Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy sets out how UKC (“Universal Kidney Centers”) uses and protects any information that you give to us when you use our website (the “Site”).

UKC is committed to protecting your privacy. Should our site ask you to provide any information relating to our service offering by which you can be identified, you may be assured that that information will only be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy covers any use of the site. Note, however, that the site may contain links to other websites of interest. As we have no control over such sites, they are not governed by this Privacy Policy, and we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide to them.

This Privacy Policy is effective on November 1, 2023 We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time to ensure that it continues to be compliant with the most current legal requirements found in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). We can only use your personal information for the purpose for which it was obtained or for a use consistent with that purpose. Any such changes will be posted to the site.

How is your information collected?

UKC does not collect personally identifiable information from visitors who simply visit and browse the site. UKC does track digital advertising, website analytics and collects information about site users to monitor online behaviour. However, should you choose to sign up for a service, or make an inquiry using forms or other features on the Site, UKC may collect the personal information directly or through our service processing software or agents.

How is your information used?

UKC requires the information we gather to understand your needs generally and to provide you with better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

  • To customize your experience with the site according to your interests
  • To enable internal record keeping and reporting
  • To improve our products and services
  • To periodically send promotional emails, special offers, or other information which we think you may find interesting
  • To contact you from time to time for market research purposes

How is your information secured?

UKC is committed to ensuring that your information is secure. To prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. We comply with necessary Canadian security and Government privacy laws.

We also adhere to the principles of purpose limitation and data minimization. Therefore, we only store your personal data for as long as it is necessary to achieve the purposes mentioned here or as long as the storage periods required by law. After discontinuation of the respective purpose or expiry of these deadlines, the corresponding data will be blocked or deleted in accordance with the statutory provisions.

How to request your information from us?

You have the right to request a copy of your information, to object to our use of your information (including for marketing purposes), and to request the deletion or restriction of your information. UKC will respond to requests about these matters within a reasonable timeframe. Should you wish to access or update any of your information, you can contact us through any of the forms on the site, or by email at info@universalkidneycenters.com. Likewise, you have the right to contact us and request an electronic file with a copy of your information.

How to opt out of communications or be forgotten from us?

You may opt-out of receiving communications from us by using the unsubscribe link within each email, by updating your email preferences within site, or by contacting UKC at info@universalkidneycenters.com If you no longer want UKC to continue storing information about you, you may contact us and request that your account be forgotten. When we receive such a request, we will retain your data for 30 days. If you change your mind during this period, you can contact us again to stop the process of being forgotten. If you have not contacted us within 30 days, your account will be permanently forgotten.

How to accept or decline cookies from our site and media?

Cookies are small files that can be placed on your computer’s hard drive to allow websites to respond to you as an individual. With cookies, websites can tailor their operations to your needs, likes, and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences. Within the site, we use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes, then remove the data from our system. The cookies in no way give us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can change your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. Please be aware that if you choose to decline cookies, some or all of the site may be inaccessible or non-functional.

How is your information shared?

UKC will not sell, distribute, or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. However, we may use the following sales and marketing products for web analytics, social media marketing, and other services:

  • Facebook Ads: UKC uses the “visitor action pixels” from Facebook Inc on our website. These pixels allow user behaviour to be tracked after they have been redirected to the provider’s website by clicking on a Facebook ad. This redirection enables us to measure the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes. The data collected in this way is anonymous to us, i.e., we do not see the personal data of individual users. However, this data is stored and processed by Facebook. Based on our knowledge of the situation, we wanted to ensure that you are aware of these practices. Facebook may link this information to your Facebook account and also use it for its promotional purposes, in accordance with Facebook’s Data Usage Policy.
  • Advertisement on Facebook
    You can allow Facebook and its partners to place ads on and off Facebook. A cookie may also be stored on your computer for these purposes. When you visit our Facebook Pages, which we use to represent our company or individual products or services, some of your data will be processed. Further information about the processing of personal data by Facebook can be found at https://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation.
  • Processing of Page Insights
    • Facebook provides us with anonymized statistics and insights for our Facebook page, which helps us to understand the types of actions that people take on our Page (so-called “Page Insights”). These Page Insights are created based on specific information about you when you have visited our page. This processing of personal data is carried out by Facebook and by us as joint controllers. The processing serves our legitimate interest to evaluate the types of actions being taken on our page and to improve our page based on these findings. We are in no case able to assign the information obtained via Page Insights to a specific Facebook profile using the “Like” data for our page.
    • Processing of data that is provided to us via our Facebook pages
      We also process data that you make available to us via our Facebook Pages. Such information might be your Facebook user name, contact details or a communication to us. We only process this personal data if we have previously expressly asked you to share this data with us, for example, as part of a survey. This processing will be done by us as the sole data controller.
  • Google AdWords: If you reach the site via an advertisement sent by Google, Google AdWords sets a cookie on your computer. These cookies lose their validity after 30 days and are not used for personal identification. If you visit certain pages on the site and the cookie has not expired, Google and we may recognize that you clicked on the ad and were redirected to this page. Google is a U.S. company that uses servers in the United States. For additional information on Google Adwords, please follow the provided Google Adwords Privacy Policy.
  • Google Analytics uses its cookies to evaluate Site usage and compile Site activity reports anonymously.
  • Google Optimize allows Transparent to anonymously test variants of the user interface to improve the site over time.
  • Google Tag Manager collects no information directly but instead allows Transparent to quickly deploy changes to scripts and other aspects of the site in real-time, without interrupting service.
  • WordPress: We may use WordPress to power our blogs. WordPress may collect the name, email address, and IP address of users who voluntarily choose to comment on our blog articles. WordPress is a U.S. company. For additional information, please follow WordPress Private Policy link.

How to address your concerns with collection, storage, deletion and sharing of your information?

UKC is committed to the proper collection, storage, deletion and sharing of your information. For any issues with our privacy policy and practices, please contact us at info@universalkidneycenters.com to discuss your privacy concerns.
You have the right to complain about any improper processing of your personal data (such as collection, storage, modification, transfer, deletion, etc.) by us Office for Civil Rights (OCR) by clicking on the link provided.

https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/smartscreen/main.jsf