OurPractice Privacy Policy

OurPractice is committed to protecting your privacy. Please read the following Privacy Policy and click on the link at the end of this document to return to the website.

As a visitor to OurPractice, you are interested in knowing more about your health or the health of someone close to you. We understand that your health is a very personal matter and that providing personal information is an act of trust. We recognise the importance of your privacy and respect your right to control how your personal information is collected and used.

OurPractice is a project of UBM Medica Australia Pty Ltd (ACN 050 965 157) and Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) Pty Limited (ACN 000 173 508). OurPractice is committed to complying with the National Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully before you submit any information through OurPractice as usage of this Web site is conditional on your agreeing to be bound by this policy. If you have any questions, or would like to provide feedback, please feel free to contact us at the address listed below:

The information practices of OurPractice

1. Collecting information about you

Some services provided by OurPractice may involve disclosing some personal information about yourself such as your name and email address. This is to allow a medical practitioner, UBM Medica Australia or MSD to respond to a query or provide you with information or a product or service that you have requested. You may also have the option to provide other personal information voluntarily.

UBM Medica Australia (the publisher of the myDr website and OurPractice) or MSD may also collect information about your use of our website such as what pages you visit and the Internet address you have come from, but we do not link this back to your identity as an individual user. By having this information we can better understand and accommodate the needs of our users.

Any further collection of your personal information than that explained here will only occur with your consent.

2. Using your personal information

Any information collected by OurPractice will be treated as confidential. We may use your personal information in providing you with information, products or services. However, we do not store information about your personal usage of different parts of the OurPractice site - we only collect aggregate information about the overall usage of the site. UBM Medica Australia and MSD may use this pooled information obtained from all OurPractice visitors to understand our users' interests and improve our services. These reports may be shared between UBM Medica Australia and MSD but they will not disclose personally identifiable information.

3. Sensitive Information

If personal information concerns particular topics it is regarded as sensitive information. Sensitive information can be information about:

  • health, cosmetic or alternative therapy consumption
  • racial or ethnic origin
  • age or date of birth
  • philosophical beliefs
  • sexual preferences or practices
  • religious beliefs or affiliations

We shall not collect this information. Any information provided by you in this regard will not be recorded or retained by us unless your consent is provided.

4. Disclosure

Like many businesses, OurPractice uses a range of service providers to help us maximise the quality and efficiency of our services and our business operations. This means that individuals and organisations outside of OurPractice, such as Web hosting services, will sometimes have access to personal information held by OurPractice and may use it on behalf of OurPractice. We require our service providers to adhere to strict privacy guidelines and not to keep this information or use it for any unauthorised purposes.

UBM Medica Australia and MSD will not otherwise disclose any of your personally identifiable information to third parties, except when they have your permission or under special circumstances set out in the Privacy Act 1988, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires disclosure or where you give consent to its disclosure.

5. You can access and change the information we keep about you

If at any time you want to know exactly what personal information we hold about you, you are welcome to access your record by writing to:

The Privacy Officer, OurPractice.com.au, Locked Bag 3000, St Leonards, NSW 1590, Australia.

We will, except in special circumstances, make our file of your personal information available to you. If at any time you wish to change personal information that is inaccurate or out of date, please also write to:

The Privacy Officer, OurPractice.com.au, Locked Bag 3000, St Leonards, NSW 1590, Australia,

and we will amend the record. Please do not send any personal medical information to this address, as this is for administrative purposes only. For GPs who have other queries, please contact your MSD representative.

6.Our website privacy practices

We sometimes use cookie technology on our website to enable us to provide information and services to web site visitors. Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer's hard disk for record keeping purposes and are a necessary part of facilitating online transactions.

Most web browsers are set to accept cookies. OurPractice may use cookies to make your use of our website and services as enjoyable as possible.

Cookies in and of themselves do not personally identify users, although they do identify a user's browser. Cookies are useful to estimate our number of members and determine overall traffic patterns through our website.

If you do not wish to receive any cookies you may set your browser to refuse cookies. This may mean you will not be able to take full advantage of OurPractice's services.

7. Storage and security

UBM Medica Australia and MSD will endeavour to take all reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is kept secure, accurate and up to date. Your information is stored on secure servers that are protected in controlled facilities. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. So while we make use of available technology, such as encryption software, to protect your personal information, UBM Medica Australia and MSD cannot give an absolute assurance that any information you may provide to OurPractice will be secure at all times. You accordingly do so at your own risk and UBM Medica Australia and MSD will not be held responsible for events arising from unauthorised access to your personal information.

8.Password and log-in security

In instances where you nominate a user name and password, you are responsible for the security of your password and log-in information. You can play an important role in keeping your personal information secure by maintaining the confidentiality of any passwords used on the OurPractice website. Please notify us immediately if there is any unauthorised use of your account by any other Internet user or any other breach of security.

9.Transfer of business

In the unlikely event that the assets and operations of UBM Medica Australia or MSD are transferred to another party, the personal information collected via the OurPractice site will be provided to the new business operator. However, it will remain subject to the privacy safeguards set out in the OurPractice privacy policy.

Contact us

If you have questions about our privacy policy and practices, please write to:

The Privacy Officer, UBM Medica Australia, 2nd Floor, 1 Chandos Street, St Leonards, NSW 2065.

For GPs who would like to provide feedback, please contact your MSD representative.

Future Changes

OurPractice will continue to evolve as we introduce new services and features to our Web site. Because of this, from time to time, our policies will be reviewed and may be revised. OurPractice, myDr, UBM Medica Australia and MSD reserve the right to change their privacy policy at any time and notify you by posting an updated version of the policy on the Web site. If you object to any changes, you may discontinue your use of the services. The amended Privacy Policy will apply between us once it is posted on the Web site whether or not we have given you specific notice of any change.

Last revised: 14/09/2004

GPs

In the case of GPs, OurPractice offers you the opportunity to display information about your medical practice in accordance with the terms of your agreement with MSD. Any personal information collected by OurPractice which is not supplied by you for use on this Web site will be treated as confidential. We may use your personal information in providing you with information, products or services.

UBM Medica Australia and MSD will not otherwise disclose any of your personally identifiable information to third parties, except when they have your permission or under special circumstances set out in the Privacy Act 1988, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires disclosure or where you give consent to its disclosure. You can access and change the information we keep about you in accordance with paragraph 5 above. UBM Medica Australia and MSD will endeavour to take all reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is kept secure, accurate and up to date in accordance with paragraph 7 above.

You acknowledge that by disclosing this information to us in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the terms of your agreement with MSD, you are indemnifying the Web site and UBM Medica Australia from any claim for loss, damage, or harassment which may occur by this information being available on the Internet.

Your agreement

I agree that I have read and accept the terms and conditions outlined in this privacy policy.

TOP | BACK