Informational Website Privacy Policy

At Dana-Farber/Brigham Cancer Center, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of visitors to our websites, including www.dana-farberbrigham.org and any other websites that link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Sites”). The Sites are jointly operated by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (with its affiliates) and Mass General Brigham (with its affiliates), referred to collectively here as “Dana-Farber/Brigham Cancer Center” or “DF/BCC.”

This Informational Website Privacy Policy will tell you what information our jointly operated public-facing informational websites collect, how it is used, how it is shared, and your options about the collection and use of your information when you use the Sites. By using our Sites and providing information to us, you agree to be bound and abide by this Informational Website Privacy Policy and any posted Terms of Use (“Terms”). 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.

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

To learn how we use your protected health information (“PHI”), as defined under the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act and related regulations please visit:

For Dana-Farber: Dana-Farber’s Notice of Privacy Practices. If you have any questions about Dana-Farber’s Notice of Privacy Practices, please contact Dana-Farber at privacy@dfci.harvard.edu.

For Mass General Brigham: the Mass General Brigham Notice of Privacy Practices. If you have any questions about Mass General Brigham’s Notice of Privacy Practices, please contact Mass General Brigham at 1-800-856-1983 or partners.org/complianceline.

All references to “us,” “we” or “our” in this Informational Website Privacy Policy are references to DF/BCC. All references to “you,” “your” or “user” in this Informational Website Privacy Policy are references to any individual who accesses or uses the Sites.

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, and demographic information), (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. 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 a 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 which portions of the 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 use these tools 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 do not yet 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.

3. How We Use This Information

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

Provide the Sites to you, including to provide information and the services offered through the Sites or otherwise by DF/BCC, 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 other purposes such as research, analysis, modeling, marketing, and improvement of our Sites.

4. 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.

5. Confidentiality and Security

The confidentiality and security of your information is important to us. We maintain information security programs designed to protect information you choose to provide through the Sites. The safeguards we have implemented to protect information we collect include maintaining secure firewalls 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 or as we otherwise deem appropriate.

6. Being Careful When Sending Information Via Email

Please do not provide Protected Health Information via email to us unless it is through a secure channel (e.g., through a patient portal requiring login and password). Remember that email messages, unless encrypted while in transit, can be viewed by other internet users. If you have information to communicate, please use the appropriate secure online form or contact the necessary party using traditional means such as phone or mail.

If you receive an email that looks like it is from Dana-Farber or Brigham Cancer Center and asks for Protected Health Information, do not respond. This may be a scam or “Phishing” email intended to steal your information. We will never request your password, username, credit card information or other personal information through email.

7. Your Privacy Choices

We offer you certain choices about what information we collect from you, how we use and disclose the information, and how we communicate with you.

If you choose not to receive any further communication from us, you may opt out by contacting us as directed below. You can opt out of marketing emails by clicking on the opt out link at the bottom of the message or by contacting us.

Occasionally we may request feedback on our websites to better understand how we can improve what information we present and how we present it. We may ask for contact information to follow-up, but you can decline to provide that information. Information that you provide in a survey may be shared with employees or third parties.

8. Online Advertising

You may see DF/BCC 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 website 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 below.

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 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 other linked website, app or online service.

10. Children

We do not knowingly collect data from children under the age of 13 on this Website. 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 in accordance with this Informational Website Privacy Policy.

12. Contacting Us

If you have any questions, concerns or comments about this Informational Website Privacy Policy, our respective Notices of Privacy Practices, or if you would like us to update information or preferences you provided to us, please contact us as follows:

For Dana-Farber:

Call us at 617-632-6593

For Brigham Cancer Center, you can contact us by clicking here.

Last Revised March 6, 2023