Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date: September 10, 2026

Last updated: September 10, 2026

1. Who we are

Lake County Medical Society ("LCMS", "we", "us") is a professional membership organization serving physicians in Lake County, Indiana, as District 10 of the Indiana State Medical Association (ISMA). This website (lakecountymedicalsociety.com) is operated by LCMS to serve its members, board, and prospective members.

2. Information we collect

  • From ISMA membership rosters: name, degree, specialty, work and/or home address, phone, email (if provided to ISMA), NPI, ISMA category, chapter and district.
  • From member self-registration: name, NPI (verified against the federal NPPES registry), email, phone (cell and/or office), practice information, bio (optional), directory preferences.
  • From administrator actions: membership status, board flags, permission flags, admin notes.
  • Automatically: IP address, browser type, and general usage information via standard server logs and Vercel infrastructure.

3. How we use your information

  • To maintain your LCMS membership record and keep it aligned with ISMA data
  • To send you communications about LCMS meetings, events, announcements, and news
  • To provide an internal member directory (subject to your visibility preferences)
  • To coordinate identity verification for account access and security
  • To help the board plan meetings and services based on member needs
  • To comply with legal, regulatory, or organizational governance requirements

4. How we share your information

  • Never sold to third parties. LCMS does not sell member data.
  • Within the LCMS member directory — only fields you have marked as visible in your privacy preferences (cell phone / email / bio visibility toggles) are shown to other active LCMS members.
  • With ISMA — ISMA is the parent organization; membership data flows between LCMS and ISMA by design for membership synchronization.
  • With service providers — we use Supabase (database + authentication), Vercel (hosting), Resend (email delivery), Cloudflare/Vercel edge services, and standard analytics tooling. These vendors process data under their own agreements and privacy policies.
  • When required by law — we may disclose information in response to lawful requests from authorities.

5. Encryption and security

  • Cell phone numbers and home addresses are stored encrypted at rest.
  • Passwords are stored as one-way hashes and are never accessible to LCMS staff.
  • Data in transit is protected by HTTPS/TLS.
  • Access to administrative functions is restricted to authorized board members and admins.
  • See our Anti-Phishing / Anti-Scam Notice for scam-awareness guidance.

6. Your controls

  • Directory visibility: you control whether your email, cell phone, and bio are visible to other members via toggles on your /profile page.
  • Access, correction, deletion: you may request access to your data, correct any inaccuracies, or ask for your account to be closed by emailing admin@lakecountymedicalsociety.com.
  • Communications: you can opt out of non-essential LCMS emails. Essential communications (account security, mandatory notices) will continue as long as you remain a member.

7. Data retention

  • Active member profiles are retained while you remain an LCMS member and for a reasonable period after (for audit, historical, and reactivation purposes).
  • Identity-verification documents uploaded during signup are deleted from storage as soon as the administrator has made a decision; audit records (without the document itself) are retained for 30 days before being hard-deleted.
  • Contact-form and member-suggestion submissions are retained in the admin queue until reviewed, then archived.

8. Cookies and tracking

We use minimal cookies necessary for authentication and session management. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

9. Children's privacy

The LCMS website is not directed to children under 18. Membership is restricted to licensed physicians and residents.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be announced to members by email. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision.

11. Contact us