Resource Center

Welcome to our Resource Center. We've gathered many of our favorite help providers here, from media—books, articles, DVDs and other web sites—to personal attention from the most compassionate and insightful grief counselors we know. We also introduce you to practical "life matters" advisors, who can help you navigate what might be unfamiliar new paths—how your finances and estate matters change after a loss, how to adjust to your new social situation. We hope you find many of these resources helpful.

OUR PRIVACY POLICY PROTECTS YOU

At AfterTalk.com, your privacy, protection, and security are our top priority. Thus, we partnered with respected online security technologies to ensure your writings are always protected, and only accessible by you and those you designate, like specific family members and friends, or your therapist. We appreciate the trust our existing members have placed on us and welcome new members to discover AfterTalk.com.

Effective Date: February 1, 2015

Last Updated: February 1, 2015

Privacy is at the heart of the AfterTalk.com. AfterTalk.com Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand not only how we treat and protect the information you create on the site, but also how the rules of the site are constructed to preserve your privacy. We work diligently to uphold your trust in our company, and this policy reflects how seriously we take this responsibility.

This is why we require all employees of AfterTalk.com to read, agree to, and accept the terms of this Privacy Policy before joining AfterTalk.com. Please check this page periodically for any changes. We will usually bring revised policies to your attention; however, we reserve the right to modify or update this Privacy Policy at any time without notice and such revisions will be effective upon posting to this page. Your continued use of the site following the posting of any revisions to this policy will mean that you accept any and all changes.

By using this Web site, you agree to the terms of the most recent version of this Privacy Statement. Please read our Terms of Use to understand the general rules about your use of this Web site. Except as written in any other disclaimers, policies, terms of use, or other notices on this Web site, this Privacy Statement and the Terms of Use are the complete agreement between you and AfterTalk.com with respect to your use of this Web site. You may be subject to additional terms that may apply when you access particular services or materials on certain areas in this Web site, or by following a link from this web site.

Links to non-AfterTalk.com Web sites. The AfterTalk.com Web site may provide links to third-party Web sites for your convenience and information. If you access those links, you will leave the AfterTalk.com Web site. AfterTalk.com does not control those sites or their privacy practices, which may differ from AfterTalk.com practices. We do not endorse or make any representations about third-party Web sites. The personal data you choose to provide to or that is collected by these third parties is not covered by the AfterTalk.com Privacy Statement. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any company before submitting your personal information.

At AfterTalk.com, we understand that your health and privacy is a very personal matter, and we appreciate the trust you place in us to treat your information carefully and sensibly. As part of our commitment to honoring your privacy, we provide this policy (“Privacy Policy”) to make you aware of the choices you have about the way your information is used and to explain how we guard your information. We hope this policy will help you make informed decisions about using the tools provided by our Web site.

This policy answers the following questions:

• What information do we collect about you and how do we use it?
• Will we share your personal information with third parties?
• What choices do you have about the collection and use of your personal information?
• What security measures do we take to safeguard your personal information?

If you have any questions or concerns about our policy or its implementation, you may contact us at this email address: info@AfterTalk.com

Information collection and use
We collect personal information to create your private and secure membership to AfterTalk.com and to fulfill your requests to secure membership, improve our services, and contact you.

There are aspects of our site that can be enjoyed as a visitor, but you need to become a member in order to take advantage of our online services on the site including the online “private conversations.”

The Content of your AfterTalk Communications

ADDITIONAL SECURITY

Information you provide

We collect personal information when you voluntarily provide it to us or authorize us to collect it on your behalf.

Membership: When you become a member of our Web site, we collect a minimum of personal information from you, specifically, your first and last name and an email address. We ask that you volunteer your gender and age range, but do not require that you provide this information. If giving us your first and last name troubles you, you are welcome to make one up.

Private Conversations: You will be able to write entries as often as you like. Your entries are completely private and secure and can only be share with those you designate through “Family, Friends and Therapist.” Those whom you share with need to join AfterTalk in order to access your communications, so anything they write on our site is also password protected and encrypted. The information will be encrypted, and not even our programmers will be able to read any of your entries.

For Therapists Using AfterTalk: When we designed the site, we implemented many security protocols. The data flow is protected with the same level of security used on credit card pages (SSL), encryption in the database protects it from server level snooping, and many HIPAA protocols are observed. As mentioned in the last paragraph, everything your client writes is encrypted and password secured on our system. Likewise, anything you write, e.g., a comment back to them, is also protected by your password and encrypted. Employees of AfterTalk have no access to content generated by members or their therapists. As long as your communication with your client stays within the AfterTalk website, it is secure. If you or your client copy content via ‘cut and paste’ or screenshots, and transfer that content to another platform, then we can no longer be responsible for the security of that content.

Special note for parents: This site is a general audience site and not designed or intended to attract children younger than 13. We do not collect personal information from any person we actually know is younger than 13 and we strongly recommend that those under the age of 18 receive permission from their parents before visiting and becoming members of our Web site.

Log information: When you visit our site, our servers will automatically collect log information. This information may include your Web page request, Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request, and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser. We collect log information so that we can properly administer our system and gather aggregate information about how our site is being used, including the pages visitors are viewing.

Cookies: We collect anonymous information about your use of our site through cookies. The cookie does not tell us who you are. Only you can tell us that.

The information collected by cookies allows us to statistically monitor how many people are using our site and for what purpose. We do not store any identifying information in any cookies on your computer.

Information disclosure to third parties

We know how important it is to keep the information you’ve entrusted to us confidential. We will not rent, sell or share personal information about you with third parties. This data will be securely stored by AfterTalk.com

Disclosure for legal reasons: We may release personal information to third parties: (1) to comply with valid legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order; or (2) in special cases, such as a physical threat to you or others, a threat to homeland security, a threat to our system or network, or cases in which we believe it is reasonably necessary to investigate or prevent harm, fraud, abuse, or illegal conduct. In the event that we are legally compelled to disclose your personal information to a third party, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you unless doing so would violate the law or court order.

Agents and contractors: Contractors sometimes have access to your personal information—not your writings or communications with other members--in the course of assisting in operating our business and providing products or services to you. These contractors include vendors and suppliers that provide us with technology, services, and/or content for the operation and maintenance of our site. Some of these relationships may be with companies that co-brand portions of their site and services, or that provide services to you on our behalf. Co-branded sites may have their own privacy policies posted on their sites. If you visit a co-branded site, please read the privacy policy that is posted on that site. The Recommended Sites section contains many links to outside sources, which were approved by our senior management. While we make every effort to provide links only to those sites that share our respect for your privacy, we cannot take responsibility for the content or privacy policies of those sites. We encourage our members to review carefully the privacy policies of these Web sites.

Access to your personal information by these contractors is limited to the information reasonably necessary for the contractor to perform its limited function. Contractors have an obligation under their contracts with us to keep your information confidential and to comply with our privacy and security policies.

Aggregated, non-personal information: We may share aggregated information about you with third parties. This is information that is combined with the non-personal information of other users and does not allow you to be identified or contacted. Depending on the circumstances, we may or may not charge third parties for this aggregated information. We also may not limit the third parties’ use of the aggregated information.

Choice and control over your personal information
Whenever reasonably possible, we offer you choices when we ask for personal information and we tell you why we collect different types of information. You may always decline to provide personal information to us and/or refuse cookies in your browser, although some features or services may not function properly as a result. To make it easy for you to make the choices that are right for you, we provide the following controls:

• Edit My Account [located under Resource Center on the menu bar]: You can change or update your account information, including your contact information, and other relevant information.
• Data Retention: We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services.  We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

PERSONALIZED INFORMATION

As a registered member of the site, you can create and store your important information in one secure place. The information in your Private Conversations will be completely created by you. The Private Conversations will enable you to store personal information about yourself.

Should you want to change, review, or update your personal information, you can simply go to “Edit My Account” under ‘Resource Center’ in the main menu, or you can e-mail us at:info@AfterTalk.com. 

Communications

E-mail communications: E-mail communication that you send to us via the e-mail links on our site may be shared with a Customer Care representative or employee who is most likely to be able to address your inquiry. If you provide personal health information in your e-mail, it will be used only for the purposes of answering your e-mail. From time to time, we may send you service-related e-mails, such as a welcome email when you become a member on our site.

Newsletters and alerts: We send informational newsletters and member communications. 

Community

Our site is centered on the concept of an anonymous community. What differentiates us from other companies is that we truly protect your privacy and do not offer features for information to be exchanged in public with other members. We are all together in the search for happier and more fulfilling lives, but AfterTalk.com believes that privacy and self-development and understanding are principal. You might use other sites to openly share information but on AfterTalk.com you can rest assured that the information is only for you and no one else.

Information related to Membership

• We have physical, technical and procedural safeguards to help protect your personal information.
• In areas that contain your personal information, we use secure socket layer (SSL) encryption to help protect this information while it is in transit between our servers and your computer.

What you can do to help keep your information secure

Choose your passwords carefully: Always create a password that’s easy for you to remember but difficult for someone else to figure out. Don’t use your name, address, phone number, initials, Social Security number, license plate or birthday. Don’t use names of your friends, family or pets, company names, common numerical sequences or the word “password.”
Suggestion: Use a mix of special characters, numbers, and upper- and lowercase letters. Also, remember to change your password frequently and never give your password to anyone.

Log out and close your browser: Open browsers invite snoops. When you finish your online session, close your browser to erase any information it may have temporarily stored on your computer.

Install antivirus software and spyware protection: Viruses are dangerous. Many viruses are sent as e-mail attachments. They can slip into your system without your knowledge the moment you open the e-mail. Some viruses such as Trojan Horses can capture the contents of your system, including your passwords. Installing up-to-date antivirus software and running it will help thwart these and other unwanted programs.

Spyware is a program or technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization, often without their knowledge, and includes programs like hijackers and keyloggers. The best way to identify whether or not spyware is installed on your computer is to run and regularly update antispyware programs. Similar to antivirus software, antispyware software identifies and helps you remove spyware.

Changes in this Privacy Statement

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the home page, and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. 

We may update this Policy. We will notify you about material changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the email address specified in your account. We may also make nonmaterial changes to our Policy that generally will not affect our use of your personal information. If you don’t agree with the new policy, you always have the option of closing your account. Please see instructions for closing your account above. Our current policy, identified by its effective date, will be posted on the Site, and you should check it frequently.

AfterTalk.com is not a healthcare provider, insurer, or clearinghouse and is therefore not subject to the privacy and security regulations issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"). HIPAA, however, serves as a model for the importance with which AfterTalk.com regards your privacy, and the fact that we are not bound by HIPAA does not reflect how seriously we take our responsibility. As the services AfterTalk.com offers expand and we work with business partners who are subject to HIPAA, we will take steps to ensure that our Web site and operations comply with all applicable HIPAA privacy and security requirements. For more information about HIPAA or our compliance, see the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Web site.

To contact AfterTalk.com: 

If you have any questions or concerns about our policy or its implementation, you may contact us at this email address: info@AfterTalk.com
Address: AfterTalk.com, PO Box 585, Palisades, NY 10964

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of AfterTalk.com terms of service and privacy policy. The material on this site is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified health care provider.