Hello Alpha Privacy Policy

1. Information You Provide To Us. We collect the following types of information:

• We may collect Personal Data from you, such as your first and last name, gender, e-mail and mailing addresses, professional title, company name, and password when you create an account to log in to our network (“Account”).
• We collect information in connection with your Consultations. If you order a Consultation on the Alpha Platform, we will collect all information listed in an online intake form necessary to complete the transaction and any other information you communicate to your Provider. This information includes, but is not limited to, your first and last name, your address, including city, state and zip code, and your phone number. We may also associate your phone number to your mobile device identification information, your family and emergency medical contact information, insurance or other payor information, payment information such as a credit card, a valid government issued photo ID, as well as your preferred name and pronouns.
• If you are a parent/guardian seeking care for a child or ward, we will ask you for relevant information about them. Please see our Terms of Use and our Consent to Telehealth for information on how our Providers treat minors. Once you, as a parent/guardian consents and provides information about your child, we treat the child’s information with the same care as all other information collected.
• We collect information you provide to your Provider via the Alpha Platform regarding your physical, mental or other health conditions. This includes any files and messages that you store using your Account. Additional information regarding our use and disclosure of individual user protected health information is contained in the Informed Consent to Telehealth that you must agree to in requesting a consult.
• If you use our Platform on your mobile device, including through our Website, we may collect your phone number and the unique device id number.
• If you tell us where you are (e.g., by allowing your mobile device to send us your location), we may store and use that information to provide you with location-based information and advertising. If you want to deactivate this feature, you can either reinstall the Alpha App or deactivate GPS on your mobile device. Your location is important to us, however,  because it allows us to connect you with a Provider who is appropriately licensed where you are located, so all of our intake forms will collect your current location as you report it to us, and we will rely on your representation of your location as accurate.  
• Our mobile homepage lets you store preferences like your location, safe search settings, and favorite widgets. We may associate these choices with your Account or the mobile device, and you can edit these preferences at any time on our mobile homepage.
• When connecting to our Platform via a service provider that uniquely identifies your mobile device, we may receive this identification and use it to offer extended services and/or functionality.
• The Alpha Platform may require our collection of your phone number. We may associate that phone number to your mobile device identification information.
• If you order a Consultation on our Platform, we will collect all information necessary to complete the transaction, including your name, credit card information, and billing information.
• If you bill for Consultations via our Platform, we will collect all information necessary to facilitate payment, including your bank account information.
• We retain information on your behalf, such as files and messages that you store using your Account.
• If you provide us feedback or contact us via email, we will collect your name and email address, as well as any other content included in the email, in order to send you a reply.
• Other information about you provided by us, by you, or other users of the Platform.

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2. Collection and Use of Information via Technology

• Information Collected by Our Servers. To make our Alpha Platform and Services more useful to you, our servers (which may be hosted by a third party service provider) collect information from you, including your browser type, operating system, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address (a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you use the Internet, which may vary from session to session), domain name, and/or a date/time stamp for your visit.
• Log Files. As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This includes information related to your navigation on the Alpha Platform or app and interaction with the Alpha Platform. It may include how you access the Alpha Platform, where and how many times you click, which pages you visit, when, how and how often you access the Alpha Platform, error logs, and similar information.  This information includes IP addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (“ISP”), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data. We use this information to analyze trends, administer the Platform, track Users’ movements around the Platform, gather demographic information about our User base as a whole, understand how our outside ads are performing, and better tailor our Platform to our Users’ needs. For example, some of the information may be collected so that when you visit the Platform again, it will recognize you and the information could then be used to serve advertisements and other information appropriate to your interests. 
• Cookies/Tags, etc.  We may use and place on your computer or mobile device cookies, tags and similar software to remember you, to analyze how you use the Alpha Platform or app, to enhance performance and functionality, or to enable us to show you relevant information such as TrustPilot reviews.  “Cookies” are small pieces of information that a website sends to your computer’s hard drive while you are viewing the website. We may use both session Cookies (which expire once you close your web browser) and persistent Cookies (which stay on your computer until you delete them) to provide you with a more personal and interactive experience on our Platform. This type of information is collected to make the Platform more useful to you and to tailor the experience with us to meet your special interests and needs.
• Device Information: information about the computer or mobile device that you use to access our Alpha Platform. This could include device attributes like the IP address, operating system, browser type, or app version, device IDs, and other identifiers associated with your device.
• Location.  As noted above, we collect IP address information which may be indicative of your general region.  In addition, if you have location services enabled in your mobile device, we may also request access to your location via your mobile device.  If you want to deactivate this feature, you can turn off location settings in your mobile device menu or deactivate GPS on your mobile device. 
• Pixel Tags. In addition, we use “Pixel Tags” (also referred to as clear gifs, Web beacons, or Web bugs). Pixel Tags are tiny graphic images with a unique identifier, similar in function to Cookies, that are used to track online movements of users. In contrast to Cookies, which are stored on a user’s computer hard drive, Pixel Tags are embedded invisibly in Web pages. 
• Analytics. We use Analytics to help analyze how users use the Alpha Platform. Our Analytics service may use Cookies, pixels or tags to collect information such as how often users visit the Alpha Platform, what pages they visit on our website, what content on our website the user interacts with, and the link or ad that led the user to our website. We use the information we get from Analytics to improve our Alpha Platform, our marketing of our Alpha Platform, and our services to you.  
• In all of the above instances, we are sensitive to the importance of privacy, and so we have contracted with analytics providers who agree by contract to certain terms required by laws such as HIPAA. In addition, we are aware of federal regulatory guidance directing HIPAA entities not to place digital tracking technologies on any pages that could potentially collect protected health information or to ensure such technologies are configured not to share individually identifying information if doing so could disclose PHI unless an appropriate agreement is in place. Accordingly, we have worked to configure our analytics practices to ensure compliance with this regulatory guidance and limit sharing accordingly.

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Limitations on Use by Minors

Our Service is generally intended for use by individuals who are at least eighteen (18) years of age or such older age as may be required by applicable state laws in the jurisdiction in which an individual utilizes the Service. Individuals who are between the ages of thirteen (13) and eighteen (18) (or such older age of majority) may use the Service for the purpose of obtaining a medical consultation if a parent or legal guardian provides consent to such use in accordance with applicable law.    The Service is not designed or intended to attract, and is not directed to, children under thirteen (13) years of age. If we obtain actual knowledge that we have collected personal information through the Platform from a person under thirteen (13) years of age without parental consent, we will use reasonable efforts to refrain from further using such personal information or maintaining it in retrievable form.

Furthermore, if you are under sixteen (16) years of age, then you (or your parent or legal guardian if you are under age 13) may at any time request that we remove content or information about you that is posted on the Platform. Please submit any such request ("Request for Removal of Minor Information") to either of the following:

• By mail: Alpha, Attn: Removal of Minor Information, 555 Bryant Street, Suite 814, Palo Alto, CA 94301-1704. If you send by mail, please send by U.S. Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested to allow for confirmation of mailing, delivery and tracking.
• By email: contact@alpha.com, with a subject line of "Removal of Minor Information"

For each Request, please clearly state the following in the body of the request:

• The nature of your request
• The identity of the content or information to be removed
• The location of the content or information on the Platform (e.g. by providing the URL)
• That the request is related to the "Removal of Minor Information"
• Your name, street address, city, state, zip code and email address, and whether you prefer to receive a response to your request by mail or email.

We will not accept any Request for Removal of Minor Information via telephone or facsimile. Alpha is not responsible for failing to comply with any Request for Removal of Minor Information that is incomplete, incorrectly labeled or incorrectly sent.

Please note that we are not required to erase or otherwise delete, or enable erasure or deletion of such information when an international, federal, state, or local law, rule or regulation requires Alpha to maintain the content or information; when Alpha maintains the content or information on behalf of your Providers (as defined in our Terms of Use) as part of your electronic medical record; when the content or information is stored on or posted to the Platform by a third party other than you (including any content or information posted by you that was stored, republished or reposted by the third party); when Alpha anonymizes the content or information, so that you cannot be individually identified; when you do not follow the aforementioned instructions for requesting the removal of the content or information; and/or when you have received compensation or other consideration for providing the content or information.

The foregoing is a description of Alpha's voluntary practices concerning the collection of personal information through the Service from certain minors, and is not an admission that Alpha is subject to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, the Federal Trade Commission's Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule(s), or any similar international, federal, state, or local laws, rules, or regulations.

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How we use your information

General Use. In general, information you submit to us is used either to respond to requests that you make, or to aid us in serving you better. We use your Personal Data in the following ways:

• facilitate the creation of and secure your Account on the Alpha Platform;
• identify you as a user on the Alpha Platform;
• provide improved administration of the Alpha Platform;
• provide the Consultation you request or provide;
• ensure appropriate payment for our Services;
• provide your information to your Provider who may communicate it to third parties such as the Pharmacy you choose to fill a prescription, or to a medical device manufacturer, such as to a Continuous Glucose Monitoring platform, as applicable; 
• improve the quality of experience when you interact with the Alpha Platform;
• send you a welcome email to verify ownership of the e-mail address provided when your Account was created;
• send you administrative e-mail notifications and in-app notifications,, such as security or support and maintenance advisories; 
• If you have checked the box to receive SMS notifications, we will send you an SMS/text message to let you know that a secure message is pending in your Account on the Platform; and 
• send newsletters, surveys, offers, and other promotional materials related to the Alpha Platform and for other marketing purposes of Alpha or the Providers.
• user Testimonials and Feedback. We often receive testimonials and comments from users who have had positive experiences with our Alpha Platform. We occasionally publish such content. When we publish this content, we would only post your first and last name, home city, and testimonial with your prior consent. If you affirmatively post a review on TrustPilot, TrustPilot allows us to feature your review on our Website at www.helloalpha.com — in such instances, the posting is covered by TrustPilot’s terms to which you agreed in completing your post.  We may also post feedback on the Alpha Platform from time to time. We will share your feedback with your first name and last initial only. If we choose to post your first and last name along with your feedback, we would obtain your consent prior to posting your name with your feedback. If you make any comments on a blog or forum associated with your Alpha Platform, you should be aware that any Personal Data you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other users of these forums, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in these blogs and forums.
• Creation of Anonymous Data. We may create Anonymous Data records from Personal Data by excluding information (such as your name) that makes the data personally identifiable to you. We use this Anonymous Data to analyze request and usage patterns so that we may enhance the content of our Alpha Platform and improve Alpha Platform navigation. We reserve the right to use Anonymous Data for any purpose and disclose Anonymous Data to third parties in our sole discretion.

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How we share your information

First and foremost, please know that we do not sell your personal information. 

If you engage in a Consultation using the Alpha Platform, Alpha will share your relevant Personal Data with the Provider to facilitate the direct communication between you and the Provider. By using the Alpha Platform, you consent to disclosure of your Personal Data to the Provider and to communication by the Provider to third parties such as Pharmacies and/or other healthcare providers treating you. 

In addition, we share certain categories of information we collect from you in the ways described in this Privacy Policy, including as described below:

• Third Parties Designated by You. When you use the Alpha Platform, the Personal Data you provide will be shared with the third parties that you designate to receive such information, including other websites, your friends, relatives and business associates.
• Third Party Service Providers. We share your information (including Personal Data) with our business partners who assist us by performing services (such as hosting, billing, fulfillment, or data storage and security) related to our operation of the Alpha Platform and/or by making certain Interactive Tools available to our users. Those business partners shall be bound to uphold the same standards of security and confidentiality that we have promised to you in this Privacy Policy, and they will only use your contact data and other Personal Data to carry out their specific business obligations to Alpha.
• Affiliates. We may transfer information about you to a parent company, any subsidiaries, joint ventures or other companies under common control (collectively, “Affiliates”), in the event we have such Affiliates in the future, in which case we will require our Affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy.
• Corporate Restructuring. We may transfer information about you to another company in connection with a merger, sale or acquisition by or of Alpha, in which case such company may continue to use your information as set forth in this Privacy Policy.
• Authorization to disclose PHI. By clicking the box on our contact information screen next to “Text me shipping updates and other notifications related to my medical care.  Standard messaging and data rates may apply,” you are expressly consenting to receive SMS message and authorizing the release of your email address and/or mobile device number (which are considered to be Protected Health Information or “PHI”) by Alpha to Alpha partners who send text messages and emails on Alpha’s behalf. For example, Alpha might use a third party to send email notices that your medications have been shipped, or you might receive an email or text asking you to rate my experience with Alpha. You understand that Alpha will not disclose your PHI for any other reasons, and will not sell your PHI. You understand that you do not have to check this box to use Alpha or receive care from Alpha healthcare providers. You understand that this authorization will not expire unless you revoke it by updating your profile settings or emailing Alpha at privacy@helloalpha.com. You can revoke this authorization at any time, but if Alpha has already relied on your authorization, any action already taken cannot be undone.
• Employer Reporting.  If you receive access to the Alpha Platform via your employer, we may report certain information back to your Employer or Health Plan regarding your usage of the Service to facilitate payment or to establish cost savings based on your usage of the Alpha Platform. 
• Other Disclosures. Regardless of any choices you make regarding your Personal Data (as described below), Alpha may disclose Personal Data if it believes in good faith that such disclosure is necessary (a) in connection with any legal investigation; (b) to comply with relevant laws or to respond to subpoenas or warrants served on Alpha; (c) to protect or defend the rights or property of Alpha or users of the Alpha Platform or Alpha Platform; and/or (d) to investigate or assist in preventing any violation or potential violation of the law, this Privacy Policy, or our Terms of Use. 

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How Providers use your information

This Privacy Policy addresses our use and disclosure of information we collect from and/or about users on the Platform. Information made available through the Platform between individuals and Providers is required to be maintained and used by such Providers in accordance with all applicable laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and related statutes and regulations (collectively, “HIPAA”).

The Medical Practice and Providers have adopted a Notice of Privacy Practices that describes how they use and disclose Protected Information. By accessing or using any part of the Service, you are acknowledging receipt of the Notice of Privacy Practices from your Medical Practice and Provider(s).

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Credit Card Information

Alpha does not store your credit card information.  When you conduct a transaction on our Platform such as the purchase of a Consultation, you will be asked to supply your credit card number and expiration date, your billing address, your shipping address, your phone number and/or your email address. By submitting this information, you grant Alpha without charge the irrevocable and perpetual right to provide such information to third parties (e.g., payment processors) for the purpose of facilitating the transaction.

All credit card, debit card and other monetary transactions on or through the Service occur through an online payment processing application provided by Alpha’s third-party online payment processing vendor, Recurly. Recurly may store your credit card information for future use on the Alpha Platform, but Alpha does not have access to your full credit card number. Recurly is required to keep your credit card information secure. Additional information about Recurly, its privacy policy and its information security measures is on the Recurly website. Reference is made to the Stripe Policies for information only and not incorporated into or made a part of this Privacy Policy. Alpha assumes no responsibility or liability for unauthorized disclosures of your credit card information due to transmission errors, unauthorized third party access or other reasons beyond Alpha's direct control.

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Protected Health Information

Additional terms regarding our use and disclosure of individual user protected health information is contained in the Consent to Telehealth.

Security; Confidentiality of Information

We will take reasonable steps to protect your Personal Data from unauthorized access, disclosure or alteration. However, please be aware that no data transmission over the Internet or data storage facility can be guaranteed to be perfectly secure. As a result, while we try to protect your Personal Data, we cannot ensure or guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. You must promptly notify us if your contact data is lost, stolen, used without permission or otherwise compromised. In such an event, we will remove that contact data from your Account and update our records.

Except as otherwise outlined in this Privacy Policy, we will keep your Personal Data private and will not share it with third parties, unless we believe in good faith that disclosure of your Personal Data or any other information we collect about you is necessary to: (1) comply with a court order or other legal process; (2) protect the rights, property or safety of Alpha or another party; (3) enforce our Terms of Service; or (4) respond to claims that any posting or other content violates the rights of third-parties.

Email and text messages that Alpha may send you may include Personal Data and such messages are not encrypted. This means that when the messages are sent over a network, someone without your permission may be able to read them. While such interception of messages is illegal, it is possible. Alpha will use commercially reasonable efforts to prevent this from happening. In addition, once a text or email message has been sent to your mobile device or computer, it is your responsibility to keep the personal identifying information contained in such a message safe and secure. By using the Alpha Platform, you agree that you understand and accept the risks detailed herein.

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Public Information

Any information that you may reveal in an account page, profile or other posting or other online forum is open to the public and is not in any way private. You should think carefully before disclosing any Personal Data in any public forum. What you have written may be seen and/or collected by third parties and may be used by others in ways we are unable to control or predict.

Controlling Your Personal Data.

You have several choices regarding the use of your information on our Alpha Platform.

1. Email Communications. We will periodically send you free newsletters and emails that directly promote the use of our Alpha Platform or Alpha Platform. When you receive newsletters or promotional communications from us, you may indicate a preference to stop receiving further communications from us and you will have the opportunity to 'opt-out' by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in the email you receive or by contacting us directly (please see contact information below). Despite your indicated email preferences, we may send you service related communications, including notices of any updates to our Terms of Use or Privacy Policy.
2. Cookies. If you decide at any time that you no longer wish to accept Cookies from our Alpha Platform for any of the purposes described above, then you can instruct your browser, by changing its settings, to stop accepting Cookies or to prompt you before accepting a Cookie from the websites you visit. Consult your browser’s technical information. You may also decline cookies using the pop-up on our home page upon your first visit.  If you do not accept Cookies, however, you may not be able to use all portions of the Alpha Platform or all functionality of the Alpha Platform. If you have any questions about how to disable or modify Cookies, please let us know at the contact information provided below.
3. Changing or Deleting your Personal Data. You can modify some of the Personal Data you have included in your profile or change your username by logging in and accessing your Account. Upon your request, Alpha will use commercially reasonable efforts to delete your Account and the Personal Data in your profile; however, it may be impossible to remove your Account without some residual information being retained by Alpha in our archives. In addition, we may be required (by law or otherwise) to keep your Personal Data and not delete it (or to keep this information for a certain time, in which case we will comply with your deletion request only after we have fulfilled such requirements). After we delete Personal Data, we will retain anonymous (de-identified) information and will continue to use such information as permitted under this Privacy Policy. Once we disclose some of your Personal Data to third parties, we cannot access that Personal Data any longer and cannot force the deletion or modification of any such information by the parties to whom we have made those disclosures (including Providers). Users who wish to close their account should email: contact@helloalpha.com.
4. Applications. You can stop all collection of information by the Application by uninstalling the Application. You may use the standard uninstall processes as may be available as part of your mobile device or via the mobile application marketplace or network.

Your Washington State Privacy Rights

The Washington My Health My Data Act applies to personal data defined as “consumer health data.” This Act excludes protected health information (PHI) governed by HIPAA, medical records governed by Washington health care laws, and information that is intermingled with and treated indistinguishably from PHI or medical records, as well as information that has been deidentified.  

For details about the precise data points we collect and the categories of sources of such collection, please see the Information we collect section above. We collect personal information for the business and commercial purposes described in the Use of Information section above, as a business associate of Alpha Telemedicine, PC and its affiliated entities. Hello Alpha does not separately collect any consumer health data. Accordingly, the Washington My Health My Data Act does not apply to PHI shared with and used by Alpha.

Links to Other Websites

The Alpha Platform may contain links to unaffiliated third party websites or mobile websites. Except as set forth herein, we do not share your Personal Data with them. In all cases, Alpha has no control over and is not responsible for their privacy practices. We suggest that you read the privacy policies on all such third party websites. Additionally, we cannot guarantee the quality or accuracy of information presented on non-Alpha websites.

Updates and Changes to Privacy Policy

We reserve the right, at any time, to add to, change, update, or modify this Privacy Policy. If we make any changes, we will post the amended Privacy Policy on the Alpha Platform and we may also notify you in other ways. In all cases, continued use of our Alpha Platform following notice of such changes will indicate your acknowledgement of such changes and agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of such changes.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at contact@helloalpha.com, call us at (415) 663-5584, or send us a note at:

Alpha

555 Bryant Street, #814

Palo Alto, CA 94301-1704

Attn: Privacy Officer

ACCEPTANCE OF POLICY: BY USING THE ALPHA PLATFORM AND SERVICES YOU HEREBY ACCEPT THE PRACTICES AND POLICIES OUTLINED IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY, AND YOU HEREBY CONSENT TO THE COLLECTION AND USE, OF YOUR INFORMATION AS PROVIDED HEREIN. IF YOU ARE REGISTERING AN ACCOUNT OR USING THE ALPHA PLATFORM AND SERVICES ON BEHALF OF AN INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY OTHER THAN YOURSELF, YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU ARE LEGALLY AUTHORIZED BY SUCH INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY TO ACCEPT THIS PRIVACY POLICY ON SUCH INDIVIDUAL'S OR ENTITY'S BEHALF.

Last update 06/27/2024