Privacy Policy
Introduction
The Spartan Veterinary Services (SVS) is committed to individual privacy and protecting your personal information. This policy provides information on how we collect, use, share, secure and store your information when you visit our website or use our services.
Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with our privacy practices and know that you can contact us if you have any questions or concerns about privacy.
To help you understand this policy, know that:
the terms "we," "our" and "SVS" refers to the Spartan Veterinary Services;
the terms "you" and "user(s)" refers to a person or entity that uses a website, application or Service;
the term "Personal Information" refers to information that identifies or can be used to identify a person, indirectly or directly, including, but not limited to first and/or last name, email address, gender, phone number, address, date of birth or other demographic information;
the term "Non-Personal Information" refers to information that, on its own, does not directly associate with a specific individual;
the term "System(s)" refers to websites, applications or systems that are owned, operated and/or managed by or for SVS;
the term "Service(s)" refers to the services and products that are offered through our Systems—made available either at a cost or for free—including, but not limited to, SVS membership, event registration, SVS Store products, email newsletter subscriptions, journals, webinars, webpages, interactive tools, applications, widgets, content, blogs, social networks, or other online, mobile, or wireless offerings that post a link to the SVS Privacy Policy, whether accessed via computer, mobile device, or other technology.
The SVS Privacy Policy is reflective of any data that we have collected or will collect, whether it is provided directly or indirectly from you.
Changes to the privacy policy
The SVS reserves the right to change, modify, add or remove portions of this Privacy Policy at its discretion. Whenever we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, however, we will communicate policy updates and their effective dates by either posting a notice on SVS.org or sending you an email. If you continue to use any of our Systems after a policy change, it means that you accept this Privacy Policy.
Collection and use of information
The SVS collects and uses information, both personal and non-personal, that helps us provide our Services and products to you. We may request your consent before using your Personal information where required by applicable law.
Information sources
The SVS collects information in three ways: information you provide to us, automatically through operating our Services, and from third parties.
Self-reported: Individuals provide the SVS with information through applications, surveys, web forms, and updates made by phone, email, or SVS.org.
Use of services: Anonymous information automatically collected about how individuals use our Services.
Third parties: Organizations provide the SVS with information about individuals or other organizations that is either publicly available, shared or purchased, and it is used to update, expand and analyze our records.
Personal information
When we are provided with information that can be used to identify a person, either directly or indirectly, this information is deemed "Personal Information."
Personal Information we may collect:
Name (first name, middle name, last name, second last name, former/maiden name, prefix, suffix)
Spouse name
Biological sex and gender
Ethnicity
Date and place of birth
Mailing address
Email address
Phone number
Education information
Employment information
Professional information
Salary information
Participation with SVS family organizations
Website interests
Subscription preferences
Social media account information and content
Event attendance information
ADA accommodations
Marketing preferences
Marketing metadata and segmentation
Survey responses
Limited financial account information
For staff and contractors only:
Social Security number and/or tax ID number
Personal information may be used to:
Establish an SVS or SSVS membership
Create a web account
Process transactions and purchases of products or Services
Send informational communications by email and physical mail
Maintain membership records
Conduct subscription audits
Fulfill your requests for information
Enable access to online communities
Conduct research or statistical analysis
Send email updates, alerts and newsletters
Enable the use of certain features of our Services
Personalize your website or event experience
Distribute attendee lists
Provide customer service
Send promotional emails
Enable voting for SVS district directors
Qualify for volunteer opportunities
Manage and process job and externship applications
Process financial/tax transactions
Non-personal information
Depending on which Services you use, we may also collect information that isn't attached to an individual and can't be used to identify an individual, also known as "Non-personal information."
Non-personal information we may collect:
Language settings
Device information (e.g. desktop computer, tablet, mobile)
Technology specifications (e.g. operating system, web browser)
Web session information (e.g. date/time, time zone, pages visited, session duration, website referral information, marketing campaign information, actions taken during the session)
Search queries
Unique device identifier
Referrer URL
Location information
Non-Personal Information may be used to:
Improve user experience for web platforms and content
Help us understand trends and utilization of Services
Report on page views and content downloads
Information shared with third parties
At times, the SVS may provide limited Personal or Non-Personal Information to third-party organizations. The following describes the types of organizations with which information might be shared and processed. We may request your consent before using your Personal information where required by applicable law.
Organization category
Activity
Membership services*
Organizations that help SVS process or deliver core member services and products, such as manage membership, send reminders or account notifications, distribute journal subscriptions and send SVS election ballots.
Transactions*
SVS uses financial services that help process payments, renewals, purchases and receipts.
SVS family organizations*
Provide valuable products and services to SVS and SVS members, such as professional liability and life insurance, or contact SVS and SVS members about volunteering, participation and contribution opportunities.
Advertising platforms
Organizations that provide channels that deliver general or targeted advertisements for informational or commercial purposes.
Examples: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
Affinity program services
Contracted organizations that offer SVS members access to special discounts on products and services.
Examples: SVS Member Edge program providers
Allied organizations
Veterinary organizations with specific vocational interests, allied to the interests of the SVS, that send informational updates about their work to SVS members.
SVS digital platforms
Personal Information may be shared with fellow SVS members and volunteers through digital platforms, such as the SVS Member Directory, SVS.org online forums and comments.
Event support
Contracted organizations that support SVS by delivering services to attendees of SVS events—such as conferences, summits, symposia, webinars and the SVS Convention—to assist with event registration, accommodations and event-related deliverables.
Informational subscriptions
Organizations that assist in sending updates to subscribers about the veterinary profession, veterinary medicine, news and alerts.
Marketing and promotion
Organizations that either help SVS deliver or independently send marketing or promotional materials about services, products, special offers and events.
Example: Promoting the SVS Convention and other events
Surveys, research and analysis
Organizations that provide services for the collection and/or analysis of data, which helps the SVS understand satisfaction of SVS membership, products and areas of veterinary economics.
Example: Pet Demographic Study, post-event survey
*Essential for member processing
You can change your privacy settings to opt in or opt out of SVS's optional disclosure to these third parties. It may take up to 30 days for these changes to take effect, but we will let you know if it will take longer and the reasons for the extended time.
We do not share your email addresses with third-party organizations, except in the following circumstances:
if SVS has received your consent; or
if needed to provide Services for the SVS, such as sending emails from SVS through a third-party vendor.
We sometimes collect specific information on email responses, such as how many recipients open an email or click links provided in an email message. This information is used solely within the SVS to analyze areas of interest and to enhance our products, services and SVS websites. None of this information is sold or distributed outside the SVS.
Transactions
If you subscribe to, register for, order or purchase a Service through our website, the payment information you submit, if any, is collected and used by payment processors that we partner with, and used by them in accordance with their privacy policies. The SVS may store limited financial account information which we require for internal record keeping.
Member directory
The SVS Member Directory contains specific Personal Information that you provide on your SVS membership application or through your online profile. Access to the SVS Member Directory is available only to SVS members, SSVS members, SVS staff and executive directors of state and allied organizations.
SVS members have the choice to make the following information available to other members through the Member Directory:
Name
Location information (home or business address)
Contact information (phone, email)
Veterinary medical education
Professional and practice information
Membership information
Visit your profile to review and adjust your contact information or modify what is shared on the SVS Member Directory.
Legal requests
The SVS may disclose information, including Personal Information, where required by law or to comply with valid legal processes, such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order.
Manage your privacy
You can control what information you share with SVS and how it is used. Please contact us if you have any questions related to your information.
Privacy settings
Review and adjust your privacy settings to change how the SVS shares your personal information with third-party organizations. It may take 30 days for these changes to take effect, but we will let you know if it will take longer and the reasons for the extended time.
Email subscriptions
You can manage your email subscriptions to subscribe or opt-out of our newsletters. To unsubscribe from a particular mailing you have received, follow the unsubscribe instructions included in that email's footer.
Personal and contact information
You are encouraged to verify your personal and contact information for accuracy.
Member directory
SVS members can manage the contact information that is shared and available through the SVS Member Directory.
Cookies and other technologies
To limit or completely disable cookies and other technologies, refer to your browser's documentation.
Your rights
Request to review, modify and delete personal information
You can contact us to request a downloadable copy of your Personal Information to review it for inaccuracies, modify it to make corrections, and/or delete if it is not necessary for legitimate business purposes. We reserve the right to decline requests that we believe to be unauthentic or unlawful.
Consent to process personal information
The SVS uses your Personal Information for activities that are considered required to maintain an SVS membership. You have the right to request that all required processing be discontinued, thereby forfeiting your SVS membership and removing all of your Personal Information. Learn about other ways you can manage your privacy.
Submit a complaint
To submit a complaint related to privacy matters, please contact the SVS Data Protection Officer.
European law
Data protection law in Europe requires a lawful basis for collecting and retaining Personal Information. Our lawful bases include:
Consent: The SVS received your consent to use your Personal Information as described by our Terms of Service.
Contractual obligations: In certain circumstances, we need your personal data to comply with our contractual obligation to deliver the Services or ship products that you purchase from SVS.
Legal compliance: In some cases, such as financial transactions and taxes, we are required by law to collect, use and retain some data for our records.
Legitimate interests: We have legitimate business interests to use your Personal Information in ways that are expected to deliver our Services.
Information security
The SVS takes your privacy and data security very seriously. We take appropriate measures to protect Personal Information entrusted to us from unauthorized access, use, and disclosure. These measures include, but are not limited to:
employing up-to-date technology and security; and
establishing privacy protection controls through contractual obligations for third-party engagements; and
enforcing policies that hold SVS employees accountable to maintain the confidentiality of personally-identifiable information, subject to disciplinary action for any breach, up to and including employee termination.
Unfortunately, the Internet cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure and the SVS cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any personal or Non-Personal Information you provide to us. In the event that Personal Information is compromised by a breach of security, the SVS will promptly notify all affected individuals in compliance with applicable law.
Data accuracy and retention
We do our best to make sure your Personal Information is accurate and up to date. Since most Personal Information is self-reported, we rely on you to provide us with the most current information. We ask that you frequently visit your profile, review your Personal Information for accuracy and make corrections as needed.
The SVS will retain Personal and Non-Personal Information for as long as needed to provide our Services. This information may also be retained in order to comply with legal requests, honor opt-out preferences, resolve disputes, prevent abuse and enforce existing agreements.
Cookies and other tracking technologies
Like many organizations, SVS uses automatic data collection tools, such as "cookies," embedded links and web beacons. These tools help provide you with personalized web experiences and provide us with insights on usage that help us determine the effectiveness of our offerings.
There are four categories of cookies that are used on our websites:
Essential – cookies that are necessary for the Service to be delivered, rendered and/or function
Performance – assist with the performance of the Services
Analytics – cookies that provide insights into use of the Services
Marketing – cookies that help understand utilization and effectiveness of communications and marketing campaigns
If you wish to disable cookies, refer to your web browser's documentation. By disabling cookies, you may inhibit certain features of our Services from being accessible or functioning properly.
Children's privacy
We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under the age of 16. If you believe that we may have collected Personal Information from someone under the applicable age of consent in your country without proper consent, please contact us and will work to investigate and address the issue.
If you are a child under 16 years of age, you are not permitted to use the Service and should not send any information about yourself to us through the Service.
Advertisements and external links
Some SVS Services (e.g. websites, newsletters, social media) may contain informational or commercial advertisements (or) links to external websites or networks. We do not control the websites or networks of third parties provided through links on SVS Services or their information collection and privacy practices. The SVS is not responsible for the accuracy of information or privacy practices employed by any websites or services linked from SVS's Services. We encourage you to review the Terms of Use and Privacy Policies of all websites you visit.
Additional policies
In addition to this policy, the SVS has other policies that you are encouraged to read.
Terms of use
Social media moderation policy
Contact us
Your privacy is important to the SVS. If you have any questions about this policy, your Personal Information or our privacy practices, or if you would like to make a complaint about a possible policy issue, you can email us at hello@spartanvet.com, call us at +1.888.470.4787 or write to us at:
Attn: Data Protection Officer
Spartan Veterinary Services
57331 CA HWY-371
Anza, CA 92539
United States of America