BioLinked® Privacy Policy

BioLinked’s® Privacy Policy describes how personal data is collected, used, and shared.

Updated January 03, 2022

BioLinked® makes it possible for individuals to create an account with a bio-profile to potentially link them with its Affiliates, which are investigators and bio-development companies conducting research and development with blood and blood products. BioLinked’s Affiliates may be interested in contacting BioLinked account holders to participate in research studies and projects based on certain bio-profile attributes, such as blood type or medical history. Certain information is required to create a BioLinked account, including your first and last name, email addres, gender, date of birth, home phone number, mobile phone number, and street address with city, state, and zip code. After creating an account, you may create a bio-profile, comprised of your demographic information as well as your medical and social history. You will also select your research participation preferences. We understand the importance of protecting your information. This Privacy Policy explains how BioLinked® collects, processes, uses, and shares your personal information through its website, application, and services that reference this Privacy Policy.

You may review this Privacy Policy at any time at https://biolinked.org/terms). Please familiarize yourself with our privacy practices, accessible below, and contact us at support@biolinked.org if you have any questions.

By creating a BioLinked® user account, you are consenting to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Personal Data at BioLinked®

We collect your personal information so BioLinked® can work. We ask you to provide several types of personal information, all of which is considered “personal data.” Aggregated data is considered non-personal data for the purposes of this Privacy Policy. The user provided personal information we collect that encompasses personal data includes:

• first and last name

• email address

• gender

• date of birth

• home phone

• mobile phone

• street address, city, state, and zip code

• health history

• social history

• family health history

• family social history

• preferences regarding research participation

BioLinked® is partnered with third-party organizations (“Partners”) that direct users to its website. If you arrive at biolinked.org via a third-party Partner, you remain bound by the terms of use of the originating website. BioLinked provides outcome based summary data to Partners whose links drove users to our website. Our site may contain links to other websites. BioLinked’s® Privacy Policy does not apply to how third parties define personal data or how they use it.

Is BioLinked® HIPAA Compliant?

BioLinked® is not a healthcare provider and is not required to be compliant with the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”).

Your Privacy Rights with BioLinked®

We respect your right to know, access, correct, restrict, and delete your personal data. To exercise your privacy rights, email us at support@biolinked.org. BioLinked® does not sell or disclose your data, including as “sale” is defined in Nevada and California.

While you may always access, correct, and restrict your personal data, there may be situations where we cannot grant your request to delete your personal data – for example, when complying with law. We may also deny a request if it jeopardizes the privacy of others, is frivolous or vexatious, or would be extremely impractical.

If you live in California and cannot access the BioLinked® Privacy page, you or your authorized agent may request it at support@biolinked.org.

How BioLinked® Uses Your Personal Information

We use your personal information to operate, provide, develop, and improve BioLinked®. We may also use personal data for other purposes with your consent, including:

• Service Delivery: We store your personal information and selected preferences to match you with our Affiliates’ research opportunities. Your personally identifiable information is separated from your bio-profile to generate de-identified matches with Affiliates’ research opportunities. If you are matched with an Affiliate’s opportunity, BioLinked only discloses your personal information, limited to your name and email address, after obtaining your express consent.

• Troubleshooting and Improving Services: We use your personal information to provide functionality, analyze performance, fix errors, and improve the usability and effectiveness of the service.

When BioLinked ® May Share Your Personal Information

BioLinked® may share personal data with service providers who act on our behalf, our partners, or others at your direction. BioLinked® does not share personal data with third parties for their own marketing purposes. We may also share your personal information if required by law.

• Service Providers: BioLinked® may engage third parties to act as our service providers and perform certain tasks on our behalf, such as processing or storing data, including personal data, in connection with your use of our services. BioLinked® service providers are obligated to handle personal data consistent with this Privacy Policy. They may not use the personal data we share for their own purposes.

• Compliance with Legal Obligations: In certain cases, we may use or share your personal information to comply with laws, including but not limited to: (a) in response to requests from local, state or federal law enforcement officials; (b) in response to any judicial, administrative, or similar proceeding such as a subpoena; (c) when required by law; or (d) in special circumstances such as in response to a physical threat or perceived physical threat to any individual; or (e) to enforce the terms of use of the Site.

BioLinked ® Security

We design our system with your security and privacy in mind. We use encryption protocols and security measures consistent with industry standards to provide enhanced protection. While the privacy and security measures will reasonably protect your information, there is always a risk that an unauthorized third party will find a way to breach our security system or intercept the information you transmitted to us. We are not responsible for circumvention of privacy settings or security measures contained within BioLinked®.

Your Privacy and Sharing Options

You select your research participation preferences. We do not share any personally identifiable information with our Affilliates other than your name and email address, and we will always obtain your consent before sharing your name and email address with our Affiliates. You may change your participation preferences at any time on the Preferences tab. If you wish to stop receiving promotional email notifications, you may opt-out by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email. You may also opt-out of promotional emails by using the “contact us” information at biolinked.org or by emailing us at support@biolinked.org.

Does BioLinked® Use Cookies?

No, BioLinked® does not use cookies. Our web server may automatically collect information about your computer or device and internet connection, including your IP address, operating system, and browser type of all visitors to the BioLinked® site. The web server does not automatically collect email addresses.

We also track the pages within the BioLinked® site that you view, including the time and date viewed and the IP address of the web site used to link directly to BioLinked®. Such information is aggregated with tracking data from Site visitors. We use this aggregate information to help us evaluate visitor traffic patterns and to improve the site. This information generally does not contain personally identifiable information and generally is not linked to any personally identifiable information you may provide through using BioLinked®.

BioLinked® Is Not For Children

BioLinked® understands the importance of safeguarding the personal data of children. We do not collect nor maintain information from anyone known to be under the age of 18. No part of BioLinked® is designed to attract anyone under the age of 18. If we discover or receive notice that a minor has accessed BioLinked® in violation of this policy, we will delete the information as soon as possible. If you believe BioLinked® may have any information from or regarding a child under the age of 18, please contact us support@biolinked.org. This policy complies with the The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Modifications to the Privacy Policy

We may modify this Privacy Policy at any time. The date at the top of this policy indicates the last date of revision. If material changes are made to the Privacy Policy, we may notify you by email using the email address you provided. Additionally, we may post a notice on the home page of the BioLinked® site.

Privacy Questions

If you have questions about BioLinked’s® Privacy Policy, would like to contact us, or would like to submit a complaint, you can contact us at support@biolinked.org.

We take privacy questions seriously. In most cases, all substantive contacts receive a response within seven business days. In other cases, we may require additional information or will let you know that we need more time to respond.

If you have a complaint that indicates an improvement could be made in our handling of privacy issues, we will take steps to make such an update at the next reasonable opportunity. In the event that a privacy issue has resulted in a negative impact on you or another person, we will take steps to address that with you or that other person.

California Privacy Disclosures

California Privacy Rights

California consumers have a right to knowledge, access, and deletion of their personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act. California consumers also have a right to opt out of the sale of their personal information by a business and a right not to be discriminated against for exercising one of their California privacy rights. BioLinked® does not sell the personal information of any of its users and does not discriminate in response to privacy rights requests.

California consumers with a BioLinked® account can exercise their rights directly or through an authorized agent by making a request to support@biolinked.org.

Do Not Track

BioLinked® does not track its customers over time or across third party websites to provided targeted advertising and, therefore, does not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) signals.