Evaluating Treatment Center Sites Con’t
Without a doubt, privacy policy pages and terms of use and condition pages represent best practices on the Internet. At the same time, alcohol and drug treatment centers should be among the institutions most concerned with privacy. This is why I find it so surprising that so many treatment center websites don’t have them or don’t make them easily visible. One treatment center site that I reviewed had pages for these with “coming soon” text. Those pages had Google page rank (Google’s scale for determining page reputation) of 6. Let me tell you, a 6 is not that easy to obtain so those pages had most likely been there for quite some time.
Once you do find a center site with a privacy policy look for language like the following:
1. This website does not collect personal information from your computer when you view this site.
2. “Cookies” are strings of text that a Web site stores on a user’s computer to facilitate their visit. This website creates a temporary cookie - one that expires when you turn off your browser.
3. When we ask you for personal data in any of our forms the information is transferred over a Secured Sockets Layer (SSL) line provided you are using an SSL enabled browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. (Note: I still suggest you call the center rather than providing personal information online).
4.Patient and Alumni information is protected by the Code of Federal Regulations , Title 42 Part 2 and HIPA.
Not having an online privacy policy doesn’t mean the treatment center isn’t qualified, but it is worth noting and adding to your pile of information for evaluation.
