Privacy Policy

Last Updated: [1/9/2023]

The Local Initiative Health Authority for Los Angeles County, operating and doing business as L.A. Care Health Plan, a local public agency (L.A. Care), is a non-profit health plan that provides health care benefits and coverage to members through various State, Federal, and commercial programs. At L.A. Care we are committed to protecting your privacy. This privacy policy (“Policy”) helps to answer questions you may have about the data and personal information we may collect, use, or disclose as part of our services, communications with you, and your use of our websites, applications, platforms, and mobile applications The Information we collect is not part of any designated record set. This Policy applies to all L.A. Care websites, as well as all subdomains, applications, browsers, extensions, and mobile applications, (collectively “Site(s)”) whether hosted or maintained by L.A. Care or its subcontractors (collectively “Company” or “we,” “us,” or “our”), irrespective of the devices on which they are viewed or accessed, including computers, tablets, and mobile devices. Our Sites offer information about our company, the programs we offer, benefits, program documents, network providers and allow members and others to communicate with us, as well as general information about health education, and some helpful resources for members, providers, and others. (collectively “Services”).

By visiting our Sites and using the Services, you accept, without limitation or qualification, the practices and policies described in this Policy, including our collection, use and sharing of data and information, and other activities. Your use of our Site and Services is also subject to our Terms and Conditions. To the extent we provide you additional notice (e.g., on the member portal), of different or other privacy policies, or practices, then those policies, practices, and conditions shall also govern. If applicable, your use of some areas of this Site and Services may be subject to the Notice of Privacy Practices, which describes how we use and disclose protected health information. The Notice of Privacy Practices is available in the Resources sidebar; we encourage you to review it. If you do not agree to the terms of this Policy, the Notice of Privacy Practices, or any other privacy policy on the Sites or Services, or our Terms and Conditions, in general or in part, then please do not continue your visit or use our Sites or Services and exit immediately. Your continued use of our Sites and Services will constitute your acceptance and agreement.

1. Personal Information and Its Use

We do not collect personal information about you unless you provide it to us voluntarily. Personal information is any information or data that can be connected to an individual such as name, physical address, e-mail, birth date, and username, among other items. Portions of our Site may allow you to provide us with personal information. Any information you may post on our social media Sites, including your name, user ids, or uploading pictures, is public information. Personal information is used only for the purpose it was provided, such as to send you requested materials and information or to respond to your questions or concerns. We do not sell, rent, or license personal information. We do not share personal information with third parties except our subcontractors who need the information to assist us, as allowable by law and when required by law.

2. Anonymous Data and Its Use

Like many companies, we routinely collect some data on the use and activities on the Sites and Services, such as how many people visit the Site, the webpages or mobile screens they visited, how long they stayed on the Site and Services, and where they came from. This data helps us improve our Site, Services, and content, and provide you with a better experience. We may share this data with our subcontractors, and others.

3. Weblogs

Like many companies, we collect certain information automatically when you visit our Sites or use the Services. We maintain standard Weblogs that record data about all visitors and who use the Sites and Services. We use and store this information as allowable by law. We use the information to help us better design our Sites, to identify popular features and pages, to make the Sites more useful to visitors, and for security purposes. These Weblogs may contain the Internet domain from which you access the Site; the Internet Protocol Address (IP Address), which is automatically assigned to your computer when you get on the Internet (a static IP Address may be identifiable as being connected to you, while a dynamic address is usually not identifiable); the type of browser and operating system you use; the date and time you visited; the pages you viewed, etc. If you sign on to a part of the Site to use a secured feature, the Weblogs will also contain an individual identifier and show the Services you have accessed.

4. Cookies and Web Beacons

We may also use Cookies, session and persistent, and other similar technologies for some of the functionalities on our Site. “Cookies” are pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer's hard disk. A session cookie is deleted from your computer when you disconnect from or leave the Sites. A persistent cookie remains after you close your browser and may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the Sites. Cookies can make the website easier for you to use by saving certain information and preferences. Cookies help us to customize your experience on the Site, maintain your singed-on status, to track which pages and screens you visited, and to know if you have visited our Site before. We also may use Cookies to provide you with advertisements about L.A. Care based on your prior visit to our Site. We do not use Cookies to pass data to, or share data with other websites or to send you third-party advertisements. We do not attempt to look at or examine other Cookies or other information that stored on your computer.

We may also use "Web Beacons" (also referred to as "clear gifs," "Web bugs," "1-pixel gifs," pixel tags, etc.) that allow us, and our vendors, to collect non-personal information about your visits, response to e-mail communication, and for other purposes. Web Beacons are tiny images, placed on a webpage or e-mail, that can tell us what areas of the Site you have visited, such as the specific area or information on the webpage. They also allow us to send e-mail messages in a format people can read, and tell us whether e-mails have been opened for a variety of quality and user experience purposes, for example, to see if we are sending messages that are of interest. We may use this information to reduce or eliminate messages sent to users. We do not collect any personal health information with a Web Beacon and do not link Web Beacons with any other personal health information you have given us.

If you do not want or want to remove Cookies or Web Beacons, you may set your browser to refuse them, and delete them by following your web browser, help file directions. However, this may limit your ability to take full advantage of our Site and Services.

5. Internet Protocol Addresses

An Internet Protocol Address (“IP Address”) is a number that automatically identifies the computer or machine that you are using to access the Internet. The IP Address enables our server to send you the webpages that you want to visit. It may disclose the server owned by your Internet Service Provider. We utilize your IP Address to help diagnose problems with our server, for security purposes, and to support our site administration.

6. Spyware

We never use or install spyware on your computer, nor do we use spyware to retrieve information from your computer.

7. Experience Surveys

We may ask visitors to voluntarily complete a survey about their experience on our Site. Our surveys may ask visitors for certain demographic information such as age, gender, and education. All information provided is voluntary and at the visitor’s discretion. We may use the survey information to evaluate your experience, the Site, Services offered, and quality improvement purposes.

8. Policies for Children Under 13

We understand the importance of protecting children’s privacy online. Our Sites and Services are designed for adults only and do not intentionally target children under the age of 13, or knowingly collect any information from children under the age of 13 without parental consent. If you are a child under 13 years of age, you are not permitted to use the Sites or any Service without parental consent. If we learn that any person under the age of 13 has provided information about themselves, we will delete the information per applicable laws, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child under the age of 13 has provided us with information without your consent, please contact us at the information below.

9. Newsletters

If we distribute newsletters, and you request such from us, we collect e-mail addresses, physical addresses, and zip codes, and other information of all users who subscribe to these publications. Anyone who wishes to stop receiving the newsletter can, at any time, click on the “Unsubscribe” feature located within each newsletter or contact us.

10. Public Areas and Social Media

Our Sites may include links to social media pages, such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We may also offer areas on our Sites for visitors to provide feedback or comments. Please remember that any information you share in public areas and on social media becomes public, and therefore this Policy does not apply to any information you choose to make public, including your personal information or health information.. Please be careful about what you share or post on any social media or a public area of the Site. Some of these features may collect certain information about your visit, such as your IP address, which page you visited, and may set a Cookie (see above). Social media features may belong to or may be hosted by third parties, and your use of these features will be subject to the privacy statement of the company providing them. We encourage you to read the privacy statements and terms and conditions of use for any third party website you visit.

11. Disclosures

We may disclose Information as required or allowable by law with third parties, including regulatory agencies and law enforcement. We may also share some or all Information with third-party contractors to perform audits, analytics, legal, operational, and other services for us, including the effectiveness of our advertisements. In some circumstances, some third-party contractors may directly collect your information to perform certain services for you or us and may set or access their cookies, Web Beacons, or other technologies on your device. Information collected may be used to understand usage and visits better, as well as to deliver advertising targeted to your interests. These third-party contractors are required to maintain the confidentiality and security of the Information. We are not responsible for these third-party technologies or activities arising out of them. We may also share some or all Information with some affiliates, and third-party partners or joint ventures to help us to provide a better experience, improve our Site, and provide new and additional Services.

12. Links to Other Sites

The Site provides links to other websites and pages owned, maintained, or hosted by other companies. This Policy applies only to this Site. We do not exercise control over third-party websites and are not responsible for the content, privacy policies, or actions of other companies, websites, or pages. We encourage you to read the privacy statement and user terms and conditions for any third party website you visit.

13. Security Policy

The security of all personal information is of importance to us. We comply with applicable laws regarding the security of personal information. Any personal information collected by our Site is stored in secure operating environments that are not available to the public. We employ physical, administrative, and technical measures and safeguards to keep unauthorized users from accessing information through our computer network.

14. Third Party Use of Tracking Technologies

Some content or applications available through the Services, including advertisements, may be served by third parties. These third parties may use cookies, web beacons, or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use the Services, such as your IP address, pages you visit, and when you view a page or open an email in which a tag is embedded. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content and for other purposes. We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. We do not endorse, nor are responsible for the accuracy of, the privacy policies and/or terms and conditions of each of the third parties accessible through our site. The information practices of these third parties are governed by their own privacy policies and are not covered by this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly.

HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We may use information we obtain about you to:

Process orders you place and complete other transactions you have requested using the Services, and provide you with products and services you request.
Maintain a record of your purchases and other transactions using the Services.
Respond to your questions and comments and provide customer support.
Send you information or materials you request.
Operate, evaluate, and improve our business and the products and services we offer.
Communicate with you about our products, services, offers, and promotions and third party products and services that may be of interest to you.
Analyze and enhance our marketing communications and strategies, including by identifying when emails sent to you have been received and read.
Analyze trends and statistics regarding use of the Services and transactions conducted using the Services.
Protect against and prevent fraud, unauthorized transactions, claims, and other liabilities, and manage risk exposure, including by identifying potential hackers and other unauthorized users.
Enforce our terms of use and other agreements with you.
Comply with applicable legal requirements and industry standards.
We also may use the information we obtain about you in other ways for which we provide specific notice at the time of collection.

15. Communications with Our Site

If you have any questions about this Policy or the practices of this Site, please contact:

Digital Communications
1200 W. 7th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
communications-request@lacare.org

16. Changes to Privacy Policy

We may amend this Policy from time to time. We will post such changes in this area of the Site.

Privacy Practice Notices

Privacy Practice Notices

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