Privacy Policy
Effective: October 22, 2012
Updated on: February 13, 2019
Invacare Corporation and its subsidiaries Adaptive Switch Laboratories, Inc., Alber USA, LLC, Freedom Designs, Inc., Invacare Continuing Care, Inc., Medbloc, Inc., and The Aftermarket Group, Inc. (collectively “Invacare”, “we”, “our” or “us”) have long recognized that individuals with whom we conduct business value their privacy. However, in order to conduct global business in this increasingly electronic economy, the collection of personal information is often necessary and desirable. It is our goal to balance the benefits of e-commerce with the rights of individuals to prevent the misuse of their personal information. This privacy policy applies to Invacare owned and operated websites that are linking to this policy. This privacy policy describes how Invacare collects, uses, shares and secures the personal information you provide. It also describes your choices regarding use, access and correction of your personal information.
EU – U.S. Privacy Shield and Swiss - U.S. Privacy Shield
Invacare participates in and has certified its compliance with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework (“Privacy Shield”). Invacare is committed to subjecting all personal information received from European Union (EU) member countries and Switzerland, in reliance on the Privacy Shield, to the applicable Privacy Shield Principles (“Principles”). To learn more about the Privacy Shield, visit the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Privacy Shield List. https://www.privacyshield.gov.
Invacare is responsible for the processing of personal information it receives, under the Privacy Shield, and subsequent transfers of such information to third parties acting as an agent on our behalf. Invacare complies with the Principles for all onward transfers of personal information received from the EU and Switzerland, including the onward transfer liability provisions.
With respect to personal information received or transferred pursuant to the Privacy Shield Frameworks, Invacare is subject to the regulatory enforcement powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. In certain situations, Invacare may be required to disclose personal information in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
If you have an unresolved privacy or data use concern that we have not addressed satisfactorily, please contact our U.S.-based third party dispute resolution provider (free of charge) at https://feedback-form.truste.com/watchdog/request.
Under certain conditions, more fully described on the Privacy Shield website https://www.privacyshield.gov/article?id=How-to-Submit-a-Complaint, you may invoke binding arbitration when other dispute resolution procedures have been exhausted.
Invacare is responsible for the processing of personal information it receives, under the Privacy Shield, and subsequent transfers of such information to third parties acting as an agent on our behalf. Invacare complies with the Principles for all onward transfers of personal information received from the EU and Switzerland, including the onward transfer liability provisions.
With respect to personal information received or transferred pursuant to the Privacy Shield Frameworks, Invacare is subject to the regulatory enforcement powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. In certain situations, Invacare may be required to disclose personal information in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
If you have an unresolved privacy or data use concern that we have not addressed satisfactorily, please contact our U.S.-based third party dispute resolution provider (free of charge) at https://feedback-form.truste.com/watchdog/request.
Under certain conditions, more fully described on the Privacy Shield website https://www.privacyshield.gov/article?id=How-to-Submit-a-Complaint, you may invoke binding arbitration when other dispute resolution procedures have been exhausted.
Collecting Information on All Site Visitors
Invacare gathers certain generic information with respect to visitors' use of our websites. Information such as the number of visitors, the frequency with which they visit, and the areas on the website that they favor, very much like television ratings that tell the networks how many people tuned in to a program. We only use this type of data in aggregate — that is, we look at the data on a collective basis, in summary form, rather than on an individual basis. This collective data helps us determine the extent to which our customers use certain parts of the website, which, in turn, enables us to make the website as appealing as we can for as many of you as possible, and provide you with the best possible Web experience. These statistical ratings do not contain any personal information about you or any of our users.
Personal Information
In some circumstances, Invacare may request personal and professional information from you, such as your name, job title, email address, company name, telephone number or address. Your response to these inquiries is completely voluntary and you therefore have a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Invacare uses this information to allow you to register for an account on most of our websites or to customize your experience on our websites. In addition, we may use this information for other business purposes, such as alerting you to products and services that can assist you in your business, sending you email alerts, providing brochures or catalogs, sales manuals, service manuals, demo videos, promoting website registration and assisting in order processing.
In some instances, we may collect, provider, prescriber, end user or insurance information (such as providers name, insurance company name). We use this information in order to provide you with the services you requested and for the reasons stated above.
In general, you can visit our websites without divulging any personal information. However, there may be areas of our websites that require this information to complete customization functions. Such areas of our websites may not be available to those choosing not to reveal the information requested.
If you fill out a credit application to be submitted back to us offline, we will collect additional information such as social security number, date of birth, reference information (such as name, email address and phone number), lender information if you have any current loans (such as lender name, address, contact person and phone number). We use this information to determine whether or not we will be able to provide you with a line of credit. Whether we are or are not able to do so we will use your name, email address or phone number to contact you regarding your application. Where you are unable to provide us with all of the details that we need to provide you with a line of credit, we may also collect personal information about you from third parties, such as your employer, service providers, agents, advisers, as well as other trade credit providers and credit reporting bodies. If we do not receive all of the information that we request, we may be unable to provide you with a line of credit, our products, our services, or otherwise engage with you.
In some instances, we may collect, provider, prescriber, end user or insurance information (such as providers name, insurance company name). We use this information in order to provide you with the services you requested and for the reasons stated above.
In general, you can visit our websites without divulging any personal information. However, there may be areas of our websites that require this information to complete customization functions. Such areas of our websites may not be available to those choosing not to reveal the information requested.
If you fill out a credit application to be submitted back to us offline, we will collect additional information such as social security number, date of birth, reference information (such as name, email address and phone number), lender information if you have any current loans (such as lender name, address, contact person and phone number). We use this information to determine whether or not we will be able to provide you with a line of credit. Whether we are or are not able to do so we will use your name, email address or phone number to contact you regarding your application. Where you are unable to provide us with all of the details that we need to provide you with a line of credit, we may also collect personal information about you from third parties, such as your employer, service providers, agents, advisers, as well as other trade credit providers and credit reporting bodies. If we do not receive all of the information that we request, we may be unable to provide you with a line of credit, our products, our services, or otherwise engage with you.
Order Forms
If you submit an offline order form we will collect your name, shipping address, PO number, purchasing contact and phone number. If you submit an online order we will collect your credit card number, expiration date and billing address. We will use this information to fulfill your order and to call the purchasing contact if we are unable to process your payment or have any questions regarding your order.
Careers
If you choose to use the career section of our websites, in some instances you will be directed to our third party service providers’ website although it may have the look and feel of our website. All information collected within the career section of our websites is covered by the privacy policy of our service provider and is shared back with us so that we may determine your eligibility for the position in which you applied and to contact you regarding an interview. Please refer to the privacy policy of our service provider for information on your privacy choice options. You can also contact us for your privacy choice options (see Contact Us section below) or you can find more information in the Access to Personal Information section below.
Surveys and Contests
We may provide you the opportunity to participate in surveys or contests on our websites. If you participate, we will request certain personal information from you. Participation in these surveys and contests is completely voluntary and you therefore have a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code).
We use this information to determine which of our products produce a high volume of interest and determine what additional products we should offer in the future.
We may use a third party service providers to conduct these surveys and contests. Any such service providers will be prohibited from using our users’ personal information for any other purpose. We will not share the personal information you provide through a survey or contest with other third parties unless we give you prior notice and choice.
We use this information to determine which of our products produce a high volume of interest and determine what additional products we should offer in the future.
We may use a third party service providers to conduct these surveys and contests. Any such service providers will be prohibited from using our users’ personal information for any other purpose. We will not share the personal information you provide through a survey or contest with other third parties unless we give you prior notice and choice.
Communications from the Site
Special Offers, Updates and Newsletters
We will occasionally send you information on products, services, special deals, promotions and newsletters. We will use your name and email address to send these communications to you. Out of respect for your privacy, you may opt-out of receiving these types of communications at any time by following the unsubscribe link located at the bottom of each communication or by emailing us at privacy@invacare.com.
Service-related Announcements
We will send you strictly service-related announcements on rare occasions when it is necessary to do so. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send you an email. Generally, you may not opt-out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature. If you do not wish to receive them, you have the option to deactivate your account.
Customer Service
Based upon the personal information you provide us, we will send you a welcoming email to verify your username and password. Please remember to protect your Invacare account by preventing others from accessing your password (and your computer) and by signing out of your Invacare account when using it on a shared computer. We will also communicate with you in response to your inquiries, to provide the services you request, and to manage your account. We will communicate with you by email or telephone, in accordance with your wishes.
Domain Information
Invacare also collects domain information as part of its analysis of the use of our websites. This information enables us to become more familiar with customers who visit our websites, how often they visit, and what parts of a website they visit most often. Invacare uses this information to improve its web- based offerings. This information is collected automatically and requires no action on your part.
Cookies and other Tracking Technologies
Invacare and its partners use cookies or similar technologies to analyze trends, administer our websites, track users’ movements around our websites, and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. Invacare uses a technology nicknamed "cookies." Cookies are pieces of information, or data, sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Our websites use cookies to make visiting our websites easier. We also use cookies to help us track how many unique visitors we have to our websites, as a type of aggregate counter. We do not link the information stored in cookies to any personal information you submit while on our websites.
While most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, if you prefer, you can reset your browser to notify you when you've received a cookie or, alternatively, to refuse to accept cookies. It is important to note that you may not be able to use certain features on our websites if you choose not to accept the cookies we send to your computer.
An IP address is a unique number assigned to your computer when you are using your browser on the Internet. Our websites collect and track website traffic by IP address. We log this information for the sole purpose of tracking the number of visitors to our websites.
While most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, if you prefer, you can reset your browser to notify you when you've received a cookie or, alternatively, to refuse to accept cookies. It is important to note that you may not be able to use certain features on our websites if you choose not to accept the cookies we send to your computer.
An IP address is a unique number assigned to your computer when you are using your browser on the Internet. Our websites collect and track website traffic by IP address. We log this information for the sole purpose of tracking the number of visitors to our websites.
Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs)
We employ or our third party tracking utility partners employ a software technology called clear gifs (a.k.a. Web Beacons/Web Bugs), that help us better manage content on our websites by informing us what content is effective. Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of website users. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on a user’s computer hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on website pages and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. We do not tie the information gathered by clear gifs to our customers’ personal information.
Log Files
As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically. This information may include Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, the files viewed on our website (e.g., HTML pages, graphics, etc.), operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data to analyze trends in the aggregate and to administer our websites.
Advertising
We may partner with third parties to display advertising on our websites or to manage our advertising on other websites. Our third party partners may use cookies or similar technologies in order to provide you advertising based upon your browsing activities and interests. Those third party advertisers and other organizations may use their own cookies to collect information about your activities on our sites. This information may be used by them to serve advertisements that they believe are likely to be of interest to you based on content you have viewed. Third party advertisers may also use this information to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements. We do not control these cookies and to disable or reject third-party cookies; please refer to the relevant third party's website. If you wish to opt out of interest-based advertising controlled by us, then click http://preferences-mgr.truste.com [or if located in the European Union, then click http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/]. Please note you will continue to receive generic ads.
Disclosure to Third Parties
We will share your personal information with third parties only in the ways that are described in this privacy policy and as follows:
- We share your personal information with other companies so that they can market their products or services to you. If you do not want us to share your personal information with these companies, contact us at privacy@invacare.com. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.
- We may provide your personal information to companies that provide services to help us with our business activities such as hosting our websites, cloud storage, sending emails on our behalf, shipping your order, processing your payment, or offering customer service. These companies are authorized to use your personal information only as necessary to provide these services to us.
- When you apply for a line of credit with us, we may disclose your personal information (including information regarding your credit worthiness or credit history) to other credit providers to assess an application for a line of credit where you are the borrower or a guarantor, to notify them of defaults under the line of credit, and to inform other credit providers who allege that you are in default with them. We may disclose your information to any person reasonably necessary for the purposes of that person taking an assignment of any debt you owe us.
- We may also disclose your personal information
- as required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, or similar legal process when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights,
- protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request,
- if Invacare is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, you will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our website of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your personal information,
- to any other third party with your prior consent to do so.
Protecting Children
Invacare is committed to protecting the privacy and rights of children online. We believe that children should be able to use the Internet in a safe, productive and efficient manner and should be afforded the highest protection available with respect to their personal information.
In addition, we will not solicit nor knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13 who use our websites. If after registration, we receive notice that the registrant is actually less than 13 years old, we will immediately close their account and delete their personal information.
In addition, we will not solicit nor knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13 who use our websites. If after registration, we receive notice that the registrant is actually less than 13 years old, we will immediately close their account and delete their personal information.
Links to Other Sites
Our websites contain links to other websites that are not owned or controlled by us. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites.
We encourage you to be aware when you leave our website and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personal information.
This privacy policy applies only to information collected by our websites
We encourage you to be aware when you leave our website and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personal information.
This privacy policy applies only to information collected by our websites
Access to Personal Information
Upon request Invacare will provide you with information about whether we hold, or process on behalf of a third party, any of your personal information. To request this information please contact us at privacy@invacare.com.
If your personal information changes, or if you no longer desire our service, you may correct, update, amend, delete inaccuracies, or deactivate it by making the change on our member information page or by emailing our Customer Support at privacy@invacare.com or by contacting us by postal mail at the address listed in the Contact Us section below. We will respond to your request to access within a reasonable timeframe.
If your personal information changes, or if you no longer desire our service, you may correct, update, amend, delete inaccuracies, or deactivate it by making the change on our member information page or by emailing our Customer Support at privacy@invacare.com or by contacting us by postal mail at the address listed in the Contact Us section below. We will respond to your request to access within a reasonable timeframe.
Data Retention
We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. If you wish to cancel your account or request that we no longer use your information to provide you services, then contact us at the email address above. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
Social Media (Features) and Widgets
Our websites may include Social Media Features, such as the Facebook Like button and Widgets, such as the Share this button or interactive mini-programs that run on our websites. These Features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our websites, and may set a cookie to enable the Feature to function properly. Social Media Features and Widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our websites. Your interactions with these Social Media Features and Widgets are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.
Tell-A-Friend
If you choose to use our referral service to share news articles with a friend, we will ask you for your friend’s name and email address. We will automatically send your friend a one-time email inviting him or her to read the article. Invacare stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email. Your friend may contact us at privacy@invacare.com to request that we remove this information from our database.
Public Forums
Some of our websites offer publicly accessible blogs or community forums. You should be aware that any information you provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them. To request removal of your personal information from our blog or community forum, contact us at privacy@invacare.com. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why. In some instances, the comments that you leave on our blog posts are hosted on a third party service providers’ website and therefore we may not be able to remove the personal information you submit along with your comments.
Testimonials/Videos/Photographs
We post testimonials, videos and/or photographs provided by our customers that may contain personal information. We do obtain the customer’s consent prior to posting the testimonial, video or photograph along with their personal information. To request removal of your personal information from the testimonial, video or photograph or to request that we remove your testimonial, video or photograph from our websites please contact us at privacy@invacare.com.
Terms of Use & Privacy Policy
By visiting any Invacare website linking to this privacy policy, you are accepting the practices described in this privacy policy and agree that any disputes over a privacy related matter is subject to this privacy policy and to any limitations of liability or damages described in Invacare’s Terms of Use for such websites.
Security
The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
When you enter sensitive information (such as a credit card number) on our order forms, we encrypt the transmission of that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). If you have any questions about the security of your personal information, you can contact us at privacy@invacare.com.
When you enter sensitive information (such as a credit card number) on our order forms, we encrypt the transmission of that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). If you have any questions about the security of your personal information, you can contact us at privacy@invacare.com.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this privacy policy to reflect changes to our information practices. If we make any material changes, then we will notify you by email (sent to the e-mail address specified in your account) or by means of a notice on our websites prior to the change becoming effective. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding this privacy policy, please contact us at: Invacare Corporation, One Invacare Way, Elyria, OH 44035 or at privacy@invacare.com.