MERCK’S
ONLINE PRIVACY COMMITMENT TO YOU
We
understand and respect that your privacy is important to you.
We use and share personal information that you provide online
only in ways that we tell you about. We secure personal information
that you provide online to prevent it from being used and shared
for other purposes. For more details, please read our Internet
Privacy Policy below or contact us. |
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| Merck*, also known outside
the United States as Merck Sharp and Dohme or MSD, offers online
resources designed to provide health, medical, and product-related
information and services, as well as corporate and financial news
and employment information. In addition, some of our Web sites
enable qualified professionals to place orders for our pharmaceutical
and vaccine products, to apply for grants, or to contribute to
clinical studies.
Respect for the privacy of personal information
about you is very important to us. Merck Web sites that display
this privacy policy (“policy”) are committed to collecting,
maintaining, and securing personal information about you in accordance
with this policy, as well as applicable laws, rules and regulations.
This policy applies to personal information (as defined below)
collected from Merck online resources and communications (such
as Web sites, e-mail, and other online tools) that display a link
to this policy. This policy does not apply to personal information
collected from offline resources and communications, except in
cases where such personal information is consolidated with personal
information collected by Merck online. This policy also does not
apply to third-party online resources to which Merck’s Web
sites may link, where Merck does not control the content or the
privacy practices of such resources.
This policy is consistent with Merck's
Safe Harbor Privacy Policy for transfers of personal information
from the European Economic Area to the United States. It is supported
by Merck’s machine-readable Platform for Privacy Preferences
(P3P) Policy.
Please read this policy carefully. Should you have
any questions about this policy or our data collection, use and
disclosure practices, please contact us at the address
below that is most relevant to you. |
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* “Merck” means Merck & Co.,
Inc., its successors, subsidiaries, divisions and groups worldwide,
excluding Medco Health Solutions, Inc. and joint ventures to which
Merck is a party. |
Copyright © 2001-2003 Merck & Co., Inc. Whitehouse
Station, NJ, USA
All rights reserved.
Effective 23 April 2003
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How does this Privacy Policy define
"personal information"?
The term "personal information" as used throughout this policy, applies
to any information or set of information that identifies or that is used
by or on behalf of Merck to identify an individual.
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How does Merck collect personal
information online?
Merck collects personal information online through Web sites and other
online resources. Merck also offers online resources in collaboration
with other online service providers, from which Merck may receive personal
information about users of such resources. These online collaborations
are governed by contracts that require personal information to be protected
appropriately. Individuals may access many parts of our Web sites without
disclosing any personal information. There are two methods that Merck
uses to collect personal information online:
(1) Information that you provide:
Merck collects personal information and other data that you may enter
into forms or data fields on our Web sites. Such information may include,
but not be limited to, contact information (such as your name, postal
address, e-mail address, telephone number, user ID and password),
date of birth, professional credentials, hobbies and interests. Merck
may also collect health information about you that you provide by
responding to our questions and surveys.
(2) Information collected from your
computer or other electronic device:
Some of our Web sites and other online resources use tracking technologies,
such as cookies, to provide additional functionality
that enables you to use these resources more effectively. Merck uses
tracking technologies in ways that do not identify you personally,
such as to track accurately numbers of users or referring sites to
our online resources, or to remember whether you have identified yourself
as a health care professional or a resident of a particular country.
In some cases, Merck may use tracking technologies in ways that identify
you personally, but only after you have entered personal information
into a form or data field on our Web sites, or where we have registered
you to use our online resources by providing a user ID and password
based on information validated through other offline interactions
with you. We may use tracking technologies to remember your personal
preferences and selections, such as personal information that you
have entered into data fields on our Web sites, answers that you have
provided in response to our surveys, or sections of our Web sites
that you visit frequently. You may choose whether or not you want
Merck to use tracking technologies to remember you, and/or to provide
additional personalized services to you. If you want to limit data
collection through tracking technologies, please refer to your choices
as described below.
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What are cookies?
A cookie is a small data file that is sent by Web servers to your computer’s
hard drive, where your Internet browser files are kept. Cookies enable
Web sites to store small bits of information on your computer and retrieve
that information at a later time. Merck uses two types of cookies: session
cookies, which are temporary cookies that are erased from your
computer’s memory when you close your Internet browser or turn
your computer off, and persistent cookies, which exist on your
computer’s hard drive until they expire, unless you delete them
at an earlier time.
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Why does Merck collect,
use and disclose personal information?
Merck collects personal information online as necessary to enable individuals
to register for, customize and personalize certain of Merck’s
online resources and communications. Merck uses personal information
collected online to provide products, services and features that individuals
have requested; for example, educational literature and related information
about Merck’s pharmaceutical business, e-mail programs, tools,
quizzes, questionnaires, and surveys. Merck analyzes personal information
collected online to identify and offer additional services and promotions
that we believe you might find interesting. Merck evaluates use of some
online resources and communications with non-identifiable information
only. Merck also may use personal information to audit its online resources
for authorized access and security.
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Does Merck consolidate
personal information?
Consistent with the purposes identified and standards set within this
policy and other applicable privacy notices that have been provided,
in some cases Merck consolidates and uses personal information that
individuals share with Merck through various services and channels,
such as the telephone, surveys, Web sites and other online resources
and communications, in order to enhance the quality of services that
we offer.
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What choices do I have about
how Merck collects, uses and discloses personal information about me?
You have three categories of choices. These include:
(1) No personal information collection: You may
choose not to provide any personal information to Merck online by
electing not to enter any personal information into a form or data
field on our Web sites, and by not using any personalized services
provided by our online resources. However, some of our online resources
are available only to individuals who provide personal information
or who use personalized services.
(2) Limitations and options
regarding uses and disclosures for other purposes: Some Merck
online resources may request your permission to use and disclose personal
information about you in order to add you to our contact lists, and
to identify and offer additional services and promotions that we believe
you might find interesting. You can limit the use of personal information
about you by checking or un-checking options provided at the time
that you enter that information.
(3) Limitations and options
on tracking: Merck online resources that use tracking technologies,
such as cookies, to remember your personal
preferences and selections, enable you to choose whether you want
Merck to use such technologies to remember you, or to provide additional
services to you, by checking or un-checking options provided during
registration, or at the time that you enter personal information into
forms or data fields. Our online resources do not limit non-identifiable
uses of tracking technologies for individual users. Individual
users can control the use of certain tracking technologies, such as
cookies, through most Internet browsers. Some
Internet browsers enable you to limit or disable the use of cookies
for individual Web sites. Other browsers allow you to select cookie
settings for all Web sites that you visit. If you are concerned about
the use of cookie technology, please read our section above on “Information
collected from your computer or other electronic device”
to understand the ways that Merck uses tracking technologies. If you
limit or disable cookies, certain functions of our Web sites may not
work properly, including access to some of our registration-based
Web sites.
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Who will have access to personal
information about me?
Personal information about you will be accessible to Merck, including
its subsidiaries, divisions and groups worldwide, and to individuals and
organizations that use personal information solely for and at the direction
of Merck. Uses and disclosures of personal information by external individuals
and organizations acting on Merck's behalf are governed by contracts that
require personal information to be protected appropriately. Personal information
about you only will be used and disclosed by Merck and individuals and
organizations working on its behalf, in a manner consistent with this
policy, other applicable privacy notices, and as explicitly permitted
or required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
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Does Merck share personal information
with third parties?
In general, Merck does not sell personal information about you,
however, circumstances may arise where Merck may, for business reasons,
decide to reorganize or divest its business through sale, merger or acquisition.
In these circumstances, personal information may be shared with actual
or prospective purchasers. Merck will obtain written assurances that personal
information will be protected appropriately in these circumstances. Except
where explicitly permitted or required by law, or provided in this policy,
personal information about you will not otherwise be shared without your
permission.
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How does Merck secure personal
information?
Merck will take reasonable steps to protect personal information
as it is transmitted from your computer to our online resources and servers,
as well as to protect personal information in its possession from unauthorized
access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. It is your personal responsibility
to secure your own copies of your passwords and related access codes for
our online resources.
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How does Merck protect the privacy of
children?
In general, Merck Web sites are not directed at children and most of
the online services that we offer are designed for individuals who are
18 years of age or older. Where requests for information about a medication
are permitted by law, individuals requesting information about a medication
that is indicated for use in children must be 18 years of age or older.
This subsection of our policy only applies to Merck Web
sites that provide optional features for children. It is not applicable
to our other Web sites and online resources.
For Kids Only
In some cases, Merck Web sites provide options for children under
the age of 13. Most of these optional services do not collect personal
information. Where these optional services do collect personal information
about children, we require parental consent for children to participate
in these optional services. Requests for parental consent explain
how we collect, use and disclose personal information about children,
and include an opportunity for parents to prevent collection, use
and disclosure of information about their children.
Merck collects only necessary personal information from children,
and uses personal information about children only to provide requested
services. Unless we have prior parental permission, we do not use
or disclose personal information about any child to third parties
that are not working on Merck's behalf. If, at any time, a parent
withdraws his or her consent to our use or disclosure of personal
information collected from his or her child, we will use reasonable
efforts to promptly remove such information from our database.
We do not request that children under the age of 13 disclose more
personal information than is necessary in order to participate in
any online service. Should a child whom we know to be under 13 send
personal information to us, we will use that information only to respond
directly to that child to inform him or her that we must have parental
consent before receiving information about him or her.
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How may I access and correct
personal information about me?
To gain access to personal information about you collected online,
and to keep it accurate, complete and current, you may contact us at
the address most relevant to you. Where
offered, you also may update personal information about you online by
modifying information that you previously have entered into forms or
data fields on our Web sites. Where permitted by law, your ability to
access and correct personal information will be limited where access
and correction would: inhibit Merck’s ability to comply with a
legal or ethical obligation, inhibit Merck’s ability to investigate,
make or defend legal claims, result in disclosure of personal information
about a third party, result in breach of a contract or disclosure of
trade secrets or other proprietary business information belonging to
Merck or a third party.
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What is Merck's contact
address for privacy questions?
Should you have questions about this policy or Merck's information collection,
use and disclosure practices, you may contact us at the address
most relevant to you. You may access this list of addresses online at
http://www.merck.com/policy/privacy/contacts.html.
When you contact us, please note the name of the Web site or other online
resource to which you provided the information, as well as the nature
of the information that you provided. We will use reasonable efforts
to respond promptly to requests, questions or concerns you may have
regarding our use of personal information about you. Except where required
by law, Merck cannot ensure a response to questions or comments regarding
topics unrelated to this policy or Merck's privacy practices.
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How will I know whether Merck
has updated this policy?
Merck may update this policy periodically. Merck reserves the right to
modify, add or remove portions of this privacy statement at its discretion.
If we decide to change this policy, we will post those changes at this
site so you always will know what information we gather, how we might
use that information, and whether we will disclose it to anyone. This
policy was last updated on April 23, 2003.
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