Terms of Use and Privacy Statement

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Terms of Use

Thank you for visiting the Be Smart. Be Well.® website. Please read the Terms of Use and Privacy Statement in their entirety since they represent a binding agreement between you and us.

Introduction

Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas are divisions of Health Care Service Corporation ("HCSC"), a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. HCSC is a customer-owned health benefit company focused on improving the health and wellness of our members and communities.

HCSC is pleased to provide Be Smart. Be Well. and has made reasonable efforts to present accurate information on this website; however it is possible that information found on this website may be out of date.

Information Displayed on this Website

Any medical and health-related information presented on this website is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, nor is it intended to provide you with a specific diagnosis or treatment for a specific ailment. HCSC does not furnish or render professional health care services or medical care. The information is made available to you for educational and informational purposes and does not constitute the practice of medicine and/or as a substitute for consultation with your personal health care provider, nor does it constitute an offer to sell or promote any product or service to individuals who do not reside in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma or Texas.

While using the website:

You agree to:

Act responsibly and be truthful and accurate when providing information; and
Use the website information for personal or non-commercial use only; if you print pages or use information from this website, including video content, you may only use it for personal use.

You agree to not:

Use any device or computer program in order to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper operation of this website (e.g., hacking, denial of service attacks), including any activity that might breach security such as scanning, probing, or other testing or vulnerability assessment activity, or engaging in or permitting any network or hosting activity that results in the blacklisting or other blockage of our IP space;
Copy, reprint, modify, lease, distribute, assign, sell content, license, reverse engineer or create derivative works retrieved from this website or any of the third-party websites we may provide links to;
Use this website in a manner that may adversely affect this website's resources or its availability to others, or that violates U.S., local, state or federal law.

Use of Email

We appreciate your questions and comments about our website and services and welcome your email messages to mailboxes listed on our websites. We will share your messages with those within our organization most capable of addressing the issues contained in your message. We preserve the content of your email, your email address and our response so that we can efficiently respond to questions you might have.

Please use your own best judgment when sending information via the Internet to an email address. Email sent via the Internet may pass through private and public networks with varying levels of security. Some networks may have taken steps to secure email transmissions while others have not, thereby compromising the privacy and integrity of an email. An email may be copied, altered or destroyed.

Privacy Statement

At Health Care Service Corporation ("HCSC"), a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, we know how important the security and privacy of data is to you. Therefore, please review the following statement which explains what data we collect, how we use the personal information you provide, and how we keep that information secure. "Personal information" refers to data that is unique to you such as name, birth date, email address and telephone number. If you encounter a screen or page that requests information you do not want to share with us, do not enter the information and do not proceed with that screen or page.

Information We Collect and How We Use it

In an effort to provide a positive website experience, provide health care programs and services that target our users' needs, and report on user activity, we may collect electronic data about your use and access to this website. In addition, we may combine this information with other information we may have about you for data analytics and reporting required for HCSC to conduct its business, but only as permitted by law. The tools we use are listed below. Please be aware that none of these tools provide HCSC with the ability to read any data residing on your computer.

Cookies and tags are used on websites to gather information about how individuals use and navigate the website. Neither cookies nor tags can extract any personal information about you, nor can they read any data that resides on your personal computer or device. The data collected from these sources are used to recognize repeat users and track usage patterns. Specifically, we use "cookies," which are small pieces of information sent by a web server and stored by a user's web browser. Cookies allow the web server to maintain an active "session" with an individual user and track what users are accessing on the site.

The following are examples of how we use the information collected from these cookies and tags:

Tracking resources and data accessed on the site
Recording general site statistics and activity
Troubleshooting website problems
Tracking what tools users are accessing on the site

In addition, we may use a third-party vendor to determine if you open and use any information that we may share with you via email. Our web and marketing services may also solicit your feedback through online surveys using a third-party vendor. Responding to these surveys is optional.

Link to other Third-Party Websites

You will find links within the Be Smart. Be Well. site that takes you to other third-party sites that are not affiliated with HCSC. These third-party sites provide either critical functionality or provide the user access to other resources and products. Since these sites are not directly under the control of HCSC, we cannot make any direct representations or guarantees about them. Your use of those third-party websites may subject you to separate binding agreements and privacy statements. Carefully review these documents since we want you to have a complete understanding of these sites as well as how your data might be collected or used by these sites.

Online Security

This website is protected by Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, the leading security protocol for data transfer on the Internet. Even though there are tremendous benefits to using this website, as with all electronic communications there are some risks which may include:

Failure of hardware, software and/or Internet connections; we are not responsible for failures, distortions, delays, or other problems resulting from equipment, configuration, connection, signal power, hardware, software or any equipment used to access the Internet; and
No guarantee that the confidentiality or security of electronic transmissions via the Internet can be assured due to potentially unsecure computers and links. This could result in your data getting lost or intercepted during transmission. Please use good judgment when sending information over the Internet.

Miscellaneous

Governing Law

These Terms of Use and your use of our website are governed exclusively by the laws of the State of Illinois, without reference to its rules regarding choice of law.

Limitation of Liability

You agree that you use this website at your own risk. HCSC and its licensors have no liability for any damages (whether direct or indirect, special, incidental, consequential or punitive) incurred by you as a result of your use of this website or the information you receive from or submit to this website.

HCSC and its licensors shall have no liability whatsoever for failure of electronic or mechanical equipment or communication, telephone or other connection problems, computer viruses, unauthorized access or interception of data from this website, theft or errors.

Ownership and Copyright Protection

All right, title and interest in the content (including software, text and images) and other intellectual property (including trademarks, service marks and copyrights) on this website are solely and exclusively the property of HCSC or its licensors, and are protected by intellectual property laws. Blue Cross, Blue Shield and the Cross and Shield symbols are registered service marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. You acknowledge that content available through the website, including, without limitation, content of third parties is protected by copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual proprietary rights and laws.

Changes to the Terms of Use or Privacy Statement

Evolving technology will require us to update or amend our Terms of Use or Privacy Statement from time to time; the version date located at the bottom of this page will reflect the last time that they were updated.