Los Altos Neurology (“Los Altos Neurology,” the “Practice,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Website Privacy Statement explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect personal information through losaltosneurology.com and the public-facing webpages, forms, features, and digital content that we control (collectively, the “Site”).
Important privacy distinction: This Statement concerns the public Site. When Los Altos Neurology creates, receives, maintains, or transmits protected health information in its capacity as a healthcare provider, our Notice of Privacy Practices and applicable health-privacy laws may also apply. This Statement does not replace or limit those protections.
1. Scope of This Statement
This Statement applies to personal information collected through the public Site and public Site features under our control. “Personal information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked to a person or household. It does not include information that has been lawfully deidentified or aggregated so that it cannot reasonably be linked to an individual.
This Statement does not independently govern:
- medical records and other protected health information governed by our Notice of Privacy Practices;
- third-party patient portals, waitlists, scheduling platforms, telehealth services, payment services, social-media services, maps, videos, or other external websites and applications;
- employment or contractor information collected outside the Site; or
- information collected offline, except where this Statement expressly says otherwise.
A third-party service may have its own privacy notice and terms. When a third-party platform processes information on our behalf in connection with healthcare services, additional contractual and legal protections may apply.
2. Information We Collect
Information you choose to provide
We may collect information that you submit through a form, email, telephone call initiated through the Site, newsletter signup, comment, appointment or consultation request, or other communication. Depending on the feature, this may include:
- name, email address, telephone number, mailing address, and preferred contact method;
- the service, location, clinician, or appointment type in which you are interested;
- preferred appointment dates or times and referral information;
- the contents of your inquiry, correspondence, feedback, or comment;
- communication preferences, consent records, and unsubscribe requests; and
- health-related information that you voluntarily include in an inquiry or request.
Please limit sensitive information in public communications. Except for a form expressly identified as a secure healthcare form or the designated patient portal, do not submit detailed medical histories, medical-record numbers, Social Security numbers, financial-account information, images of identification documents, or other information that is not reasonably necessary for the stated purpose.
Information collected automatically
When you use the Site, our systems and service providers may automatically collect technical and usage information, such as:
- Internet Protocol address and general location inferred from it;
- browser type, operating system, device type, language, and screen information;
- pages viewed, links selected, referring and exit pages, timestamps, and time spent;
- cookie identifiers, session identifiers, and similar technical identifiers;
- diagnostic, performance, error, security, and fraud-prevention logs; and
- interactions with Site features and embedded content.
We do not seek to collect precise geolocation through the public Site unless we separately ask for permission and explain the purpose at the time of collection.
Information from third parties
We may receive information from service providers that help us operate the Site, process a form, manage communications, prevent spam or fraud, or understand Site use. We may also receive information when you interact with a third-party patient platform, referral source, directory, social-media page, or other service and direct that service to provide information to us.
Summary of categories and purposes
| Category | Examples | Principal purposes |
|---|---|---|
| Identifiers and contact information | Name, email, telephone number, mailing address, online identifiers | Respond to inquiries, communicate, schedule, verify requests, and maintain records |
| Inquiry and service-request information | Requested service, preferred location or time, referral source, message contents | Evaluate and respond to requests, coordinate intake, and provide requested information |
| Health-related or sensitive information you provide | Symptoms, condition of interest, treatment history, or other details voluntarily included in a message | Respond to the request, determine the appropriate communication pathway, and, when applicable, support healthcare operations subject to additional legal protections |
| Internet, device, and usage information | IP address, browser, device, page views, referrals, interactions, cookie identifiers, logs | Operate, secure, troubleshoot, measure, and improve the Site |
| Communication and preference information | Newsletter choices, contact preferences, consent and opt-out records | Send requested communications and honor preferences |
| Professional and legal records | Complaints, privacy requests, records needed to establish or defend legal rights | Comply with law, investigate issues, and protect the Practice, users, and others |
3. How We Use Personal Information
We may use personal information for the following purposes:
- to provide, maintain, secure, troubleshoot, and improve the Site;
- to respond to questions, consultation requests, appointment requests, and other communications;
- to route an inquiry to the appropriate person or service and support patient intake when requested;
- to send administrative, service-related, or requested communications;
- to send educational or promotional communications when permitted by law and consistent with your choices;
- to measure Site performance, understand general usage patterns, and improve content and accessibility;
- to detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, misuse, security incidents, and technical problems;
- to comply with legal, regulatory, licensing, reporting, recordkeeping, and professional obligations;
- to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims and enforce our Terms of Use; and
- to create deidentified or aggregated information that is not reasonably linkable to an individual.
We do not use personal information collected through the public Site to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning an individual.
4. Health Information, HIPAA, and California Medical Privacy
Not every visit to a healthcare website or every item of website data is protected health information under HIPAA. The legal status of information depends on the information, the context in which it is collected, who receives it, and how it is used.
If you submit information in connection with seeking or receiving healthcare and Los Altos Neurology maintains that information as part of its healthcare operations or medical records, the information may also be subject to HIPAA, the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, and other applicable health-privacy laws. In that circumstance, the Notice of Privacy Practices describes additional rights and permitted uses and disclosures.
A general website cookie notice or acceptance of this Statement is not an authorization for a use or disclosure of protected health information that otherwise requires a HIPAA-compliant authorization.
5. Cookies, Analytics, and Similar Technologies
The Site may use cookies, pixels, local storage, tags, and similar technologies for the following limited purposes:
- Essential functions: page delivery, security, load balancing, form operation, fraud and spam prevention, and accessibility;
- Preferences: remembering settings or choices where offered;
- Analytics: understanding aggregate traffic, page performance, referrals, and general interaction with Site content; and
- Embedded services: displaying maps, videos, fonts, or other third-party content requested by the visitor.
We may use Google Analytics or a similar analytics service. Analytics providers may receive technical information such as IP address, device and browser information, cookie identifiers, referring pages, and Site interactions. We do not intentionally permit analytics providers to receive the contents of inquiry fields, appointment reasons, medical-record information, or other information that a visitor types into a health-related form.
You may be able to limit cookies through your browser settings, a cookie-preference tool made available on the Site, or an analytics-provider opt-out tool. Blocking cookies may cause some Site functions not to work properly.
Some analytics providers and providers of embedded maps, videos, social-media features, or similar content may be able to recognize a browser or device over time and across different websites or online services under their own privacy notices. We do not control an independent third party’s collection outside the Site and do not authorize third parties to collect the contents of health-related forms for their own purposes.
Sale, sharing, behavioral advertising, and session replay
As of the effective date of this Statement, Los Altos Neurology does not sell personal information and does not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined under applicable U.S. state privacy laws. We do not disclose personal information to third parties for their own direct-marketing purposes.
We do not knowingly permit third-party advertising pixels or session-replay technologies to collect the contents of inquiry, scheduling, waitlist, portal, or other health-related forms. If our practices materially change, we will update this Statement and provide any notice, consent, or opt-out mechanism required by law before using personal information for the new purpose.
Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control
Some browsers transmit “Do Not Track” signals. Because there is not a uniform industry standard for interpreting those signals, the Site does not currently respond to Do Not Track signals. Because we do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, an opt-out preference signal does not alter those practices. If our practices change or applicable law requires recognition of a valid opt-out preference signal, such as Global Privacy Control, we will process the signal as required by law.
6. How We Disclose Personal Information
We may disclose personal information only as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Statement, including to the following categories of recipients:
- Website and technology providers: hosting, content delivery, maintenance, analytics, accessibility, anti-spam, cybersecurity, backup, and information-technology providers;
- Communication providers: email, telephone, text-message, newsletter, and customer-communication providers used to respond to or send communications;
- Healthcare-support platforms: patient portal, waitlist, intake, scheduling, telehealth, document, and payment providers when you choose to use those services;
- Professional advisers: attorneys, accountants, auditors, consultants, insurers, and other advisers who require the information to provide services to the Practice;
- Governmental and legal recipients: courts, regulators, licensing authorities, law enforcement, or other parties when disclosure is required or permitted by law or reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety, or security;
- Transaction participants: parties involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, sale of assets, or similar transaction, subject to applicable professional, contractual, and legal restrictions; and
- Other recipients at your direction: when you request, authorize, or consent to the disclosure.
We seek to require service providers to use personal information only for the services they provide to us and to protect it appropriately. When a service provider creates, receives, maintains, or transmits protected health information on our behalf and qualifies as a business associate under HIPAA, we require an appropriate business associate agreement where the law requires one.
7. Communications
If you provide an email address or telephone number, we may use it to respond to your inquiry, provide requested information, coordinate an appointment or intake process, send administrative notices, or communicate as otherwise permitted by law. Ordinary email and text messages may not be fully secure and may be viewed by persons with access to your device or account.
You may unsubscribe from nonessential marketing or educational email by using the unsubscribe link in the message or contacting us. We may still send nonmarketing communications that are necessary to respond to a request, administer a service, comply with law, or support an existing clinical or business relationship.
Consent to receive marketing communications is not a condition of receiving medical care. Any consent required for automated calls, recurring marketing text messages, or other regulated communications will be requested separately where applicable.
8. Retention
We retain personal information for no longer than reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including responding to requests, maintaining appropriate business and consent records, supporting security, resolving disputes, enforcing agreements, and complying with legal, regulatory, licensing, insurance, tax, and professional obligations.
Retention periods vary according to the nature and sensitivity of the information, the context in which it was collected, applicable legal requirements, and whether it becomes part of a medical or other legally regulated record. Medical-record retention is governed separately by applicable law and the Practice’s clinical-record policies.
9. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, alteration, loss, or disclosure. Depending on the information and system, safeguards may include encrypted transmission, access controls, authentication, logging, backups, vendor oversight, and workforce policies.
No website, electronic transmission, storage system, or security measure can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You are responsible for using reasonable care when communicating electronically, protecting your devices and accounts, and avoiding the submission of unnecessary sensitive information through public channels.
10. Your Choices and Requests
Depending on the context and applicable law, you may have the following choices:
- update contact or communication-preference information by contacting us;
- unsubscribe from nonessential email through the link in the message;
- manage cookies through available Site controls or your browser;
- request access to, correction of, or deletion of certain personal information; and
- ask a question or raise a concern about our privacy practices.
We may need to verify your identity and authority before completing a request. We may deny or limit a request when permitted or required by law, including where information must be retained for medical, legal, security, fraud-prevention, recordkeeping, or other legitimate purposes. A request concerning protected health information or a medical record will be handled under the Notice of Privacy Practices and applicable health-record law.
11. California Privacy Disclosures
California law requires operators of commercial websites that collect personally identifiable information from California residents to disclose specified privacy practices. The categories of information we collect, categories of recipients, purposes, review and correction process, effective date, and response to tracking signals are described in this Statement.
California Consumer Privacy Act
The California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended (“CCPA”), applies only to businesses that meet statutory criteria, and it contains exemptions and limitations for certain medical information and other regulated information. To the extent the CCPA applies to Los Altos Neurology or to particular information, a California resident may have rights to:
- know the categories and specific pieces of personal information collected and obtain information about sources, purposes, and disclosures;
- request deletion of certain personal information;
- request correction of inaccurate personal information;
- opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information;
- limit certain uses or disclosures of sensitive personal information; and
- receive equal service and not be discriminated against for exercising a privacy right.
We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics for advertising. We will evaluate and respond to verifiable requests in accordance with the law that applies to the request and information.
You may submit a privacy request using the contact information below and identifying the request as a “Privacy Request.” An authorized agent may submit a request where permitted by law, but we may require evidence of authority and may need to verify the consumer directly. We will not discriminate against a person for exercising a right protected by applicable privacy law.
California “Shine the Light”
We do not disclose personal information to third parties for their own direct-marketing purposes as contemplated by California’s “Shine the Light” law. California residents may contact us with questions about this practice.
12. Children’s Privacy
The public Site is intended for a general adult audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13 through the public Site without appropriate authorization. If you believe a child has submitted personal information through the public Site without proper authorization, contact us so that we can review the matter.
Healthcare services involving minors and information submitted by a parent, guardian, or authorized representative are governed by applicable healthcare, consent, confidentiality, and medical-record laws and may be addressed in the Notice of Privacy Practices and patient documents.
13. External Services, Links, and Embedded Content
The Site may link to or display services operated by third parties, including a patient portal, waitlist or scheduling platform, maps, videos, social networks, professional directories, laboratories, journals, and government resources. Those services may collect information directly from you and may use cookies or similar technologies under their own privacy notices and terms.
Los Altos Neurology does not control the privacy or security practices of an independent third party. Review the third party’s privacy notice before providing information. A link or embedded feature does not necessarily constitute endorsement.
14. Visitors Outside the United States
The Site is operated from the United States and is primarily intended for persons seeking information about services in California. If you access the Site from another country, information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.
15. Changes to This Statement
We may update this Statement to reflect changes in law, technology, Site functions, vendors, or our practices. The “Effective date” and “Last reviewed” dates above identify the current version. Material changes will be communicated through a reasonably appropriate method, such as a prominent Site notice or direct notice when required by law.
We will not use previously collected personal information for a materially different, unrelated purpose without providing any notice or obtaining any consent required by applicable law.
16. Contact Us
For questions, privacy requests, or concerns about this Statement, contact:
Privacy Contact
Los Altos Neurology
2500 Hospital Drive, Suite 4B
Mountain View, California 94040
Telephone: 650-492-7999
Email: concierge@losaltosneurology.com
Use the subject line “Privacy Request.” Do not use this email address for emergencies or time-sensitive clinical concerns. An accessible alternative format of this Statement is available upon request.
This Website Privacy Statement should be read together with our Terms of Use, Medical Disclaimer, and Notice of Privacy Practices.