Last Modified: [April 3, 2018]
Welcome to My Gene Counsel ("My Gene Counsel," "Company," "we," "us," or "our"). This website is operated by My Gene Counsel, LLC and was created to enable access to the Services provided by My Gene Counsel and to provide data about our Company.
This privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") describes how My Gene Counsel and its Partners collect, use, protect, disclose, and share your Personal Data through our Services.
Our Privacy Policy applies to all visitors, users, and others who access the Services. Please read it carefully. By using any of the Services described below, you are acknowledging and agreeing that this Policy applies to your use of this website and the Services.
My Gene Counsel is based in the United States and the data we collect is governed by U.S. law. By accessing or using the Services or otherwise providing data to us, you consent to the processing described in this Policy and to the transfer of your data in and to the U.S. and other countries.
I. Definitions
"Services" means the My Gene Counsel website, software, and related tools and services provided by My Gene Counsel.
"Partners" means affiliates, partners, consultants, officers, directors, employees, contractors, advisors, and agents.
"Individual Genetic Data" refers to features of your DNA that distinguish you from other people (e.g., the As, Ts, Cs, and Gs at particular locations in your genome or in your tumor). Individual Genetic Data includes any data derived from your Individual Genetic Data (i.e., data about your individual genotype, diseases, racial and ethnic origin or other traits/characteristics) reported to you, or reported by you, as part of our Services.
"Self-Reported Data" means any data you provide about yourself through surveys, forms, features or applications of the Services. For example, you may provide us with data about your personal characteristics (e.g., eye color, height), ethnicity, disease conditions (e.g. diabetes), and other health-related data (e.g. blood pressure, blood type).
"Personal Data" means data that personally identifies you, or data that is combined with data that personally identifies you, including Registration Data (as defined below), Individual Genetic Data and Self-Reported Data. Personal Data also includes identifying data that you authorize us to receive from third parties, such as health care providers.
II. Data We Collect
We acquire data about you in a variety of ways:
A. Data You Give Us
We may collect the following data from you:
Personal Data. We collect any Personal Data that you provide us in connection with your use of the Services.
Registration Data. When you register an account with us or use our Services, we collect the following data, such as:
Self-Reported Data. You may have the option to voluntarily provide us with Self-Reported Data about yourself through surveys, forms, features or applications.
Blogs. Our website offers publicly accessible blogs or community forums. You should be aware that any data you provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them and is therefore publicly available. Please note that whenever you post something publicly, it may be impossible to remove the data if a third party has captured the data and posted it on a location that is not controlled by us. Please exercise caution before choosing to share Personal Data publicly on our blogs, community forums or in any other posting.
Customer service communications. When you contact us about our Services, we collect data to track and respond to your inquiry; investigate any breach of our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy or applicable laws or regulations; and analyze and improve our Services.
Individual Genetic Data. We also collect Individual Genetic Data from you to help us provide our Services for you.
B. Data We Obtain from Others
We may obtain data about you from third party sources you have authorized to share your data to us on this website, such as physicians, clinicians and medical laboratories. This may include, but is not limited to:
C. Data Automatically Collected
Like many websites, we collect certain data as a result of your use of the website (collectively "Technical Data"):
My Gene Counsel, LLC may store such data itself, or store or maintain it through our Partners. Our Services may use such data and pool it with other data to track the total number of visitors to our website, the number of visitors to each page of our website, and the domain names of our visitors' Internet service providers, and other data. It is important to note that such pooled data of this kind does not include Personal Data.
D. Cookies
In operating the Services, we may log data using "cookies." Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive by a website. Cookies help us make our Services and your visit better. For instance, our website may set a cookie on your browser that allows you to access the Services without needing to enter a password more than once during a visit to the Services. On most web browsers, you will find a "help" section on the toolbar. Please refer to this section for data on how to receive notifications when you are receiving a new cookie and how to turn cookies off. We recommend that you leave cookies turned on because they allow you to take advantage of some of the Services' features.
E. Aggregated, Data
To better understand and serve the users of My Gene Counsel services, we may conduct research on customer demographics, interests and behavior based on aggregated data, which we may share with our Partners. My Gene Counsel may also disclose aggregated user statistics in order to describe our services to current and prospective Partners and to other third parties for other lawful purposes. This aggregate data does not include your Registration Data or otherwise identify you personally.
III. Use of Personal Data
We may use your Personal Data and Technical Data to:
In addition, we may use your Individual Genetic Data to:
IV. Sharing of Personal Data
My Gene Counsel will not sell, trade, license or otherwise transfer your Personal Data to third parties for marketing, advertising or other purposes except as disclosed in this Privacy Policy. There are, however, certain circumstances in which we may share your Personal Data with certain third parties without further notice to you, as set forth below:
V. Data Choices and Changes
If you choose not to provide any Personal Data, you may not be able to use certain services provided by My Gene Counsel, LLC.
You may "opt-out" of marketing e-mails by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link in such e-mails; however, changes to notifications regarding updates to your laboratory results require you to visit your account data on our website. You also have the option of closing your account at any time by contacting us at updates@mygenecounsel.com.
You can typically remove and reject cookies from our website with your browser settings. Many browsers are set to accept cookies until you change your settings. If you remove or reject our cookies, it could affect how our website works for you.
VI. Security of Your Personal Data
My Gene Counsel, LLC takes reasonable steps to protect your Personal Data from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no internet or e-mail transmission is ever fully secure or error free. You understand and agree that security incidents may happen even when safeguards are in place.
You also play a role in the safety and security of your Personal Data. You are responsible for keeping your username and password safe and confidential. Do not share your password with anyone. My Gene Counsel holds your account data until the account is deleted or otherwise removed according to the terms of this Privacy Policy; however, we may keep anonymized data pertaining to your account permanently.
VII. Requests to Access, Edit, or Delete Data
You have the right to access your Personal Data. Please contact us at updates@mygenecounsel.com to find out how to access and change your Personal Data. We will, upon request, make reasonable efforts to correct, delete, and/or block your Personal Data from further processing and/or use except to the extent required by law and to the extent it remains in our possession.
VIII. Do-Not-Track
You may have implemented a "do not track" signal through your browser. As there currently is no fixed standard for do not track signals, we currently do not respond to do not track signals from your web browser.
IX. Data Retention and Destruction
We will retain Personal Data for as long as necessary to accomplish our purposes for such data as set forth in this Privacy Policy. You can request that your Personal Data be deleted by contacting us at updates@mygenecounsel.com. We will destroy your Personal Data using reasonable data destruction practices. We may, however, retain certain data to comply with legal or contract obligations or to facilitate law enforcement requests.
X. Children's Privacy
My Gene Counsel services are not directed at children under the age of 13. However, individuals of all ages are affected by varying health conditions and/or have lab results that may benefit from the services provided by My Gene Counsel. In such cases we require that parents or guardians use our Services on their child's behalf. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children's internet usage and to help enforce our Privacy Policy by instructing their children never to provide Personal Data on this website except as submitted by their parents' or guardians' use of their own accounts. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 13 has provided Personal Data in connection with the Services, please contact us at updates@mygenecounsel.com and we will delete that data from our databases.
Minors under 18 years of age may have their Personal Data provided to My Gene Counsel deleted by sending an e-mail to at updates@mygenecounsel.com Please note that while we make reasonable efforts to comply with such requests, deletion of your Personal Data does not ensure complete and comprehensive removal of that data from all systems.
XI. Links to Other Web websites:
This Privacy Policy applies only to the Services. The Services may contain links to other websites not operated or controlled by My Gene Counsel (the "Third Party Websites"). The policies and procedures we described here do not apply to the Third Party Websites. The links from this website do not imply that My Gene Counsel endorses or has reviewed the Third Party Websites. We suggest contacting those websites directly for data on their privacy policies.
Health care professionals and laboratories who provide patient services are responsible for determining uses and disclosures of patient health data in accordance with state and federal medical privacy laws, including the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA").
XII. Other Terms and Conditions:
Your access to and use of this website is subject to My Gene Counsel's Terms of Use.
XIII. California Privacy Rights
If you are a California resident, you may ask us for a notice identifying the categories of Personal Data that we share with our Partners for marketing purposes and to refrain from sharing your Personal Data with certain of these entities for their marketing purposes. Please tell us your preferences by contacting us at the following address: My Gene Counsel, P.O. Box 612, Branford, CT 06405. In your request, please specify that you want a "My Gene Counsel California Privacy Rights Notice." Please allow 30 days for a response.
XIV. Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may be revised from time to time as we add new features and services, as laws change, and as industry privacy and security practices evolve. We reserve the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy at any time and from time to time without prior notice. If we make any changes, we will change the "last updated" date at the beginning of this document. However, if My Gene Counsel decides that it would like to make different uses of Personal Data that are inconsistent with the uses noted in this Privacy Policy, you will have prior notice of such uses and an opportunity to opt-out. Small changes or changes that do not significantly affect individual privacy interests may be made at any time and without prior notice. You are responsible for periodically visiting our website and this Privacy Policy to check for any changes. Your continued use of the Services after any changes or revisions to this Privacy Policy, or after any opt-out period we have offered, shall indicate your agreement with the terms of such revised Privacy Policy.
XV. Contacting My Gene Counsel
To keep your Personal Data accurate, current, and complete, please contact us as at: updates@mygenecounsel.com. We will take reasonable steps to update or correct Personal Data in our possession that you have previously submitted via this website.