What we do not collect
- No health information. We never ask for or store your diagnosis, symptoms, doctor's name, prescriptions, insurance details or Medicare number. There is nowhere on this site to enter them.
- No account. No sign-up, no login, no profile.
- No lead forms. There is no contact form, quote request or appointment request anywhere on this site, so there is nothing for us to pass to a hospital.
- We never sell your data. Not your searches, not which hospitals you viewed, not your location — to hospitals, data brokers, or anyone else.
That last point deserves emphasis. Which hospital someone looks up can reveal a great deal — that they are facing surgery, that a parent is ill, that they are choosing a cancer centre. We treat that as information we have no business accumulating, so we do not build profiles from it.
What is collected automatically
Like most websites, our servers record standard technical information when you visit: IP address, browser type, pages requested, and timestamps. We use this to keep the site running, diagnose errors, and detect abuse. We do not use it to build a profile of you or to infer anything about your health.
Comparison list
When you add a hospital to the comparison tool, that list is stored in your own browser's local storage and never sent to us. Clearing your browser data removes it. If you share a comparison link, the hospital identifiers appear in the URL you choose to share — so take the same care you would with any link.
Cookies and advertising
This site is supported by display advertising. Our advertising partners may set cookies or use similar technologies to measure ad performance and, depending on your settings and location, to show you more relevant ads.
We do not share your searches with advertisers. Advertisers have no access to what you searched for, which hospitals you viewed, or which measures you looked at.
You can control advertising cookies here:
Your browser also lets you block or delete cookies. The site works without them.
Analytics
We use aggregate analytics to understand which pages are useful — for example, how many people read a particular guide. Results are reported in aggregate and are not used to identify individuals.
Your rights
Because we do not collect personal information or maintain accounts, there is normally nothing for us to export or delete. If you believe we hold information about you, email privacy@hospiguide.org and we will look into it.
If you are in the EU or UK (GDPR) or California (CCPA/CPRA), you have rights to access, correct and delete personal data, and to opt out of its sale. We do not sell personal data to anyone.
Not covered by HIPAA — and why that is fine here
HIPAA governs healthcare providers, health plans and their business associates. We are none of those: we are a publisher of public federal data, so HIPAA does not apply to us.
That usually sounds like a loophole, so here is what it means in practice: HIPAA protects health information held by your doctor and your insurer. We hold none of yours, because we never collect any. There is no protected information here to leak.
Children
This site is intended for adults researching hospital care. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.
External links
We link to government sites, chiefly Medicare.gov and CMS.gov, so you can verify what you read here. Once you leave this site, their privacy policies apply, not ours.
Changes
If we change this policy we will update the date above. Material changes will be noted on this page.
Contact
Privacy questions: privacy@hospiguide.org · See also our terms of use and disclaimer.