Information Collection

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana has created 2 Step 4 Kids to provide an opportunity for children in our communities to learn about developing and maintaining healthy habits and to have fun while doing so. We also want to ensure a safe online environment for the users of this website.

To do so:

• Information we collect will almost always not be individually identifiable information;

  • If we ever need to collect individually identifiable information it will be limited to information necessary to complete the activity for which it was requested (such as a contest) and if necessary we will collect a parent’s permission offline (by postal mail, fax, or phone) before we will mail any prizes, collect, or share personally identifiable information;
  • If you send us an e-mail; we will write back to your e-mail address in response, but will not keep the address or use it again.

Registration

• When you register on 2 Step 4 Kids you will create a username and password. We do not want to collect any information during the registration process that will allow us or anyone else to identify who you are, so we request that you do not use individually identifiable information in your username.
• When you register you will be asked to select a Security Question and provide the answers to this question. Again, do not use individually identifiable information (such as full names or e-mail addresses) in the response to this question. This information will only be used to help you login to the website if you have forgotten your password.
• Your username and login information is used to allow you to save your scores in games and for you to track your activities. For certain games, the usernames of those with the highest scores will be posted on the public portion of the website. Also, if you submit comments or ideas to be posted on the public website, your username and city will be posted as well.

Activities

• Some activities on the website may require the collection of additional information, such as age or gender (for example to calculate the ideal number of calories to eat each day). This information will not be linked to any other information to create individually identifiable information.

Cookies

• We will collect information through cookies. A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user’s computer for record-keeping purposes. We will link the information we store in the cookies to your username that you create while on our site. We use both session ID cookies and/or persistent cookies. We use session cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our site. A session ID cookie expires when you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time. (You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Internet browser’s “help” file.) Persistent cookies enable us to track and target your interests to enhance your experience on our site. This information will be used to personalize web pages for you and this information is linked to the user ID you created so we may improve the content of this site for you. We do not share your profile with other third parties not involved in providing services on this website.
• We collect and store the following information: the name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, yahoo.com if you are connecting from a Yahoo account); the browser version from which you access our site; the date and time you access our site; the internet address of the website from which you linked directly to our site; and occasionally other information. We use this information to measure the number of visitors to different sections of our site, provide offered services to you and to help us make our site more useful to visitors.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

• We may create aggregate reports to identify or develop programs, information, and tools to offer on the website. Aggregate reports are summaries of information and contain no individually identifying information. This aggregated information may be shared with business partners to further assist us in the above activities.
• Information you provide such as your height, weight, food and activity logs and personal goals is accessible only to you and we will not share it with anyone.
• Team Membership. If you joined our website as part of a team, such as a class at your school, aggregate information will be shared with your team captain. Only non-identifiable information, such as how many team members have joined, how many team members have met personal goals, or which percentage of team members are logging information will be shared with the team captain.

How We Protect Information:

• We keep your information safe and secure so that unauthorized individuals do not have access to it. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with legal requirements to protect your information.
• If you do not use your user id for 18 months, it will automatically be deleted and you will need to create a new one. If you wish to have your user id deleted at any other time, please e-mail your request and security question responses to Privacy.Office@bcbsla.com.       

Surveys and Contests:

From time to time we may provide you with the opportunity to participate in contest or surveys on our site. If you wish to participate, we may request certain personally identifiable information from you, but will first obtain your parent’s consent offline. We may use a third party service provider to conduct these surveys or contests. That company will be prohibited from using our users’ personally identifiable information for any other purpose. We will not share the personally identifiable information you provide through a contest or survey with other third parties unless we give you prior notice and choice.

 

Links to Other Sites:

If 2 Step 4 Kids contains links to other sites, the links will be labeled as external. All pages with external links will contain a notation that “External links will open in new windows not controlled by 2 Step 4 Kids or Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.” You will effectively leave the 2 Step 4 Kids site if you click external links. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is not responsible for the Privacy Policies of third party sites and encourages users to read the policies of the linked sites before using them.

 

Updates to this Privacy Notice:

We recognize and respect your desire for privacy when it comes to your personal and health care affairs. We protect online information according to established company security standards and practices, and we continually evaluate new technologies for safeguarding information.

 

Evolving technology will continue to provide us with new and better ways to collect and use information so that we may better serve your health needs. We may revise or update this 2 Step 4 Kids Privacy Notice in the future to reflect these technological advances, and we encourage you to return to this page from time to time for any updates. 2 Step 4 Kids wants your visit to our website to be safe, informative, and enjoyable. If you have any questions or concerns about our information collection and handling practices or about this privacy policy, please e-mail our Privacy Office at Privacy.Office@bcbsla.com. 

 

Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana,
Incorporated as Louisiana Health Service & Indemnity Company
An Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association