to prevent the need to enter this information again; (2) by advertisements to identify the number of unique computers from which viewers have viewed an advertisement and to manage the number of times a viewer will see an advertisement and similar advertising efficiencies; (3) by quiz and poll features to determine when an individual has already responded or voted; (4) to retain article preference settings; and (5) to maintain shopping cart items. No personally identifiable information is collected from the latter persistent cookie, and only the user name and password is collected for the former persistent cookie and the session cookie; (3) Electronic Store Shopping Cart; and (4) Web Analytics measuring time or site and number of visits.
E-mail messages. E-mail messages sent to or from a website may not be secure. Confidential information should not be sent by e-mail. Site visitors sending e-mail accept the risk that a third party may intercept e-mail messages.
You may opt out of any future contacts from us at any time. Contact us via the phone number or contact form on our website at any time to:
-
See what data we have about you, if any;
-
Change/correct any data we have about you;
-
Ask us to delete any data we have about you; and/or
-
Opt out of some or all future communications from us.
If you have any additional questions or concerns about this privacy policy, please contact us via the phone number listed on this website.
User-Generated Content. Any data or personal information that You submit to us as user generated content becomes public and may be used by AMA in connection with jamanetwork.com, our digital applications, and other JN publications in any and all media.
Updating Data. All physicians, medical students, and nonphysician JAMA Network Journals subscribers may review and update data by contacting the Unified Service Center at 1-800-262-2350 or 1-312-670-7827 or via e-mail at ama-subs@ama-assn.org. Physicians licensed in the United States may update or correct any information the AMA has on file by clicking here.
Policy Revisions. As the JAMA Network portal evolves over time, this Privacy Policy is expected to change as well. The JAMA Network reserves the right to amend this Privacy Policy at any time, for any reason. We will post notice that this Policy has been amended by revising the "last updated" date at the top of the Privacy Policy.
Online Policy. This Privacy Policy applies ONLY to information collected via The JAMA Network portal by the AMA or those AMA has hired to provide limited services on our behalf such as Silverchair Information Services, Roundpoint, and others.
Credit card privacy. All credit card transactions are conducted over a secure socket layer connection. Only authorized personnel with specific identification and passwords can access credit card information solely for the purpose of performing adjustments or refunds at the customer's request.
Limitation of Liability. Neither the AMA, which owns JAMA, the JAMA specialty journals, and the JN portal, nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliate entities, agents, employees, or subcontractors shall be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages, including lost profits (even if we are advised of the possibility) arising in any way from the information contained in this Web site or any information transmitted via this web site. The AMA is not liable for any damages or losses that may be caused to any equipment and other software due to any viruses, defects or malfunctions in connection with access or use of the JN portal web sites.
Contact us. We welcome your feedback. If you have questions or comments about our Privacy Policy, please contact us at JAMA-comments@jamanetwork.org.
Last Updated December 31, 2012