The American Board of Pathology (ABPath) respects your privacy and has adopted this Privacy and Cookies Policy (hereinafter “Privacy Policy”). This Privacy Policy is specific to the ABPath Histology Primer and is supplemental to the ABPath Privacy Policy governing our certification exams and medical resident tracking. All references to ‘our’, ‘us’, or ‘we’, in this Privacy Policy are deemed to refer to the ABPath.
In addition, this Privacy Policy describes your rights and responsibilities, our rights and responsibilities, how we use the information we collect or receive; with whom we share the information with; the measures we take to protect the security of Personal Data from loss, misuse and unauthorized access; and how you can contact us. It pertains to ABPath websites, web pages, and emails that link to this Privacy Policy (collectively Site(s)).
The rights and responsibilities described in our Privacy Policy do not cover third party websites that may be linked to our Site(s) or referred to on this Site(s). These third-party websites have their own privacy policies, and we encourage you to read and review them.
For purposes of this Privacy Policy “Personal Data” is any information that can be used to identify you or that when added with other Personal Data can be linked to you and may include but is not limited to: personal contact details (name, email address, phone number), language, education data, assessment details, residence and country of citizenship.
You agree that by visiting and/or providing, transmitting, or having another party you have authorized provide or transmit your Personal Data to us on any of our Sites, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy and any updates made to this Privacy Policy. It is your responsibility to read this Privacy Policy and check for updates on a regular basis. By continuing to use our Site, products or services after such updates have been made you are agreeing to be bound by any changes to this Privacy Policy.
You are never required to provide us with your Personal Data. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not provide, transmit or allow anyone else to provide or transmit your Personal Data to us; however, if you decide to not provide to us your Personal Data it may affect our ability to allow you to register or to provide to you any other products or services offered.
You agree that we may collect or receive, use, process, disclose, transfer, and retain your Personal Data along with any text accompanying forwarded quiz scores. This Privacy Policy governs your use of this Site alone. We will use your Personal Data only for the purposes set forth herein.
As the subject of the Personal Data collected, you have rights related to the Personal Data that we hold about you.
At any time you have the right to:
You may request access, correction, or deletion of the Personal Data you have submitted by contacting the ABPath at +1 (813) 286-2444.
Upon receiving your request, we may need additional information from you to verify your identity and to better understand what it is you are requesting. In this case, we may ask you to provide additional information, including information you have previously disclosed to us, to confirm your identity. If you wish to designate an authorized agent under any applicable law, please contact us by any means listed above and we will coordinate that designation. We will respond to access requests within a reasonable amount of time in accordance with state and national laws and requirements. We recognize that you may have a right to not receive discriminatory treatment by exercising any of the rights listed above. We will not charge a fee to respond to a request, unless it is excessive, repetitive, or unfounded. If a fee applies, we will advise the requester before completing the request, explain why a fee applies and provide an estimate of the fee.
We will provide you with access to these Rights and Responsibilities and any subsequent updates.
We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to learn more about our information practices as they change over time. We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy periodically, without notice. A change in the effective date will indicate that the Privacy Policy has been updated. Any changes to our Privacy Policy will become effective upon posting of the revised Privacy Policy on our Site(s). Your use of our Site(s), and any of our products and services following such changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy then in effect.
The ABPath and its subcontractors will at all times protect your Personal Data with operational, administrative, technical, and physical security safeguards. We do not disclose your Personal Data to third parties unless otherwise stated herein.
This Site receives information that is automatically generated by a user’s Internet service provider (ISP), browser or mobile device. This information may include the IP address, the associated URLs, domain names, the browser type, the approximate location of the ISP’s servers, the pages of our Site that the user views, and any search terms entered on this Site. This information may be collected for system administration purposes, to gather broad demographic information and to monitor the level of activity on the Site. We reserve the right to link this information to your Personal Data in order to protect the integrity of our system(s) and for security purposes.
Our computer operations are based in the United States. The Internet is a global environment. By using this Site and sending information and Personal Data to us electronically, you consent to trans-border and international transmission of any data that you may choose to supply us to any country in the world, including countries without an adequate level of data protection. Information and Personal Data transmissions to this Site and emails sent to us may not be secure. Given the inherent operation and nature of the Internet, all Internet transmissions are done at the user’s own risk.
Misconduct. We reserve the right to disclose information in our possession to appropriate investigators or entities (e.g., state medical boards, credentialing bodies) regarding any individual whom the ABPath, in our sole and absolute discretion, suspects or determines has: (i) violated our rules, policies, procedures, or required competencies (e.g. codes of ethical behavior); (ii) engaged in misrepresentation or unprofessional behavior; (iii) had his/her diplomate status revoked or been otherwise disciplined.
Court Order. We will disclose all relevant information in our possession for which we do not have a claim of legal privilege in response to a lawful subpoena, court order, or an authorized request by a government or regulatory entity. We may also disclose personal information if we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent or take action regarding suspected illegal activities.
Information and data collected by the ABPath are stored on servers in the United States. Data is only shared with the residency program directory, but those sponsors may be in the United States or many other countries, so the data may be transmitted around the world. By taking an assessment or registering on this Site, users are consenting to this transmission.
All data collected by the ABPath is treated as confidential and is subject to our data protection standards. Access to the data, including database access, server access, and site access, is strictly limited on a need-to-know basis. Users are required to use unique IDs and strong passwords for site access, and an additional second authentication factor for server or database access.
Data collected on our Site are transmitted from the end user machine to our data centers via a secure HTTPS connection. Data stored by the ABPath can be transmitted to the ABPath Corporate network for additional processing or to secure backup storage. All transfers of data occur using secure methods, such as HTTPS or SFTP. Data is encrypted in transit.
The ABPath does not sell or rent any personal information or data that it collects. We may use third party companies to deliver electronic communications. We will enter reasonable confidentiality agreements with these third parties to safeguard the information they transmit on our behalf.
We recognize the importance of protecting privacy where children are involved. We are committed to protecting children's privacy and we do not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under the age of 13. If a child under the age of 13 has provided us with Personal Data, without a signed parental consent form, we ask that a parent or guardian contact us at histology.primer@abpath.org or you may call us at +1 (813) 286-2444. If you are under 18, please be sure to read this Privacy Policy with your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) and ask questions about things you do not understand.
We may statistically aggregate in non-person-specific form quiz responses and other information collected in the certification, credentialing, licensure, and academic admission test registration and delivery process and transfer this information to test sponsors and to independent testing centers. Such aggregated non-person-specific information may be used for quality control, operations management, security, and marketing purposes and to enhance, develop, or improve certification, credentialing, licensure, and academic admission testing processes, testing services, tests and related products and services. By registering on our Site, you give us your consent to this non-person-specific data aggregation and the use and transmission of this aggregated statistical data as outlined herein.
The ABPath commits to resolve privacy or Personal Data use concerns about your privacy and our collection, use, transfer, or processing of your Personal Data. Individuals with inquiries or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy should first contact the ABPath at histology.primer@abpath.org or you may call us at +1 (813) 286-2444.
In compliance with the EU-U.S. DPF and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, the ABPath commits to resolve DPF Principles-related complaints about our collection and use of your Personal Data. EU, UK and Swiss individuals with inquiries or complaints regarding our handling of Personal Data received in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF, the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and the Swiss-U.S. DPF should contact us as set forth above.
The ABPath endeavors to respond to your inquiry within 30 days. If you believe you have not received a timely acknowledgement of your inquiry or concern, or if you believe your inquiry or concern was not satisfactorily addressed by the ABPath you should contact (at your own expense) your state, national, or international data protection authority (i.e. EU/EEA Member State data protection authority ; UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or Gibraltar Regulatory Authority (GRA); or the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner). The ABPath has committed to cooperate with the Data Protection Authorities and will comply with the information and advice provided to it by the panel of DPAs in relation to such unresolved complaints.
We use browser cookies and similar technologies (collectively, “Cookies”) to collect and store certain information when you use, access, or interact with our Site(s). We may, for example, collect information about the type of device you use to access the Site(s), the operating system and version, your IP address, your general geographic location as indicated by your IP address, your browser type, the content you view and features you access on the Site(s), the web pages you view immediately before and after you access the Sites(s), whether and how you interact with content available on the Site(s), and the search terms you enter on the Site(s). For information about how we use Cookies and the choices you may have, please see below.
By using our Site(s), you agree to our use of the cookies as described above and to our use of web beacons for the collection of information in order to provide the products or services you have requested and for improvements, as we deem appropriate for our legitimate purposes, related to our products and services.
Cookies. Cookies are small text files that a web server places on your computer or mobile device. Cookies contain information that can later be read by the web server that originally placed the cookie on your computer or mobile device.
Below is a list of the main types of cookies we use and what we use them for:
If you block cookies or cookies are not enabled on your computer, it will mean that your browsing or experience on our websites will be limited. Some active content, movies, and online shopping baskets, for example, may not work correctly. To turn cookies on or off for all of our websites via your web browser, you can follow the instructions provided by the UK Information Commission Office at ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies.
Web Beacons. Web Beacons are small strings of code that provide a method for delivering a graphic image on a web page for the purpose of transferring data. For example, when you visit a page on this Site, the code for the page being visited may be transferred to us. The information transmitted to us is only used internally by us and is not shared with any third parties, except as provided in this Privacy Policy. We use this information for the following purposes:
Do Not Track Signals. This Site does not respond to web browser “do not track” signals or comparable signals or mechanisms.
We reserve the right to periodically update or change this Privacy Policy. Posting an update to this Privacy Policy on our website will serve as notice of that update. The updated statement (along with its effective date) may be viewed by visiting our website and selecting the “Privacy Policy” link at the bottom of the home page.
By logging onto this website and using it to submit information, you signify your agreement with the terms of the Privacy Policy and that you release and hold harmless ABPath, its trustees, and employees from any and all claims arising from the loss, misuse or alteration of personal information submitted by you.
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or have a request regarding your rights as a data subject, you may email the ABPath at histology.primer@abpath.org. You may also contact us at +1 (813) 286-2444.
Revision Date: January 19, 2024