This Privacy Statement describes the ways in which we, Novartis AG, collect, hold and use information about individual persons who visit this website. BY USING THIS WEBSITE, YOU CONSENT TO THE COLLECTION AND USE OF INFORMATION AS SET FORTH IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY. YOU ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT NOVARTIS AG MAY PERIODICALLY CHANGE, MODIFY, ADD OR REMOVE OR OTHERWISE UPDATE THIS PRIVACY POLICY AT ITS DISCRETION, WITHOUT PRIOR NOTIFICATION. However, we will always handle your Personal Information in accordance with the Privacy Policy that was in effect at the time of collection. It is our intention to post changes to our privacy policy on this page so that you are fully informed concerning the types of information we are gathering, how we use it, and under what circumstances it may be disclosed. Our Privacy Policy is located on our homepage and is also available on any page where Personal Data are requested. At such data collection points, further explanation may be provided, where appropriate, as to the purposes for which the data will be used.
1. Pledge on privacy
The term "Personal Data" as used in this Privacy Policy refers to information such as your name, birth date, e-mail address, mailing address, or telephone number that can be used to identify you. Generally, we will only process your Personal Data as described in this Privacy Policy. However, we reserve the right, to conduct additional processing to the extent permitted or required by law, or in support of any legal or criminal investigation.
The next sections explain how and when we collect Personal Data from you.
2. Intended use of Personal Data
Most of our services do not require any form of registration, allowing you to visit our site without telling us who you are. However, some services may require you to provide us with Personal Data. In these situations, if you choose to withhold any Personal Data requested by us, it may not be possible for you to gain access to certain parts of the site and for us to respond to your query.
We may collect and use Personal Data to provide you with products or services, to bill you for products and services you request, to market products and services which we think may be of interest to you, or to communicate with you for other purposes which are evident from the circumstances or about which we inform you when we collect Personal Data from you.
3. Non-disclosure of Personal Data
We will not sell, share, or otherwise distribute your Personal Data to third parties except as provided in this Privacy Policy. We may disclose your Personal Data to other Novartis affiliates worldwide that agree to treat it in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Personal Data may also be transferred to third parties who act for or on our behalf, for further processing in accordance with the purpose(s) for which the data were originally collected or may otherwise be lawfully processed, such as services delivery, evaluating the usefulness of this website, marketing, data management or technical support. These third parties have contracted with us to only use Personal Data for the agreed upon purpose, and not to sell your Personal Information to third parties, and not to disclose it to third parties except as may be required by law, as permitted by us or as stated in this Privacy Policy.
Personal Data collected from you may also be transferred to a third party in the event that the business of this site or a part of it and the customer data connected with it is sold, assigned or transferred, in which case we would require the buyer, assignee or transferee to treat Personal Data in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Also, Personal Data may be disclosed to a third party if we are required to do so because of an applicable law, court order or governmental regulation, or if such disclosure is otherwise necessary in support of any criminal or other legal investigation or proceeding here or abroad.
4. Right of access, correction and objection
Whenever we process Personal Data, we take reasonable steps to ensure that your Personal Data is kept accurate and up-to date for the purposes for which it was collected. We will provide you with the ability to object to the processing of your Personal Data if such processing is not reasonably required for a legitimate business purpose as described in this policy or our compliance with law. In the case of electronic direct marketing, we will provide you with a method to opt out of receiving further marketing materials or with a method to opt in if required by law. If you wish to contact us regarding our use of your Personal Data or object to the processing of your Personal Data, please email us at[email protected]. If you contact us, please note the name of the website where you provided the information, as well as the specific information you would like us to correct, update or delete plus a proper identification of you. Requests to delete personal data will be subject to any applicable legal and ethical reporting or document filing or retention obligations imposed on us.
5. Security and confidentiality
To ensure the security and confidentiality of Personal Data that we collect online, we use data networks protected, inter alia, by industry standard firewall and password protection. In the course of handling your Personal Data, we take measures reasonably designed to protect that information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.
6. Data transfer abroad
We are part of the Novartis Group which is a global group of companies and has databases in different countries, some of which are operated by the local Novartis Group Company, and some of which are operated by third parties on behalf of the local Novartis Group Company. We may transfer your data to one of the Group's databases outside your country of domicile, potentially including countries which may not require an adequate level of protection for your Personal Data compared with that provided in your country.
However, Novartis has adopted Binding Corporate Rules, a system of principles, rules and tools, provided by European law, in an effort to ensure effective levels of data protection, in particular relating to transfers of personal information outside the EEA and Switzerland. Read more about your rights under the Novartis Binding Corporate Rules.
7. "Cookies" and internet tags
We may collect and process information about your visit to this website, such as the pages you visit, the website you came from and some of the searches you perform. Such information is used by us to help improve the contents of the site and to compile aggregate statistics about individuals using our site for internal, market research purposes. In doing this, we may install "cookies" that collect the domain name of the user, your internet service provider, your operating system, and the date and time of access. A "cookie" is a small piece of information which is sent to your browser and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies do not damage your computer. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a "cookie," this will enable you to decide if you want to accept it or not. If you do not want us to install cookies, please email us at [email protected]. We would like to inform you, however, that if you do not accept you may not be able to use all functionality of your browser software. We may obtain the services of outside parties to assist us in collecting and processing the information described in this Section.
Occasionally, we may use internet tags (also known as action tags, single-pixel GIFs, clear GIFs, invisible GIFs and 1-by-1 GIFs) and cookies at this site and may deploy these tags/cookies through a third-party advertising partner or a web analytical service partner which may be located and store the respective information (including your IP-address) in a foreign country. These tags/cookies are placed on both online advertisements that bring users to this site and on different pages of this site. We use this technology to measure the visitors' responses to our sites and the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns (including how many times a page is opened and which information is consulted) as well as to evaluate your use of this website. The third-party partner or the web analytical service partner may be able to collect data about visitors to our and other sites because of these internet tags/cookies, may compose reports regarding the website’s activity for us and may provide further services which are related to the use of the website and the internet. They may provide such information to other parties if there is a legal requirement that they do so, or if they hire the other parties to process information on their behalf. If you would like more information about web tags and cookies associated with on-line advertising or to opt-out of third-party collection of this information, please visit the Network Advertising Initiative website http://www.networkadvertising.org(link is external).
8. Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to rationalize our portfolio of websites by (i) optimizing traffic to and between corporate websites, and (ii) integrating and optimizing web pages where appropriate.“Google Analytics” is a service offered by Google Inc. “Google” that generates detailed statistics about a website's traffic and traffic sources and measures conversions and sales. GoogleAnalytics uses “cookies” stored on your computer to help analyze how users use our website.
The information generated by the cookies about your use of our website, including your IP address, will be anonymized by use of the appropriate settings (“_anonymizelp()” function or equivalent) and transmitted to Google servers in the United States. For more information on how IP anonymization works please see https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052(link is external)
On behalf of us, Google will use the information generated by the cookies for the purpose of evaluating the use of our website, compiling reports on website activity providing us with these reports for analytical purposes.
Google may transfer this information to third parties in case of a statutory obligation or if a third party processes data on behalf of Google. Under no circumstances, Google will combine or associate your IP address with other data stored at Google.
You may prevent or stop the installation and storage of cookies by you browser settings by downloading and installing the free Opt-out Browser Add-on available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en(link is external). We inform you that in such case you will not beable to wholly use all functions of our website.
By using our website you consent to the processing of any personal data Google will collect on you in the way and for the purpose as described above.
9. Personal information and children
Most of the services available on this site are intended for persons 18 years of age and older. Any individual who requests information about a medicine indicated for use in children must be 18 or over. We will not knowingly collect, use or disclose Personal Data from a minor under the age of 18, without obtaining prior consent from a person with parental responsibility (e.g., a parent or guardian) through direct off-line contact. We will provide the parent with (i) notice of the specific types of personal data being collected from the minor, and (ii) the opportunity to object to any further collection, use, or storage of such information. We abide by laws designed to protect children.
10. Links to other sites
This Privacy Policy applies only to this website, and not to websites owned by third parties. We may provide links to other websites which we believe may be of interest to our visitors. We aim to ensure that such websites are of the highest standard. However, due to the nature of the internet, we cannot guarantee the privacy standards of websites to which we link or be responsible for the contents of sites other than this one, and this Privacy Policy is not intended to be applicable to any linked, non-Novartis site.
11. Contact us
If you have any queries or complaints about our compliance with this Privacy Policy, or if you would like to make any recommendations or comments to improve the quality of our Privacy Policy, please email us at [email protected].