Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Commenting Policy
Anonymity Policy
Press Release Policy
Conference Publicity Policy
Soapbox Guidelines (for authors)

Privacy Policy

We collect a small amount of information from people who sign up for our news updates mailing, including name and email address (to provide the service), country, if offered, and IP address and date of sign up. We never sell, rent, give or otherwise expose this data to any third parties. The legal basis for this is your consent. The data is stored in a private Amazon S3 account using ‘Sendy‘ as our private email management system.

We keep a record of subscribers who use the automatic unsubscribe link at the bottom of each updates email or whose subscription is suspended owing to repeated hard bounces. This enables us to maintain a ‘clean’ list of active subscribers and email them only. The unsubscribed record will be maintained as long as the alerts emails are sent out.

If you wish not only to unsubscribe but to have your record deleted as if it never existed (the ‘right to be forgotten’) you will need to email to us with ‘Delete’ in the subject line, as we have to do this manually.

Cookie Policy

When you arrived at this site Google Analytics cookies were stored on your computer. If you visit parts of the site that use WordPress (such as the archives and TA In Review) WordPress cookies may also be stored. We cannot personally identify you from these cookies but they are essential to help us understand usage of the site. We think it reasonable to assume that, as a tech-savvy Telecare Aware reader, if you object to this you can easily delete those cookies and stop them being added on future visits. (Google ‘delete and block cookies’ plus the name of your browser.) By not deleting or blocking our cookies you imply your consent to our using them.

Commenting Policy

Readers are encouraged to add comments to items that further debate or elaborate them. All comments are moderated. That is, before they appear on the site they will have been read by one of the editors who may make small unacknowledged edits for matters of grammar but who will indicate with an italicised comment within square brackets [like this] if part of a comment is omitted or substantially altered for any reason.

We approach the task of moderation impartially and subsequent publication should not be interpreted as our implied agreement with the originator of the comment.

Anonymity Policy

The gist is…if you have a serious comment to make anonymously…email it, don’t just post it.

Truly anonymous comments – where the writer is unknown – are not published unless they are unexceptional.

Comments or articles where the authorship is known but are offered for publication anonymously are considered on their merits. (Email editors Steve or Donna in confidence.) There are some circumstances where it is necessary to be close to a particular situation to be able to throw light on it but to write about it publicly would jeopardise the author’s position. In that case, the decision to publish an item anonymously hinges on the question of whether or not it is informed opinion that will add insight to, or might start, a debate on a particular topic.

Unsubstantiated allegations of illegal behaviour or substandard products, for example, would not be posted unless they could be independently verified, in which case we would probably publish them ourselves.

Just because a post, article or comment, etc. is published on Telecare Aware, readers cannot and should not infer that the editors agree with the author, anonymous or not.

Press Release Policy

Unlike some other websites, we do not publish press releases per se – we publish news and may link to a press release that explains that news. Therefore, while we are pleased to receive press releases directly, and will link to them on your website, we are unlikely to report on information that we believe is not ‘news’ of interest to our readers. This generally means we will not be reporting on press releases containing ‘announcement’ material such as:

• You have routinely acquired a new customer or distributor/reseller
• You have redesigned your website
• You are going to present, or have presented, at a conference

Please also note that press releases with ‘news’ that we have to unhype first, or ‘studies’ and ‘research’ which lack basic objectivity and methodology are unlikely to gain a place on the site – unless we use them as bad examples, which we have been known to do from time to time.

Conference Publicity Policy

On request, conferences and events will get a free listing on the Events page.

We select a very few conferences per year for ‘Media Partnership’ arrangements whereby both parties provide mutual publicity. Therefore do not be offended or surprised if we turn down your media partnership request – paid adverts for other conferences are welcome, at normal advertising rates – see the Promote page.

Soapbox Guidelines

The ‘Soapbox’ is a place where you can write about industry-related topics on which you feel strongly. There is no preferred length – it should be just as long as you think necessary to make the point(s). We only ask that it is interesting, passionate or entertaining – and not libellous or defamatory, of course.

Browsing other Soapboxes (under the Opinion menu item) will give the best idea of the approach. References to authors companies are allowable for context but blatant self-promotion is not. Your company, personal website or contact details can be linked to at the end. There may be some light touch editing for consistency of house style but you will be able to review any changes before publication.

Telecare Aware is a feisty, independent B2B review of healthcare technology (telecare and telehealth) primarily in the US and UK (where Steve Hards, EIC, founded it in 2005). We’re opinionated, independent and write about the news and issues important to our international readership of developers, telehealth implementers, policy makers, marketers and funders. We also invite outside opinions (in the Soapbox). We are technology advocates, with an eye to what best works in keeping people of all ages independent and healthier, integrates into care workflow, and has a workable business model.