How your information is used
Kaiser Permanente and HealthMedia, Inc. have co-developed Teen Choices and Challenges as a private confidential program for you. You will be asked a lot of questions in order for us to provide you with personalized results. The responses you provide to the questionnaire are used to create a personalized health, safety, and lifestyle plan for you.

This plan can be printed and is for you to read and use. The plan includes customized information that applies to your personal situation. For example, if during the questionnaire you indicate that you smoke cigarettes, then your plan will include information on smoking.

You will also have an opportunity (in most cases) to discuss issues related to the questionnaire topics with a counselor. The information you share is confidential and specific details about the measures we take to protect your privacy are described below.

Who can see your information?
In most cases, the only individuals who are eligible to view your customized Plan are you (the teen) and the counselor at your school or agency that is assigned to you.

If your school or organization has a counselor or health provider associated with this program, he or she will be alerted to any health and /or safety concerns that may arise from your questionnaire responses. The counselor may discuss these issues with you. He or she has agreed in a contract with Kaiser to not share your responses with anyone else, unless he or she has been given permission by you or is required by law.

If your school or organization does not have a counselor or health provider associated with this program then you are using a version of Teen Choices and Challenges that does not allow any provider to view your personal information.

Your information--without your name associated with it--will be available to Kaiser so that Kaiser can better understand the needs of teens.

Confidentiality
We don't disclose any confidential information that can be traced back to you unless required by law, or unless you give us permission beforehand (such as, to a counselor). As part of this commitment, we do not sell or share information about you that could be used by third parties to market products or services to you. Kaiser Permanente will use your Internet Protocol address (every computer can be traced to a unique Internet address) only in the event that a Web server problem requires diagnosis and to administer the Web site.

All communication between your computer and our Web servers is encrypted. Encryption minimizes the risk that your information might be intercepted. Our servers are behind a complex series of firewalls. Firewalls add an extra layer of security and allow data to be stored in a way that maximizes security and confidentiality.

VeriSign (http://www.verisign.com/)
To support our commitment to protecting your privacy and ensuring confidentiality of all information you provide, HealthMedia, Inc. participates with Verisign, the leading provider of Internet trust services. HealthMedia, Inc. uses VeriSign Secure Site digital certificates to provide authentication of HMI, enabling end users to verify connections to HealthMedia, Inc. product sites and communicate via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption thus further protecting confidential information from interception and hacking.

Secure access codes
We are dedicated to keeping your personal health information confidential. Requiring an access code is one of the precautions we take to ensure others can’t pretend to be you and get your confidential information from this Web site. Your access code has an expiration date.

You need to sign up for the Teen Choices and Challenges program by using an access code given to you by a counselor health provider. This number will be transmitted using Secure Socket Layer technology. We require that you use an access code for the following reasons:
· Other teens cannot see your information
· School or agency staff (other than your counselor) cannot see your information
· You can save your information and return to the questionnaire and personalized Web site in the future

Revoking access
By using the access code given to you to participate in this program, you are giving permission for the provider/counselor at your school/organization to have access to your information (e.g. name and health information) for the purpose of conducting a counseling session with you, providing you with information and resources, and gaining a better understanding of your needs. If you change your mind about giving your organization and provider such access, you may revoke this. To do so, see your counselor or provider. He or she will ask you to make a written statement (with your signature) revoking access to your personal information.

Aggregate data
Kaiser Permanente will aggregate data results for dissemination to sponsoring organizations (such as grantmaking organizations), participating schools and organizations, and to evaluate the Teen Choices and Challenges program. This aggregate data will not contain any information that discloses your identity. Instead, your data is combined with the data of other participants to determine an overall profile of a teen population. These data become statistics and may be used by Kaiser Permanente or your school or organization to understand the needs and characteristics of teen populations.

Children’s privacy
Kaiser Permanente is committed to protecting the privacy of children. In accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the Teen Choices and Challenges program is not intended to be used by anyone under the age of 13 years. In the event that anyone under age 13 attempts to send their personal information to the Web site, their session will be ended and the appropriate notice will be posted to the user.

Resources
Health and community resources may be provided in your customized plan. These include the names and contact information of organizations that offer a range of health and social services and information. These community resources are not affiliated with or sponsored by Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser Permanente makes every attempt to maintain up-to-date information regarding community resources. We cannot guarantee that each resource will work for you in every case. Your plan should serve only as a guide; your common sense and good judgment are also needed.