Online Services Privacy Policy
We recognize that the privacy of your information is important. This Online Services Privacy
Policy ("Privacy Policy" or "Policy") describes our practices in connection with information we
collect through the online and mobile websites, platforms, services, and applications that we
own or operate and that contain a link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, "Online Services").
As used in this Policy, terms such as "we," "us," "our," and "Company" refer to current and
future affiliated entities, subsidiaries, agents, contractors, or vendors of Optum Inc. Our
Online Services are intended for a United States audience. Any information you provide,
including any personal information, will be transferred to and processed by a computer
server located within the United States
By using the Online Services, you consent to our collection, use, disclosure, and storage of
information as described in this Privacy Policy.
Our Privacy Policy explains:
• When This Privacy Policy Applies
• What Information We Collect About You
• How We Use Your Information
• How We Share Your Information
• How to Manage Your Information
• Protecting Your Information
• Children Under 13
• Additional Rights for California Residents
• Social Media Disclaimer
• Social Security Number Protection Policy
• Changes to This Policy
• Contact Us
When This Privacy Policy Applies
Our Policy applies to Online Services that we own or operate and that contain a link to this
Privacy Policy. Our Policy does not apply to information collected through other means such
as by telephone, via Online Services that do not link to this Privacy Policy, or in person,
although that information may be protected by other privacy policies.
Our Policy does not apply to the practices of other companies or other websites or software
applications that may be linked from or made available through our Online Services.
The inclusion of a link on our Online Services or the ability to utilize a third-party website or
software application through our Online Services does not imply that we endorse, or
otherwise monitor the privacy or security practices of that third-party website or software
application or the accuracy of its content, and your use of the third-party website or software
application is governed by the third-party's privacy policy.
Some of our products and services are regulated by certain state and federal laws, including
the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") and the Gramm-Leach-
Bliley Act and may have specific privacy practices ("Product Privacy Notices") such as a
HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices or other specific privacy practices that we want you to be
aware. When a Product Privacy Notice exists, the content of the Product Privacy Notice
applies to your use of the product and service.
This Privacy Policy is not intended to and does not create any contractual or other legal
rights in or on behalf of any party.
What Information We Collect About You
We may collect two basic types of information through the Online Services: (1) information
you provide directly to us, and (2) information that is automatically provided to us or collected
through your use of our Online Services (collectively, “Information”).
Such Information may include information that identifies you such as your full name,
telephone number, email address, postal address, certain account numbers, your User ID
that you create or is assigned to you, health and medical information, including Protected
Health Information, financial information and other information described in this Privacy
Policy.
When you use the Online Services, you may provide certain Information directly to us. For
example, you may input a telephone number or email address into a webform or enter
information into a chat functionality. We also may make certain information available to you
on the Online Services that we collect from other sources. For example, we may pre-
populate certain demographic information in an online form or make health or medical
information viewable on the Online Services that you have provided to us on paper forms or
maintained in other information systems.
We also may obtain Information that is automatically collected through the Online Services.
The automatically collected Information may include demographic, de-identified, aggregated,
or certain information from your device such as technical information about your device, web-
browser information, and server log files collected by us or provided by you. See Cookies
and Tracking for more information on automatically collected information.
You may limit the Information you provide or make available to us if you want to; however,
that may limit your ability to access or use certain functions of the Online Services or to
request certain services or information.
Mobile Devices and Applications
In addition to the Information identified above, we may collect the following Information:
Information that Identifies You
• Health, medical, therapy, or financial information;
• Information created by Optum Inc;
• Location data such as GPS, Wi-Fi, or carrier network location (see below for more
details); and
• User files stored on your device, like calendars, photos, and videos, if you grant
permission through your device settings.
What You Do on Your Device
• Camera use. Certain features may have access to your camera if you grant
permission in your device settings.
• Local storage;
• Phone dialer;
• Use of screen, e.g., what points are touched, frequency, etc.; and
• Patterns of app usage.
Device or System Data
• Mobile Device Identifier, e.g., UDID, Android ID; and
• Technical information about your device and system and application software,
e.g., type of phone, Operating System (OS), and IP address.
We may obtain location data from your device to provide location-related services (e.g.,
driving directions or distance calculation, via the mobile application). You may withdraw
consent to use precise, real-time, or network location data at any time by turning off the
location-based feature on your mobile device or by not using any location-based features. If
you withdraw your consent, functionality associated with precise, real-time, or network
location (e.g., navigation) will no longer work.
How We Use Your Information
We may use your Information:
• To respond to an email, chat or other instant message or particular request from
you;
• To communicate with you;
• To provide you with content, services, and functionality through our Online
Services or other services that we may offer;
• To process an application for a product or service as requested by you;
• To authenticate you on any portion of our Online Services and with vendors acting
on our behalf;
• To administer surveys and promotions;
• To personalize your experience on our Online Services;
• To provide you with informational or promotional offers, as permitted by law, that
we believe may be useful to you, such as information about products or services
provided by us or other businesses;
• To perform analytics and to improve our products, Online Services, and
advertising;
• To facilitate the provision of software updates and product support;
• To improve products and other services related to the Online Services or to
provide services or technologies to you;
• To comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal process;
• To protect someone's health, safety, or welfare;
• To protect our rights, the rights of affiliates or related third parties, or to take
appropriate legal action, such as to enforce our Terms of Use;
• To keep a record of our transactions and communications; and
• As otherwise necessary or useful for us to conduct our business, so long as such
use is permitted by law or for any other purpose with your consent.
We may use Information to contact you through any contact information you provide through
our Online Services, including any email address, telephone number, cell phone number, or
fax number. We may communicate, electronically or via telephone with you about your
benefit plan, programs, products, or services that are or may be available to you in
connection with your transactions with us including, but not limited to, Online Services
updates, account information, general wellness prescription or appointment reminders,
general health information, newsletters, and surveys. These electronic communications may
contain protected health information. You acknowledge and accept that such
communications may be sent unencrypted and there is some risk of disclosure or
interception of the contents of these communications.
We may, when permitted, combine your Information with other information, whether online or
offline, maintained or available to us from you or from other sources, such as from our
vendors, and we may use and disclose combined data for the purpose described in this
Section or for internal business purposes. We may, when permitted, use and disclose de-
identified and aggregated data for any purpose, which may include, without limitation,
disclosures to third parties for analytics purposes such as evaluating the Online Services and
providing additional benefits, programs, and services.
How We Share Your Information
We will only share your Information with third parties as outlined in this Policy and as
otherwise permitted by law or as permitted with your consent.
We may share Information if all or part of the Company is sold, merged, dissolved, acquired,
or disbanded to any extent in a similar transaction, or in connection with steps that may need
to be taken in anticipation of such events.
We may share Information in response to a court order, subpoena, search warrant, or to
comply with law or regulation. We may cooperate with law enforcement authorities in
investigating and prosecuting activities that are illegal, violate our rules, or may be harmful to
other visitors.
We may also share Information within the Company, including among affiliates, or with our
parent company, or subsidiaries.
We may also share Information with other third-party companies with which we have a
business relationship or hire to perform services on our behalf. For example, we may hire a
third-party company to help us send and manage email, and we might provide that third-
party company with your email address and certain other Information for them to send you
an email message on our behalf. Similarly, we may hire third-party companies to host or
operate some of our Online Services and related computers and software applications.
How to Manage Your Information
Our Online Services may permit you to view your profile, if applicable, and access related
Information about you and to request changes to such Information. Please remember,
however, if we have already disclosed some of this Information to third parties, we may not
have access to that disclosed information and may not be able to force the modification of
any Information by the third parties to whom we have made those disclosures.
Communication Preference Management
Our Online Services may permit you to select how you would like to receive certain
communications. You may view and update additional preferences via the mobile phone
app’s Settings page in the Notifications & Emails section. The carat (“>”) icon next to Query
Notifications allows enabling and disabling of phone level notifications for queries as well as
greater control of when to receive these on this device. The carat (“>”) icon next to Query
Emails allows enabling and disabling of email notifications for queries as well as greater
control of when to receive these to this account.
We may offer mobile applications that enable us to communicate with you through push
notifications. Where mobile applications are offered, you may be able to manage push
notifications in your mobile phone or tablet settings. You may also be able to control preview
settings in your email applications.
If you need additional assistance in opting-out of a communication, please Contact Us for
assistance. Please be aware that opt-outs may not apply to certain types of communications,
such as account status, Online Service updates, or other communications.
Informational Electronic Communications
We may provide you with Informational Electronic Communications. Informational Electronic
Communications include, but are not limited to, information about products, or services that
are or may be available to you in connection with your transactions with us, such as Online
Services updates.
Any request to opt-out of receiving Informational Electronic Communications will be effective
only after we have a reasonable period of time to process your request. Opt-outs may not
apply to certain types of communications, such as account status, Online Service updates, or
other communications.
Communications sent electronically may be provided either (1) via email; (2) by access to a
website that we will designate in a notice we send to you when the information is available;
or (3) by other electronic means. At times, in our sole discretion, we may still send you paper
communications in lieu of, or in addition to, sending them electronically.
Cookies and Tracking
The Company may use various technologies, including cookies, tokens, tags, web logs, web
beacons, scripts, and web server logs to gather automatically collected information and may
aggregate this information from visitors of our Online Services or to enable certain features
of our Online Services. This information may include demographic data, technical information
about the technology (e.g., phone, computer) you use to connect to the Online Services, web
browser information, your IP address, and browsing behavior such as pages visited and how
often they are visited (collectively, "Activity Information"). We may also use third-party
analytics companies to provide these services.
We may also allow third parties to use cookies and other technologies to collect Activity
Information and to track browsing activity over time and across third-party websites such as
web browsers used to read our Online Services, which websites are referring traffic or linking
to our Online Services, and to deliver targeted advertisements to you. We do not control
these third-party technologies, and their use of such technologies is governed by their own
privacy policies. For more information about third-party advertising networks and similar
entities that use these technologies, see youradchoices.com/control, and to opt-out of such
ad networks' and services' advertising practices, go to optout.aboutads.info and
optout.networkadvertising.org/. Once you click the links, you may choose to opt out of such
advertising from all participating advertising companies or only from advertising provided by
specific advertising companies. Please note that, to the extent advertising technology is
integrated into the Online Services, you may still receive advertisements even if you opt out
of tailored advertising. In that case, the ads will just not be tailored. Also, we do not control
any of the above opt-out links and are not responsible for any choices you make using these
mechanisms or the continued availability or accuracy of these mechanisms.
Activity Information is captured using various technologies and may include cookies.
"Cookies" are small text files that may be placed on your computer or mobile device when
you visit an Online Service or click on a URL using your web browser. Cookies may include
"single-session cookies" which generally record information during only a single visit to a
website and then are erased, and "persistent" cookies which are generally stored on a
computer or mobile device unless or until they are deleted or are set to expire. You may
disable cookies and similar items by adjusting your browser preferences at any time;
however, this may limit your ability to take advantage of all the features on our Online
Services. In addition, you may also have additional means to manage the collection of
Activity Information by:
• Managing the use of "flash" technologies, with the Flash management
tools available at Adobe's website;
• Visiting the Adobe Digital Marketing Suite to "Opt-Out" of data aggregation and
analysis;
• Clicking on the "Opt-Out" link at the bottom of the home webpage, if applicable;
and
• Visiting Google to "Opt-Out" of display advertising or customize Google display
network ads.
Please note that we do not currently respond to web browser "Do Not Track" signals that
provide a method to opt out of the collection of Information about online activities over time
and across third-party websites or online services because, among other reasons, there is
no common definition of such signals and no industry-accepted standards for how such
signals should be interpreted.
We gather Activity Information about you to improve the quality of our services, such as the
best method and time to contact you. Without limiting the other ways in which we may use
Information as described herein, we may otherwise use and disclose your Activity
Information unless restricted by this Policy or by law. Some examples of the ways we use
your Activity Information include:
• Customizing your experiences, including managing and recording your
preferences;
• Authenticating your account information;
• Marketing, product development, and research purposes;
• Tracking resources and data accessed on the Online Services;
• Developing reports regarding Online Service usage, activity, and statistics;
• Assisting users experiencing problems with our services;
• Updating and servicing our Online Services;
• Enabling certain functions and tools on the Online Services; and
• Tracking paths of visitors to the Online Services and within the Online Services.
As described above, we may use tracking technologies that allow us to recognize your
device when you return to our Online Services within a period of time, as determined by us,
and to support automatic login to your Online Services. To maintain your privacy, you should
affirmatively log out of your account prior to your session ending (whether you end your
session or we end your session, for example if our Online Services has "timed out" - i.e., we
have ended your session automatically after a period of inactivity as determined by us in our
sole discretion). Unless you affirmatively log out of your account, you may be automatically
logged back in the next time you or any user of your devices visits the Online Services.
Protecting Your Information
We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the
Information that you provide on our Online Services. These safeguards vary based on the
sensitivity of the Information that is being collected, used, and stored. We cannot guarantee
the security of our Online Services, nor can we guarantee the security of the Information you
transmit to us over the Internet, including your use of email. We are not liable for the illegal
acts of third parties such as criminal hackers.
It is your responsibility to safeguard the devices you use to access our Online Services (such
as laptops, tablets and mobile devices), and to use appropriate security settings on those
devices. If those devices are lost, stolen or misplaced, others may be able to access your
account and your personal Information using those devices. You should affirmatively log out
of your account (i) prior to ending your session, or (ii) if you will be inactive on the Online
Services for more than a few minutes; otherwise, the next user of that computer or device,
particularly a public one or one not owned by you, may be able to access your account and
the Information in your account if your session has not ended.
You agree that we are not responsible for any harm that may result from someone accessing
your account or personal Information on any computer or device where you do not, for any
reason, take the necessary steps to log out of your account prior to ending a session on such
device or computer.
We retain Information for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it is collected,
subject to a longer period if the Information is relevant to a legal challenge.
Children Under 13
We will not intentionally collect any personal information (as that term is defined in the
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) from children under the age of 13 through our
Online Services without receiving parental consent. If you think that we have collected such
personal information from a child under the age of 13 through our Online Services,
please Contact Us immediately.
Additional Rights for California Residents
California “Shine the Light” Privacy Rights
California law permits our customers who are California residents to request certain
information regarding the disclosure of certain personal information to third parties for their
direct marketing purposes.
If we have disclosed any personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes,
we will provide a list of the categories of personal information, along with the names and
addresses of these third parties to you at your request. To make such a request, write us at
the postal or email address found in the Contact Us section of this Policy.
This request may be made no more than once per calendar year. We reserve our right not to
respond to requests submitted other than to the specified email or postal address. You
should put "California Privacy Rights-Direct Marketing" in the email subject line and in the
body of your request. You must provide us with specific information regarding yourself so
that we can accurately respond to the request.
California Minors Under 18
If you are a California resident under the age of 18 and are a registered user of our Online
Services, you may request that we remove from our Online Services any content you post to
our Online Services that can be accessed by any other user (whether registered or not).
Please note that any content that is removed from visibility on our Online Services may still
remain on our servers and in our systems. To request removal of content under this
provision, please write or email us at the postal or email address found in the Contact
Us section of this Policy. When you write to us, please provide us with a description of the
content and the location of the content on our Online Services, along with any other
information that we may require to consider your request. Please note that removal of
content under this provision does not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the
content or information posted on the Online Services by you.
Social Media Disclaimer
Are you using social media? So are we! We encourage you to read, share, follow us and
provide commentary on Facebook
®
, Twitter
®
, Pinterest
®
, Instagram
®
and other social
media sites ("Social Media Site"). Before you post on our pages or accounts, please make
sure you read our social media disclaimer:
We are under no obligation to screen or monitor your posts or any other user content;
however, we reserve the right to monitor participation to ensure that you stay on topic, are
courteous and avoid making offensive comments. Your posts and user content must
adhere to the following requirements and cannot:
• Contain any third-party material including logos, drawings, tattoos,
photographs, pictures, sculptures, paintings and other images or works of art,
phrases, trademarks, trade secrets, or other items without explicit, prior, written
permission to use such materials;
• Contain sexually explicit, graphic, gratuitous or unnecessarily violent content or
defamatory or derogatory content against any ethnic, racial, gender, religious,
sexual orientation, professional or age group, or contain any pornographic or
nude material;
• Contain any private information about yourself or any other individual, including
without limitation, information related to the health of the individual, financial
information about the individual, or any identification or account numbers
related to the individual, with or without their permission or consent;
• Contain any software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs
designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer
software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment; and
• Contain any advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain
letters," "pyramid schemes," or promote illegal activity and/or illegal contests,
sweepstakes, gambling, including any online casino, sports books, bingo,
poker, or any other form of solicitation.
We reserve the right to edit comments for content, remove off-topic contributions, delete
offensive comments or remarks, block offensive contributors, and delete actual or
suspected spam content from any Social Media Site. Please be aware that once you post
something online, there is the potential for numerous individuals to read your words, even
years from now. Therefore, we suggest that you exercise caution when posting on any
Social Media Sites and that you not disclose Information like your location, medical record
number, personal medical information, financial information, etc. We are not responsible
for the content of any comments or responses posted by others to any Online Service or
Social Media Site we manage or monitor. We do not control the placement of any
marketing or advertising displayed on our pages by social media or third-party
organizations.
Please remember that content posted on any of our social media profiles or platforms is
for general informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice and
should not replace a consultation with your health care or financial professional. Always
consult an appropriate health care or financial professional for your specific needs. If you
are experiencing a medical emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number. Some
treatments mentioned on social media formats may not be covered by your health plan.
Please refer to your benefit plan documents for information about coverage.
We reserve the right to respond to any post or user content and may occasionally privately
request your contact information to assist you offline, with your consent, by routing the matter
to the appropriate persons or department for further handling. Any further questions about
your account, claims or benefits or request for additional information can be addressed by
visiting your member or patient website or calling the toll-free member phone number on
your health plan or member ID.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Social Security Number Protection Policy
It is our policy to protect the confidentiality of Social Security numbers (“SSNs”) that we
receive or collect in the course of business. We secure the confidentiality of SSNs through
various means, including physical, technical, and administrative safeguards that are
designed to protect against unauthorized access. It is our policy to limit access to SSNs to
that which is lawful and to prohibit unlawful disclosure of SSNs.
Changes to This Policy
We may change this Policy at any time. If we do so, such change will appear on this page.
You may always visit this Policy to learn of any updates. Your continued access to or use of
the Online Services constitutes your consent to these changes to this Policy.
Contact Us
Contact us regarding this Policy or related privacy practices. If you believe we or any
company associated with us has misused your Information, please contact us immediately.
You can email us at: privacy@optum.com or write to us at the address below.
Optum Privacy Office
MN101-E013
11000 Optum Circle
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Effective Date
September 12, 2023
