Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information of members, volunteers and staff of the South African Lifestyle Medicine Association (SALMA) and the general public. By using this site, you agree to hold SALMA harmless from any loss or liability arising from the use of this website. SALMA provides health information based on scientific evidence, however, this cannot and should not replace individual expert advice from doctors and/or other health professionals on the subject areas. In particular, the diagnosis and treatment of physical or mental illness requires the involvement of qualified physicians. Self-diagnosis and/or the decision for or against treatments or therapies without the involvement of a doctor is dangerous and can cause serious damage to health or even death.
Privacy Policy
SALMA respects your privacy. We adhere to the Protection of Personal Information Act of 2013 (POPIA) which sets out how we collect and treat your personal information.
This document describes the policies and practices which apply to personal information collected by the South African Lifestyle Medicine Association.
Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
The South African Lifestyle Medicine Association (SALMA) collects personal information when individuals apply for membership, using the form on the web-site which may be returned as hard copy or sent on-line. The information collected includes contact details and qualification and health council registration details.
This information is used for the purpose of administering the affairs of SALMA and communicating with members. It may also be disclosed where necessary in connection with these purposes, but any other disclosure will only be with the individual’s prior consent or as required by law.
Personal information is also collected about individuals making enquiries about SALMA and its work, whether by post, telephone or E-mail. This information is used to respond to the enquiry, and for subsequent follow-up if required. SALMA will not disclose information about enquirers without their consent or as required by law. SALMA does not insist on enquirers identifying themselves, respecting their right to remain anonymous, but this may limit our ability to respond and assist them.
Information is also collected about contacts in the media and other organisations. including government and business. This information is used to further the objectives of SALMA and may be disclosed to third parties for this purpose, or as required by law.
Web Site
When you visit our website, we may collect by use of cookies, certain information such as browser type, operating system, website visited immediately before coming to our site, etc. This information is used so that we can improve our service to you. Cookies are very small files which a website uses to identify you when you come back to the site and to store details about your use of the site. No personal information is stored within cookies and they are not malicious and cannot access or damage your computer.
Our website may have links to other websites not owned or controlled by us. These links do not constitute sponsorship or endorsement and are for convenience only. SALMA cannot be held responsible for the privacy practices of any other such websites.
Membership Details
SALMA does not and will not sell, rent or share our membership database or membership mailing list. The Officers may disclose information about specific members in accordance with their clearly expressed preferences about the ways in which they are prepared to assist SALMA achieve its objectives.
SALMA uses an E-mail group list to communicate with members and subscription to this list is opt-in, that is, we do not add email addresses to our mailing lists without express prior consent. List members can unsubscribe at any time.
Of course, if you choose to reply to or post a message to a list, other subscribers will become aware of your email address.
Consent for Disclosure
While SALMA does not generally disclose personal information to third parties without the express permission of the individual concerned, there are some circumstances where it is necessary that we disclose information with implied consent. SALMA defines “implied consent” narrowly. One example is:
SALMA’s web pages and electronic mailing lists, like those of many other organisations and companies, are hosted by external organisations and/or individuals. Information that you provide to SALMA via the Internet passes through one or more of these service providers’ systems in order to be received by SALMA, and/or, we may disclose information to such a service provider when necessary to provide you with a requested service such as to subscribe you to one of our mailing lists. In this regard SALMA arranges hosting services only with organisations or individuals who have privacy policies/practices that are in accord with SALMA’s privacy policy.
Security of Personal Information
SALMA keeps membership and mailing list subscriber details and web server logs on controlled facilities that are secured against unauthorised access. Proof of identity is required before information is released to any person, including a member.
E-mail should not generally be regarded as secure.
Access, Correction, Update or Deletion of Personal Information
If you want to see what information SALMA holds about you, or to correct or update this information, or to be removed from our membership database and/or mailing list, please contact info@salifestylemedicine.org or see SALMA’s contact information on our website for our postal address and telephone number.
Changes to Privacy Policy
This policy may be updated from time to time, but any changes will not reduce the privacy protection set out above and will not affect information previously collected, unless required by law or otherwise beyond SALMA’s control, e.g. technological changes. Any such changes to this policy that adversely affect privacy protection of SALMA members or SALMA’s other contacts will be advised by email.
If you have any queries or comments concerning this privacy policy, contact info@salifestylemedicine.org (preferably with subject line “SALMA Privacy Policy”), or see SALMA’s contact information on our website for our postal address and telephone number.