EMPathicO: Terms of Use & Privacy Notice

EMPathicO: Terms of Use

"EMPathicO” is a website run by the University of Southampton (referred to as the "University" or "we", or "us"), a not-for-profit research institution, with the aim of helping primary care practitioners to enhance their communication of clinical empathy and realistic optimism in patient consultations. This version of “EMPathicO” is being made widely available and we are running the EMPathicO Implementation Study, aiming to examine how EMPathicO is used in a ‘real world’ (i.e., non-clinical trial) setting. The study has been reviewed and approved by the University of Southampton Faculty Ethics Committee (reference: ERGO II 105539).

By using talkinginpractice.org (the “Site”), you confirm that you accept the following terms of use (“Terms of Use”) and that you agree to comply with them. By creating an account you indicate that you have read and accepted our Terms of Use:

1. Account terms

When you register, you need to give a valid email address. By registering on the Site, you confirm that the information you provide is true and accurate.
You are responsible for the information that you enter, the activity of your account, and for keeping your account and password secure. If you know or think that anyone else knows your password, you must change it straight away. You can do this on the Site.

2. License to use the Site

If you agree to these Terms of Use, you can use the Site for your own personal and non-commercial use.
We are the legal owner of all intellectual property rights on the Site, and content unless stated otherwise. These works are protected by copyright laws and we reserve all such rights.
The Site must not be used in any way that causes, or may cause, damage to the Site or impairment of the availability or accessibility of it; or in any way which is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful.
The content of the Site is provided for general information only and is not intended to be, or to be interpreted as, medical opinion. The Site does not contain medical advice, and we recommend that you contact your GP to treat any medical or health condition.

3. User Content

As a user of the site, your data will be collected by the University of Southampton. Your data will be processed as described in the EMPathicO Privacy Notice below.

4. Cookies

The Site, along with most other major websites, uses cookies. When you enter details into the Site, a cookie is sent to your computer. A cookie is a small file that is saved on your computer which allows the Site to remember some information about you. The Site uses cookies to keep you logged in and to identify your current session.
Our cookies do not contain any information that you enter into the Site or information that would identify who you are. To use the Site you will need to accept our cookies on your internet browser. If you decide to block our cookies, the Site will not work correctly and you will not be able to use it.

5. Limited warranties

Although we have taken reasonable efforts to update the information on the Site, we make no representation, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content of the Site is accurate, complete or up to date. We provide the Site on an “as-is” basis only.
The Site is made available free of charge to you. We do not guarantee that the Site, or any content on it, will always be available or will be available uninterrupted. We may suspend, withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of the Site.

6. Limitation and exclusion of liability:

We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so.
We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with use of (or inability to use) the Site, or use of or reliance on any content displayed on our Site.

7. Law and jurisdiction:

These Terms of Use are governed by and construed in accordance with English law, and any disputes relating to these terms of use will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

8. These Terms of Use refer to the following additional terms, which also apply to your use of the Site:

The EMPathicO Privacy Notice (see below)

EMPathicO: Terms of Use

This Privacy Notice explains how EMPathicO collects, stores and uses your personal data (information about you) and should be read together with the University of Southampton’s Privacy Notice for Research Participants which provides more information on how the University of Southampton collects and uses your personal data when you take part in one of our research projects and can be found here: Privacy Notice for Research Participants.pdf

What personal data are you using?

Your personal data is the information you give online on the EMPathicO website.

EMPathicO will ask you to provide your email address. This email address will be used to send you automated emails about your learning on EMPathicO; these automated emails will include a link to enable you to opt out of receiving them. EMPathicO contains some activities that you may choose to complete. These activities include a quiz, a goal-setting activity, a planning activity, and some questions about your clinical communication style. When you input responses to these activities, EMPathicO stores these responses as data.

When you access EMPathicO, usage data is automatically collected using Matomo (https://matomo.org/). Usage data may include Your Device's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of EMPathicO that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

When you access EMPathicO by or through a mobile device, we may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device you use, your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of your mobile device, your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser you use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

Why are you using my data?

To provide, maintain, and improve EMPathicO, including monitoring usage of EMPathicO.

To conduct research (the “EMPathicO Implementation Study”) in which we will analyse how many and how people use EMPathicO.

How will you use my data?

The University of Southampton research team will use the information you provide through the EMPathicO website, and information about how you use the website, to provide, maintain, improve and analyse EMPathicO. This includes using the email address you provide to send you automated emails about EMPathicO from time to time. You can stop these emails by clicking on the unsubscribe link provided. To safeguard your rights, only the minimum information about you necessary for these purposes will be used.

The only people at the University of Southampton who will have access to your personal data will be people from the EMPathicO team. Responsible members of the University of Southampton may be given access to data about you for monitoring and/or audit purposes.

Your data may be used for research, teaching or dissemination purposes once personal details that could identify you (like email addresses and usernames) are removed. The data will be made available to other research teams, without any details that could identify you. This is to make sure that the data are used in a way that will have the most benefit to other people while ensuring your rights are safeguarded.

You can find out more about how your personal data is used by contacting the EMPathicO team at the University of Southampton by emailing empathico@soton.ac.uk.

Your personal data is the information you give online on the EMPathicO website.

Who is responsible for my data?

The University of Southampton is responsible for your data (the official name for this role is “data controller”). This means that the University of Southampton is responsible for looking after your personal data and using it properly.

This website is held on secure servers within the University of Southampton.

Is my data kept private and secure?

The University of Southampton abides by the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), and the University Data Protection Policy. You can read the University of Southampton’s Data Protection Policy here: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/~assets/doc/calendar/Data%20Protection%20Policy.pdf

The University of Southampton will keep your personal data for a minimum of 10 years after the research study has finished.

What are my rights?

You have the right to contact the University of Southampton to ask for the following: to be informed about the data held about you, to access the data held about you, to have the data held about you edited or updated where it is inaccurate or incomplete, to request that data held about you be erased, to request that the use of your data be restricted, and to object to the use of your data.

Your rights relating to erasure of your data and to objecting to the use of your data are, however, limited under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). This is because your data is used for scientific research purposes and needs to be managed in specific ways in order for the research to be concluded in a reliable and accurate fashion.

Please contact the Information Governance team by emailing data.protection@soton.ac.uk if you would like to make a rights request.

What is the lawful basis for collecting, storing, and using my data?

Data protection law requires us to have a valid legal reason (“lawful basis”) to process and use your personal data. The lawful basis for processing personal information generated through EMPathicO usage is for the performance of a public task. Personal data will not be used for any purpose other than those stated above. No special category data about you is collected or stored.

How can I raise a complaint?

If you would like to raise a complaint on how your personal data is being handled, you can contact the University of Southampton’s Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter.

The Data Protection Officer

University of Southampton, Highfield Southampton, SO17 1BJ.

E-mail: data.protection@soton.ac.uk

You may also contact the University’s Research Integrity and Governance Team on rgoinfo@soton.ac.uk, telephone +44 (0) 2380 595058. If you are not satisfied with the response, or if you believe that your personal data is handled in a way that is not lawful, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). See their website at https://ico.org.uk/

EMPathicO implementation study. Terms of use and privacy notice. V2 23.10.25. ERGO 105539.