Privacy Policy

White Pine Healing Arts acknowledges and respects the privacy of users of the whitepineinstitute.org website (“Website”). This Privacy Policy sets forth the information collection, use, storage, and disclosure practices applicable to the Website. By using our Website, or registering with us, you are confirming that you have read, understand, and agree to the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with our Privacy Policy, please do not use our Website. We reserve the right to modify and update the Privacy Policy on an as needed basis, and will post notice of any such modifications on the Website. You can review our most recent Privacy Policy. If you use the Website after any such modification or update to the Privacy Policy, you consent to those modifications or updates. Modifications will not be applied retroactively.

Personal Data We Collect

If you register with us in order to post content or receive our newsletter, we will collect your email address. First name and last name are collected at your discretion. If you purchase products or services from White Pine Healing Arts, we will also collect your billing address, phone number, and email address, and if applicable for shipping hard products, your mailing address. We may also use your billing address or IP address received from your browser or device to determine your approximate location, and your shipping address will be used to create a label for shipping hard products if necessary. White Pine Healing Arts does not store your credit card number, and White Pine Healing Arts, its owners, employees, and contractors do not have access to your credit card information. Your credit card data is transmitted to our payment gateway, Stripe, using encrypted means. If you make a payment arrangement using other means, White Pine Healing Arts and its owners, employees, and contractors only have access to what information you share with us. You share your personal information at your own discretion.

Computer Data We Collect

Additionally, White Pine Healing Arts automatically collects certain non-personal computer or device-related information from visitors to the Website, including the operating system (e.g. Mac OS, iOS, Windows, Android), the visitor’s IP address, and the web browser (e.g. Safari, Firefox, Chrome) (collectively “Computer Information”) and potentially referring services such as a social media platform, hyperlink, or other internet location that referred visitors to our Website. We occasionally analyze this data to determine where our users are referred from. White Pine Healing Arts does not collect your IP address for marketing purposes, however in the event of misuse of our Website or pending litigation or issue with law enforcement we reserve the right to access your IP address or location. When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

How We Use Data We Collect

For the purposes of applicable data protection laws, White Pine Healing Arts is the “Data Controller” of the Personal Information you provide and the Computer Information collected from your device. White Pine Healing Arts processes the Personal Information and Computer Information received in accordance with this Privacy Policy. The legal bases for the processing of Personal Information and Computer Information by White Pine Healing Arts include enforcement of our agreements, or fulfillment of our obligations under our agreements, including:

  • Providing you with products and services that you have requested
  • Payment, billing, account management and administrative matters
  • To send transactional messages pursuant to a given user’s purchases and subscriptions (including invoices and expiration/renewal notices)
  • Customer support
  • White Pine Healing Arts’s legitimate business interests, including:
    • Providing you with software and services that you have requested
    • Identity verification and fraud prevention
    • Analysis, troubleshooting and improvement of our website and services
    • Customization of the website in accordance with stated user preferences
    • Contacting you pursuant to your affirmative requests
    • Sending you news, product announcements, special offers and other marketing communications, in compliance with applicable law
    • Customer support
  • To comply with applicable law, including:
    • Responding to requests from law enforcement or governmental entities
    • In connection with audits
    • In connection with litigation
    • To prevent fraud, security breaches, or piracy

Contact Forms. When you contact White Pine Healing Arts using a form on the Website, you provide a name and email address for the purposes of responding to inquiries. This personal data will never be used for marketing purposes, nor will White Pine Healing Arts ever distribute, sell, rent, commercially exploit or otherwise broadcast your personal information entered on a contact form.

“Cookies”. “Cookies” (which may be HTML files, Flash files, scripts, or other technology) are text files that help store user preferences and activity. White Pine Healing Arts may place cookies on your computer or other device when you visit the Website. These cookies contain information about your user preferences and your experience with this Website necessary for the propagation of content and the navigation of this Website and its online storefront. White Pine Healing Arts uses cookies to help tailor and customize the website for its users, to allow users to leave and return without logging in every time, and to enable users to use shopping carts and other e-commerce features. The use of cookies is an industry standard; many websites use them. Please note that many sections of the Website require cookies to function properly; disabling them may limit the functioning of the Website for you. If you do not wish to receive cookies, or want to be notified when they are placed, you may set your web browser to do so if your browser so permits. The only way to completely “opt out” of the collection of any information through cookies or other tracking technology is to actively manage the settings on your browser or mobile device. You may consult your browser’s or mobile device’s technical information for instructions on how to delete and disable cookies, and other tracking/recording tools.

Newsletters. You have the opportunity to provide your email address to White Pine Healing Arts in order to receive communications such as announcements of new products and services, updates to the Website, and special offers. These email communications are sent in accordance with applicable laws, and where your consent is required by law, we will obtain your permission before sending any such communication. Your consent may be withdrawn at any time. All such messages will feature unsubscribe links in the footer. White Pine Healing Arts may feature third party advertisements on the Website, and occasionally include marketing communications on behalf of third parties in our newsletters. Third party advertisements and third party marketing may include events, workshops, speaking engagements, and products of colleagues, students, affiliated companies, and educational institutions that White Pine Healing Arts maintains a relationship with and pertain to Chinese medicine. White Pine Healing Arts will never distribute, sell, rent, commercially exploit or otherwise broadcast your personal information obtained for the purposes of a newsletter to those third parties.

Online Storefront. When you purchase services, or digital or hard products on this Website, you provide White Pine Healing Arts with your first name, last name, billing address, mailing address, email address, phone number, and other requested information for the purposes of registration, transaction, or shipping. You also provide a credit card number, however, White Pine Healing Arts does not store your credit card number and does not have access to your credit card information. Your data is transmitted and processed by a secure payment gateway, Stripe. If you arrange to purchase products or services using other means, White Pine Healing Arts and its owners, employees, and contractors only have access to what information you share with us. You share your personal information at your own discretion. The personal information you provide in an online storefront transaction may be used for our marketing purposes or to ensure product or service satisfaction. White Pine Healing Arts will never distribute, sell, rent, commercially exploit or otherwise broadcast to third parties your personal information obtained in an online storefront transaction.

Disclosure of Information

Disclosure of Information. White Pine Healing Arts may store and disclose personal information as allowed or required by applicable law, including making disclosures that are necessary or advisable to (a) protect the rights, safety, or property of White Pine Healing Arts or others and (b) comply with legal processes or regulatory requirements. We may also transfer your information to any affiliated business, and in the event of a merger or acquisition or asset sale, your information may be disclosed to the acquiring entity. Without your express approval, however, White Pine Healing Arts will not distribute, sell, rent, commercially exploit or otherwise broadcast your personal information, although we may collect and/or provide aggregate statistics about our Website, products, services, and users to other parties.

Disclosure of Information to Service Providers. White Pine Healing Arts uses several third party providers, listed below (herein referred to as the “Provider”), to provide this Website. White Pine Healing Arts may disclose information to these service providers in order to provide our Website and services to you. Our agreements with these service providers prohibit them from using the information. White Pine Healing Arts provides to them for no purpose other than providing the Website and the products and services featured therein, and require them to keep that information confidential. We encourage you to review the privacy polices and information collection practices of our service providers.

Security and Additional Privacy

Security. Keeping your information secure is of great concern to us. We exercise care in facilitating the transmission of information between your device or computer and our Website (or the third party servers that operate and store information for the Provider). Any personally identifiable information collected by the Provider is stored in operating environments that are not available to the public. While we have mechanisms in place to safeguard your personal information after we receive it, no transmission of data over the internet can be 100% secure.

Child Online Privacy Protection Act. This Website is not for or directed towards children. While this Website is not intended for anyone under the age of 18, we do not intend to and will not knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13. Children under the age of 13 are prohibited from using this Website. If we learn that we have collected information from a child under the age of 13, we will remove that information immediately and delete it from our servers (subject to applicable law and this Privacy Policy). If you believe content from a child under the age of 13 has been posted to this Website, please notify us by contacting us at sweiz@rcn.com.

California Privacy Rights and Do Not Track Notice. California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits users who are California residents to obtain from us once a year, free of charge, a list of third parties to whom we have disclosed personal information (if any) for direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and you wish to make such a request, please send an e-mail with “California Privacy Rights” in the subject line to sweiz@rcn.com or write us at: White Pine Healing Arts, 86 Henry Street, Amherst, MA 01002.

Your Data Rights

Accessing, Updating, or Deleting User Content and Your Personal Information. If you have a registered account on this site or have left comments, you can request an exported file of the personal data we retain, including any additional data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any of the personal data we have stored. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes. In short, we cannot erase data that is vital to you being an active customer (i.e. basic account information like an email address). If you wish that all of your data is erased, we will no longer be able to offer any support or other product related services to you. Any membership or other service provided by this Website will be erased and no refund will be given. You may access, update, or delete your personal information by contacting us at sweiz@rcn.com. We will make every effort possible to resolve requests to correct inaccurate information except where the request is unreasonable, requires disproportionate technical effort or expense, jeopardizes the privacy of others, or would be impractical.

GDPR Rights

White Pine Healing Arts permits residents of the European Union to use this Website, including purchase its products and use its services. Therefore, it is the intent of White Pine Healing Arts to comply with the European General Data Protection Regulation. For more details please see here: EU GDPR Information.

Revised: April 1, 2023

White Pine Institute
86 Henry Street
Amherst, MA 01002
sweiz@rcn.com