The Aging program collects Personally Identifiable Information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, emergency contact names and phone numbers. It also collects Personal Health Information such as medical conditions, medications, and doctors’ names and phone numbers.

We collect Personally Identifiable Information and Personal Health Information for three reasons:

1) To help determine eligibility for programs and services, either through our agency or another agency; to
2) To help arrange programs and services, either through our agency or another agency; and
3) To satisfy reporting requirements for our funding agencies. Our primary funding source is the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

We must get your permission before we collect, maintain, and share Personally Identifiable Information and Personal Health Information. We must get your permission—either verbally or in writing—before we make your Personally Identifiable Information available to others. We must get your written permission before we can make your Personal Health Information available to others.

Exceptions to these limitations can occur under the following circumstances:

• We may share information about you to help with public health and safety issues such as:
  • Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
  • Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety
• We may share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.
• We may share information about you to address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests such as:
  • For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
  • With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
• We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

If you give us written permission to use your Personally Identifiable Information and/or Personal Health Information, you can limit our permission. For example, you can allow us to release your information to only the individuals or entities you specify, or you can allow us to release the information to any individual or entity that might be able to help you.

We are required by law to safeguard your Personally Identifiable Information and Personal Health Information. We do this in a number of ways:

1. Share Personally Identifiable Information and Personal Health Information only as you have authorized, with people who have a need to know.

2. Keep your records safe from people who don’t have a need to know. For example, we keep our paper records with Personally Identifiable Information and Personal Health Information in locked cabinets and offices. We use secure emails when sending Personally Identifiable Information and Personal Health Information.

• You have a right to review your Personally Identifiable Information and Personal Health Information we have gathered and maintained.
• If the Personally Identifiable Information and/or Personal Health Information we have is not correct, you have the right to correct any inaccurate information.
• You have the right to ask questions about our privacy policies or seek clarification.
• You also have a right to complain if you feel that your privacy has been violated. For more information or to make a complaint, contact:

  Mary Beth Rudel
  Ark-Tex Council of Governments
  903-832-8636 (phone)
  903-832-3441 (fax)
  mrudel@atcog.org

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our web site.