Application Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 23, 2020
Thank you for choosing to be part of our research study. We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about our policy, or our practices with regards to your personal information, please contact us at contact@covidsmelltracker.org
When you visit our and use our services, you trust us with your personal information. We take your privacy very seriously. In this privacy policy, we seek to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it and what rights you have in relation to it. We hope you take some time to read through it carefully, as it is important. If there are any terms in this privacy policy that you do not agree with, please discontinue use of our and our services.
This privacy policy applies to all information collected through our and/or any related services, sales, marketing or events (we refer to them collectively in this privacy policy as the "Services").
Please read this privacy policy carefully as it will help you make informed decisions about sharing your personal information with us.

1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

Personal information you disclose to us
In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us.
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us regarding your health, background, COVID status, as well as youe symptom severity. The primary purpose of this is to gain a better understanding of COVID-19 and the adverse effects it causes on our sense of smell and taste. Your data will be used to directly advance our education and knowledge of the impacts of COVID-19. Your email, which is not utilized within the study, is only used as your identifier and account gatekeeper for this application.
The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the , the choices you make and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect can include the following:
• Email and new password
• Year of birth
• Gender
• Sex
• Blood type
• Smoking status
• Pregnancy status
• Race
• Height/Weight
• General questions about your medical history and recent hospitalizations
• Ear, Nose, and Throat related medication use
• Timing and severity of your COVID symptoms
All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.

Information automatically collected
In Short: Only one piece of information – your geolocation- is automatically collected during your initial signup.
After registering your account, we store your geolocation to identify from which area of the world you are submitting your data. This information is primarily needed to build a geographic map of where people are suffering the most. After signup, your geolocation is not requested again throughout the remainder of your participation in the study.
ADDITIONALLY, WE DO NOT USE COOKIES OR TRACK ANY ACTIVITY BEYOND THE CONFINES OF THE APP.

2. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?
In Short: Your email and password will never be shared with anyone who is not directly maintaining the app. The remainder of your data will be can be shared with others directly related in the study.
We may process or share data based on the following legal basis:
 Consent: We may process your data if you have given us specific consent to use your personal information in a specific purpose.

 Legitimate Interests: We may process your data when it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate research interests.

 Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena (including in response to public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements).

 More specifically, we may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations:
 Vendors, Consultants and Other Third-Party Service Providers. We may share your data with third party vendors, service providers, contractors or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. Examples include: data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service and marketing efforts. We may allow selected third parties to use tracking technology on the app, which will enable them to collect data about how you interact with the over time. This information may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content and better understand online activity. Unless described in this Policy, we do not share, sell, rent or trade any of your information with third parties for their promotional purposes.

 Affiliates. We may share your information with our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this privacy policy. Affiliates include other institutions and their subsidiaries, joint partners or other companies that would like to collaborate on shared research goals.

3. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?
In Short: No. There are no cookies or tracking technologies used within this app. No behavior beyond the app is tracked.

4. IS YOUR INFORMATION TRANSFERRED INTERNATIONALLY?
In Short: We may transfer, store, and process your information in countries other than your own.
Our servers are located in the United States. If you are accessing our from outside, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed by us in our facilities and by those third parties with whom we may share your personal information (see "WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?" above), in and other countries.
If you are a resident in the European Economic Area, then these countries may not have data protection or other laws as comprehensive as those in your country. We will however take all necessary measures to protect your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy and applicable law.

5. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?
In Short: We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy unless otherwise required by law.
We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements). When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize it, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

6. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?
In Short: We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age.
We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the , you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent’s use of the . If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at contact@covidsmellapp.org

7. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In Short: You may terminate your account at any time.
If you are resident in the European Economic Area and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en.htm.

Account Information
If you would at any time like to unsubscribe from the study, you can go to your options tab and request to deactivate your account.
Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your email address and password from our active databases. This will effectively anonymize your identifier within our servers, preventing anyone from having further access to your account or information. However, the remainder of information you previously provided us, including your location data, may be retained in our database to be utilized in multiple research studies that arise from the compiled data acquired from all the research participants. That being said, this application was created purely for research purposes. Your data will never be sold to third parties for marketing or promotional purposes.

8. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In Short: Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.
California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below. However, as we repeat again: WE DO NOT, OR WILL NOT, SHARE YOUR INFORMATION TO OTHERS FOR MARKETING PURPOSES.
If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the , you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the . To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the , but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from our systems.

12. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS POLICY?
In Short: Yes, we will update this policy as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Revised” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy policy frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.

13. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS POLICY?
If you have questions or comments about this policy, you may email us at contact@covidsmelltracker.org
HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?
Based on the laws of some countries, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it in some circumstances. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please submit a request to us at contact@covidsmelltracker.org, or deactivate your account within the app. This will effectively anonymize your information.