Beacon Labs App

Beacon Privacy Policy

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INTRODUCTION: BY INSTALLING, USING OR OTHERWISE ACCESSING THE APPLICATION FROM ANY DEVICE, MOBILE OR OTHERWISE, YOU ARE AGREEING TO ABIDE BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS PRIVACY NOTICE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, DO NOT DOWNLOAD AND/OR ACCESS OUR APPLICATION.

 

This Privacy Notice sets forth how your information is collected, used, transferred, and stored through the mobile application (“Application”) that was created by the Empatho Corp and the terms and conditions governing use of the Application. The Application is owned by the Empatho Corp (“the Company”, “we”, “our”, “us”). The purpose of this Application is to support the Beacon Wellness Study, which is designed to unobtrusively understand the relationship between daily activities, habits, environmental factors, and their effect on mental well-being. 

 

I. WHAT INFORMATION MAY THE APPLICATION COLLECT FROM YOU?

 

A. Personal Information                                                                                                    

We request that you register with us to use the Application. Registration with us is optional; however, you may not be able to use many of the features offered by the Application unless you register.

 

Should you register with us, you will generally provide: name, email address, password, and demographic information. By providing us with personal information, you are consenting to our use of it in accordance with this Privacy Notice.

 

Your data, without your name, will be added to the data of other study participants and analyzed by the study team. You will be able to request a copy of all your submitted study data.

 

We will ask you to fill out demographic, personality, and overall well-being surveys when you begin using the application. For the duration of the study you will be asked to fill out a short survey at the end of each day regarding your daily activities, your mood, and your overall well-being.

 

We may periodically ask you to answer questions about yourself (e.g., your sleep, mood, and your energy and activity level) and your current overall wellbeing (e.g., your happiness levels, sadness levels, and coping mechanisms) to track changes. 

 

We will electronically process your data and separate your account information (email) from your study data (your responses to surveys and the measurements from the phone itself when you perform activities). We will combine your coded study data (without your name or other identifying information) with those of other study participants. The combined data will be encrypted and transferred electronically to secure servers at Google’s Firebase platform for storage, and will be accessible by researchers at the Empatho Corp.

 

B. Automatically Collected Non-Personal Information.

The Application may collect certain non-personal information automatically that does not, on its own, permit direct association with any specific individual. The Application will collect Motion and Fitness data, Health data, and your location data from your mobile device or wearable device. Then periodically we will ask you to answer questions via the Application from your phone. These survey questions may be about your health, exercise, diet, sleep, medicines, etc. or about how you are feeling in general. Your study data will include your responses to surveys and the measurements from the phone itself.

 

C. Location Information.

 

We collect your geographic location to determine environmental information such as weather and nearby greenery. After the study has ended, your exact location coordinates will be destroyed and replaced with your approximate location, accurate to only a 500 meter radius.  

 

II. HOW IS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION USED?

 

User personal information is collected to provide a service or function that is directly relevant to the use of the Application. Specifically, the research team will analyze the combined data to develop the Empatho platform. Your data, without your name, will be added to the data of other study participants and may be analyzed by the study team. 

 

III. IS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION SHARED WITH ANY THIRD PARTIES OUTSIDE THE COMPANY?

 

We may share your personal information outside the Company as required by law, order of governmental authority, or court order to be disclosed; when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request. We may also share your personal information if permitted under Empatho Corp policy, authorized by an approved Empatho Corp contract, for good cause by the Officers of the Empatho Corp.

 

IV. HOW IS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION PROTECTED?

 

We are committed to protect your information and keep your identity as confidential as possible, however total confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. Except as required by law, you will not be identified by name or by any other direct personal identifier. The data collected through the app will be encrypted on the smartphone, transferred electronically and stored securely on the data repository and analysis platform using cloud services and storage on Google’s Firebase platform. Your contact information, including your name, consent form, and e-mail address will be stored separately from the study data. We will use a random code number instead of your name on all your study data. This code cannot be used to directly identify you. Information about the code will be kept in a secure system. We will not access your personal contacts, other applications, text or email message content, or websites visited. We will never sell, rent or lease your contact information. We follow generally accepted industry standards and requirements, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) to protect the personal information submitted to us. No method of transmission, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

 

This information should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided via the Application.

 

V. OPT-OUT INFORMATION

 

You may change your information preferences and opt-out of information collection by uninstalling the Application. Your participation in this study is voluntary. If you are eligible and decide to participate, we will ask you to provide an e-signature, by signing with your finger on the screen at the end of the enrollment process.

 

You do not have to sign this consent form. If you do not, you will not be able to participate in this research study. You may decide not to participate or you may leave the study at any time. You may receive fewer incentives by cancelling your enrollment in the study, since incentives are based on consistent and timely completion of study surveys.

 

Although you can withdraw from the study at any time, you cannot withdraw the coded study data that have already been distributed. If you withdraw from the study, we will stop collecting new data but the coded data that you have already provided will not be able to be destroyed or deleted. 

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The Study Principal Investigator or the sponsor may also withdraw you from the study without your consent at any time for any reason, including if it is in your best interest, if you do not consent to continue in the study after being told of changes in the research that may affect you, or if the study is cancelled.

 

VI.  HOW LONG IS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION STORED?

 

We will retain user personal information for as long as you use the Application and for as long as the information serves a specific purpose thereafter, in accordance with PIPEDA requirements. Personal Identifiable Information (PII) such as your name, email, and exact coordinates will be destroyed immediately after you complete the study, with the exception of your consent form, which we will retain for at least one year after the end of the study. If you’d like us to delete your personal information that you have provided via the Application, please contact the study principal investigators using the contact information below and we will respond in a reasonable time. Please note that some or all of the user personal information may be required in order for the Application to function properly, and we may be required to retain certain information by law.

 

Contact information for the study principal investigators is research@empatho.com

 

VII. CHILDREN

 

The Company is committed to complying fully with the children’s online privacy protection measures as outlined by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). Accordingly, if a user of the Application is under the age of eighteen, such user is not authorized to provide the Company with personal information, and the Company will not use any such information in its database or other data collection activities. The Company appreciates cooperation with these federally mandated guidelines. This application is only intended for use by individuals over the age of eighteen. Users under the age of eighteen and their parents or guardians are cautioned that the collection of personal information volunteered by unauthorized children online or by e-mail will be treated the same as information given by an adult until the Company becomes aware that the user is under the age of eighteen and such information may be subject to public access.

 

VIII. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT

 

We may amend this Privacy Notice from time to time. If we change this Privacy Notice we will post the changes on empatho.com. Your continued use of our Application after any such changes will constitute your acceptance of the updated Privacy Notice. If you do not wish to accept the revised Privacy Notice, you must not use or access (or continue to use or access) our Application. Please regularly check our website to determine if the Privacy Notice has been updated and to review those changes before deciding whether or not to access (or continue to access) our Application.

 

IX. USER ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND CONTACT INFORMATION

 

To review and update your personal information to ensure it is accurate or to receive a copy of your study data, contact us at research@empatho.com.

 

X. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES.

 

YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE APPLICATION AND ANY CONTENT (SUCH AS TEXT, DATA, INFORMATION, AUDIO, VIDEOS, GRAPHICS, OR PHOTOGRAPHS) MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS APPLICATION (COLLECTIVELY, “MATERIALS”), IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE APPLICATION AND MATERIALS, ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS,” “AS AVAILABLE,” AND “WITH ALL FAULTS” BASIS. THE COMPANY DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE COMPANY MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT THE APPLICATION OR THE MATERIALS, WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE; NOR DOES THE COMPANY MAKE ANY WARRANTY FOR ANY PURPOSE OF THE APPLICATION OR MATERIALS OR RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED THROUGH USE OF THE APPLICATION OR AS TO THE ACCURACY, SAFETY, RELIABILITY OR USEFULNESS OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE APPLICATION. THE COMPANY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY THAT THE APPLICATION OR THE MATERIALS, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES, WORMS, TROJAN HORSES, OR OTHER CODE THAT MANIFESTS CONTAMINATING OR DESTRUCTIVE PROPERTIES.

 

XI. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

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THE COMPANY, ITS TRUSTEES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, STAFF, EMPLOYEES, CONSULTANTS AND AGENTS ASSUME NO LIABILITY IN RESPECT OF ANY INFRINGEMENT OF ANY COPYRIGHT, TRADEMARK, PATENT OR OTHER RIGHT OF THIRD PARTIES ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THE APPLICATION AND MATERIALS AND ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY DAMAGES CAUSED BY USE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF MATERIALS, LOSS OF BUSINESS, REVENUE, PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE APPLICATION OR MATERIALS, EVEN IF THE COMPANY, ITS TRUSTEES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, STAFF, EMPLOYEES, CONSULTANTS AND/OR AGENTS HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN ADVISED OF, OR REASONABLY COULD HAVE FORESEEN, THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, HOWEVER THEY ARISE, WHETHER IN BREACH OF CONTRACT OR IN TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR GROSS NEGLIGENCE). YOU HAVE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ADEQUATE PROTECTION AND BACKUP OF DATA AND/OR EQUIPMENT USED IN CONNECTION WITH THE APPLICATION.

 

XII. GOVERNING LAW.

 

Construction of the Privacy Notice, including without limitation, disclaimers above and resolution of disputes thereof are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario. The laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada, shall apply to all uses of this Application and Materials. By use of this Application and Materials, the user agrees that use shall conform to all applicable laws and regulations and user shall not violate the rights of any third parties.

 

XIII. DEFINITIONS AND LEGAL REFERENCES.

Personal Data (or Data):

Any information that directly, indirectly, or in connection with other information—including a personal identification number—allows for the identification or identifiability of a natural person.

Usage Data:

Information collected automatically through this application (or obtained by services employed in this application)can include: the IP addresses or domain names of the computers utilized, the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) addresses, the time of the request, the method used to submit the request to the server, the size of the file received in response, the numerical code indicating the status of the server’s answer (successful outcome, error, etc.), the country of origin, the features of the users’ browser and operating system, the various time details per visit (e.g., the time spent on each page within the application), and the information on the path followed within the application with particular reference to the sequence of pages visited, and other parameters about the device operating system or the users’ IT environment.

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User:

The individual using this application who, unless otherwise specified, coincides with the data subject.

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Data Subject:

The natural person to whom the personal data refers.

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Data Processor:

The natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body that processes personal data on behalf of the controller, as described in this privacy notice.

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Sub-Processor:

This refers to any additional third party who processes personal data on behalf of the data processor in fulfilling contractual obligations and services.

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Data Controller:

The person, public authority, agency, or other body that determines the purposes and means of processing personal data, including the security measures concerning the operation and use of this application.

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This Application:

The information technology system that collects and processes the personal data of the user.

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Service:

The service provided by the Empatho platform or Empatho team.

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Legal Information:

This privacy notice has been prepared based on provisions of multiple legislations, including Art. 13/14 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation). 

This privacy notice relates to the Empatho website, application, and supporting services unless otherwise stated within this document.