Schering-Plough Canada Inc. Data Privacy Commitment to
Canadian Healthcare Professionals
Facts
This Notice provides a comprehensive overview of the practices of
Schering-Plough Canada Inc. ("Schering-Plough
Canada"), a Canadian corporation, a member of the Merck & Co., Inc.
(Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA) global family of companies, with respect to the
collection, use and disclosure of personal information about healthcare
professionals.
Privacy at Merck
At Merck & Co., Inc. — also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), in
Canada as Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. and Schering-Plough Canada Inc., and as Banyu
in Japan (collectively "Merck" or the "Company") — a global research-based
pharmaceutical company, privacy is fundamentally about trust. Consistent with
the Merck tradition of upholding high ethical standards across our business
practices, we have demonstrated our commitment to privacy of personal
information by establishing a global privacy program to support compliance with
applicable privacy laws and standards for protecting personal information around
the world.
Why? - The "Purposes"
In accordance with Canadian privacy laws, Schering-Plough Canada may, from
time to time, collect, use and share identifiable information about you
("personal information") in your capacity as a healthcare
professional for purposes related to our interactions with you (the
"Purposes"). The term "healthcare professional" includes
physicians, pharmacists, medical investigators, researchers and nurses. The
Purposes for which Merck collects your personal information fall within the
following four categories:
medical & research related purposes - examples:
your interest in being involved in clinical, epidemiology and outcomes
research study management
to identify and engage scientific experts and leaders
to provide you with information, products, services and features that you
have requested or that may be of value to you - examples being:
information and programs that you have advised us may be of interest to
your patients
communication of information about our products and business (including
marketing & sales programs) through our professional representatives,
our web sites, via e-mail, call centers, postal mail and other channels
to determine your interest in symposia, conferences and other scientific
and educational programs
as requested by you, to provide you with product samples or orders for
our products
providing access to our resources and keeping track of our interactions
with you both offline and online (our online practices are governed by our
Internet Privacy Policy)
to gain an understanding of your current professional needs and
preferences to develop, enhance or provide products, services and scientific
information geared to those needs and preferences (including, as an example,
business and market research)
to comply with legal and regulatory requirements including:
adverse experience and product complaint reporting
required tracking of payments made to healthcare professionals for
services performed on behalf of the Company
auditing our programs and resources for compliance and security purposes
determining the appropriateness, given the requirements of laws
applicable to our business, of engaging healthcare professionals for certain
of the business purposes described above
legal proceedings and government investigations, including preservation
of relevant data
Any personal information collected by Schering-Plough Canada will be
disclosed only on a need-to-know basis within Schering-Plough Canada for the
Purposes for which the information was collected or as may be required or
permitted by law. Although personal information is retained in Canada on a
secure server, Merck, as a global company, will be providing many support
services to Schering-Plough Canada and, as such, certain personal information
may be located on a consolidated database at Merck facilities outside Canada;
these databases only collect, receive, use and share personal information in
keeping with the principles of use for a particular Purpose and on a
need-to-know basis and with required safeguards in place.
When Merck engages the services of a third party in the context of the
Purposes, then personal information may be shared with said third parties with
appropriate safeguards in place, including but not limited to contractual
safeguards as relates to the use and retention of your personal information; see
the "HOW" section of this Notice for further details in terms of sharing of
personal information with third parties.
Where local laws require that you provide specific consent for the
collection, use and disclosure of personal information for a Purpose, you may be
asked to provide your consent by appropriate and permitted means.
What? — personal information
The types of personal information we collect (directly from you or from
public or third party information sources) and share depend on the Purpose and
consequently the relationship you have with Merck and the requirements of
applicable law. Only personal information that is required for a Purpose will be
collected. Personal information which may be collected, depending on the
Purpose, may include:
your contact information including your name, address of your
clinic/practice, telephone & fax numbers, e-mail address
your professional credentials, publications, patents and other scientific
and medical achievements
roles or positions held with governmental bodies or hospital or payor
organizations
your areas of interest
your views on continuing medical information
your preferred method of communication
your preferred types of medical information
organizational and institutional affiliations
programs and activities in which you participated
prescriber information (on an aggregated basis) in accordance with local
laws and requirements
agreements you have signed with Merck
payment-related information, including sales tax identification number
where honoraria is paid to you by Merck
information identifying scientific and medical colleagues who consider you
an expert/leader in your specialty area
information identifying those of your scientific and medical colleagues
who you consider an expert/leader in your specialty area
How?
Merck, as a global company, will be providing many support functions to
Schering-Plough Canada including technical IT database and server support. As
such, your personal information may be located on servers, databases or
processes physically located in another country.
In the section below, we list the reasons Merck typically may share your
personal information and whether you can limit this sharing.
Merck implements reasonable and appropriate technical, electronic and
physical security measures to protect personal information in accordance with
its sensitivity from loss, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure,
alteration or destruction.
Reasons personal information about you could be shared
Do we share?
Can you limit this sharing?
Reporting to government authorities (such as Health Canada and the FDA
in USA)
Yes, for example, to report safety information about our products.
No
To parties in relevant legal proceedings as authorized by the
presiding court or tribunal and otherwise to the extent required or
explicitly authorized by applicable law, or rules of a court or a
tribunal
Yes
No, except where required by local law.
In the event that for business reasons Merck decides to divest part or
all of its business through sale, merger or acquisition, to actual or
prospective purchasers
Yes, based on written agreements that personal information will be
protected appropriately in these circumstances.
Generally, no, except where required by local law.
With companies globally that provide services on our behalf and in
accordance with our instructions (for example, to deliver specific
information you have requested)
Yes, if the Purpose/business operation is supported by such a company.
As a global company, we may work with companies around the world to
provide services for or on our behalf, and we will require those companies
to protect personal information in accordance with applicable laws, rules
and regulations and Company privacy policies.
Generally, no. We have instituted policy, contractual and
administrative mechanisms requiring protection of personal information by
other companies that process personal information on our behalf globally.
However, where local law provides a right for you to limit this sharing,
we will comply with such requirements.
In circumstances where our
business operations are supported by other companies, such as a company
that we contract with to mail the materials you request, you will not be
able to limit this sharing and still receive the service.
To affiliates* within the Merck & Co., Inc. family of companies
globally for everyday business purposes as described in this
notice
*Affiliates are companies related by common ownership or
control. Merck & Co., Inc. is an affiliate of Merck Frosst Canada Ltd.
and Schering-Plough Canada Inc. Outside of the United States, affiliates
of Merck & Co., Inc. generally operate under the names "MSD" or "Merck
Sharp & Dohme".
Yes, as a global company, we share personal information between our
Merck offices globally only as required for a specific Purpose. However,
only those individuals with a legitimate business need to access personal
information for these purposes are granted such access. For example,
payment information will be available only to local Merck or MSD office in
your country and the USA group responsible for payments.
Generally, no. We have instituted policy, contractual and
administrative mechanisms requiring protection of personal information
across our business globally. However, where local law provides a right
for you to limit this sharing, we will comply with such
requirements.
You may request that we not transfer personal
information outside of your country, however, in most cases this will
substantially limit the services we can provide to you. Where our computer
servers, databases or processes are located in another country, in most
cases we will be unable to fulfill such a request and still provide the
service to you.
To other companies we collaborate with solely for activities related
to products or services jointly offered or developed by Merck and that
company
Yes, based on written agreements in place between Merck and those
companies; these agreements will require the protection of personal
information in accordance with applicable law.
Yes, if you specifically request to opt-out.
Contact Us
If you have questions regarding this notice or the personal information Merck
collects, uses and shares about you, or to advise us of any changes in your
professional credentials (such as additional certifications or new areas of
therapeutic involvement or research) or if you would like to access personal
information about you in accordance with your rights under applicable law,
please contact us as follows:
To contact the Schering-Plough Canada Inc. Privacy Office, write
to:
Chief Privacy Officer Schering-Plough Canada, now part of
Merck 16750 Trans Canada Highway Kirkland, Quebec H9H 4M7 Or e-mail at
privacyoffice@spcorp.com
To contact the Privacy Office at Merck & Co., Inc., the parent company
of Schering-Plough Canada, write to:
Merck Privacy Office Merck &
Co., Inc. WS3B-85 One Merck Drive Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA
08889-0100 or e-mail the Merck Privacy Office
Schering-Plough Canada Customer Privacy Policy
Privacy is important to us. Schering-Plough Canada
(“SPC” or “we”) is committed
to maintaining the accuracy, security and confidentiality of your personal
information in accordance with applicable legislation. This SPC Privacy Policy
(“Policy”) describes how SPC collects, uses and
discloses personal information of our clients, service providers and other
individuals (“you ”) and applies to each division
within SPC. It covers only those activities that are subject to the applicable
provisions of Canada’s federal and provincial privacy laws. Should you have any
questions or concerns, please contact our Chief Privacy Officer at the address
indicated below.
CONSENT
BY SUBMITTING PERSONAL INFORMATION TO SPC OR ITS AGENTS, YOU AGREE THAT
WE MAY COLLECT, USE AND DISCLOSE SUCH PERSONAL INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE
WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY, THE PRIVACY PREFERENCES YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO
US AND AS PERMITTED OR REQUIRED BY LAW.
Subject to legal and contractual requirements, you may refuse or withdraw
your consent to certain of the identified purposes at any time by contacting us
as set forth below. If you refuse or withdraw your consent, we may not be
able to provide you or continue to provide you with certain services or
information that may be of value to you.
1. What personal information do we collect? In this
Policy, “personal information” refers to any information about an identifiable
individual. The types of personal information that SPC may collect from you from
time to time include personal contact information (address, email address,
telephone number); date of birth; professional credentials; billing and account
information; and customer relationship information, such as customer requests
and feedback information requested or provided by or from you.
SPC attempts to ensure that collection of personal information is limited to
that which is necessary to fulfill the identified purposes for which it is
collected and that your personal information will be used only for such
purposes.
2. Why does SPC collect personal information? We
collect personal information about you to enable us to serve you better and to
develop our business and operations. More specifically, we collect, use
and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:
to establish, maintain and manage our client relationships in order to
provide products and services that have been requested;
to be able to inform you of our products other than those that have been
specifically requested, including sending you information promoting other SPC
products;
to be able to comply with your requests or inquiries; to consider
whether we should establish a commercial relationship with you, including to
evaluate credit standing and to match credit bureau or credit reporting agency
information;
to establish and maintain commercial relationships including to issue
invoices, administer accounts, collect and process payments, and to fulfill
contractual obligations;
to understand and respond to your needs and preferences, including to
contact and communicate with you and to conduct surveys, research and
evaluations;
to detect and protect SPC against error, negligence, breach of contract,
fraud, theft and other illegal activity and to audit compliance with SPC
policies and contractual obligations;
to monitor quality control and respond to questions and concerns through
correspondence with clients and consumers;
to monitor product administering to patients;
to conduct medical, clinical research regarding the efficacy of our
products and to facilitate ongoing communication of product information to
prescribing physicians; to create and initialize retail calls, audit store
products, audit promotions and store agreements, consult promotions, create
orders, returns, store agreements, payments, expenses, consult the call
history;
to determine patient eligibility for financial assistance for patient
diagnostic purposes;
as permitted by and to comply with, any legal or regulatory requirements
or provisions, including in relation to adverse event reporting; and
for any other purpose to which you give consent.
3. To whom does SPC disclose your personal
information? From time to time, SPC may use and disclose your
personal information: for the purposes described in this Policy or for any
additional purposes for which we have obtained your consent. SPC may share
your personal information with our employees, contractors, consultants and other
parties who require such information to assist us with establishing, maintaining
and managing our relationship with you.
In particular, SPC may disclose your personal information to:
service providers, including an organization or individual retained by SPC
to perform functions on its behalf, such as marketing, data processing,
document management and office services;
an organization or individual retained by SPC to evaluate your
creditworthiness or to collect debts outstanding on an account;
a financial institution, on a confidential basis and solely in connection
with such matters as the assignment of a right to receive payment, the
provision of security or other financing arrangements; or
to SPC’s affiliates;
another party in the event of a change in ownership of, or a grant of a
security interest in, all or a part of SPC through, for example, an asset or
share sale, or some other form of business combination, merger or joint
venture, provided that such party is bound by appropriate agreements or
obligations and required to use or disclose your personal information in a
manner consistent with the use and disclosure provisions of this Policy,
unless you consent otherwise;
any third party or parties, where you consent to such disclosure or where
disclosure is required or permitted by law.
4. How can you express your privacy preferences? It
is important to SPC that where we collect, use or disclose your personal
information we have your consent to do so. In general, we seek to obtain your
express informed consent before collecting your information. Express consent can
be given orally, electronically or in writing.
Subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice, you may
change or withdraw your consent at any time by contacting our Chief Privacy
Officer at the address indicated below. In some circumstances, a change in
or withdrawal of consent may severely limit our ability to provide products,
services or information that you requested or that could be offered to you. All
communications with respect to such withdrawal or variation of consent should be
in writing and addressed to our Chief Privacy Officer.
At SPC, we want you to be able to maintain control over how we use your
personal information. In particular:
You may have the right to “opt out” of some or all of the identified
purposes, uses and disclosures listed in sections 3 and 4 above;
You always have the option to instruct us not to use your name, address,
e-mail address, etc. beyond providing you with the information or service you
requested;
Where we send you e-mail communications for direct marketing purposes, we
will always include an identification of the sender and an "Unsubscribe"
option;
You have the right to access and rectify your personal information that we
have on file, as discussed below in section 7.
In order to specify your privacy preferences, please contact out Chief
Privacy Officer at the address below (see “Contact Us”).
5. How do we protect your personal information? To help
protect the confidentiality of your Personal Information, SPC employs
administrative, technological and procedural safeguards that are appropriate to
the sensitivity of the personal information. We operate secure data networks
protected by industry standard firewall and password protection systems. Uses
and disclosures of personal information by external individuals and
organizations acting on behalf of SPC are governed by contracts that require
personal information to be protected appropriately.
Documents containing personal information are kept in filing cabinets that
are maintained in our offices. Access is limited to those who have a
business need to know.
6. Where is your personal information stored? Your
personal information is stored in secured locations and on servers controlled by
SPC, located either at our offices or at the offices of our service
providers. For access to your personal information, please contact our
Chief Privacy Officer via the contact information below.
7. How can you access your personal information? Upon
written request, subject to certain exceptions, SPC will inform you of the
existence, use, and disclosure of your personal information and will give you
access to that information. Access requests should be sent to our Chief
Privacy Officer, using the contact information in the “Contact Us” section
below. When requesting access to your personal information, we may request
specific information from you to enable us to confirm your identity and right to
access, as well as to search for and provide the personal information that we
hold about you. We may charge you a fee to access your personal information to
cover our costs; however, we will advise you of any fee in advance.
Your right to access your personal information is not absolute. Applicable
law or regulatory requirements allow or require us to deny you access where
access would inhibit the ability of SPC to comply with a legal obligation; where
it has already been destroyed due to legal requirements or because we no longer
need it for our business purposes and where access would reveal personal
information about a third party.
In the event that we cannot provide you with access to your personal
information, we will inform you of the reasons, subject to any legal or
regulatory restrictions.
8. How can you update or correct your personal
information? You should advise SPC if you believe that your personal
information is inaccurate. You have the right to ask for it to be corrected or
updated. We may ask you to provide documentation to support your request for
correction or updating.
9. Changes to this Policy; Interpretations SPC
reserves the right to modify or supplement this Policy at any time. If any
changes are made to SPC’s use, collection or disclosure of your personal
information that require your consent, we will not implement such changes until
your consent has been obtained.
This Policy does not create or confer upon any individual any rights, or
impose upon SPC any rights or obligations outside of, or in addition to, any
rights or obligations imposed by Canada’s federal and provincial privacy laws,
as applicable. Should there be, in a specific case, any inconsistency
between this Policy and Canada’s federal and provincial privacy laws, as
applicable, this Policy shall be interpreted, in respect of that case, to give
effect to, and comply with, such privacy laws.
10. Contact us SPC has a Chief Privacy Officer to oversee
compliance with this Policy. Should you have questions about this Policy
or collection, use and disclosure practices of SPC, you may contact the Chief
Privacy Officer in writing or by telephone as indicated below:.
The Chief Privacy Officer will use reasonable efforts to respond promptly
to requests, questions or concerns you may have regarding SPC’s use of personal
information.
