Privacy Policy

Definitions

We use common language and definitions to help you understand important terms throughout this Privacy Policy.

• “Lightways”, “We”, “Our”, or “Us” – Refers to Lightways Hospice & Serious Illness Care, formerly known as Joliet Area Community Hospice Corporation, as well as any subsidiaries or affiliates.
• “Lightways Digital Services” – Collectively refers to all of the following services that are owned by, operated, and/or directly managed by Lightways:
  – “Lightways” Websites – Our websites include, but are not limited to, Lightways.org.
  – “Electronic Communications & Tools” – We also provide and use services, digital offerings and other tools for the following, including, but not limited to: customer service; technical support; search tools; electronic newsletters, location listings, alerts, reminders, marketing and fundraising messages and other messages using direct mail, email and SMS (text messages).
• “You” or “Your” – Refers to You, regardless of being an individual, a group or an organization, and regardless of whether you are using Lightways Digital Services on behalf of yourself, someone else, or another organization.
• “Your information” – Collectively refers to an individual’s personally identifiable information (“PII”), and/or protected health information (“PHI”).
• Personally identifiable information (“PII”) – An individual’s first name or first initial and last name in combination with any one or more of the following data elements: Social Security number; driver’s license or state identification card number; account number, credit card number or account information related to a financial account; medical information; health insurance information; and/or unique biometric data generated; OR, a username or email address, in combination with information that would permit access to an online account. See the Illinois Personal Information Protection Act for more information.
• Protected health information (“PHI”) – Any individually identifiable information regarding an individual’s medical history, mental or physical condition, or medical treatment or diagnosis by a healthcare professional, including such information provided to a website or mobile application.

About Your Protected Health Information (“PHI”)

Unless otherwise specified, please note that this Privacy Policy only applies to personal information you provide through your use of Lightways Digital Services. As otherwise not legally prohibited, Lightways and third-parties may collect personally identifiable information (“PII”) that you choose to provide to the Lightways.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to any protected health information (“PHI”) gathered for Lightways’ delivery of care and other related general services. Rather, Lightways “Notice of Privacy Practices” will govern Lightways’ use and disclosure of your PHI. The Notice of Privacy Practices describes how information about Lightways’ patients may be used and disclosed.

Please review Lightways’ “Notice of Privacy Practices” for more information, including information about your rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its implementing regulations (collectively, “HIPAA”).

Acceptance of the Lightways Privacy Policy

y accessing Lightways Digital Services and/or using any of the features or services provided by Lightways, you signify your acceptance of the Lightways Privacy Policy and consent to the information collection and use practices described herein. If you do not consent or otherwise do not agree with the Lightways Privacy Policy, please do not use or access Lightways Digital Services.

Information We Collect

When you visit the Lightways website or utilize other Lightways Digital Services, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse our website, we collect information about the individual web pages or services that you view, what websites or search terms referred you to our website, and information about how you interact with the website. We refer to this automatically collected information as “Device & Platform Information.”

We collect Device & Platform Information using the following technologies:

• Cookies: Cookies are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies may allow Google and/or other third-party platforms to recognize a user when a user visits our website or utilizes other Lightways Digital Services and when the user visits other websites. Google and other third-party platforms use the information it collects from cookies and other websites to share with us and other website operators’ information about users including age range, gender, geographic regions, general interests, and details about devices used to visit websites. We do not link information we receive from Google or any other third-party with any of your PII.For more information regarding Google’s use of cookies, and collection and use of information, see the Google Privacy Policy (available at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en).

  For more information about cookies in general, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.

• Digital Analytics: Digital Analytics services, such as Google Analytics, provide Lightways with digital usage analytics. Such analytics may help Lightways track usage of the Lightways Digital Services in general, facilitate advertising services, and better understand the online activity and patterns of Lightways patients and visitors of the Lightways Digital Services.
  If you would like to opt out of Google Analytics tracking, please visit the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on (available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout).
• Log files: Log files track actions occurring on our website and other Digital Services, and may collect data including your IP address, operating system name and version, browser name, type and version, Internet service provider, number of times your device has accessed our digital services, pages viewed, links clicked, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.
• Web beacons/Tags/Pixels: Web beacons, Tags, and Pixels are electronic files used to record information about how you browse our website or use Lightways Digital Services.
• Social Media: If you access our Site from a social media platform (e.g., Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) we may receive information about you from such site, in accordance with that social media platform’s privacy policy and/or terms of use.
• Smartphone/Tablet: If you access Lightways Digital Services from a smartphone or tablet, Lightways may collect information specific to your device. This information may include your mobile device’s hardware model, unique device identifier(s) and mobile network information.
• Text Messaging: When you sign up to receive text messages from us, we collect your name and phone number, and any other additional information you may provide to us. For more information on text messages, including instructions on how to opt out, please read our Terms of Use for Text Messaging.

Personally identifiable information (“PII”)

In some instances, Lightways, through the Lightways Digital Services, and/or a third-party vendor or other third parties may collect PII (including but not limited to email address, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, name, phone number, and other information as defined under the Illinois Personal Information Protection Act). This information may be collected when accessing Lightways Digital Services or when given voluntarily by the user (e.g., when you submit a web form). If you send Lightways an email request, Lightways may store that information as well, including any PII included in a post, message or email, as well as any PII included in any attachments you may include.

Lightways Digital Services may also be used to make a donation or other transaction (collectively, “Transactions”). To process a Transaction, Lightways or one of our third-party vendors (“Payment Processors”) may collect PII, such as your banking information, which may include information such as your name, billing address, credit or debit card number, email address, telephone number and/or email address. We or Lightways’ Payment Processors will process your credit card payment using established encryption techniques that protect your information.

If a Payment Processor processes your Transaction, we recommend that you read the Payment Processors’ privacy statement or policy and terms of use before entering any PII. Lightways may not receive complete payment information for a third-party vendor-processed Transaction after the transaction has been processed, but Lightways’ Payment Processor may provide Lightways with some PII upon completion of the Transaction, which may include, but is not limited to: your name, billing address, email address, telephone number, amount paid or donated, and the last four digits of your credit card number, the latter of which Lightways may use for verification and/or customer service purposes.

How Do We Use Your Personal Information?

We may use personal information provided through our digital services to:

• Communicate with you; including to fulfill or meet the reason you provided the information; for example, if you share your name and contact information to ask a question about or services, we will use that personal information to respond to your inquiry.
• To provide, maintain, or improve Lightways Digital Services.
• To provide you with services you request, provide you with general customer service, and/or maintain your account with us.
• To contact you about your use of Lightways Digital Services or about Lightways programs, services, activities, events or other news that may be of interest to you.
• To process financial transactions, such as donations.
• For general security and threat monitoring.
• To publish in annual reports or other public documents that include donors’ names and other information, if applicable.
• For internal and external marketing, promotional, informational, and fundraising purposes.
• To provide you with technical notices, updates, alerts, and support or administrative messages.
• To process and manage employment applications.
• To monitor and analyze usage of Lightways Digital Services.
• When in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our services.
• To create, maintain, customize, and secure your account with us.
• To send you electronic communications, including but not limited to electronic newsletters, direct mail, telephone calls, email, display messaging and SMS messages. We may send email messages that contains code that enables Lightways’ database to track your usage of the emails; such usage includes, but is not limited to, whether the email was opened and what links (if any) were clicked.
• Utilization of the Device & Platform Information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud.
• To improve and optimize our website and Digital Services (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with our Digital Services, and to assess the success of our marketing and advertising efforts).

Please note, communication you send to Lightways via email or form submission on Lightways Digital Services may be shared with the appropriate Lightways staff member and/or third-party vendors. Email does not provide a completely secure and confidential means of communication. Please do not send any PHI via unsecured email. For more information about sharing PHI with Lightways via email, please see the “Notice of Privacy Practices”.

Employment Inquiries

If you contact us in relation to employment opportunities, we will use your personal information to consider you for current and future employment opportunities and to contact you with respect to any relevant opportunities at Lightways. In connection with your application we may collect personal identifiers, that include, but arenot limited to: your name, postal address, email address, and professional or employment-related information about you, such as current or past job history or performance evaluations.

Sharing Your Personal Information

Lightways will not sell, share, trade, or rent any PII to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this Lightways Privacy Policy without first obtaining your authorization and consent.

We may disclose any relevant information with third parties (for example, marketing and advertising companies and platforms) to help us improve our services in general or Digital Services described above. For example, we use Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors use our website – you can read more about how Google uses your Personal Information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/.

We may disclose your PII you provide Lightways to third parties (e.g., independent contractors, volunteers, vendors, service providers or consultants) who are engaged by or working with Lightways and who need access to such information to carry out their programs, services, or other duties. Such services include, but are not limited to: billing, payment processing, customer service, email deployment, business analytics, talent acquisition services, marketing (i.e., advertising, attribution, deep-linking, direct mail, mobile marketing, optimization, performance monitoring, hosting, and data processing) (collectively “Specialized Services”). We require these third-party vendors and service providers may not use your information for purposes other than those related to the Specialized Services they are providing to Lightways.

We may also provide non-identifiable, aggregate information (i.e., information collected from you that does not allow you to be personally identified or contacted) to third parties without your authorization, such as information about your access and use of the Lightways Digital Services.

Lightways Digital Services may contain links to third-party websites or other resources. Lightways is not responsible for any privacy policy or statement of such third-party websites or other resources. Within Lightways’ site, Lightways may provide a hyperlink to a third-party vendor’s website for the purpose of that third-party vendor performing Specialized Services. These third-party vendors may use their own cookies, tracking software, and other tools. Lightways recommends you review their terms of use and privacy policies or statements. Lightways is not responsible for the terms of use, security, and privacy policies that these third-party vendors employ.

The Lightways Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by Lightways via the Lightways Digital Services. It does not apply to any other digital properties that Lightways does not control.

Finally, we may also share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other lawful request for information we receive, or to otherwise protect our rights and security.

Protecting Your PII

We take protecting your PII seriously. We use security measures to protect your information and continuously monitor activity within our organization and our Digital Services. We employ these security measures, including physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to protect your PII from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Please note, we take these steps, to the most reasonable extent, to ensure that your personal information is always utilized and stored securely. In spite of this, no data transmission over the Internet, or stored or used digitally or physically can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. While Lightways strives to protect your PII, Lightways cannot ensure the security of any information you provide to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once Lightways receives your information, a reasonable effort is made to ensure its security within Lightways’ systems.

Advertising & Marketing Services

We may use third-party platforms, publishers, ad servers, or ad networks to serve advertisements. Advertisements are not on or within Lightways’ site, they are on external websites, platforms, and search engines. These advertisements link to Lightways Digital Services. These third-parties may use other technologies such as cookies, scripting language, or clear gifs to measure the effectiveness of these advertisements and to personalize the advertising content you see

As described above, we use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at http://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.

You can opt out of targeted advertising by:

• EMAIL/DIRECT MAIL/PHONE – send an email to [email protected] with subject “Opt Out” and list all marketing communications you no longer wish to receive.
• FACEBOOK – https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads
• GOOGLE – https://www.google.com/settings/ads/anonymous
• BING – https://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/policies/personalized-ads

Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at: http://optout.aboutads.info/.

Do Not Track Notice

Please note that we do not alter our Site’s data collection and use practices when we see a Do Not Track signal from your browser. There is currently no consensus as to what “Do Not Track” means and how to responds to “Do Not Track” browser signals. If you would like to disable website-based, third-party tracking refer to “Advertising & Marketing Services” and “Information We Collect” above.

Residency Laws

Lightways is headquartered in the State of Illinois, and Lightways Digital Services are intended for users in the United States and specifically for the state of Illinois. By viewing any content or otherwise accessing our website and Lightways Digital Services, you consent to the transfer of information to the United States to the extent applicable, and the collection, storage, and processing of information under the laws and regulations of the State of Illinois and the United States.

If you are a European citizen or a resident of California, you have the right to access personal information we hold about you and to ask that your personal information be corrected, updated, or deleted. If you would like to exercise this right, please contact us through the contact information below.

Data Retention

When you contact us through Lightways Digital Services or provide any information through Lightways Digital Services, we will maintain your information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete this information.

Age Guidelines

Our website and Lightways Digital Services are intended for users the age of 18 and older.

We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s internet usage and digital activities. Also, we strongly encourage parents to help us enforce our privacy policy by instructing their children to never provide Personal Information to Lightways Digital Services without their permission. This website and Lightways Digital Services are not intended for individuals under the age of 18.

Updates & Changes

We may update this privacy policy from time to time in order to reflect changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We encourage you to review this privacy policy whenever you visit this website or use Lightways Digital Services.

Contact Us

For more information about our privacy practices, or if you have questions, please contact us by e-mail at [email protected] or by mail using the details provided below:

Customer Privacy Contact
Marketing Department
Lightways Hospice & Serious Illness Care
250 Water Stone Circle
Joliet, IL 60431
815-740-4104

This Privacy Policy was last updated July 2024.