Global Privacy Policy

Last Updated: December 22, 2022

InsideScientific is a member of the Scientist.com group of companies.  Your privacy is important to us.  This Global Privacy Policy explains how The Assay Depot, Inc. (d.b.a. Scientist.com) and members of its group processes personal data and for what purposes.    To learn more about Scientist.com and our group please see About Us.

INTRODUCTION

Scientist.com are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected.  We comply with all data protection laws, and other applicable laws which govern tracking technologies (such as “cookies”), electronic marketing and other processing of personal data applicable in each country in which we operate, (together the “Data Protection Laws“).

This Global Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how it is collected, why we use the data we collect, when and with who we may share your personal data and the rights and choices you have in relation to your personal data.

This Global Privacy Policy applies where Scientist.com receives personal data through our interactions with you when we conduct our business.  This interaction may be through our various web presences[1] (our “Websites“)  other communication channels including email, social media, through your interaction with the services, features and content we offer through our ecommerce custom research and development platform (the “Platform“) and any other platform with which we collaborate on a white label basis (“Collaborators”), when you attend one of our events, where you share data directly with us or, subject to appropriate permissions, where your data has been provided by a third party authorized to share such data with us.

This Global Privacy Policy does not apply to any third-party websites, services or applications, even if they are accessible through our Websites and/or Platform or if our Websites and/or Platform is accessed through them.

For the purposes of this Global Privacy Policy, the personal data Scientist.com processes relates to the people we interact with, including customers, partners, clients, suppliers, vendors (or in each case the individuals representing those companies, organizations or entities) or any other person we interact with.   This policy therefore does not apply to information relating to corporations, organizations or entities. This is because Data Protection Laws only apply to information relating to natural persons. Information relating to corporate bodies may still be protected by other laws such as confidentiality and we take those obligations seriously as well.

In specific countries, regions or territories in addition to the general terms there are additional terms that will apply. This Global Privacy Policy is supplemented by additional provisions that apply under local Data Protection Laws in the relevant jurisdiction. We have explicitly stated where additional rights or provisions may apply as these may vary dependent on your location.

[1] scientist.com, healtheconomics.com, insidescientific.com, biopharmcatalyst.com, contractresearchmap.com, hykuup.com, trialinsights.com, and all subdomains thereof.

WHO WE ARE

In this Policy, the terms “we”, “our”, “us” and “Scientist.com” are used to refer to The Assay Depot, Inc (d/b/a Scientist.com), a Delaware corporation with its offices at 329 S. Highway 101, Suite 230, Solana Beach, CA 92075 and the members of our global group of companies.

We determine the purpose and means of processing the personal data as described in this Global Privacy Policy and where we act as the data controller / controller (or equivalent terms) for the purposes of the applicable Data Protection Laws.

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this Global Privacy Policy or about how your personal data is handled, please contact us through the email address or postal address stated below:

Email: privacy@scientist.com

THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

The personal data that we receive about you depends upon the context of your interactions with us.  This can vary depending on your choices (including any privacy settings), the services you receive, events you attend, how you configure your account settings, where you are located and the applicable law.

(1) Information we receive from you

  • Use of the Websites/Platform, request and receipt of Services When you use the Websites and/or Platform, or register for an account with us to use the Websites or Platform (as applicable), when you wish to attend an event, or make an enquiry or purchase services we ask for information such as your organization’s name, email address, password, job title, role within organization, address, company qualifications, and company capabilities.
  • Business Information Where you engage with us, our services, the Websites and/or the Platform we may receive information about the name, size and location of the business you work for and your role within the business as well as publicly available information about the company.
  • Feedback, research or training When you choose to provide us with your feedback about the Websites, Platform and/or services or take part in optional surveys or event registrations we may collect personal data such as your name, organization’s name, email address, telephone number and any other personal data, and your views and opinions.  We may choose to display your feedback, in whole or in part, on the Websites and/or Platform and it may be viewed by others visiting the Websites and/or Platform.
  • Customer support If you contact us for support in relation to the services or your use of the Websites and/or the Platform we will ask for information such as your name, your organization’s name, your email address, job title, role within organization and address.

(2) Information we collect

  • Online behavioural data When you visit our Websites and/or Platform, attend an online event or engage through social media, click on a link contained on our Websites, an email sent to you, or campaign or notice presented to you, or otherwise engage with us through digital channels we may collect information relating to your device (including IP Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the internet, MAC addresses, traffic data, location data, your login information, time-zone setting browser type and version, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, weblogs, cookies and other communication data, and the resources that you access.
  • Google Analytics: We collect data through using Google Analytics a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (‘Google’), to learn about your journey on our Websites and Platform and build better services.  Google Analytics uses cookies (text files placed on your computer) to help us analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of our Websites and Platform (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.   Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of our Websites and Platform, compiling reports on Website and Platform activity for us and other website operators and providing other services relating to Website and Platform activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf.   Where you have clicked I accept on the cookie pop up notice, you will have given your consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.  Further information is also available in Google Analytics’ Privacy Policy which is available here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245 and https://policies.google.com/privacy
  • Images We may produce videos or photographs which include the names or images of the employees or representatives of our customers, partners, clients, suppliers, vendors and/or other individuals with whom we interact (“Images”) for promotional purposes for both your own company, organization or representative entity and/or Scientist.com. Together with the image with we may collect contact details of the people in the Images. This personal data will be used and stored by us in accordance with this Global Privacy Policy and the waiver letter that you and, where applicable, the legal entity you represent signs to give us permission to use the respective Images. We will not publish any such Image unless and until a valid and binding waiver letter has been executed by the relevant parties authorising us to do so. Once the Images are published they will be in the public domain, Scientist.com will only have control over Images that Scientist.com publishes directly, and not over any copies made by third parties. We only collect and process personal data for this purpose if you give us consent. You may withdraw consent through emailing: privacy@scientist.com.

(3) Information provided by others

  • When a business provides it Where you are the representative of a business we interact with (for example an employee or representative of a customer, partner, client, supplier or vendor) that business may provide us with information about you such as name, email address, password, job title, role within organization, address and telephone number.
  • Collaborators We also receive and store account data (names, email addresses and other contact details) from Collaborators (“Collaborator Data”), including personal data, that Clients enter on third party websites operated by Collaborators to log into the Platform. Collaborators are responsible for notifying you that they will provide this Collaborator Data to us and otherwise complying with the applicable data protection laws when they collect, process and transfer Personal Data to Scientist.com.
  • Social Media We collect information from social networks, including to monitor discussion about our Websites, Platform, services and/or our brand.
  • Joint offering Where we provide a co-branded event or service or engage in joint activities with a third party including training or conferences, we may receive personal data relating to attendees from the partner with whom we jointly provide the event.
  • Publicly available sources We may collect publicly available information from third party sources such as government agencies, credit reporting agencies, information service providers or publicly available records.

Please note: You must not put any personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation (including without limitation, any patient data or donor information etc.) (“Special Categories of Personal Data”) or any information relating to criminal convictions or offences on the Platform or via our Websites or within any communications shared with us, or include this within any attachments submitted on the Website and/or Platform and by the terms of this Global Privacy Policy you will be deemed to instruct us to remove any such Special Categories of Personal Data or any information relating to criminal convictions or offences from the Platform, although we do not have any obligations to you to check for this or to do so.

WHAT DO WE COLLECT AND USE THE INFORMATION FOR?

We collect and process personal data about you:

  • to communicate with you and respond to requests and inquiries;
  • to create and administer accounts and log in access to our Platform;
  • to engage in transactions with our customers, suppliers, vendors, business partners and process orders and enquiries for our Services;
  • for billing, invoice management, identification, and authentication purposes;
  • to deliver functionality on our Websites and the Platforms including customising future use for you
  • for service improvement, research and to contact you for surveys;
  • to analyse, develop and improve the function and performance of our Website, the Platform and the Services;
  • to manage security and operation of our Websites, networks and systems;
  • to comply with applicable laws and regulations in the operation of our business;
  • to market our products and services and tailor our marketing and sales activities to your interests (which may also include marketing third party goods and services to you which we think may be of interest to you as a user of our Websites, Platform and/or services;

Please note that we may combine personal data that we receive from other sources with personal data you give to us and personal data we collect about you. We may also anonymize or aggregate any of the information we collect and use it for any purpose, including for research and product-development purposes.  Such information will not identify you individually.

We do not share or sell to other organizations for commercial purposes any personally identifiable data, except to provide services you have requested, when we have your permission, or as otherwise set forth in this Global Privacy Policy. Please see the relevant cookies policy for further information about what information may be automatically collected when you visit that Website.

WHAT IS OUR BASIS FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION ABOUT YOU?

For personal data information collected about you in the EU/ EEA, UK or Switzerland and any other relevant jurisdictions, our basis for processing is:

  • Where you are a sole trader or individual and we wish to process your information for marketing purposes, this would be on the basis of your consent or where you have attended a prior event, purchased goods or services from us on a prior occasion or otherwise you are a representative of a company then we would process your information for marketing purposes where you have not objected to such marketing;
  • To perform a contract with you/your organization for the purpose of providing you access to the Platform and/or Websites, providing the services, engaging in transactions, processing requests for Services and otherwise as necessary to manage and administer the contract with you.
  • For our legitimate interests to manage event registration and attendance including sending you communications in relation to such events.
  • For our legitimate interests, to analyse, develop and improve the Websites, Platform and services implement and maintain security.
  • To comply with applicable laws, such as to comply with a court order or a subpoena.
  • To resolve any legal claims or disputes involving you or us.

DO WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION?

As a global organization, we may share your information with other Scientist.com group companies where required to provide you with the services, or to enable us to give you access to the Websites and the Platform or otherwise to fulfil the purposes set out in this this Global Privacy Policy.

We may also share your personal data in the following circumstances:

  • Except as set forth in this Global Privacy Policy, Scientist.com does not determine the purposes and means of processing any personal data placed on or shared via the Websites and/or Platform by our customers, partners, clients, suppliers, vendors, (or in each case the individuals representing those companies, organizations or entities) between themselves. Such parties may decide to share personal information between themselves and with other parties (including Collaborators) via the Websites and/or Platform. Such parties are solely responsible for ensuring that any transfers of personal data between them are made in accordance with the applicable Data Protection Laws. We work and enable customers, partners, clients, suppliers, vendors to work together, to discuss and agree any applicable data protection terms which may be required between such parties, in relation to the sharing of such personal data. For the transaction in question to take place, we may share information relating to it with the relevant Client and Supplier.
  • We transfer information required to order and invoice for services bought and sold via the Platform (“Service Data”) to Collaborators as a processor where a Client’s request for Services from a supplier/ vendor originates through a portal operated by us but marketed and made accessible to the customer/client by a Collaborator. Scientist.com transfers such Service Data to enable that Collaborator and Scientist.com to work together to market that portal, make it available to customers, partners, clients, suppliers, vendors and for that Collaborator to help facilitate transactions between customers, partners, clients, suppliers, vendors on the Platform. In relation to such customer/client requests, the Collaborator has the same access to the portal and the Platform and all information on it as Scientist.com, including information you enter on it and all correspondence between customers, partners, clients, suppliers and vendors. The Collaborator may only use such information: (i) in relation to customers/clients, in accordance with the terms of use of the portal in question, and (ii) in relation to suppliers/vendors, in accordance with the letter from the Collaborator you may receive with every request from a customer/client which originates from the portal in question (the “Supplier Letter”). The Collaborator shall keep such information confidential in accordance with the terms of use of the portal in question and the Supplier Letter. If you are a supplier/vendor and do not accept the terms of the Supplier Letter, please do not respond to any request from a customer/client originating from the portal in question;
  • Third parties who provide supply chain financing and invoice management services to us will also have access to certain information on invoices.

We may engage third-party service providers to work with us to administer and provide the Websites and or Platform and to perform functions on our behalf. For example, we may utilize the services of third parties to provide:

  • email services;
  • cloud services;
  • hosting services;
  • hardware, software, networking, storage, and related technology required to run our business;
  • online file storage;
  • customer services via the Platform;
  • IT services;
  • document management services;
  • marketing services;
  • website analytics;
  • billing and finance;
  • travel and expenses;
  • invoice management;
  • supply chain financing;
  • auditors and other professional advisors;
  • delivering packages and mail;
  • providing marketing assistance;
  • creating and producing Images; and
  • professional advice.

These third-party service providers (and others that we may engage in the future) may have access to personal information for the purposes of performing services on our behalf. These service providers shall not use such personal data for any other purposes, as governed more specifically by the terms of their agreements with us.

  • External Websites: Our services may contain links to other websites and services. Any information that you provide on or to a third-party website or service is provided directly to the owner of the website or service and is subject to that party’s privacy policy. Our Global Privacy Policy does not apply to such websites or services and we are not responsible for the content, privacy or security practices and policies of those websites or services. To protect your information, we recommend that you carefully review the privacy policies of other websites and services that you access.
  • Business transfers: We may transfer your information to a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which your information is among the assets transferred but only so far as such transfer is necessary for the purposes of such sale or administration;
  • Protection of Scientist.com, our group and others: We may disclose personal data when we believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law or an investigation into illegal activity; to enforce our agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Scientist.com, our group, our customers, partners, clients, suppliers, vendors, or others. It is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or act regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of Terms of Service, or as otherwise required by law. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection and credit risk reduction. This does not include selling, renting, sharing, or otherwise disclosing personal data from you for commercial purposes in violation of the conditions set forth in this Global Privacy Policy.

WHAT CHOICES DO USERS HAVE CONCERNING INFORMATION COLLECTION AND SHARING?

You can decline to submit information (including personal data) to Scientist.com, although this may prevent you from using the Platform and/or Websites and may prevent us from providing certain services to you and/or prevent customers, partners, clients, suppliers, vendors from transacting with each other for services via the Platform and/or Websites.

Our customers, partners, clients, suppliers, vendors may choose to change or limit the use and disclosure of their personal data (or the personal data of their representatives) or cancel an account by contacting us using the contact details below (How to Contact Us).

We assume that all personal data collected by us relates to the individual’s business contact details and that all communications between us are therefore “business to business”, not “business to consumer”.  If you believe that this is not the case for you, or you are in a jurisdiction where your opt in consent is specifically required for us to market our own or third party goods and services to you in a business to business capacity please let us know by contacting us at privacy@scientist.com. You have a right to stop us from sending you direct marketing at any time. You may do so by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in our marketing emails. Individuals who are representatives of organizations can also unsubscribe from our marketing communications by following the instructions or unsubscribe mechanism in the original email message.

YOUR RIGHTS

United Kingdom, European Economic Area or Switzerland

If you are located in the United Kingdom, Switzerland or the European Economic Area you are able to exercise the following rights in relation to the way we process your personal data. You may contact us using the details below to exercise any of these rights, to the extent they apply to you.

In some instances, we may be unable to carry out your request, in which case we will write to you to explain why. In particular, rights may not apply in some cases, including where providing access is unreasonably burdensome or expensive under the circumstances or where it would violate the rights of someone other than you.

1. You have the right to request access to your personal data You have the right to request confirmation that your personal data is being processed, access to your personal data (through us providing a copy) and other information about how we process your personal data.
2. You have the right to ask us to rectify your personal data You have the right to request that we rectify your personal data if it is not accurate or not complete.
3. You have the right to ask us to erase your personal data You have the right to ask us to erase or delete your personal data where there is no reason for us to continue to process your personal data. This right would apply if we no longer need to use your personal data to provide the services to you, where you withdraw your consent for us to process your personal data (for example, your Images), or where you object to the way we process your personal data (see right 6 below).
4. You have the right to ask us to restrict or block the processing of your personal data You have the right to ask us to restrict or block the processing of your personal data that we hold about you. This right applies where you believe the personal data is not accurate, you would rather we block the processing of your personal data rather than erase your personal data, where we do not need to use your personal data for the purpose we collected it for but you may require it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
5. You have the right to port your personal data You have the right to obtain and reuse your personal data from us to reuse for your own purposes across different services. This allows you to move personal data easily to another organization, or to request us to do this for you.
6. You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data on the basis of our legitimate business interests, unless we are able to demonstrate that, on balance, our legitimate interests override your rights or we need to continue processing your personal data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
7. You have the right not to be subject to automated decisions You have the right to object to any automated decision making, including profiling, where the decision has a legal or significant impact on you.
8. You have the right to withdraw your consent You have the right to withdraw your consent where we are relying on this to process your personal data (for example, your Images)

To the extent the rights above are applicable to you, you can submit a written request to the contact information provided below (How to Contact Us). We may request specific information from you to confirm your identity before processing any request.

California

California residents have the following rights:

1. The right to know what data we process See the “Information We Collect” section above.
2. The right to know how we use your personal data See the “What Do We Collect And Use The Information For?” section above.
3. The right to know who we share your personal data with. See the “Do We Share Your Information?” section above.
4. The right to receive a copy of your data
5. The right to request deletion of your data This right is subject to Scientist.com’s right to not delete some or all of your personal data if we are allowed or required to retain it by applicable law.
6. Right to opt out of a sale You have the right to know whether your personal data is being sold. Your personal data is sold when it is shared with a third party for monetary or other valuable consideration for a purpose that is not a “business purpose” as set forth in the California Consumer Privacy Act.Scientist.com does not sell your personal data.
7. Right not to be discriminated against

To the extent the rights above are applicable to you and you wish to contact us you can submit a written request to the contact information provided below (How to Contact Us). We may request specific information from you to confirm your identity before processing any request.

WHAT DO WE DO TO ENSURE THE SECURITY OF USER INFORMATION?

Ensuring the security of your information is an important part of our business. We take commercially reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure or destruction of data. In cases where we are acting as a processor, Scientist.com secures Personal Data in accordance with its contractual obligations.

We restrict access to personal data to Scientist.com and Collaborator employees, contractors and agents who need to know that information to operate, develop or improve the Website and/or Platform. These individuals are bound by strict confidentiality and may be subject to discipline if they fail to meet these obligations.

Secure software: We work to protect the security of your information during transmission by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software, which encrypts information you input.

Unauthorized access: It is important for you to protect against unauthorized access to your password and to your computer. Be sure to sign off from your account when finished using a shared computer. Do not share your login information with anyone else. You are responsible for protecting your username and password and must not share it with, or disclose it, to anyone.

The Internet and email are not secure. Your communications may route through a number of countries before being delivered, may be intercepted by third parties and may not always reach the intended recipient – this is the nature of the World Wide Web/Internet. We cannot accept responsibility for any such unauthorized access or loss of personal data that is beyond our control.

CROSS BORDER TRANSFERS OF DATA

To provide the Website, Platform and services we may access and process or through the use of our third party suppliers and partners it will be necessary to transfer and for your personal data to be processed outside of the country you are located in.  Scientist.com is located in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Spain and Canada and our third party suppliers and partners are located in:  United States, United Kingdom, European Economic Area, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand. We may also transfer your personal data to other countries where you have requested services from a supplier/ vendor or because the customer/client  is located in a country outside of your own location.

Such transfers may therefore be to countries where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction.   To effect this, we will obtain consent to such transfer from you (either directly from you or from your employer/organization who will have sought such consent from you) or where applicable, rely on legally provided transfer mechanisms to lawfully transfer data across borders.  Where you are based in the United Kingdom, Switzerland or the European Economic Area this may be the derogation of consent under Article 49 of the GDPR, or the standard contractual clauses approved by the applicable regulatory body in each such jurisdiction

DATA RETENTION

We may retain your personal data as long as you continue to use the Websites, Platform and/or services, have an account with us and typically for seven years after the closure of your account with us, in order to enable us to deal with any issues or concerns you may have about the services or your account, and also to allow us to bring and defend legal proceedings, or for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined above. You can close your account by contacting us at the details below.

We may however retain personal data for an additional period as is permitted or required under applicable laws, for legal, contractual, tax or regulatory reasons, for legitimate and lawful business purposes and for our own internal audit and record keeping purposes.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose.   If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so. We will only use personal data for a purpose that is materially different than the purpose for which it was collected where your explicit consent to the new purpose has been provided. Such consent will be obtained prior to further processing under the different purpose.

Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, where this is required or permitted by law.

In some circumstances, some of your personal data will be deleted in much shorter timescales, for example:

  • marketing information is kept for:
    • where you are a prospective supplier, vendor, customer or client or other individual who may register to use the Platform, sign up on our Websites or receive associated services –3years from the date on which the information is collected by us; and
    • where you are an existing supplier, vendor, customer or client or other individual (including representatives or employees of suppliers, vendors, customers and/or clients) a period of 7 years from the end of our contractual relationship between you and us.
  • cookies are refreshed in accordance with our cookies policy which can be found at https://app.scientist.com/legal-notices.

QUESTIONS OR COMPLAINTS

You can direct any questions or complaints to us about the use or disclosure of personal data that relates to you by sending an email to us at privacy@scientist.com, or in writing to the address below (Our Global contact address).

We will investigate and attempt to resolve any complaints or disputes regarding the use or disclosure of personal data within forty-five (45) days of receiving a complaint. Where you are exercising one of your rights (as set out above) we will respond to your request within one (1) month of receipt.

Residents in the UK can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF www.ico.org.uk, which is Scientist.com’s lead supervisory authority for the purposes of data protection laws, or your local data protection authority.

If you are in the EEA, you can contact the Scientist EU Representative at privacy@scientist.com

OUR GLOBAL CONTACT ADDRESS

If you are based outside of the UK/EEA we encourage you to raise any concerns using the contact information provided below and we will investigate and attempt to resolve any complaints and disputes regarding use and disclosure of your personal data.

If a complaint or dispute cannot be resolved through our internal process, we agree to dispute resolution using BBB online as a third-party resolution provider (https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/). If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this Global Privacy Policy or about how your personal data is handled, please contact us through our website, or at privacy@scientist.com or write to us at:

Legal Department
Scientist.com
329 S. Highway 101
Suite 230, Solana Beach, CA 92075

CHANGES TO THIS GLOBAL PRIVACY POLICY

Please note that this Global Privacy Policy may change from time to time. We expect most changes to be minor. Regardless, we will post any policy changes on our website and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice (including, for certain services, email notification of changes). We may email periodic reminders of our notices and conditions, unless you have instructed us not to, but you should check our website frequently to review recent changes. Unless stated otherwise, our current Global Privacy Policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account. Each version of this Global Privacy Policy will be identified at the top of the page by its effective date.

The date of the last update will appear at the top of this Global Privacy Policy.