Last updated: December 6th, 2022 

This privacy policy is designed for the Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR) project and pertains to the public website and the private portal maintained by the influenza Data Processing and Communication Center (iDPCC). The privacy policy will be amended as needed and can be accessed at any time on our website. Using the website and/or private portal indicates acknowledgement of the updated privacy policy. The following sections describe the process of how and why we might collect, store, and use your information when you use our websites.  

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this privacy policy, please contact us at privacy@ceirr-network.org

The iDPCC is responsible for managing the CEIRR website, private portal and data submitted to the network. As such, we are committed to prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the appropriate use of information provided. We have implemented security measures designed to protect the loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, or alteration of information provided. We use a variety of technologies and procedures to provide a secure environment and protection of our databases. We do not receive or share personal information with third parties. To help protect your privacy, we provide more information in this policy about the online information practices of our websites and describe in more details the choices you can make to regulate your information.

When users visit, use, or navigate the CEIRR public website, we may automatically store non-personally identifiable information depending on how you choose to interact with the website. Information that is automatically collected includes your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics. This information does not reveal your specific identity but can include time, date, country, location, referring URL, language preferences, device name, browser type, IP address, domain name, and operating system. The information regarding your website usage is collected indirectly via “cookies” commonly used by most websites. The information contained in the “cookies” consists of essential information for operation of the website and performance information used for analytics purposes. When accessing the public website for the first time, you can review and modify your cookies preferences to decline performance cookies if you prefer. Only the cookies necessary for the website operations will remain. Cookies related to analytics data are optional and help us understand how our websites are being used, whether our outreach campaigns are successful and help us improve the website based on user interaction patterns. Cookies provided for analytics purposes expire after 2 years; however, you have the right to change your preferences at any time by choosing the Cookie Preference link at the bottom of our website. If you choose to decline performance cookie collection, we will not collect personal information about your browser or device characteristics when accessing the public website; however, the IP address will be collected to separate you from other users and maintain an accurate count of website use access.

In addition to cookies, our Communications and Outreach activities include a similar technology namely web beacons commonly linked to QR codes. These graphics contain tracking information about the user in a similar manner to cookies such that we can measure the success of outreach campaigns. By using the graphics, links and/or QR codes provided by the Communications and Outreach team, you consent to sharing non-personally identifiable information to help us improve website performance and enhance our outreach processes.

We collect personal information from you when you submit an online request for access to the iDPCC Portal. Registering for an account requires you to create an online profile containing information about your institution, name, e-mail address and other optional fields such as phone number, title, and laboratory information. The information provided to us is used to facilitate an account creation with user account permissions after authentication. Additional uses to the information provided include:

1. To send administrative information to you.
2. To deliver services within the portal to you.
3. To respond to user inquiries or support requests.
4. To send CEIRR network communications to you.
5. To protect the portal from unauthorized access.
6. To identify usage trends within the portal.
7. To keep an audit trail of information submitted, edited, or deleted.

The information you provide us for your account creation will be stored and processed within the iDPCC project scope. The data will be retained for the duration of the project unless otherwise specified by the user. We occasionally hire other companies and/or use external services to provide additional services such as answering customer questions, processing help desk tickets and providing support. We will only provide those companies and/or services the information they need to deliver the service. Your information will not be disclosed to third parties for any other purpose without your consent. However, the iDPCC may disclose your personal information without your consent if required to do so by law or in some exceptional cases such as:

• To protect and/or defend an individual at harm.
• To investigate fraud detection.
• To conform or comply with legal processes.
• To act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of individual(s), users, products or services, or members of the public.

User account corrections, and/or deletions will be processed by support@ceirr-network.org . You may unsubscribe from our newsletters, emails and other correspondence by contacting us or emailing us at communications@ceirr-network.org . User account information will not be kept after termination of the user’s account. In cases where the data submitted is linked to your account, we will either delete or anonymize such information. If user information is stored in backup archives, we will securely store it and isolate it from any further processing until deletion of the account is possible. We do not knowingly solicit or store data from minors under 18 years of age. By using our services, you acknowledge that you are at least 18 years old. Any account created by a minor will be deactivated and promptly deleted from our records.

In addition to the public website, we will use cookies and similar tracking technologies to access or store information within the iDPCC Portal. By using our services, you acknowledge the use of analytic data for performance improvement.

The public website has links contained which direct users to third-party sites including Twitter. The iDPCC is not responsible for the content, accuracy of, or cookies set by the third-party sites linked within the website. The links provided within the website are for user convenience and for informational purposes only. The information provided within the links is not an endorsement by NIAID or the CEIRR network and does not represent the views and/or opinions of iDPCC. You may wish to review the privacy policies and cookie preferences in use on the third-party sites before engaging with them.