StopTicks value the privacy of our members and visitors. We do not use or disclose personally identifiable information about our members and their visitors except being required. We also respect individuals’ desire for privacy. 

No personal information about any person, living or dead, can be obtained from this site without that individual’s express permission. Our primary focus is on Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases and research on these diseases. 

We are an information-gathering and advocacy group dedicated to providing accurate, timely, understandable, and valuable information to our community. However, our company policy and legal obligations require us to collect personal information from you. 

Using this site, you consent to collect and use this information by StopTicks.

Understanding How Information Is Collected on StopTicks

1. Information You May Choose to Provide to Us: 

This site allows you to post and share your experiences, reactions, and comments on products, events, websites, online communities, and other topics of interest. If you choose to provide us with personal information in connection with such postings or communications, we may publish that information at our sole discretion. 

2. Information That Is Automatically Collected When You Visit StopTicks: 

When you visit the website, we automatically collect the following information: 

• The name and e-mail address you provide to register;
• The IP address of the computer and the software used by your computer to connect to our site;
• Your browser type and version number, operating system and platform, unique ID number (for example, if you have a Google account), language setting, connection information such as the time zone in which you are located; 
• The date, time, and length of your visit to the site; and
• Pageviews and access frequency, content navigation paths, and browser settings.

How We Use Your Information

We use the data we gather from you when providing our services to you to:

1. Contact you when necessary to deliver our services to you: 
2. Respond to your inquiries, feedback and comments, and requests for information and services;
3. Send you information on: 

• Research regarding Lyme disease (including new research);
• Events in which StopTicks is participating, including but not limited to conferences, lectures, webinars, seminars, and workshops;

4. Monitor and analyze trends, usage data, and usage patterns on the website;
5. Send you the Newsletters and e-mails of interest;
6. For analytical purposes, to administer a contest or promotion, fraud prevention, and as otherwise required by law.

How We May Share Information

We may share or transfer your personal information to third parties as follows:

1. When we contract with third parties for the storage and maintenance services of our records, we do not authorize these service providers to use or disclose the data except as necessary to perform services on our behalf. You must understand that we cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose online in a public forum, such as message boards, chat rooms, and blogs.
2. To comply with civil and criminal laws and cooperate with law enforcement authorities;
3. Our business partners for marketing purposes, such as sponsorships and other marketing arrangements, if you indicate your interest;
4. If we are acquired by or merged with another company; or
5. In connection with a sale of our business, a divestiture, financing, acquisition of all or part of our assets, transfer of control, or liquidation.

Data Retention and Access

We only retain your data for as long as we have a good faith basis to believe it is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and permitted by the privacy policy. 

In some circumstances, we need to keep records to meet legal or regulatory requirements. We will take reasonable steps to destroy records in our possession after the retention period has ended. 

However, you can access/update your personal information in our system. You may request the deletion of your personal information in our system by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

Your Choices

We value our members’ privacy, and in compliance with various state and federal laws, we provide you with the following choices as to how we may use your data:

1. You can unsubscribe to our mailings at any time by following the unsubscribe link in any of our e-mails; or
2. You can opt-out of sharing your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes by sending an e-mail to [email protected], specifying how you do not wish your name and e-mail address to be shared with a third party; or
3. You can request the deletion of your personal information in our system by sending an e-mail to info@stop-ticks.

International Users

Using this site, you agree to collect, store, and use your personal information in the United States. If you are accessing this service from outside of the United States, please note that we may transfer that information to servers in the United States and process it there. 

Children’s Privacy

If you are under 13, please do not submit any personal information to or on this website or any other website without your parent’s or guardian’s permission. We do not intentionally collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. 

In case you are a parent or guardian of a child under 13 and believe they have disclosed personal information on this website, please contact us at [email protected].

Changes to the Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time. If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes here so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. 

If we decide to use personal information differently from that stated when it was collected, we will notify users by way of an e-mail. Users will have an option as to whether or not we use their information differently. 

However, if users have opted out from receiving communications from us or if they are deactivated as account holders, we will not be able to include them in this notice. Continued use of the service will be deemed acceptance of the change. 

We suggest that you check this privacy policy from time to time to ensure that you continue to agree with the way we use personal information.