BeWell Privacy Notice
This BeWell Privacy Notice supplements the Stanford University Online Privacy Policy. It applies to the personal information that Stanford University’s BeWell Program collects and uses when individuals access the BeWell website (bewell.stanford.edu), the BeWell mobile application, or participate in BeWell programs and activities. This notice describes how this information is processed and the choices available to you regarding the use of the personal information you provide.
If you are participating in our Healthy Living offerings, please see our Healthy Living Privacy Notice.
Information Collected and Used
Personal information is any information related to an identified or identifiable individual. We are committed to protecting your privacy, and we will only use the personal information that you provide to offer you resources to improve your health, for the strategic planning, promotion, administration, and evaluation of our wellness programs and benefits offerings, and for gaining an understanding of the well-being of our participant population.
As part of BeWell programs and activities, we may collect information such as your name, organization, Employee ID, age, date of birth, location, email address, contact information, gender, gender identity, time zone, lifestyle behaviors, wellness activities, attitudes, screening data, behavioral action plans, and other health and demographic information. Individuals who sign up for Lifestyle Coaching, BeWell Check-in, and Follow-up will be directed to schedule their appointments and answer intake questions using third-party platforms such as Squarespace and Qualtrics; participant contact information, SUNet ID, and session notes are stored in a third-party platform. Participants will also be directed to a third-party platform such as Qualtrics to sign up to become BeWell Champions.
Virgin Pulse, a third party, hosts the BeWell incentive program website and mobile application. Virgin Pulse uses University Single Sign On to authenticate employees into the Virgin Pulse website. To understand how Virgin Pulse uses data entered into their digital platforms, read Virgin Pulse’s Wellness Program Member Privacy Notice, Wellness Program Membership Agreement, and GINA/PHI Notice.
When you access the Virgin Pulse digital platform, information such as your name, SUNet ID, gender, date of birth (DOB), Employee ID, email address, organization, business unit, department, hire date, office location, employee type, and union status are automatically sent to Virgin Pulse and compared to an eligibility file provided by Stanford University to confirm eligibility to access the digital platform.
If you participate in Healthy Living, Lifestyle Coaching, BeWell Check-in, BeWell Follow-up, or Stanford Recreation and Wellness offerings, your employee name, Employee ID, activity code, and activity completion date would then be shared with Virgin Pulse to grant participation credit. Please refer to Stanford Recreation and Wellness Terms of Use for more information on how they use data. If you participate in our surveys, we may collect personal information such as name, email address, employee type, department, school or business unit, age, phone number, gender, demographic variables, lifestyle behaviors, attitudes, and other health and wellness information.
For administration, management, and evaluation of the BeWell Program, BeWell may access human resources information regarding University employees, including your Employee ID, job type, union status, job location, gender, organization unit, and department. We also collect personal information you voluntarily submit to us, whether directly on our website or when you contact us (e.g., by phone or email).
How We Use Your Information
We may use your personal information to administer, promote, manage and evaluate BeWell programs, including for the following purposes:
(a) To evaluate your health results and suggest appropriate wellness resources to you, through Stanford University, with your medical plan, or through other providers.
(b) To allow you to access the BeWell website and health education materials and programs.
(c) To tailor emails, health promotion surveys, and programs for you, to provide information and initiatives related to health or wellness, and to inform you of other Stanford programs, services, and offerings. For these purposes, your name, email address, Employee ID, SUNet ID, location, school/business unit, and department may be sent to an outside email service to send emails and track the activity of these emails.
(d) To issue monetary and other rewards and to track program participation as part of the BeWell Employee Incentive Program.
(e) To solicit feedback about BeWell programs, evaluate the effectiveness of behavior change and health promotion programs, and suggest and plan future health programming and benefits design at Stanford University.
(f) To understand the health and well-being of the participant population as a whole, as well as subgroups, and to understand the factors that impact well-being.
(g) To understand factors that affect program participation of the population as a whole, as well as subgroups, and to understand the factors that affect and improve participation in our programs.
(h) To apply for funding that will help promote health and well-being.
(i) To provide you with surveys to evaluate our offerings.
Cookies and other tracking technologies may be used to produce usage statistics and identify potential website improvements. This information does not contain any personally identifiable information. You can opt-out of cookies through your web browser’s preferences.
Your personal information is only used for the intended purposes described above and only collected and processed based on a legitimate purpose and in compliance with legal and regulatory obligations. Your consent will be requested before we process your personal information for any additional purposes not described in this privacy notice.
Access and Data Transfer
Except as provided herein, BeWell will not share your personal information with third parties unless you have consented. We only share your personal information with third parties in connection with our programs and activities. The BeWell Program is hosted by the Virgin Pulse digital platform in the United States (US). By accessing the platform, Virgin Pulse will collect and only process your personal information for the purposes described above.
If you are located outside the US, and you access and use the BeWell site or Virgin Pulse digital platform, then your personal information is transferred to the US. Please see Stanford’s Online Privacy Policy on how we protect your personal information and ensure lawful grounds are used for the transferring of personal information to the US.
Minor Information
The BeWell website and Virgin Pulse digital platform are not intended to be used by persons under the age of 16. BeWell does not knowingly collect personal information from such persons through this website, BeWell programs, and activities, or through the Virgin Pulse digital platform. If BeWell becomes aware that a person under the age of 16 has provided personal information, we will take appropriate actions to stop processing and remove their personal information.
How We Protect Your Personal Information
BeWell is committed to protecting the security of your personal information. We maintain safeguards to protect your data’s security, integrity, and privacy. BeWell limits who has access to your personal information and provides access to only those who need it for legitimate reasons, as disclosed above or as required by law. For more information, refer to the central Stanford Online Privacy Policy.
The BeWell website contains links to programs and websites outside Stanford, including the Virgin Pulse digital platform. When following a link to an external website, the terms of that website’s privacy policy and terms of use will govern the use of your personal information. Read Virgin Pulse’s Wellness Program Member Privacy Notice, Wellness Program Membership Agreement, and GINA/PHI Notice.
Your Choices
Your choice to use the BeWell website and participate in BeWell activities is completely voluntary. If you choose not to use the BeWell website, you will be unable to participate in the BeWell Program.
Stanford University and BeWell are committed to facilitating and exercising your rights as granted by applicable data protection laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Please see the Stanford University Online Privacy Policy and the specific section on exercising your rights regarding the personal information Stanford has of you.
Reviewing and Updating Your Personal Information
You may access and, in some cases, edit your user information on the Virgin Pulse digital platform, as described in their Wellness Program Member Privacy Notice.
You may also request the removal of records from the Virgin Pulse platform by emailing PrivacyOfficer@VirginPulse.com or by logging into the digital platform and navigating to “Manage Your Data” on “My Profile” to submit this request. You may also submit any questions or concerns to the BeWell team by submitting a ServiceNow ticket. Please do not include sensitive or personal health information in an email or in the service ticket.
Changes to This Privacy Notice
We may update this privacy notice periodically to reflect any material changes in our programs and practices. These changes will become effective when posted to our website at bewell.stanford.edu as of the effective date listed below. Our use of personal information is subject to the version of the notice in effect at the time such information is used.
Contacting Us
If you would like to send us a request or if you have any other questions or concerns regarding this privacy notice, you may contact us by submitting a ServiceNow ticket.
Effective Date
This notice is effective as of January 1, 2024.