Privacy Policy

I. General Privacy Policy for App (iOS/Android)

We take your privacy seriously. The following describes how we collect and use information from you when you use and access our mobile application (App). By using or accessing the App in any manner, you acknowledge that you accept the practices and policies outlined in this Privacy Policy, and you consent to the collection, use, and sharing of your information as described herein.

A. Information

This Privacy Policy covers our treatment of personally identifiable information (PII) or Protected Health Information (PHI) that we may gather when you are accessing or using our App, but it does not apply to the practices of people that we don’t manage, or to information we may obtain from other sources (for example, information we already have on file by virtue of your being a participant in this study). We may gather various types of information from you, as explained in more detail below, and we use this information internally in connection with our App, including to personalize, provide, and improve our services; to allow you to set up a user account and profile; to contact you; to fulfill your requests for certain products (for instance, health monitoring devices) and services (such as, health assessments and wellness guidelines); and to analyze how you use our App. In certain cases, we may also share some PII or PHI with third parties, but only as described below.

B. Data About Minors

We do not knowingly collect or solicit any information from anyone under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do not attempt to register for our App or send us any information about yourself. If we learn that we have collected information from a child under age 13, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that a child under 13 may have provided PII or PHI by using this App, please email the MD Anderson Cancer Center representative.

C. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We are constantly trying to improve our App and are developing new studies, so we may need to change this Privacy Policy from time to time, but we will alert you to changes by placing a notice within our App. If you use our App after any changes to the Privacy Policy have been posted, your use of the App at that time means that you agree to all of the changes.

D. What Information Do We Collect?

Information You Provide to Us: We receive and store any information you provide to us through our App. For example, through the initial authentication process, we may collect PII, such as your email address. Certain information may be required to register for our App or to take advantage of some of its features. As this App is designed for one study, we detail below the information we collect for that App.

Information Collected Automatically: Whenever you interact with our App, we automatically receive information from your device or its built-in Web browser that is stored in our computer. This information may include your IP address or mobile service provider, geolocation data, device identification, the type of browser and/or device you are using to access our App, and the page or feature you requested.

We may use these data to customize content for you that we think you might like or would be relevant to you, based on your usage patterns. We may also use it to improve our App and/or maximize its benefits to you. For example, these data can tell us how often users use a particular feature of an App, and we can use that knowledge to make that App interesting to as many users as possible. Or, this data may tell us your location, so that we may provide you with certain notifications or information that is relevant to that location, including, for example, the air quality data that might impact your health.

E. Information Shared with Others

Agents: We employ other companies and people to perform tasks on our behalf and we may need to share your information with them to provide products or services to you; for example, we may use third party software to offer surveys and other services through our App (such as Apple ResearchKit and Fitbit devices). Unless we tell you differently, these companies and people do not have any right to use any information we share with them beyond what is necessary to assist us with our research.

Polls and Surveys: The App may offer you the ability to participate in polls and surveys. Your answers to related questions will not be shared in personally identifiable form with anyone, though we may use and disclose answers from the entire group without identifying individuals.

Protection of University of California, San Diego (UCSD), MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Others: We reserve the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information that we reasonably believe is necessary to comply with law or court order; enforce or apply our Terms of Use and other agreements; or protect the rights, property, or safety of UCSD and MD Anderson Cancer Center, our employees, our users, or others.

F. Opting Out

You can always opt not to disclose information to us, but keep in mind some information may be needed to register with us or to take advantage of some of our features.
You can also request us to delete your account(s) or remove you from individual studies by writing to the study contact for the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

II. Authorization for Use and Disclosure of Protected Health Information for the CYCORE Home Wellness Study

A. During the course of this study, the research team at the MD Anderson Cancer Center will be collecting information about you that they may share with the parties named in Section C below.

B. MD Anderson Cancer Center will take appropriate steps to keep your protected health information private when possible, and it will be protected according to state and federal law. However, there is no guarantee that your information will remain confidential, and it may be re-disclosed at some point. Federal agencies (such as the Office for Human Research Protections [OHRP – a regulatory agency that oversees research in humans]), The National Cancer Institutes, and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the MD Anderson Cancer Center might view or receive your record in order to collect data and/or meet legal, ethical, research, and safety-related obligations. In some situations, health authorities could be required to reveal the names of participants.

C. Your study information may be shared with the following parties:

  • The National Cancer Institutes (and/or any future sponsors of the study)
  • The University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
  • The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP)
  • The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of MD Anderson Cancer Center
  • Officials of MD Anderson Cancer Center
  • MD Anderson Cancer Center research staff acting as study monitors who verify the accuracy of the information
  • Individuals who put all the study information together in report form

D. UCSD will receive information from the App. However, no information that identifies you will be included with this information received by UCSD. The authentication for the App for this study uses a generic email address and an individual token given to you by study staff. The App does not require you to enter your personal email address.

E. There is no expiration date for the use of your information as stated in this authorization. You may withdraw your authorization to share your protected health information at any time. Instructions on how to do this can be found in the MD Anderson Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP). You may contact the MD Anderson Cancer Center IRB Staff at 713-792-2933 with questions about how to find the NPP.

If you withdraw your authorization, you will be removed from the study and the study chair and staff will no longer use or disclose your protected health information in connection with this study, unless the study chair or staff needs to use or disclose some of your research-related protected health information to preserve the scientific value of the study. Data collected about you up to the time you withdrew will be used and included in the data analysis. The parties listed in Section C above may use and disclose any study data that were collected before you canceled your authorization.