Cookie Policy

Slim Wellness Center (“we,” “us,” or “our”) uses cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website to improve your experience and provide our services. As a health services provider, we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that any data we collect is handled responsibly. This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are, how we use them, the types of cookies we employ (including those from third parties like Google, Meta, and our scheduling provider), your choices regarding cookies, and how to contact us with any concerns. We do notuse cookies to collect or store any sensitive medical information or Protected Health Information (PHI). Any personal health information you provide (for example, when scheduling an appointment) is handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and healthcare privacy laws, not shared with advertising or analytics services.

What Are Cookies and Similar Technologies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. These files store small pieces of data that can be retrieved by the website’s server or your web browser. Cookies allow our site (and others) to recognize your device and remember information about your visit – for example, your preferences or whether you are logged in. They help make websites work efficiently and can provide information to the site owners about how you use the site.

We also use similar technologies alongside cookies, including:

● Pixel tags (web beacons): Tiny graphic images or scripts that load on a webpage or email. They collect information about your browser or device (such as a device identifier or IP address) and let us know whether you’ve performed a specific action. For example, pixel tags from our partners help us track when you’ve visited our site or opened one of our emails.

● Local storage: Technology that allows a website to store information in your browser (similar to cookies). We may use it to remember your preferences or settings.

● Embedded scripts: Pieces of code that run in your browser to enable features of the site (like our appointment scheduler) or to collect analytics data.

For simplicity, we refer to all these technologies collectively as “cookies” in this policy. These tools are common and used by most websites to improve functionality and analyze usage. Importantly, none of the cookies we use can view or retrieve information from other cookies on your device, nor do they give us access to files on your computer. Cookies cannot install software or harm your device. They simply allow the exchange of information between your browser and our website or our third-party service providers.

Types of Cookies We Use

We use several categories of cookies on the Slim Wellness Center website. Each type plays a different role in ensuring our website functions properly or helping us understand and improve your experience. The types of cookies we use include essential cookies, analytics cookies, and marketing/advertising cookies. Below we explain each type in plain language, including their purpose and examples of how we use them:

1. Essential Cookies (Strictly Necessary)

Essential cookies are necessary for our website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. Without these cookies, certain services or features of the site may not be available or may not work properly. We use essential cookies to do things like:

● Enable core functions: These cookies remember information you enter or choices you make as you navigate the site, so the site works correctly. For example, when you use our online appointment scheduling tool (provided by Smarter EMR), essential cookies allow the scheduling system to operate. They might store a session ID or your appointment selections so that the scheduling forms and pages remember your information as you book a visit. Without these, the appointment booking process could not function from one step to the next.

● Security and network management: Some essential cookies help keep our site secure by facilitating security features and detecting malicious activity. They also ensure the website loads and operates efficiently.

● Providing the service you request: If you log in to any secure areas or fill out forms, essential cookies may be used to maintain your session. For instance, if our site had a patient portal or login area, an essential cookie would keep you logged in as you move between pages.

These cookies do not gather information for marketing or analytics. They are used only for the purposes of delivering basic site functionality and services. Because they are necessary for the website to work, disabling or deleting these cookies (via your browser settings) may cause certain parts of the site to break or become unavailable. For example, if essential cookies are blocked, you might not be able to schedule an appointment online or the site may not remember information you’ve entered.

2. Analytics Cookies

Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors use our website so we can improve it. We want to know which pages are most popular, how users navigate through the site, and if they encounter errors. These cookies collect information about your visit, such as:

● Website usage data: Pages and content you view, the date and time of your visit, how long you stay on each page, and the path you take through our site.

● Device and browser information: Your device type (e.g., mobile or desktop), operating system, browser type, and screen resolution.

● Referring source: How you arrived at our site (for example, from a search engine, via another website, or by clicking an ad).

● IP address and general location: Analytics tools often record the IP address of your device to determine approximate geographic location (city or region). We do not use this to identify you personally, and in some cases our analytics provider may anonymize or truncate the IP information. This helps us understand where our site visitors come from in a broad sense (e.g., which cities or regions) and tailor our services accordingly.

We primarily use analytics cookies to gather aggregate, anonymous statistics about site usage. For example, we might learn that “X number of users visited the Medical Weight Loss page this week” or “Most visitors spend about 2 minutes on our Home page.” This information helps us identify what is working well and what could be improved. It also lets us detect technical issues; for instance, if a particular page has a high error rate or people leave quickly (indicating a possible problem), we can investigate.

Example: We use Google Analytics, a popular analytics tool, to collect and analyze this usage information. Google Analytics sets cookies (such as _ga, _gid, and others) on your browser. These cookies assign a unique random ID to distinguish your browser from others, which helps count unique visitors. They track details like which pages you visit and how you interact with the site. The data from Google Analytics cookies is transmitted to Google and compiled into reports that we can review. This helps us see overall trends, like total visitor counts, average time on site, and traffic sources. We use these insights to improve site content, navigation, and overall user experience. We do not receive personally identifying information like your name from Google Analytics, and we do not allow Google to use the analytics data for their own advertising purposes at our expense. (For more information on how Google Analytics collects and processes data, you can read Google’s documentation in their Privacy Policy.)

3. Marketing/Advertising Cookies

Marketing (also called advertising or targeting) cookies are used to track visitors’ online activities and deliver a more personalized advertising experience. These cookies help ensure that the marketing content you see from us is relevant to you. They may be set by us or by third-party advertising and social media partners on our behalf. On the Slim Wellness Center site, marketing cookies serve a few purposes:

● Ad performance tracking: They record when you visit our site and what actions you take (for example, clicking on a certain service page or starting a consultation request). This information helps us measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns. If you came to our site by clicking an advertisement on another platform (like Facebook or Instagram), these cookies help us understand that our ad led you to visit or take an action. Conversely, if you visit our site first, these cookies can note that so if you later see our ad, we know you were a site visitor.

● Retargeting and tailored ads: The information collected may be used to show you ads for Slim Wellness Center on other websites or social media platforms that you use. In other words, if you have visited our site, you might later see advertisements from us as you browse the web or on your social media feed. Marketing cookies make this possible by informing our advertising partners that “this browser visited Slim Wellness Center’s site.” This allows those partners to display our ads to you, potentially highlighting services you showed interest in.

● Limiting and relevant content: These cookies can prevent the same ad from repetitively reappearing (so you don’t see the exact same ad too many times), and they may help us deliver ads that are more relevant to your interests. They do this by building a basic profile of your interests based on pages you viewed on our site or actions you took.

It’s important to note that while marketing cookies track your device across different sites, they do not typically identify you by name. For instance, we do not upload any patient lists or personal health details into these advertising systems via cookies. The tracking is based on unique cookie IDs or similar device identifiers. Any profiles built are tied to those identifiers, not directly to personal information like your medical records. We do not share your health information (such as details you provide when booking an appointment) with advertising cookies or partners. If you become our patient, any health data you provide is kept confidential and used only for treatment and operations, per our Privacy Policy and applicable law.

Example: We use the Meta Pixel (formerly known as the Facebook Pixel) on our website for marketing purposes. The Meta Pixel is a piece of code from Meta (the company behind Facebook and Instagram) that places cookies and tracks visitor actions on our site. When you visit our site, the Meta Pixel may log information such as the pages you viewed or actions you took (for example, clicking the “Book a consultation” button). This data is sent to Meta and can be combined with information from your Facebook/Instagram profile (if you have one and are logged in to those services). This allows us and Meta to understand the impact of our Facebook/Instagram ads – for instance, whether someone who saw our ad later visited our website or contacted us. It also enables Meta to potentially show you a Slim Wellness Center ad on Facebook or Instagram later, because their system recognizes that your browser/device visited our site. We do not receive any personal information from Meta that identifies you; we just get aggregate reports (for example, “100 people clicked the ad and then visited your site”). Meta’s use of the data is governed by their own privacy policies. You can control whether you see targeted ads from us on those platforms by adjusting your ad privacy settings on your Facebook/Meta account. (For more details, see the Facebook/Meta privacy and cookie policies on their site.)

Third-Party Cookies and Tracking Tools

In the above sections, we’ve mentioned that some cookies on our site come from third-party services that we use. For transparency, here is a summary of the key third-party tools that set cookies on our website, along with what they do and what data they collect:

● Google Analytics (Third-Party Analytics Cookie): Google Analytics sets cookies to collect information about how visitors use our site. Data collected includes pages visited, time spent on pages, clicks and navigation, your general location (based on IP address), and technical information about your device (browser, operating system, etc.). Purpose:This data is used to compile reports on website activity and to help us improve the site. Google acts as a service provider for analytics; they aggregate the data and present it to us. We do not share any personally identifiable information with Google Analytics, and we have configured it not to collect sensitive data. Google may also use the collected data to improve their own services. If you want to know more about how Google handles the information, you can visit Google’s own “How Google uses cookies” page and Privacy Policy. (Note: If you wish to opt out of Google Analytics specifically, Google offers a browser add-on to prevent data collection – we discuss opt-out options below.)

● Meta Pixel (Facebook Pixel) (Third-Party Marketing Cookie): The Meta Pixel is integrated into our site’s code. It allows Meta (Facebook/Instagram) to place cookies or use similar tracking tech when you visit our site. Data Collected: Information about your visit such as the URL of pages visited, your interactions on those pages (e.g., clicking a button), and technical info like your IP address or device identifier. Meta may combine this with your user profile on their platforms if you have one. Purpose: This helps us measure the effectiveness of our ads on Facebook/Instagram (for example, counting how many people who saw our ad ended up visiting our website or taking an action). It also enables us to reach you with relevant ads on those platforms (for example, showing you an ad for a service you viewed on our site). All data collected via the Meta Pixel is handled by Meta in accordance with their policies. We do not receive personal identifiers from this—only aggregated ad reporting. We do not transmit any health or appointment information you provide on our site to Meta through the Pixel. Meta’s cookies simply note that a device/browser visited our site. You can opt out of this kind of tracking by adjusting your settings on Facebook (under Ad Preferences) or by using browser-based blocking, as described below.

● Smarter EMR (Third-Party Scheduling and Essential Cookie): We use a third-party service called Smarter EMR to handle online appointment scheduling and medical records management. When you use our “Book a Consultation” or scheduling features, you may interact with forms or pages provided by Smarter EMR (either embedded on our site or via a secure link). Data Collected: Smarter EMR may set essential cookies to maintain your scheduling session. For example, a cookie might keep track of your progress in the appointment booking process (so if you select a date and move to the next step, the site remembers your selection). This cookie could contain a session ID or token but does not contain your personal details – it’s just a reference to information stored securely on our servers or Smarter EMR’s servers. When you enter your information to schedule (such as your name, contact information, date of birth, or reason for visit), that personal data is collected through the Smarter EMR system and used only for scheduling and providing care. It may be stored in our electronic medical records system. Purpose: The cookies and data collected by Smarter EMR are used to provide you with the service you requested – scheduling an appointment and managing your relationship with our clinic. These cookies ensure the scheduling tool works properly and securely. Smarter EMR does not use this information for marketing or tracking beyond your interaction with our scheduling system. All information you provide for healthcare purposes is protected under applicable healthcare privacy laws (like HIPAA) and handled according to our Privacy Policy. In short, Smarter EMR’s cookies make sure that when you book an appointment, the process is smooth and your data stays secure through the scheduling workflow.

Please note that each of these third-party providers (Google, Meta/Facebook, Smarter EMR) has its own privacy policies and cookie practices. We encourage you to review their policies on how they handle the data collected via their cookies. We have taken steps to ensure that these third parties only collect the minimum data necessary for their functions on our site, and, as mentioned, we do not intentionally share sensitive personal health information with them through cookies.

How You Can Control or Delete Cookies

Your browser settings give you control over cookies. Even though our website does not currently have an on-site cookie preference tool, you have the right and ability to manage cookies as you see fit. Here are ways you can control or delete cookies:

● Browser Settings to Block Cookies: Most web browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, etc.) allow you to refuse new cookies and delete existing cookies. You can usually find these options in your browser’s “Settings” or “Preferences” menu, under a section named Privacy or Security. For example, in Chrome you can go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Cookies and other site data, and choose to block third-party cookies or even all cookies. In Safari (on a Mac), you would go to Preferences > Privacy and choose to block cookies. Each browser is a bit different, so check the browser’s help documentation for instructions on managing cookie settings. If you choose to block all cookies, please be aware that our website (like many sites) may not function optimally. Essential featuressuch as our appointment scheduling or forms may not work if cookies are entirely disabled. Therefore, you might opt to block just third-party cookies (which still allows essential first-party cookies to operate).

● Deleting Cookies: You can clear cookies that have already been set. Using your browser’s options, you can typically clear browsing data and include cookies in that deletion. This will remove cookies stored on your device (including our cookies and those from other websites). Note that if you delete cookies, and then revisit our site, new cookies may be placed unless you have blocked them. Deleting cookies is useful to erase older data, but keep in mind it will also sign you out of websites and may remove settings or preferences you’ve saved on sites.

● Incognito/Private Mode: When you browse in “Incognito” or private mode, your browser does not save cookies persistently. Cookies set during a private browsing session are usually deleted when you close the window. This can be a way to use our site without retaining cookies afterward. However, even in private mode, cookies might be used during the session to enable site functionality – they just won’t stick around once you close the session.

● Opt-Out Tools: Some third parties provide their own opt-out mechanisms. For example, Google offers the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on that you can install to prevent Google Analytics from collecting data on you on any website. Similarly, the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) and Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) offer websites where you can opt out of many advertising cookies from participating companies (including, often, Meta/Facebook) if you prefer not to receive targeted ads. Using these tools can give you a more centralized way to opt out of tracking from multiple services at once. Keep in mind that these typically work by placing an “opt-out cookie” on your browser to remember your choice, so if you clear all cookies, you may need to set the opt-out again.

Please Note: If you adjust your browser to block cookies, or if you delete cookies, it may affect your experience on our site. Essential functions (like logging in or booking an appointment) might not work, or certain preferences might not be saved. For instance, if you block the Smarter EMR scheduling cookie, you might be unable to complete the online booking process. If you block analytics or marketing cookies, the site will still work, but we will have less data to improve our services and you may receive generic marketing rather than more relevant content. We respect your decisions regarding cookies – feel free to use the controls at your disposal. Even after accepting cookies, you always have the right to change your mind and disable them or delete them later.

Finally, note that our site does not currently respond to “Do Not Track” signals that some browsers transmit. “Do Not Track” is an optional browser setting that signals to websites that you do not wish to be tracked. At this time, there is no universal standard for how to honor Do Not Track, and our site operates the same for all visitors. If you do not want to be tracked via cookies, please use the methods described above (such as blocking cookies or using opt-out tools), which are more effective.

No Cookie Consent Banner (User Consent)

You may have noticed that when you visit our site, we do not yet display a cookie consent banner or preferences pop-up. Many websites (especially those operating in jurisdictions with specific cookie laws) use banners to let you accept or reject certain cookies. At this time, Slim Wellness Center’s website does not implement such a banner or a granular cookie preference management system. We believe in being transparent about our practices, so even though we don’t have a pop-up, we are providing you with this detailed Cookie Policy to inform you about our use of cookies.

Here’s what the absence of a cookie banner means for you:

● Implied Consent: By continuing to use our website without blocking cookies in your browser, we will assume that you consent to the placement of cookies as described in this policy. In other words, since we don’t have a mechanism on the site for you to click “Accept” or “Reject,” your continued use of the site is considered agreement to our use of cookies. We want to ensure you are comfortable with this, so please review this policy and use the control options described above if needed.

● No On-Site Opt-Out: Because we don’t have a cookie preferences tool, you cannot selectively enable or disable certain cookie categories (like turning off marketing cookies while allowing essential cookies) through our website interface. We acknowledge this limitation. In the meantime, your primary way to opt out of any non-essential cookies is through your browser settings or the other methods described in the previous section. For example, if you want to opt out of analytics and marketing cookies, you could block third-party cookies or use the opt-out tools provided by Google or Meta.

● Commitment to Privacy: The fact that we don’t have a banner yet does not mean we take your privacy lightly. We are a healthcare provider and prioritize patient confidentiality and trust. We are monitoring regulatory requirements and user expectations regarding cookie consent. If and when it becomes necessary or expected to provide a consent management tool, we will implement one. We will update this Cookie Policy (and our site) accordingly to ensure compliance with any new laws or certification standards.

● Your Rights Remain Intact: Even without a banner, you retain all your rights regarding your personal data. You have the right to know what data we collect (hence this policy), the right to withdraw consent to the extent applicable (by deleting or blocking cookies), and the right to contact us with any concerns. We won’t collect more data than is outlined here without your permission. If any cookies that are not strictly necessary are introduced in the future, we will seek appropriate consent at that time.

We understand that some users prefer an immediate way to opt out of certain cookies. We apologize for any inconvenience the current absence of on-site controls may cause. Please use the alternative control methods available to you, and know that we are not ignoring your preferences – you are free to manage cookies as you see fit using your own tools, and our site will respect those choices (for example, if you block marketing cookies, our Meta Pixel will simply not load for you).

Links to Privacy Policy and More Information

Cookies are just one aspect of our commitment to privacy. For a comprehensive overview of how Slim Wellness Center collects, uses, and protects all types of personal information (not just through cookies), please refer to our Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Policy describes, among other things, what personal data we collect (including any health information you provide), how we use that data, how we protect it (especially important for medical information), and your broader privacy rights under law. You can find our full Privacy Policy on our website (typically linked at the bottom of each page). We encourage you to read it, especially if you are a patient or plan to become one, as it details our compliance with healthcare privacy requirements such as HIPAA.

If you have any questions or concerns about this Cookie Policy or our privacy practices in general, please contact us. We are here to help and value your trust. You can reach out in the following ways:

● Email: Send us an email at info@slimwellnessclinic.com with your questions or requests related to privacy or cookies. (Please do not include sensitive health information in an email; just let us know you’d like to discuss a privacy concern and we can arrange a secure conversation if needed.)

● Phone: You may call our office at (619) 765-4141 and ask for the privacy officer or site administrator. They will direct your inquiry to the appropriate person.

● Mailing Address: If you prefer to send a written request, you can mail us at:Slim Wellness Center
Attn: Privacy Officer
655 Euclid Ave, Suite #120National City, CA 91950, USA

We will do our best to respond promptly to your inquiries and address any issues. Your privacy and comfort with our services (both online and in-person) are extremely important to us.

Updates to This Policy: We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, legal requirements, or our practices. When we make changes, we will update the “Effective Date” at the top of this policy. For significant changes, we may also provide a notice on our website or notify users by email if appropriate. We encourage you to check this policy periodically for any updates. Continued use of our site after we post any modifications signifies your acceptance of the revised terms.

Thank you for taking the time to read our Cookie Policy. We hope this information is clear and helpful in understanding how we use cookies on our website. Slim Wellness Center is dedicated to maintaining a transparent and trustworthy relationship with all visitors and patients. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Your health and privacy are our top priorities.

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