Dana-Farber Website Privacy Policy

At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (together with its affiliates, "Dana-Farber"), your privacy is important to us and we take important steps to protect the privacy and security of your information.

This Informational Website Privacy Policy will tell you what information our public-facing informational websites, including Dana-Farber.org and other Dana-Farber operated websites (the "Sites") collect, how this information is used, how it is shared, and your options about the collection and use of your information when you use the Sites. By using the Sites, you agree to be bound and abide by our posted Terms of Use ("Terms"), which include this Informational Website Privacy Policy.

We may occasionally make changes to our Informational Website Privacy Policy. Whenever a change is made to our Informational Website Privacy Policy, we will update the information on this page, so please review this page regularly.

To learn how we use or disclose protected health information ("PHI"), as defined under the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act and related regulations, please visit Dana-Farber's Notice of Privacy Practices. If you have any questions about Dana-Farber's Notice of Privacy Practices, please contact us at privacy@dfci.harvard.edu.

1. Types of Information We Collect

In order to better serve you with our Sites, we may collect the following categories of information through the Sites: (i) contact information you provide (such as name, mailing address, e-mail address, or phone number), (ii) any subscription preferences if you receive communications from us, (iii) any surveys you respond to with feedback, and (iv) Online User Activity as described below.

If you provide us with information regarding another individual, you represent that you have that person's consent to provide such information and to permit us to use it in accordance with this Informational Website Privacy Policy.

2. How We Use Information We Collect

We may use the information we obtain about you, to the extent allowed by applicable laws, for purposes including to:

  • Provide the Sites to you, including to provide information and the services offered through the Sites or otherwise by Dana-Farber, and provide other important notices;
  • Respond to your requests, questions and comments;
  • Monitor the performance of our Sites, including metrics such as total number of visitors, traffic, and demographic patterns;
  • Tailor the content we display through the Sites and in our communications, including any content or advertising that we believe may be of interest to you;
  • Operate, evaluate and improve our Sites, and diagnose or fix technology problems; and
  • Comply with and enforce as needed applicable legal requirements, industry standards, our policies and our contractual rights.

We may also use or share information in an aggregate manner or as may otherwise be permitted by law for many purposes such as research, analysis, modeling, marketing, and improvement of our Sites.

3. How We Share Information

We may share your information with third parties in the following circumstances:

  • We may share your information with service providers that we believe need the information to perform a technology, business, or other professional function for us (examples include IT services, maintenance and hosting of our Sites, payment processors, marketing partners, and other service providers).
  • If you voluntarily share or submit any content for public posting through our Sites (e.g., picture, story, commentary), or link it to any social media platforms, that post and any content or information associated with it may become available to the public.
  • We also may disclose information about you: (i) if we are required to do so by law or legal process; (ii) when we believe disclosure is necessary to prevent harm or financial loss; (iii) in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual fraudulent or illegal activity; or (iv) under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of our staff, patients, users of the Sites or the public.
  • We reserve the right to transfer the information we maintain in the event of an organizational change of control (e.g., merger or acquisition). If there is a change of control, your information will be transferred subject to this Informational Website Privacy Policy.

Where appropriate and possible, we will limit sharing of your information in accordance with the choices you have provided us.

4. Confidentiality and Security

The confidentiality and security of your information is important to us. Dana-Farber maintains an information security and privacy program designed to protect the information you choose to provide through the Sites. The safeguards we have implemented to protect the information we collect include maintaining a secure firewall and using reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized access to information collected through our Sites. We also encrypt and secure the confidentiality of user-supplied information transmitted to us when required by law and as we otherwise deem appropriate.

5. Online User Activity

We, our service providers, and advertising partners may collect certain information about the device(s) you use to access our Sites and your use of our Sites by automated means, including but not limited to cookies and other similar technologies ("Online User Activity").

"Cookies" are small data files that online services can store on, and retrieve from, a user's computer or mobile device through the web browser. Cookies are very commonly used by websites and most browsers are configured by default to accept cookies.

When you use the Sites, the information we may collect by automated means includes, for example:

  • Usage details about your interaction with our Sites (such as the date, time, and length of visits, and specific pages or content accessed during the visits, search terms, frequency of the visits, referring website addresses);
  • Device information including the IP address and other details of a device that you use to connect with our Sites (such as device type and unique device identifier, operating system, browser type, and mobile network information); and
  • General location information if your device shares information about its location.

Cookies and these other technologies can help us automatically identify you when you return to our Sites. Cookies help us review website traffic patterns, improve the Sites, and determine what Sites are popular. To the extent permitted by law, we can also use such information to deliver customized content and advertising to users of the Sites whose activity on the Sites indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area. Our Sites work to help us track and analyze visitor activity on the Sites, measure the effectiveness of our advertising efforts, and support the optimization of our digital marketing campaigns.

You can turn off tracking cookies from our Sites by clicking here or with the settings button on the cookie banner which appears when visiting the Sites. Please note that some peripheral sites (i.e., subdomains) accessible through our website may not support cookie preferences, so cookies on those sites will not be affected by your settings. As an alternative, most browsers allow the visitor to reject cookies. In either instance, if you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features our Sites provide. Because there is not yet a consensus on how companies should respond to web browser-based do-not-track ("DNT") mechanisms, we do not respond to web browser-based DNT signals at this time.

6. Donor Information Collection and Use

When you make a gift to Dana-Farber through a physical (e.g., check) or electronic form of payment, your email address and mailing address will be entered into our donor database. If you opt in, we may send you emails or mailings in the future informing you of other giving opportunities or providing news about Dana-Farber or the Jimmy Fund.

Dana-Farber does not sell or rent donor information to others, but we do occasionally exchange donor mailing lists with other non-profit organizations for fundraising purposes. This process helps us engage new supporters, saves us money and is carefully monitored. You may always opt out by contacting the Annual Giving office at 617-632-6099 or annual_giving@dfci.harvard.edu.

7. Your Privacy Choices

We offer you certain choices about how we communicate with you and what data we store.

If you choose not to receive any further communication from us, you may opt-out as follows:

  • Opt Out of Mailings: If you wish to opt out of receiving fundraising mail from Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund, please call 800-525-4669 or submit this print opt out form.
  • Opt Out of Email: If you wish to opt out of receiving fundraising emails from Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund, please call 800-525-4669 or submit this email opt out form. You may also choose not to receive marketing emails from us by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the marketing emails you receive from us.
  • Opt Out of Dana-Farber E-Newsletters: You can opt out of E-Newsletters by clicking on the opt out link at the bottom of the message or by emailing us at JimmyFundContactUs@dfci.harvard.edu.

Other privacy choices:

  • Request to remove your data: You may ask us to remove or delete your data collected on this site by contacting us at JimmyFundContactUs@dfci.harvard.edu (subject to certain exceptions and legal retention obligations).

You may also contact the following Office of Philanthropy Departments for questions about fundraising communications:

8. Online Advertising

You may see Dana-Farber advertisements on various websites, web pages, social media and other platforms. Please note that online advertising services do not always provide us with complete information about the platforms or websites on which our advertising may appear. If you believe that our advertising is being displayed through websites or channels that promote inappropriate or offensive content, please contact us as directed on our Contact Us page.

9. Links to Other Websites or Content

Our Sites may contain links to other websites, apps or online services, including social media. This Informational Website Privacy Policy applies only to our Sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other websites, apps or online services, and we encourage you to be aware when you leave our Sites and to read the privacy statements of any linked website, app or online service.

10. Children

We do not knowingly collect information from children under the age of 13 on our Sites. In the event that we learn that we have collected information from a child under age 13 without parental consent, we will endeavor to delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us as directed below.

11. International Data Transfers and Use

Our Sites are controlled and operated by us from the United States. By using the Sites and providing us with information, you understand and agree that your information may be stored and processed, transferred between and accessed from the United States and other countries which may not guarantee the same level of protection of information as the one in which you reside, and you consent to the transfer of this data to the United States for processing by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

12. Contacting Us

If you have any questions, concerns or comments about this Informational Website Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, or if you would like us to update information or preferences you provided to us, please contact us by email at privacy@dfci.harvard.edu, or by phone at 617-632-6593.

Last updated February 23, 2023.