Introduction

This California Privacy Policy supplements the Hearing Care Solutions Privacy Policy and only applies to California residents (“consumers” or “you”). HCS has adopted this policy to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) and other California privacy laws. Any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this policy.

Your privacy matters to us, so please take time to read and understand this policy. By accessing or using www.hearingcaresolutions.com (our “Website”) or any of our services you agree to this policy. If you do not agree with this policy, you must not use our Website or our services.

This policy may change from time to time. By continuing to use this Website and Hearing Care Solutions services after we make changes to this policy, you accept such changes.

Please direct questions or comments about this privacy policy to recordsrequest@hearingcaresolutions.com.

Information We Collect

We collect “Personal Information,” which is information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or device. In the last 12 months, we have collected the following categories of Personal Information:

  • Identifiers

  • Categories of Personal Information described in subdivision (e) of Section 1798.80 of the California Civil Code

  • Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law

  • Commercial information, including records of products or services purchased, obtained or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies

  • Internet or other electronic network activity information

  • Geolocation data

  • Professional or employment-related information

  • Education information

Personal Information does not include:

  • Publicly available information from government records;

  • De-identified or aggregated consumer information;

  • Information excluded from the CCPA’s scope, like:

    • Protected Health Information covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) or clinical trial data; and

    • Other information collected by HCS as a Covered Entity under HIPAA to the extent HCS maintains patient information in the same manner as Protected Health Information covered by HIPAA.

We obtain Personal Information from the following categories of sources:

  • Directly and indirectly from your activity on our Website. For example, we collect information you provide to us through our Website’s interactive features or through e-mail or other electronic messages between you and our Website, and we automatically collect Website usage details.

  • Directly through your interactions (both electronic and otherwise) with Hearing Care Solutions employees.

  • Directly through services offered by us and/or our affiliates and providers.

California Privacy Policy

Use of Personal Information

We use the Personal Information you provide to us or that we collect about you:

  • To present our Website and its contents to you.

  • To provide you with information, products, or services that you request.

  • To fulfill any purpose for which you provide the information and in any other way as described when you provide the information.

  • To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts or transactions between you and us, including billing and collection.

  • To notify you about changes to our Website or the services we offer or provide through it.

  • For other purposes with your consent.

We may also use your information to contact you about our own and third parties’ goods and services that may interest you. You may opt-out of such communications if you do not want to receive them as outlined in our Privacy Policy.

Sharing Personal Information

Hearing Care Solutions (HCS) DOES NOT sell your Personal Information to anyone.

We may disclose aggregated user information and information that does not identify any individual without restriction. We may disclose Personal Information that you provide as described in this policy:

  • To our subsidiaries and affiliates.

  • 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 Hearing Care Solutions assets in which Personal Information held by HCS is among the assets transferred.

  • To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it.

  • For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.

  • With your consent.

  • To comply with a court order, law or legal process, including in response to a governmental or regulatory request.

  • To enforce our Terms of Use and other agreements.

  • If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property or safety of Hearing Care Solutions, our customers, or others.

Your CCPA Rights

The CCPA provides you with the following rights regarding your Personal Information:

Access to Specific Information

You may request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your Personal Information over the past 12 months. Once we receive and confirm your request, we will disclose to you the following information about the Personal Information we collected about you:

  • The categories of Personal Information we collected.

  • The categories of sources for the Personal Information we collected.

  • Our business or commercial purpose for collecting and/or, if applicable, selling that Personal Information.

  • The categories of third parties with whom we shared that Personal Information.

  • The specific pieces of Personal Information we collected.

  • If we disclosed or sold your Personal Information for a business purpose, we will notify you of:

    • The categories of Personal Information that we collected.

    • The categories of Personal Information that we sold and the categories of third parties to whom the Personal Information was sold, broken down by category or categories of Personal Information for each third party to whom the Personal Information was sold.

    • The categories of Personal Information that we disclosed for a business purpose.

Deletion of Personal Information

You may request that we delete any of your Personal Information. Once we receive and confirm your request, we will delete (and, if applicable, direct our affiliates and/or providers to delete) your Personal Information from our records, unless an exception applies.

We may deny your request if retaining your Personal Information is necessary for us and/or our affiliates and/or providers to:

  • Complete the transaction for which your Personal Information was collected, provide a good or service that you requested or that is reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our contract with you.

  • Detect security incidents; protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity; or prosecute those responsible for such activity.

  • Debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.

  • Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise his or her right of free speech, or exercise another right provided for by law.

  • Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act pursuant to Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 1546) of Title 12 of Part 2 of the Penal Code.

  • Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the deletion of such information is likely to make such research impossible or seriously impair it, if you have previously provided informed consent.

  • Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with us.

  • Comply with a legal obligation.

  • Otherwise use your Personal Information, internally, in a lawful manner that is compatible with the context in which you provided the information.

Exercising Access and Deletion Rights

To exercise the access and/or deletion rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request to us by:

Only you or a person registered with the California Secretary of State that you have authorized to act on your behalf may make a verifiable consumer request related to your Personal Information. You may also make a verifiable consumer request on behalf of your minor child.

You may only make a verifiable consumer request pursuant to your data access rights twice within a 12-month period. The request must:

  • Provide sufficient information to allow us to reasonably verify that you are the person about whom we collected Personal Information or an authorized representative of such person.

  • Describe your request with sufficient detail to allow us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

We can’t respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information if we can’t verify your identity and authority to make the request and confirm that the Personal Information relates to you or a person for whom you have authority to make the request. Making a verifiable consumer request does not require you to create an account with us. We will only use Personal Information provided in a verifiable consumer request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.

Response Timing and Format

We try to respond to verifiable consumer requests within 45 days of receipt. If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will let you know why and when you should expect a response in writing. We will deliver our response by mail or electronically, at your option. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period preceding receipt of your verifiable consumer request. Our response will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if any. For data access requests, we will send our disclosures in a format that is readily useable and, in general, easily sharable.

We will not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that your request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request

Non-discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless otherwise permitted by the CCPA, we will not:

  • Deny you goods or services.

  • Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.

  • Provide you with a different level or quality of goods or services.

  • Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

CCPA Consumer Request Form for California Residents

If you are a California resident and would like to submit a consumer request under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), please complete and submit the form below.

We’ll send a confirmation e-mail to the e-mail address you provide below. You must respond to our confirmation e-mail in order to successfully complete your request. If we require further information from you in order to verify or process your request, or we need clarification about the nature of your request, we’ll contact you at the e-mail you provided below.

This form is for California residents only. If you’re not a resident of California, please see our Privacy Policy for more information about your choices regarding the personal information we collect about you.