Privacy
MSD Privacy Policy Statement for MSD Manuals
Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) offers online resources designed to provide health, medical, and product-related information and services. Respect for the privacy of personal information (defined below) about you is very important to us. MSD is committed to collecting, maintaining, and securing personal information about you in accordance with this policy, as well as applicable laws, rules and regulations. This policy does not apply to personal information collected from offline resources and communications, except in cases where such personal information is consolidated with personal information collected by MSD online. This policy also does not apply to third-party online resources to which MSD’s Web sites may link, where MSD does not control the content or the privacy practices of such resources.
MSD has received TRUSTe’s Privacy Seal signifying that this privacy statement and our practices have been reviewed for compliance with the TRUSTe program requirements. If you have an unresolved privacy or data use concern that we have not addressed satisfactorily, please contact TRUSTe online or via postal mail. TRUSTe’s Dispute Resolution process is only available in English.
The MSD privacy program and practices comply with the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules system(CBPRs). Our Global Cross Border Privacy Rules Policy, available at http://www.msd.com/privacy/cross-border-privacy-policy/, supports our compliance with the APEC CBPRs.
How does this Privacy Policy define "personal information"?
The term "personal information" as used throughout this policy, applies to any information or set of information that identifies or that is used by or on behalf of MSD to identify an individual.
How does MSD Manuals collect personal information online?
MSD collects information about your computer or other electronic device when you visit our Web sites and use our online resources via tracking technologies, such as cookies and single-pixel tags. MSD Manuals uses tracking technologies that do not identify you personally; they are used to remember whether you have identified yourself as a health care professional or medical student (wishing to access the Professional Version of MSD Manuals) or a patient, parent or caregiver (wishing to access the Consumer Version of MSD Manuals) or as a resident of a particular country.
You may choose whether or not you want MSD to use tracking technologies to remember you when you visit our web sites, and/or to provide additional personalized services to you. If you want to limit data collection through tracking technologies, please refer to your choices as described below.
What are cookies?
A cookie is a small data file that is sent by Web servers to your computer’s hard drive, where your Internet browser files are kept. Cookies enable Web sites to store small bits of information on your computer and retrieve that information at a later time. MSD uses two types of cookies: session cookies, which are temporary cookies that are erased from your computer’s memory when you close your Internet browser or turn your computer off, and persistent cookies, which exist on your computer’s hard drive until they expire, unless you delete them at an earlier time.
What are single-pixel tags?
Single-pixel tags, also known as web beacons or web tags are graphics that function similar to cookies. Single-pixel tags are not visible because of their small size. They are used to collect information in web logs that does not identify you personally such as web pages viewed, the web site you came from and the advertisement you clicked on to visit our web sites. They also are used to determine whether certain promotional or other commercial e-mail messages we send are opened.
Why does MSD Manuals collect preferences information?
MSD Manuals uses tracking technologies to remember your personal preferences and selections, enhance your user experience and make our communications more useful and interesting to you.
What choices do I have about how MSD collects, uses and discloses personal information about me?
You have four categories of choices. These include:
1. No personal information collection: You may choose not to provide any personal information to MSD online by electing not to enter any personal information into a form or data field on our Web sites, and by not using any personalized services provided by our online resources. However, some of our online resources are available only to individuals who provide personal information or who use personalized services.
2. Limitations and options regarding uses and disclosures for other purposes: Some MSD online resources may request your permission to use and disclose personal information about you. You can limit the use of personal information about you by checking or un-checking options provided at the time that you enter that information or that we may offer to you in the future. Additionally, you may change your communications preferences (such as to opt-out of communications you requested previously) by contacting us.
3. Limitations and options on tracking: MSD online resources like MSD Manuals that use tracking technologies, such as cookies, to remember your personal preferences and selections, enable you to choose whether you want MSD to use such technologies to remember you, or to provide additional services to you, by checking or un-checking options provided during registration, or at the time that you enter personal information into forms or data fields. Our online resources do not limit non-identifiable uses of tracking technologies for individual users. Individual users can control the use of certain tracking technologies, such as cookies, through most Internet browsers. Some Internet browsers enable you to limit or disable the use of cookies for individual Web sites. Other browsers allow you to select cookie settings for all Web sites that you visit. If you are concerned about the use of cookie technology, please read our section above to understand the ways that MSD Manuals uses tracking technologies. If you limit or disable cookies, certain functions of our Web sites may not work properly. For more information on how to disable tracking for certain web browsers and mobile devices, visit http://allaboutdnt.com/.
Opting out of tracking by third parties: If you would like to opt-out of the cookies set by other companies who deliver e-mail communications on our behalf or place MSD advertisements on other web sites, you may do so by following the options provided by the Network Advertising Initiative at: http://www.networkadvertising.org/optout_nonppii.asp
and the Digital Advertising Alliance at: http://www.aboutads.info/choices/
4. E-mail communications: You may choose to receive optional e-mail and other communications from MSD by signing up for or subscribing to these communications on our Web sites and other online resources. If you do not wish to receive optional e-mail communications, you may opt-out by visiting the web site or other online resources where you subscribed, where available, and update your e-mail communication selections, or you may follow the unsubscribe or opt-out instructions in the e-mail communications you receive from us. If you do not wish for MSD to confirm whether you have read or clicked on certain e-mail communications we have sent to you, you may opt out of e-mail communications tracking by opting out of receiving those e-mail communications altogether using one of the approaches described above. In some cases we will not be able to turn off e-mail tracking and still send the communication to you.
What is MSD's contact address for privacy questions?
MSD Privacy Office
UG4B-24
351 N. Sumneytown Pike
North Wales, PA 19454 USA
E-mail:
MSD Privacy Office
This statement was last updated on June 8, 2015.