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Link Policy

Links to MD Anderson's Website

Advance permission to link to MD Anderson’s website(s) is not necessary. However, be aware that MD Anderson subpages may change at any time without notice. Entities and individuals linking to MD Anderson's website must continuously verify links to our subpages.

Entities and individuals linking to MD Anderson shall not capture MD Anderson pages within frames, present MD Anderson content as its own, or otherwise misrepresent MD Anderson content. Furthermore, they shall not misinform users about the origin or ownership of MD Anderson content. Certain information on MD Anderson may be trademarked, service-marked, or otherwise protected as intellectual property. Protected intellectual property must be used in accordance with state and federal laws and must reflect the proper ownership of the intellectual property.

Any link to the MD Anderson site should be a full forward link that passes the client browser to MD Anderson unencumbered. The "Back" button should return the visitor to original site if the visitor wishes to back out.

Links from MD Anderson's Website

This section outlines the criteria and requirements that external websites must meet to have a link on the MD Anderson website. It also details how links are accepted and removed from the MD Anderson website. MD Anderson reserves the right to link to external websites that it feels would provide a service or otherwise be of value to constituents. MD Anderson cannot be responsible for the content or privacy practices used by other website owners.

Acceptance Criteria

MD Anderson links to federal, state, and local governments that provide information and services that benefit Texas citizens, Texas local government, and Texas state agencies. At its discretion, MD Anderson will consider link requests to non-governmental websites that contain information and/or services that further the purpose of MD Anderson, including sites of MD Anderson-contracted vendors, relevant technology-related associations and timely and relevant information technology publications.

The MD Anderson website is not a forum for public communication and debate. The criteria outlined in this section have been established to ensure that the MD Anderson website remains a non-public forum.

Every link request must undergo review to determine its relevance and appropriateness to the purpose of MD Anderson. Links are approved for MD Anderson based on the following criteria:

The external website corresponds with the purpose of MD Anderson
The site's content is appropriate with respect to the purpose of MD Anderson and the site does not:
- Conflict with or duplicate content that is available on MD Anderson's external website;
- Exhibit hate, bias, discrimination, pornography, libelous or otherwise defamatory content;
- Advocate or promote the use of alcohol or tobacco;
- Sell a product or a service;
- Belong to or support a political affiliation; or
- Further the agenda of a political organization or candidate running for office.

MD Anderson reserves the right to deny links if it determines that a website contains misleading or unsubstantiated claims, includes content that is redundant with what appears on MD Anderson’s website, includes content that competes against the mission and goals of MD Anderson, or does not meet one or more of the criteria set forth above or set out below in the section on Conditions for Link Maintenance on MD Anderson.

MD Anderson does not accept or provide payment for links to and from the MD Anderson website.

Review Process

Submit link requests via MD Anderson’s Ask a Question form. Each link request should address how the site meets the two acceptance criteria outlined above. The link request will be reviewed against the acceptance criteria set forth above. The decision of the MD Anderson is final as to whether the requesting site may have a link from MD Anderson’s website.

Approved sites must comply with the following conditions for link maintenance and may be required to enter into a written linking agreement with MD Anderson.

Conditions for Link Maintenance on MD Anderson

To give superior customer service to citizens and businesses accessing governmental information and services through MD Anderson, we require that external websites linked from MD Anderson meet the following conditions in order to maintain a link on MD Anderson:

The linked site must provide the user with access to an email address and/or a customer service telephone number so that users may contact the site if there are problems with format, accuracy, timeliness, or payment processing.

Linked sites should not excessively burden the MD Anderson customer support system. If the site excessively burdens the MD Anderson customer support system, MD Anderson has discretion to remove a linked site from the MD Anderson website.

When the user clicks on the external website link, he/she must have easy access back to MD Anderson. One of two options can accomplish this:

A link to MD Anderson can be established on the external website's main page; or
The "Back" button returns the user to MD Anderson.

Linked sites must have a privacy and security policy accessible from their home page informing the user of what information is collected, how it is collected, and how it is used. MD Anderson requires linked sites to comply with industry-accepted accessibility standards to ensure that persons with disabilities may access these sites.

Linked sites must notify MD Anderson if the site to which MD Anderson links becomes inaccurate or inactive.

Removal Process

MD Anderson reserves the right to remove links if it determines that a website contains misleading or unsubstantiated claims, conflicts with the purpose of MD Anderson, or does not meet one or more of the criteria set forth above in the Acceptance Criteria section or set out above in the Conditions for Link Maintenance on MD Anderson section.

Links from MD Anderson will be reviewed regularly and may be removed for the following reasons:

The link no longer points to the original information or resource to which it was intended to point;
The website pointed to by the link contains inaccurate or misleading information or has changed such that it is no longer in compliance with the acceptance criteria;
The website pointed to by the link violates the conditions for link maintenance;
Access to the information has become difficult due to lack of security; non-standard formatting, lengthy download times, or intrusive advertising;
The link is permanently unreachable or remains unavailable for a lengthy period; and
The external website fails to comply with the written linking agreement, if any.

The decision of the MD Anderson is final as to whether a link is to be removed from MD Anderson.