American Home Help Privacy Policy
Last Updated: 8/19/2024
American Home Help offers various services to help its users find and coordinate care options. American Home Help’s Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) is designed to explain the information we collect and how we use it to provide our services and give users a better experience. It applies to any users of www.americanhomehelp.com and any web pages, mobile applications and mobile websites operated by Care Navigators LLC, DBA American Home Help (collectively, the “Site”), including those who are seeking to find care options on American Home Help (“Help Seekers”) as well as those who are looking to promote their services as a care option on American Home Help (“Healthcare Professionals”& “Care Providers”), and any users of any of the various services that American Home Help provides through the Site or any other channels, including over the telephone, fax, and email (collectively, “Services”).
For purposes of this Privacy Policy, the terms “www.americanhomehelp.com,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Care Navigators LLC, DBA American Home Help. “You” refers to you, as a visitor or user of the Site or the Services. This Privacy Policy does not apply to third party entities that may use the Site or Services. Such entities’ use of the Site and Services are subject to separate terms that they agreed to when they registered or otherwise contracted with American Home Help. Other capitalized terms that are not expressly defined in this Privacy Policy have the same meaning as set forth in the American Home Help Terms of Use.
By using the Site and/or the Services, you consent to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.
1. Information We Collect and their Sources
How we collect and store information depends on the Services you use and the activities in which you participate. You can use some of the Site and Services without providing any information other than that automatically collected as described below. Visitors who access and browse the Site without registering are “Site Visitors.” In order to utilize some of the Services offered by American Home Help, you must register with American Home Help. All users who register with American Home Help are “Registered Users.”
1.1 Information you provide
Regardless of whether you are a Site Visitor or a Registered User, all information that you provide to us when registering, posting a help request, posting a profile, communicating through the Site, discussing care options over the phone, utilizing our mobile applications or that you otherwise provide on the Site or by phone, email, fax, postal mail or otherwise, will be stored by us. You represent and warrant to us that you have the right and authority to provide us all information you provide about yourself or others. You may provide us with information in various ways, including:
A. When registering
When you register directly through American Home Help, we will collect and store the information that you provide to us on our online registration forms. This may include, among other information, your:
• first and last name
• email address
• phone number
• company name
If you register for a Service that requires you to pay a fee, American Home Help will also collect your payment method details via Stripe.com, such as account number, expiration date, and security code, as well as your billing address, for payment purposes, if not previously provided.
B. When posting a help request
If you are a posting a help request, we collect and store all of the additional information that you provide to us on your post or that is otherwise included in an auto-generated help request post. This may include, among other information:
• the type of care you are looking for, your schedule, location, family members, or pets (if applicable), narrative help request description, requirements for a Care Provider (such as ability to accept a certain insurance)
• pictures you choose to provide
• health information, if you choose to provide it
• any other information you choose to include in your help request post
C. When posting a profile
If you are a Healthcare Professional, we collect and store all of the additional information that you provide to us in your profile. This may include, among other information:
• details on the care you offer, including for example the type of care you provide, your company name, your location, your job title
• related services you provide
• pictures you choose to post
• your phone numbers
• any other information you choose to include in your profile
D. By telephone
Both Site Visitors and Registered Users may provide information to American Home Help when they utilize certain Services American Home Help may offer by telephone. For example, if you call American Home Help to discuss care options over the phone, we will collect and store all of the information you chose to provide to us, including but not limited to insurance information, information about the care you or your loved one needs, health information about you or the loved one you seek care for, your contact information, etc. If you provide information about someone other than yourself, you represent that you have authority to do so.
E. Otherwise through the Site or by telephone, email, fax, postal mail or chat
Certain Registered Users may provide additional information on the Site through other Site features and offerings such as our online communication platforms, groups and payment platforms. In some cases, Site Visitors may have the ability to provide us information through the Site, such as contact information. In addition, both Registered Users and Site Visitors may choose to provide information by phone, email, fax, postal mail, or chat. We collect and store all of the information you provide us through these channels. Moreover, if you provide information about someone other than yourself through any of these channels, you represent that you have authority to do so.
1.2. Information provided by others
A. By Site Visitors, Registered Users and others
American Home Help also captures and collects information that Site Visitors, Registered Users and others provide about one another. For example, Healthcare Professionals may invite Site Visitors, Registered Users or others to view their company profile and indicate their relationship to the Care Provider on the Site. Additionally, certain Registered Users may post comments about individual Healthcare Professionals. American Home Help may also obtain and post audio recordings of Healthcare Professionals references, which may also be accessed from the Site. In addition, certain Registered Users may communicate directly with one another through American Home Help platforms. Site Visitors, Registered Users and others also may provide us information about Registered Users by phone, email, fax, or postal mail. American Home Help captures and stores all information it receives from Site Visitors, Registered Users and others about other Registered Users and Site Visitors.
B. By service providers you use in connection with our Services
If you engage a service provider through American Home Help, such as a home care agency or a payments processor, that service provider may provide us with information about you or your loved ones, such as information relating to your transactions with the service provider.
C. By other sources
In addition, we may obtain information about you from other sources (e.g., partners, researchers, marketers, etc.), such as demographic data, and other information to enable us to comply with regulatory requirements, ensure the accuracy of data, better understand your likely interests, prevent fraud, etc. We may combine information that we collect from you with information about you from such other sources and use it in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
1.3. Information you expressly authorize us to collect
We may from time to time request permission to collect certain information from or about you. For example, if you use a American Home Help mobile application, we may request permission to access and store your location (e.g., your precise GPS-based functionality on the mobile devices used to access the Site and Services). If you grant your permission, we will access and/or store such information unless you subsequently opt out by adjusting the settings in your mobile device. See your device manufacturer’s instructions for further details.
1.4. Automatically collected information
We may automatically collect certain information about the computer or devices (including mobile devices) you use to access the Site and Services as described in this section below.
A. Log files, IP addresses and information about your computer and mobile device
When you visit the Site, American Home Help receives the internet protocol (“IP”) address of your computer (or the proxy server you use to access the internet), your computer operating system, the type of web browser you are using, and browser language. If you are using a mobile device, American Home Help may also receive unique device identifiers and other information about your mobile or other device(s), and mobile operating system. We may correlate this information with other information we have about you. We may also automatically collect information related to the ways in which you interact with the Site and the Services, such as referring and exit pages, URLs, platform type, the number of clicks, domain names, landing pages, pages and content viewed (including ads viewed) and the order of such views, the amount of time spent on particular pages, the date and time you use the Services, error logs, and other similar information.
B. Cookies and other technologies
A cookie is a tiny data file that resides on your computer, mobile phone, or other device, and allows us to recognize you when you return to the Site using the same computer (or mobile device) and web browser. Like most websites, we and our service providers use cookies, and tracking pixels to track Site usage and trends, evaluate the effectiveness of our ads both on and off our Site, customize your experience on the Site and improve the quality of our Services. For example, using these technologies we can determine, among other things, which pages of our Site you visit and which ads you click on. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify your browser settings to decline cookies. In some cases, however, doing so may impact your ability to use American Home Help. Tracking pixels do not identify individual users, and the analysis of data obtained by tracking pixels is performed on an aggregate basis.
C. Online analytics and advertising
When you visit our Site or open one of our emails, we may allow authorized third parties, such as ad servers, ad agencies, ad exchanges, ad technology vendors, and research firms, to place or recognize a unique cookie, pixel, and/or similar technologies on your browser in order to provide you relevant American Home Help advertisements as you surf the Internet. These advertisements may be targeted to you based on information these authorized third parties know or infer about you and include in the cookies placed on your browser, and/or on information about your Internet browsing activities gathered through your browser.
We also use Google Analytics to measure Site usage and improve our visitor experience. The relevant data is provided to us by Google in the aggregate (i.e., individual users are not identified) and allows us to better understand our Site audience. The Google Analytics features implemented by us allow us (i) to evaluate and generate reports on certain demographic, behavioral, and interest metrics of users collected by Google, and (ii) to create advertising remarketing audiences and campaigns based on such metrics, which may be segmented into aggregated groups. Visitors can opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising and customize Google Display Network ads using the Ads Settings form at https://www.google.com/settings/ads.
Do Not Track Notice. Some browsers used to access the Internet may give you the option through “Do Not Track” settings associated with such browsers to request that a website operator not track your information across its website or other websites. We engage in such tracking in order to optimize and/or customize our Services, detect and respond to allegations of fraud, and to otherwise ensure the safety of our Registered Users and Site Visitors. While we do not currently honor such browser requests, we will not use your information in a manner that violates this Privacy Policy. In addition, you retain the ability to opt out of certain online analytics and advertising activities as discussed in this section above.
D. Social media features and widgets
Our Site includes social media features and widgets, such as the Facebook “Share” button. These features may collect your IP address, the URL of the page you are visiting on our Site, 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 Site. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.
2. Purposes For Which We Use Information
In general, the information we collect is used for our business purposes: (1) to improve our Services and enhance your experience with American Home Help, (2) to enable us to provide a safer community for all of our Registered Users, and (3) to help us communicate with you. For example, we may use your information to:
1. register and service your account;
2. include in profiles, help request postings and Healthcare Professional profiles;
3. contact you in response to questions and solicit feedback and input from you;
4. notify you about new features of the Services, special events, or products, services, and special offers, or other information that we believe will be of interest to you via email, SMS messages, or other media or networks;
5. administer sweepstakes and contests;
6. enable users seeking care options with each other and with Care Professionals to search based on the information the other has made available on the Site, and information others have provided about them;
7. connect Help Seekers with Healthcare Professionals that appear to meet their needs and preferences;
8. enable Registered Users to search for, find, interact, connect and share information with other Registered Users they may have an interest in interacting with;
9. verify information you provide us as well as the representations and warranties you make to us in the Terms of Use or on the Site;
10. perform analytics and research aimed at improving the accuracy, effectiveness, usability, or popularity of the Services;
11. generate and review reports and data about our user base and usage patterns, including to improve the content and features of the Services or develop new Services;
12. otherwise help protect the safety and integrity of the Site and American Home Help users; and
13. personalize promotional messages or content on the Site, via email or other ads on American Home Help or third party sites.
We may aggregate and/or de-identify information collected by the Site, the Services, or via other means so that the information is not intended to identify you. Our use and disclosure of aggregated and/or de-identified information is not subject to any restrictions under this Privacy Policy, and we may disclose it to others without limitation for any purpose.
3. How We Share and Categories of Third Parties With Whom We Share Information
In addition to using the information collected by American Home Help for the purposes described above, we may also share your information with various third parties, as described below. Please review our sharing policy closely. By using our Site or our Services, you agree to allow us to share the information you provide to us in the ways described below. Your ability to make changes to what information is shared is described below in Section IV.
3.1. With All Site Visitors and Registered Users
If you are a user seeking help or a Healthcare Professional, in order to increase your chances of finding the care you need, we share with Registered Users the information that is included in your help request posting or profile, aside from your contact information, as well as the following registration information, which we may include in your help request posting or profile: your first name, first initial of your last name, city, state, profile picture, and if you are a Healthcare Professional. With certain exceptions, you choose how much detail you want to include in either your help request posting or your profile. We may also share on your profile or help request posting any company information you have posted on our Site. Any connections you have with other American Home Help members, including the nature of those connections. If you are a Care Provider and have elected to verify certain information with American Home Help, we may also disclose that information in your profile as a Registered User in addition to your response rate and any preferences you have indicated. If you post information in a American Home Help online group forum, that information may be viewed by any Registered User who accesses the forum. We may display personal testimonials of Registered Users and other endorsements on our Site or in other marketing materials. These testimonials or endorsements may include information such as the Registered User’s first name, first initial of last name, town and state. With a Registered User’s consent, we may include their full name.
3.2. With other Registered Users and corporate providers
In addition to the information that is provided to all Registered Users and Site Visitors, Care Provider reviews and references are made available to certain Registered Users. If you are a Care Provider, your phone number may be visible to certain Registered Users if you elect to share it in your profile. In addition, your approximate residential location (through Google map plotting) is made available to certain Registered Users and Site Visitors unless you elect to keep that information confidential.
If you are a user seeking help or a Healthcare Professional, you will appear in search result listings if you match the search criteria used by a Care Provider or user Seeking help, as applicable. Similarly, you may appear in emails sent to Care Providers or user seeking help in your area. Care Seekers may opt-out of being included in emails sent to Care Providers. If you are a Registered User, your American Home Help online status may be made available to other Registered Users. If you fill out a form to request information from a specific Care Provider Company, such as a specific Home Health or Nursing Home, the contact information you submit on a form for the care provider will be forwarded to that provider. Similarly, if you call a Care Provider company directly or click to a Care Provider’s company site from the American Home Help site, any information you provide over the phone or on the provider’s site will be provided by you directly to the care provider. If you provide information about someone other than yourself, you represent that you have authority to provide us the information and to authorize us to share the information in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy. Once provided to a Care Provider Company, the information is subject to the privacy policies of the corporate Care Provider. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a corporate Care Provider may share information about you and your dependents who are receiving their services, including contact information, utilization information, and medical and health-related information, with American Home Help. Such shared information would be subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy. If we terminate your registration for any reason, we reserve the right to send a notice of your termination to other Registered Users with whom we believe you have corresponded.
3.3. With vendors/service providers
We also share information with vendors with whom we have a contractual relationship and who perform services for American Home Help including, without limitation, vendors who provide email, demographic information, or geo-location information services, vendors who perform background checks or Preliminary Membership Screens, vendors who process or accept credit card payments, vendors who run classified advertising businesses, vendors who send SMS messages to Registered Users’ mobile phone numbers, vendors who provide services that enable us and other third parties to detect and prevent fraud, in each case to the extent applicable. In certain cases (such as for vendors who help facilitate our online communication services or provide fraud detection and prevention services), the information we share may include the contents of written and audio messages you send through our online communication platforms. We have implemented Google’s Invisible reCAPTCHA technology on our site. Use of the Invisible reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
3.4. With listings in and through Google and other public search engines, social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Google+), and on other third party websites)
In an effort to further facilitate the ability of user seeking help or Healthcare Professionals to find help, selected information contained in help request postings and Care Provider profiles, which may include photo, first name, first initial of last name, city, state, and provider description, may also be shared with third party search engines, social media sites, and other third party websites or vendors who run classified advertising and other businesses, and thus may be listed in third party web site search results and on third party websites, which would make that information available to the public and allow them to link to your American Home Help posting. If you post information in an American Home Help online group forum, your content, including your name as the contributor/author, may be displayed in third party search engine results and available to the public.
3.5. As required by law or for reasons of safety
We may disclose your information when we believe in good faith that such disclosure is appropriate in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding possible illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the health or physical safety of any person, violations of this Privacy Policy, the Terms of Use, and/or to protect the rights and property of American Home Help, our independent contractors, users, and the public. This may involve the sharing of your information with law enforcement, government agencies, courts, and/or other organizations.
3.6. With our affiliates
You acknowledge and agree that we may disclose any of the information we’ve collected about you to any of our affiliates or subsidiaries for the purposes of providing you with the Services, operating the Site, soliciting you for potential care opportunities with those affiliates or subsidiaries, and our other commercial purposes, including those of our affiliates and subsidiaries.
3.7. With Your Consent
We also may share your information with a third party if you consent to the sharing.
3.8. Business Transactions
In the event we go through a business transition such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be among the assets transferred. You acknowledge and consent that such transfers may occur and are permitted by this Privacy Policy, and that any acquirer of ours or that acquirer’s affiliates may continue to process your information as set forth in this Privacy Policy.
4. Your Choices Regarding the Sharing of your Personal Information
Registered Users have control over what optional information they choose to share with us when utilizing our Services (such as pictures, certain details in a help request description or profile, etc.).
5. Your Communication Choices
By becoming a Registered User, you are consenting to receive certain email communications from us, such as special offers, tips and advice, notifications of new progress on your help request or Care Providers in your area, customer surveys and administrative notices. You also have the option to opt out of receiving certain other emails from American Home Help, such as notification emails, by adjusting your notification settings.
On every email sent from American Home Help you will find an unsubscribe link on the email to stop getting emails from American Home Help.
6. Changing or Removing your Personal Information and Closing your Account
You can update certain of your information by logging into your account and accessing your profile settings. If you would like to remove some of the information you have posted on the Site, such as information you posted in profiles and help request postings, you may do so by editing or deleting that item. If you no longer wish to participate in our Services, you may close your account directly through your account settings. If you close your American Home Help account, we will remove your name and other contact and identifiable information from our publicly viewable database. If you close your account, we have no obligation to retain your information, and may delete any or all of your account information without liability. However, we may retain information related to you if we believe it may be necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse, or for legitimate business purposes, such as analysis of aggregated, de-identified information, account recovery, auditing our records, enforcing our rights and obligations under our agreements, or if required by law. American Home Help may also retain and use your information if necessary to provide the Services to other Registered Users. For example, just as an email you may send to another person through an email service provider resides in that person’s inbox even after you delete it from your sent files or close your account, emails you send through American Home Help to other Users, as well as your contributions to American Home Help community, may remain visible to others after you have closed your account. Similarly, other information you have shared with others, or that others have copied, may also remain visible. American Home Help disclaims any liability in relation to the deletion or retention (subject to the terms herein) of information, or any obligation not to delete the information. American Home Help does not control when search engines update their search index or cache, which may contain certain help request posts, profiles or other information that have since been removed from American Home Help’s Site.
7. Collection of Information from Children
American Home Help Site and Services are not intended for individuals under the age of 16. Moreover, if we become aware that we receive personal information from children under the age of 16, we will take reasonable steps to delete it as soon as practicable.
8. How We Protect Information
We have implemented a variety of administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect against the unauthorized access, destruction, or alteration of your information. These safeguards vary based on the sensitivity of information that we collect, process, and store and the current state of technology.
Although we take appropriate measures to safeguard against unauthorized disclosures of information, we cannot guarantee that information that we collect will never be disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Policy.
9. Links to Other Websites
The Site and Services may contain links to third-party websites and services. However, we are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by those web sites or services, nor are we responsible for the information or content they contain. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by us through the Site and Services; thus when you use a link to go from the Site or Services to a third-party web site or service, this policy is no longer in effect and the privacy policy of such third-party site or service will govern.
10. Changes to Our Privacy Policy
American Home Help reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use at any time. We will notify you about material adverse changes to this Privacy Policy or in our practices as required by applicable law. Material adverse changes will go into effect 30 days after we notify. Non-material changes or clarifications will take effect immediately upon posting of the updated policy on our Site. You should periodically check this page for updates. Your use of the Site or the Services after such effective date will constitute acceptance by you of such changes.
11. Privacy Information for California Residents
Throughout this Privacy Policy, we discuss the specific pieces of personal information we collect from and about users of our Site and Services. In accordance with the CCPA, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, we are providing you with additional information about the personal information we collect from California residents, how we disclose that personal information, and your privacy rights.
California Privacy Rights
California residents have certain privacy rights related to the personal information we collect and maintain about them. Any California resident may exercise these privacy rights directly with us or through an authorized agent, who will use the same processes to submit privacy rights requests to us. You may exercise some privacy rights through your account, for example, updating your contact or profile details. We never discriminate against users who choose to exercise their privacy rights.
Before responding to your privacy rights request, we may need to verify your identity. We typically verify your identity by (i) asking you to log in to your account with us, or (ii) matching two or more data points (for example, full name and email address) provided by you with data points maintained by us. If we are unable to verify your identity, we may request additional information from you.
We respond to privacy requests as soon as possible and generally within 45 days. We will let you know if our response will take more than 45 days. We may comply with the request in whole or in part or deny the request in whole or in part. If we deny your request, we will let you know why, unless we are legally prohibited from doing so.
Right to Know – You have the right to know about your personal information we collect and use. You also have the right to obtain a copy of your personal information. Specifically, you may ask us for the following:
• The categories of personal information we have collected about you;
• The categories of sources from which the personal information was collected;
• Our business or commercial purposes for collecting, selling, or sharing your personal information;
• The categories of personal information we have sold(we currently do not sell any personal information) or shared about you and the categories of third parties to which each category of personal information was sold or shared;
• The categories of personal information we disclosed about you for a business purpose and the categories of persons to which it was disclosed; and/or
• The specific pieces of your personal information we have collected.
Right to Correct – You may ask us to correct your personal information if you believe your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete.
Right to Delete – You may ask us to delete your personal information.
Right to Opt Out – If we started to sell personal information you would have the right to opt out of your personal information being sold.
If you choose to use an opt-out browser signal, such as the Global Privacy Control, you will be opted out of our sale and sharing of personal information to the extent practicable.
12. Privacy Information for Virginia Residents
Throughout this Privacy Policy, we discuss the specific pieces of personal information we collect from and about users of our Site and Services and how we use and disclose that personal information. In accordance with the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), we are providing you with additional information about your privacy rights.
Virginia Privacy Rights
Virginia residents have certain privacy rights related to the personal information we collect and maintain about them. You may exercise some privacy rights through your account, for example, updating your contact or profile details.
Before responding to your privacy rights request, we may need to verify your identity. We typically verify your identity by (i) asking you to log in to your account with us, or (ii) matching two or more data points (for example, full name and email address) provided by you with data points maintained by us. If we are unable to verify your identity, we may request additional information from you.
We respond to privacy requests as soon as possible and generally within 45 days. We will let you know if our response will take more than 45 days. We may comply with the request in whole or in part or deny the request in whole or in part. If we deny your request, we will let you know why, unless we are legally prohibited from doing so. If you disagree with our response, you have the right to appeal our decision. Information about exercising your right to appeal will be provided in our response to your privacy rights request.
Right to Access – You have the right to request access to and obtain a copy of any personal data that we have related to you.
Right to Correct – You may ask us to correct your personal information if you believe your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete.
Right to Delete – You may ask us to delete your personal information.
Right to Opt Out – If we started to sell personal information you would have the right to opt out of your personal information being sold.
13. Privacy Information for Nevada Residents
Under Nevada law, certain Nevada consumers may opt out of the sale of “personally identifiable information” for monetary consideration (as such terms are defined under Nevada law) to a person for that person to license or sell such information to additional persons. If you are a Nevada resident and you have purchased services or products from us, you may submit a request to opt out of any potential future sales under Nevada law by contacting us via e-mail at [email protected]. Please note we may take reasonable steps to verify your identity and the authenticity of the request.
14. Contact Us
If you have any questions on our Privacy Policy and practices, you can contact us via email at [email protected] or at:
Care Navigators LLC
Attn: Legal Department
PO Box 1118 Mansfield Tx 76063