Online Communication Platforms Rules and Terms 

NANOS Online Communication Platforms Rules and Terms 

The North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS) provides NANOS members with networking and collaborative opportunities through discussion lists or listservs  that are powered by L-Soft Listserv and online communities that are powered by Tradewing, a member engagement platform for associations. NANOS has more than forty committee listservs, Officer and Board listservs, as well as several discussion email listservs that cater to various needs of our membership. By participating in any or all of  the NANOS online communication platforms members agree to adhere to the NANOS Online Communication Platforms Rules and Terms and reserve discussions for appropriate topics. NANOS reserves the right to modify these Online Communication Platforms Rules and Terms at any time without notice and to suspend or terminate access to any NANOS online communication platforms for users who violate these rules and terms. 

NANOS does not undertake editorial control of postings. Posted messages contained within the NANOS online communication platforms express the views of their author, not necessarily the views of the listserv, or of NANOS, its administrative office/agents, or its Executive Board. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by email. Such content will be reviewed by Senior NANOS members familiar with these platforms and rules, and if the content is felt to be inappropriate, sanctioning of the person posting the inappropriate content may occur without further warning.

Online Communication Rules: 

• Commercial Messages: Any communication that contains spam is prohibited. Advertising or any form of commercial solicitation, including job postings and links to promote and/or purchase products or services is not allowed (unless prior approval has been granted by the NANOS Board). Contact individual members directly with products and services that you believe would help them. Visit the NANOS's Career Center to submit a job posting. 
• No content that would allow identification of a patient is permitted.
• The posting of private communications (including, but not limited to e-mail, private messages, letters, faxes) without the consent of all parties to said communication is strictly prohibited.
• Copyright: You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by the listserv, or you can provide NANOS with evidence that you have been granted permission to use the copyrighted material by the person/entity owning the copyright 
• Courtesy: Participation in NANOS online communication platforms assumes that authors will not be rude to other members, and will remember the basic tenet that the purpose of the platforms is to further the missions of NANOS and its members, and to improve neuro-ophthalmic care.
• Use caution: Communicating on an online communication platform is different from face-to-face communication. Only the words are seen, not facial expressions or tone of voice. Please pay careful attention to how words are used. Remember, words entered in a burst of passion or anger will be there for everyone to see, sometimes long after those intense feelings have passed. This is not meant to discourage spontaneity, but a reminder of the long-term existence and ramifications of posting to an online communication platform.
  Do not post any material that is defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, illegal, or violates any third party’s rights.
• Privacy Laws: Comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and applicable state and federal privacy laws. Confidentiality of patient information must be maintained. No names, initials, or other readily identifying information may be included in clinical resumes placed on the online communication platforms
• Antitrust: NANOS complies with all antitrust laws and reminds all users to guard against activity that could be construed as a violation of the antitrust laws. As a professional organization, we must also be careful not to compare fees for services we provide, in order to avoid even the appearance of collusion, coordination or price fixing. General discussions about CPT and ICD coding are acceptable, as well as reporting of aggregate fee and coding data for the subspecialty. Your using the NANOS communication platform(s) indicates that you have reviewed and agree to abide by the complete Avoidance of Anticompetitive Behavior Guidelines. Click here to review the complete Avoidance of Anticompetitive Behavior Guidelines. 
  1. Do not discuss or share fees or prices.
  2. Do not discuss or share salaries or terms of employment.
  3. Do not propose to allocate or restrict patient markets.
  4. Do not propose to collectively refuse to do business with one or more providers, third-party payers, hospitals, suppliers, purchasers, or patients.
  5. Do not propose conduct that would restrict free trade in providing health care services.
• Surveys: Do not post surveys to NANOS online communication platforms that have not been reviewed and approved by the NANOS Executive Board or its designated committee for dissemination to specific audiences. Please click here to learn how to request an announcement of clinical surveys and investigations to NANOS membership. 

Violations of these rules will be subject to a ZERO TOLERANCE policy, and may lead to reprimand, or other sanctions up to and including temporary or permanent ban from participation in NANOS online communication platforms. Any grievances with the enforcement of these policies should not be expressed via public online forum, but rather by personal message to the senior NANOS member(s) responsible for the monitoring of the content. In any case, the decision of the Board and its agents shall be final. NANOS reserves the right to immediately terminate access to any user who does not abide by these rules and terms. 

NANOS accepts no responsibility for the opinions and information posted on any NANOS online communication platform except if posted by the NANOS Executive office or assigned listserv moderators. NANOS disclaims all warranties regarding information posted on any NANOS online communication platform whether posted by NANOS or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. 

IN NO EVENT WILL THE NORTH AMERICAN NEURO-OPHTHALMOLOGY SOCIETY (NANOS), ITS OFFICERS, EXECUTIVE BOARD, EXECUTIVE STAFF OR WEBMASTER/MODERATOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES RELATING TO LOST REVENUES OR PROFITS, LOST DATA, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION) RESULTING FROM OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF ANY MATERIALS POSTED ON OR MADE AVAILABLE ON THE NANOS COMMUNICATION PLATFORMSOR ANY OTHER WEBSITE TO WHICH A LINK IS PROVIDED OR ON WHICH A LINK IS PROVIDED TO THESE COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS, EVEN IF NANOS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF THE LEGAL THEORY ON WHICH SUCH DAMAGES ARE BASED. You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use NANOS online communication platforms to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law. Material that advocates illegal activity or discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit them is forbidden.

We respect your privacy

Any personal information you provide to us including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organization except as noted below.

With Whom Do We Share the Personal Information We Collect Through This Site?

Our Service Providers. 
We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.

Business Transfers. 
Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy.

Government and Legal Disclosures.
We may disclose the personal information we collect through this Site, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Rules or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.

External Sites

We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.

Cookies

A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers such as newsfeeds.

Remember The Risks Whenever You Use The Internet

While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition, other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies. For any other information please contact us by emailing info@nanosweb.org.

Meeting Security

Individual online communication platform participants as hosts are responsible for ensuring the security of any meetings arranged through invitations made on the NANOS online communications platforms.

For example, any Zoom meetings should be held with the use of in-meeting security options and the host or any co-host should be fully familiar with those options. The Security icon in the Zoom meeting controls allows the host or co-host of a meeting to enable or disable options during a meeting to secure the meeting and minimize disruption during the meeting. Available security options can enable the waiting room, remove participants, control screen sharing and lock meeting features.

Any security breach should be reported as necessary to the meeting platform security team, and to law enforcement if criminal activity is involved. The incident should also be reported to NANOS; however, NANOS is not responsible for the consequences of any security breach that occurs in a meeting hosted by an individual platform participant or participants.