Privacy Policy

Effective Date: May 25, 2018

This Privacy Policy governs the information about you that the American Society for Radiation Oncology (“ASTRO”) collects or you provide on or though ASTRO.org and related websites and services (collectively, the “Sites”).

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using the Sites, you acknowledge that you read and understood this Privacy Policy. Please also read ASTRO’s Terms of Use.

Who We Are/ Data Controller
The data controller for the information you provide or that is collected by ASTRO is:
American Society for Radiation Oncology
251 18th Street South
8th Floor
Arlington, VA 22202

Where This Privacy Policy Applies
ASTRO operates ASTRO.ORG and subdomains, roinstitute.org, RTAnswers.org, headandnecksymposium.org and thoracicsymposium.org and services related to ASTRO, including for, ROhub, the ASTRO Radiation Oncology Career Center, RO MarketPlace, and the web services for the Accreditation Program for Excellence (“APEx”) and the QOPI Reporting Registry.

Information We Collect
The information that we collect depends on how you use the Sites. For users who do not register or have an account, we collect basic technical information about how users use and interact with our Sites so that we may improve the performance, content and services on our Sites.

The MyASTRO portion of the ASTRO.ORG website ("MyASTRO") is accessible only to members of ASTRO ("Members") or other users who establish an account with us. To access the MyASTRO portion of the Sites, you must provide your username and password. When you become a registered user of the Sites or update your Membership with the ASTRO.ORG website, we collect some or all of the information below, as provided by you:

Contact Information

• Your full name
• Email address
• Work and Home address (including state, city, ZIP code and country)
• Telephone (Work)
• Telephone (Home)
• Your facsimile number
• Your title
• Company Name
• Professional degree or designation
• Current duties

Medical Background

• Medical School
• Medical Education/Training (Internship and Specialty Training)
• Medical Experience
• Types of certification
• Membership in National, Regional or Local related Societies

Demographics (optional)

• Your Birthdate
• Gender
• Race

The information that you provide to ASTRO to become a Member during the ASTRO Member registration or renewal process, or in other activities in the MyASTRO portion of the Site, including name, address, phone and payment information, together with any additional information you provide to ASTRO and information regarding the manner in which you use your ASTRO Membership, will not be used or disclosed by ASTRO except as permitted by this Policy or as required or allowed by applicable law or legal process. Of course, we also collect your:

• ASTRO Membership Number
• ASTRO website username
• ASTRO website Password
• Names of Two Active Members who are your Sponsors

From time to time, you may purchase products or services offered on the Sites, such as member renewal or registration for ASTRO organized or sponsored meetings or courses, and you may make donations to ASTRO PAC and/or the Radiation Oncology Institute. ASTRO does not store your credit card information; your credit card information is processed and stored by PayPal.

ASTRO also may conduct surveys regarding preferences for ASTRO products or services, including ASTRO organized or sponsored meetings or courses. At that time, you may also supply other information to ASTRO at your option, such as information about your travel and lodging preferences and interests, meeting or course selections, additional financial information for payment purposes and preferred informational topics.

Practices that apply for accreditation through ASTRO’s Accreditation Program for Excellence (APEx) will provide additional information to ASTRO through the APEx web service. Practices authorize ASTRO to use the information gathered in the accreditation process for purposes of administering and developing the APEx program and for other purposes in furtherance of the purpose of ASTRO. In addition, ASTRO members who apply to become APEx surveyors provide ASTRO with additional Personal Information in their applications and authorize ASTRO to use that information in accordance with ASTRO’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and otherwise in connection with the APEx Program.

In addition, there are other places on the Sites where more specific products, services and uses are addressed, and which may have additional terms or codes of conduct. Specific services subject to additional terms of use or codes include but are not limited to ASTRO’s member community (ROhub), accreditation program (APEx), career center, journals, abstract submission software and other entities assisting with ASTRO’s educational offerings.

Please note that certain information, photos, or content that you submit to ASTRO, or groups that you choose to join on the Sites, may be likely to reveal Personal Information about you. You understand that the submission of such information, photos, or content, and joining of such communities, is voluntary on your part, and ASTRO may process, store and use this information within the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Providing information to Third-Party Sites

Through your use of the Sites, you may access links to third-party sites, which will have their own policies with respect to their use of your Personal Information. ASTRO is not responsible for the practices of third parties and use of third party sites is at your own risk.

Use of Personal Information

ASTRO uses your Personal Information, as well as other information it has about you or provided in your use of the Sites, to operate the Sites, to contact you (including regular email alerts, ASTRO meeting or conference notices, and responding to your requests); to effect, enforce, investigate, collect on and account for transactions related to the ASTRO website; to populate your entry in ASTRO’s Online Membership Directory (housed in ROhub) which is shared with other Members and certain other Uses permitted by ASTRO; to adjust ASTRO’s offerings of products and services; to lease mailing labels of ASTRO Members; to track your visits to ASTRO’s ROhub private online community website; to facilitate your use of the ASTRO Career Center; to conduct other ASTRO activities; and to comply with applicable law. This may include but is not limited to soliciting, processing and verifying orders for products, courses and conferences attendance; verifying Member credentials to maintain reasonable security; providing ASTRO with information regarding developing new features, products and services for Members and contacting you regarding new features, products and services.

ASTRO discloses limited contact information you provide in the RT Answers Find a Radiation Oncologist database, unless you opt out on the profile page of MyASTRO.

ASTRO may provide your information (excluding email addresses), or you may provide your information directly, to corporate affiliates of ASTRO and/or third parties who are responsible for implementing some of ASTRO’s services (including but not limited to meeting, conference or course registration, mailing, promotional offers, consulting services, data modeling or analysis and payment). Financial information that is collected is used to bill you for products, services and dues. Unique Identifiers are used to verify your identity. ASTRO will endeavor to ensure that the third parties protect your Personal Information.

ASTRO may use your IP address to analyze trends, track a user’s movement through the Sites, help diagnose problems with ASTRO’s server, and to administer the Sites. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information.

The Sites may contain links and advertisements that lead to other sites that are not under ASTRO’s control, including sites of cosponsors of ASTRO meetings and courses. ASTRO may share information obtained from attendees of courses, conferences or meetings with cosponsors of such courses, conferences or meetings. ASTRO is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of its cosponsors or of other third party websites. ASTRO encourages you to review the privacy policies of any websites that you visit through a link, advertisement or other notice on the Sites.

ASTRO also uses outside companies to ship orders, to engage in conference, meeting and course planning and registration, and to process credit cards when billing users for products and services. ASTRO will endeavor to ensure that these third parties do not further use or disclose your Personal Information for any purpose other than providing the products or services.

Cookies and Other Similar Data Collection Technologies

We use and may allow others to use cookies and similar data collection technologies to recognize you and/or your device(s).

What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are sent to or accessed from your web browser or your computer's hard drive. A cookie typically contains the name of the domain (internet location) from which the cookie originated, the “lifetime” of the cookie (i.e., when it expires) and a randomly generated unique number or similar identifier. A cookie also may contain information about your computer, such as user settings, browsing history and activities conducted while using our services. Web beacons (also called pixel tags or clear GIFs) are another type of data collection technology. To learn more about cookies and web beacons, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Are there different types of cookies?
First-party cookies are placed on your device directly by us. For example, we use first-party cookies to adapt the Sites to your browser’s language preferences and to better understand your use of the Sites. Third-party cookies are placed on your device by our partners and service providers. For example, we use third-party cookies to measure user numbers on the Sites or to enable you to share content with others across social media platforms.

Session cookies only last until you close your browser. We use session cookies for a variety of reasons, including to learn more about your use of the Sites during one single browser session and to help you to use the Sites more efficiently. Persistent cookies have a longer lifespan and aren't automatically deleted when you close your browser. These types of cookies are primarily used to help you quickly sign-in to the Sites again and for analytical purposes.

Why do we use cookies?
We use cookies to provide, secure and improve our services, including by remembering your preferences and recognizing you when you visit the Sites. To accomplish these purposes, we also may link information from cookies with other personal information we hold about you. When you visit the Sites, some or all of the following types of cookies may be set on your device:

• Strictly necessary cookies, which are required for the operation of the Sites. Without them, for example, you would not be able to register or log in for the Sites that we offer.
• Analytical/performance cookies, which allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors, to learn how visitors navigate the Sites and to help us to improve the way Services function.
• Targeting cookies, which record your visits to the Sites, the pages you visited and the links you followed. Targeting cookies helps us and our advertising partners to deliver ads or messages that are relevant to you and your interests. We also share this information with third parties to identify and send you relevant messages.
• Interaction cookies, which allow you to recommend us on social media.

What about “Do Not Track”?
Some web browsers (including Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome) have a “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) feature that tells a website that a user does not want to have his or her online activity tracked. If a website that responds to a DNT signal receives a DNT signal, the browser can block that website from collecting certain information about the browser’s user. Not all browsers offer a DNT option and DNT signals are not yet uniform. For this reason, many website operators, including ASTRO, do not currently respond to DNT signals.

Your Choices about Personal Information

When possible, the Sites will provide you with the means to make sure that your Member information is correct and current. You may view your name, title, address, phone number, facsimile number and email address collected from you when becoming a Member or renewing Membership by entering the MyASTRO Site (using your ASTRO website username and ASTRO website password) and then reviewing your information in the Online Membership Directory. For any other information not appearing in the Online Membership Directory, you must contact ASTRO directly in one of the four ways listed below. To correct any factual inaccuracies, you must send ASTRO a request that shows the error and the requested change. Certain types of information, such as, but not limited to, information provided in response to surveys, financial information kept for accounting purposes and accreditation and self-assessment information (both for surveyors and facilities) that have been submitted for review, may not be able to be edited, updated or corrected.

ASTRO will make a good faith effort to process valid changes, but ASTRO does not promise to do so within a particular time frame. ASTRO will send you a confirmation email once a change is effected.

Members may opt-out of listing any information beyond their name and company in the Member Directory through the ROhub. Members may also opt-out of receiving future physical or electronic mailings, surveys or other information except those that are directly related to the operation of ASTRO (such as Membership renewal notices) by contacting ASTRO as follows:

American Society for Radiation Oncology
251 18th Street South
8th Floor
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: 703-502-1550
Fax: 703-502-7852
Email: [email protected]  

If you choose to provide ASTRO with personal information that reveals your ethnic origin, religion and/or sexual orientation, you expressly consent to ASTRO’s processing of this sensitive personal information for the purposes for which you provided it.

If you want to object to ASTRO’s processing, please contact us using the contact information above. When you make a request, we may ask you to verify your identity or provide additional information before we honor your request. We may reject your request for certain reasons, such as when your request may infringe on trade secrets, intellectual property or privacy of others or to comply with law. We will notify you either way. Your personal information will be retained for no longer than necessary to fulfill the purposes specified above or to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

If at any time you believe that the Sites have not adhered to this Privacy Policy, please let us know. We will use good faith efforts to determine and correct the problem.

EEA residents have a right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority about how ASTRO processes your personal information.

Consent to Share and Receive Information

ASTRO may lease your mailing address, which includes your name, company name, and physical mailing address, with outside organizations for one-time use. These organizations are not bound by this Privacy Policy. You may opt out of receiving this type of information by contacting [email protected].

If you are a California resident, you can request a notice disclosing the categories of personal information about you that we have shared with third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year. To request this notice, please submit your request to [email protected]. Please allow 30 days for a response. For your protection and the protection of all of our users, we may ask you to provide proof of identity before we can answer such a request.

Disclosure of Personal Information

The Sites may store and disclose Personal Information as allowed or required by applicable law, including but not limited to making disclosures that are necessary or advisable to conform to legal or regulatory requirements or comply with legal process; or protect the rights, safety or property of ASTRO, the Sites or others (including but not limited to other providers, suppliers and vendors), or the users of the Sites or the public.

In addition, if you are a registered User of the Sites, Personal Information and photos that you provide through the Sites may be disclosed to other ASTRO Members via the ROhub or other Sites.

Public Forums

The Sites make use of forums, communities, message boards, and/or news groups available to its Users. Information that is disclosed in these areas is viewable by many other users and in many cases could become public information, Therefore, you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your Personal Information and in no event should you use or disclose any individually identifiable health information that would violate statutory, regulatory, fiduciary or contractual obligations, as spelled out more fully in our Terms of Use.

Career Center

The ASTRO Radiation Oncology Career Center (careers.astro.org) allows jobseekers to upload and store resumes, letters of recommendation, published articles and other Personal Information in your jobseeker profile. ASTRO will not make your resume searchable, unless you elect to do so. You may remove your resume or other Personal Information from your jobseeker profile at any time. ASTRO is not for any reason responsible for any error in the transmission of information which you post on the careers.astro.org website. You agree that it is your responsibility to exercise caution and to act prudently when using the Sites available on the careers.astro.org website and that you use the careers.astro.org website at your own risk. When you elect to make your resume or other information searchable, employers may use your information to contact you, and the information may become a part of the employer’s database. ASTRO is not responsible for an employer’s or third party’s use of the Personal Information that you publicly post on the careers.astro.org website. Any employer or third party usage of your Personal Information is subject to the privacy policy of that employer or third party. ASTRO attempts to limit access to its searchable resume database to legitimate users, such as employers and recruiters, but cannot guarantee that other parties will not gain access to this database. Additional policies posted on the careers.astro.org website are incorporated herein. The Career Center is subject to ASTRO's Terms of Use.

Information Protection and Retention

We work hard to protect you from unauthorized access to or alteration, disclosure or destruction of your personal information. Of course, we cannot promise and you should not expect that your personal information will always remain secure.

We may suspend your use of all or part of the Sites without notice if we suspect or detect any breach of security. If you believe that your account or information is no longer secure, please notify us immediately at [email protected].

We keep your personal information only as long as we need it for legitimate business purposes and as permitted by applicable law.

Children's Privacy

Our services are restricted to adult users. We do not permit users who are minors to use the Sites and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under age 18. If you suspect that a user is under age 18, please contact us using the contact information below.

Privacy Policy Changes

This Privacy Policy may change over time. We will notify you before any material changes take effect so that you have time to review the changes.

How to Contact ASTRO

American Society for Radiation Oncology
251 18th Street South
8th Floor
Arlington, VA 22202
[email protected]