Version 1.1
Last Update: May 2022
This notice describes how Personal Data (defined below) about you may be used and disclosed and how you can obtain access to this information. Please review it carefully.
INTRODUCTION |
We at Akin Mental Health, Inc. (“we”, “us”, “the Company”, or “Akin”) value your privacy and are committed to keeping your personal data confidential. We use your data solely in the context of providing the Akin dashboard (the “Dashboard”) and the Akin website (the “Website”) (collectively, the “Platform”), including all relevant content and functionality associated with the Platform (collectively, the “Services”) for use by those with relationships with loved ones who struggle with severe mental illness (each, a “User”) to engage with similar users and participate in support groups, discover resources, and interact with members of the Akin team (each, a “Guide”).
Privacy Policy Applicability
This Privacy Policy applies to personal data that Akin collects from Users of the Akin Platform and the Services (“Personal Data”). The term “Personal Data” includes any information that can be used on its own or with other information in combination to identify or contact one of our users.
We believe that privacy and transparency about the use of your Personal Data are of utmost importance. Therefore, our privacy practices are intended to comply with relevant federal and state law related to the use and disclosure of Personal Data, where applicable. Additionally, in this Privacy Policy, we provide you detailed information about our collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of your Personal Data. The Privacy Policy explains what kind of information we collect, when and how we might use your Personal Data, how we protect Personal Data, and your rights regarding your Personal Data.
For additional information related to how we use and disclose your Personal Data, please contact us at hello@akinmh.com.
Note regarding third-party sites: Our Services contain links to other sites that are not operated by Akin. If you click a third-party link or engage with a Service facilitated by a third party, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the privacy policy(ies) of every site you visit. Akin has no control over and assumes no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services. This Privacy Policy does not apply to your use of or access to any third-party sites or services.
Agreement to Privacy Policy Terms
BY ACCESSING AND/OR USING THE SERVICES AND PLATFORM, YOU ARE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT YOU HAVE READ AND AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY CEASE USING THE SERVICES AND PLATFORM.
Privacy Policy Updates
Please note that we occasionally update this Privacy Policy, and it is your responsibility to stay up to date with any amended versions. We will notify you of any revisions to the Privacy Policy by posting a notice on the Website and/or the User login page(s) of the Dashboard, or by sending you an email. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will be effective immediately upon providing notice and will apply to all Personal Data that we maintain, use, and disclose. If you continue to use the Services and Platform following such notice, you are agreeing to those changes.
Account Deletion
If at any point you no longer agree to the use and disclosure of Personal Data, as described in this Privacy Policy, you can delete your user account on the Platform (“User Account”) by sending a deletion request to hello@akinmh.com with the following information:
Questions or Concerns
If you have any questions or concerns after reading this Privacy Policy, please do not hesitate to contact us at hello@akinmh.com. We appreciate your feedback.
COLLECTION AND USE OF PERSONAL DATA |
What Personal Data Does Akin Collect?
We collect four types of information from our Users: (i) demographic data; (ii) relationship and loved one data; (iii) User-generated content; (iv) support data; (v) payment data; and (vi) technology data. Each category of data is explained in depth below.
Demographic Data: Akin collects demographic data from Users, which may include, but not be limited to, your name, phone number, and e-mail address. The collection of this demographic data is primarily used to create your User Account, which you can use to securely receive the Services. You acknowledge that this demographic data may be personal to you or your loved one, and by creating a User Account and providing demographic data to Akin, you allow us and other third parties to identify you. Therefore, you may not be completely anonymous.
Relationship and Loved One Data: In addition to demographic information, we will collect information regarding your loved one suffering from severe mental illness, including, but not limited to, the nature and duration of your loved one’s symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment, the nature of your relationship to and with your loved one, and your stress levels. We collect this information to provide you with the Services. By providing relationship and loved one data to Akin, you represent that you have the right to share such information, which may include health data.
Support Data: If you contact us for support or to lodge a complaint, we may collect technical or other information from you through log files and other technologies, some of which may qualify as Personal Data (e.g., IP address). Such information will be used for the purposes of troubleshooting, customer support, software updates, and improvement of the Platform and related Services in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Technology Data: We use common information-gathering tools, such as log files, cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to automatically collect information, which may contain Personal Data from your computer or mobile device as you navigate our Platform or interact with emails or other communications we have sent you. The information we collect may include your IP address (or proxy server), location, browser type, Internet service provider and/or mobile carrier, the pages and files you viewed, your searches, your operating system and system configuration information, and date/time stamps associated with your usage. This information is used to analyze overall trends, help us provide and improve our Services, and ensure the proper functioning and security of the Platform and Services.
How Will Akin Use Your Personal Data?
Akin processes your Personal Data based on legitimate business interests, the fulfillment of our Services to you, compliance with our legal obligations, and/or your consent. We only use or disclose your Personal Data when it is legally mandated or where it is necessary to fulfill those purposes described in this Privacy Policy. Where required by law, we will ask for your prior consent before disclosing your Personal Data to a third party.
More specifically, Akin processes your Personal Data for the following legitimate business purposes:
Does Akin Use Personal Data for Analytics?
Akin uses third-party service providers to monitor and analyze the use of the Platform as part of our Services. The analytics services we use may include, but are not limited to: Facebook, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Hotjar, Mixpanel, Mailchimp, Intercom, and FullStory.
Where Is Personal Data Processed?
The Personal Data we collect through the Platform will be stored on secure servers in the United States. Personal Data may be transmitted to third parties, which parties may store or maintain the data on their secure servers.
With Whom Does Akin Share Personal Data?
We may share your personal information with the following categories of individuals/entities:
Business Partners and Vendors: We share Personal Data with a limited number of partners, service providers, and other persons/entities who help run our business (“Business Partners”). Specifically, we may employ third-party companies and individuals to facilitate our Services, provide Services on our behalf, perform Service-related functions, or assist us in analyzing how our Services are used. Our Business Partners are contractually bound to protect your Personal Data and to use it only for the limited purpose(s) for which it is shared. Business Partners’ use of Personal Data may include, but is not limited to, the provision of services such as data hosting, IT services, customer services, and payment processing.
Our Advisors: We may share your Personal Data with third parties that provide advisory services to Akin, including, but not limited to, our lawyers, auditors, accountants, and banks (collectively, “Advisors”). Personal Data will only be shared with Advisors if Akin has a legitimate business interest in the sharing of such data.
Third Parties Upon Your Direction or Consent: You may direct Akin to share your Personal Data with third parties. Upon your request and consent, we may share such Personal Data with those third parties that you identify.
Third Parties Pursuant to Business Transfers: In the event of a reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer, or other disposition of all or any portion of Akin’s corporate entity, assets, or stock (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings), we may share your Personal Data with a third party.
Government and Law Enforcement Authorities: If reasonable and necessary, we may share your Personal Data to (i) comply with legal processes or enforceable governmental requests, or as otherwise required by law; (ii) cooperate with third parties in investigating acts or omissions that violate this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Use; or (iii) bring legal action against someone who may be violating the Terms of Use or who may be causing intentional or unintentional injury or interference to the rights or property of Akin or any third party, including other users of our Services.
How Long Does Akin Retain Personal Data?
Akin retains your Personal Data only as long as necessary and as required for our business operations, the provision of Services, archival purposes, and/or to satisfy legal requirements. The exact period of retention will depend on: (i) the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the Personal Data; (ii) the personal risk of harm for unauthorized use or disclosure; (iii) the purposes for which we process your Personal Data, including whether those purposes can be achieved through other means; and (iv) business operations and legal requirements.
At the end of the applicable Retention Period, we will remove your Personal Data from our databases and will require that our Business Partners remove any identifiable Personal Data from their databases. If there is any data that we are unable to delete entirely from our systems for technical reasons, we will put in place appropriate measures to prevent any further processing of such data. Please note that once we disclose your Personal Data to third parties, we may not be able to access that Personal Data and we cannot force the deletion or modification of such information by third parties.
Akin and its Business Partners reserve the right to continue using de-identified, anonymous, and aggregated data indefinitely, even after Personal Data has been removed from Akin’s databases. We may continue to disclose this data to third parties in a manner that does not reveal personal information, as described in this Privacy Policy. Our continued use of this data will comport with applicable law.
What Happens to Personal Data Submitted by Minors?
Akin does not knowingly collect Personal Data from individuals under the age of 13. Additionally, our Services are not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We request that these individuals not provide Personal Data to us. If we learn that Personal Data from users under the age of 13 has been collected, we will deactivate the User Account associated with that data and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you are aware of a user under the age of 13 accessing the Services or Platform, please contact us at hello@akinmh.com.
If you are a resident of California under the age of 18 and have registered for a User Account with us, you may ask us to remove content or information that you have posted to our Platform.
USER RIGHTS |
What Rights Do Users Have Concerning Their Personal Data?
As a user of Akin’s Services and Platform, you may have certain rights relating to your Personal Data. These rights are subject to local data protection and privacy laws, and may include the right to:
Where the processing of your Personal Data by Akin is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. If you would like to withdraw your consent or exercise any of the above rights, please contact us at hello@akinmh.com.
How Can Users Update, Correct, or Delete Personal Data or Their User Account?
You have the right to request restrictions on uses and disclosures of your Personal Data. While we are not required to agree to all restriction requests, we will attempt to accommodate reasonable requests when appropriate.
If you need to make changes or corrections to your email address, contact information, or other information, you may contact us at hello@akinmh.com. In order to comply with certain requests to limit use of your Personal Data, we may need to terminate your ability to access and/or use some or all of the Services. BY REQUESTING TO LIMIT USE OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA OR DELETE PERSONAL DATA, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT AKIN WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CORRESPONDING LIMITATION IN THE SCOPE OF SERVICES OR TERMINATION OF SERVICES AS NECESSARY TO COMPLY WITH YOUR REQUEST.
You have the right to request deletion of any Personal Data from your User Account or the Akin Platform. To request deletion of your Personal Data, please email us at hello@akinmh.com and include a description of the Personal Data you would like removed. We will respond to all requests for data deletion as soon as reasonably possible.
Should you decide to delete your User Account entirely, you may do so through your User Account or by emailing hello@akinmh.com. By terminating your User Account, you agree that you will not be able to access any information previously contained in your User Account. You further understand that it may not be technologically possible to remove all of your Personal Data from our systems. While we will use reasonable efforts to remove your Personal Data, the need to back up our systems to protect information from inadvertent loss means a copy of your Personal Data may exist in a non-erasable form that will be difficult or impossible for us to locate or remove.
PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA |
Is Personal Data Secure?
Akin understands the importance of data confidentiality and security. We use a combination of reasonable physical, technical, and administrative security controls to: (i) maintain the security and integrity of your Personal Data; (ii) protect against any threats or hazards to the security or integrity of your Personal Data; and (iii) protect against unauthorized access to or use of such information in our possession or control that could result in substantial harm to you.
While Akin uses reasonable security controls, WE CANNOT GUARANTEE OR WARRANT THAT SUCH TECHNIQUES WILL PREVENT UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL DATA. AKIN IS UNABLE TO GUARANTEE THE SECURITY OR INTEGRITY OF PERSONAL DATA TRANSMITTED OVER THE INTERNET, AND THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT YOUR PERSONAL DATA WILL NOT BE ACCESSED, DISCLOSED, ALTERED, OR DESTROYED BY BREACH OF ANY OF OUR PHYSICAL, TECHNICAL, OR ADMINISTRATIVE SAFEGUARDS. ACCORDINGLY, WE DO NOT AND CANNOT ENSURE OR WARRANT THE SECURITY OR INTEGRITY OF ANY PERSONAL DATA YOU TRANSMIT TO US. YOU ASSUME THE RISK THAT UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY OR USE, HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE FAILURE, AND OTHER FACTORS MAY COMPROMISE THE SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA AT ANY TIME.
What Safeguards Does Akin Have in Place to Secure Personal Data?
Akin stores Personal Data on secured servers and uses a combination of technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect your personal information. Such safeguards include, but are not limited to, authentication, encryption, backups, and access controls.
How Can Users Protect Their Personal Data?
You are solely responsible for preventing unauthorized access to your User Account by protecting your account credentials. Akin has no access to or control over your device’s security settings, and it is your responsibility to implement any device-level security features and protections you feel are appropriate (e.g., password protection, encryption, remote wipe capability). We recommend that you take all appropriate steps to secure any device that you use to access our Services and Platform.
Please note that Akin will never send you an email requesting confidential information, such as account numbers, usernames, passwords, or Social Security Numbers. If you receive a suspicious email from Akin, please notify us at hello@akinmh.com.
Further, if you know of or suspect any unauthorized use or disclosure of your User Account information or any other security concern, please notify Akin immediately.
What If Akin Experiences a Data or Security Breach?
Akin takes the security of your Personal Data seriously. In the event of a data or security breach, Akin will take the following actions: (i) promptly investigate the security incident, validate the root cause, and, where applicable, remediate any vulnerabilities within Akin’s control which may have given rise to the security incident; (ii) comply with laws and regulations directly applicable to Akin in connection with such security incident; (iii) as applicable, cooperate with any affected Akin user or client in accordance with the terms of Akin’s contract with such user or client; and (iv) document and record actions taken by Akin in connection with the security incident and conduct a post-incident review of the circumstances related to the incident and actions/recommendations taken to prevent similar security incidents in the future. Akin will notify you of any data or security breaches as required by and in accordance with applicable law.
ADVERTISING, MARKETING, AND TRACKING |
Does Akin Send Marketing or Advertisement Materials?
Akin may use your Personal Data to contact you with newsletters, marketing, or promotion materials and other information that may be of interest to you. You may opt out of receiving any marketing or advertisement materials from Akin at any time by following the unsubscribe link or by contacting us at hello@akinmh.com.
Can Users Opt Out of Receiving Other Communications from Akin?
We may send communications, including emails, to you regarding your User Account and the Services or Platform. You can choose to filter any User Account, Services, and Platform emails using your email settings, but we do not provide an option for you to opt out of these communications.
What Is Akin’s Cookie Policy?
Cookies are small files that a web server sends to your computer or device when you visit a web application that uses cookies to keep track of your activity on that site. Cookies also exist within applications when a browser is needed to view or display certain content within the application. Cookies hold a small amount of data specific to a web application, which can later be used to help remember information you entered in the application (like your email or username), preferences selected, and movement within the application. We use cookies and other technologies to, among other things, better serve you with more tailored information, and to facilitate efficient and secure access to the Services.
Our cookies do not, by themselves, contain Personal Data. Further, we do not combine the general information collected through cookies with any other Personal Data to identify you. However, we do use cookies to identify that your web browser has accessed aspects of the Services and may associate that information with your User Account (if one exists).
Presently, Akin uses cookies for persisting user sessions and managing certain behaviors within the user experience such as toggling dashboard notifications. In addition, Akin may also collect information using pixel tags, web beacons, clear GIFs, or other similar technologies. This information may be used in connection with website pages and HTML formatted email messages to, among other things, track the actions of users and email recipients and compile statistics about usage and response rates.
How Can Users Opt Out of Cookies?
If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and reject cookies. If you enable a do not track signal or otherwise configure your browsers to prevent us from collecting cookies, you will need to reenter your login information each time you visit the login page. You may also be unable to take advantage of some of the Services.
Do Not Track Disclosure
Some web browsers may transmit do not track (“DNT”) signals to websites with which the user communicates. To date, there is no industry standard for DNT and users cannot know how a given company responds to a DNT signal they receive from browsers. Akin is committed to remaining apprised of DNT standards. However, Akin does not support DNT browser settings and does not currently participate in any DNT frameworks that would allow Akin to respond to signals or other mechanisms regarding the collection of your Personal Data.
CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS |
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) may apply to you. Please see the CCPA Attachment for an explanation of your rights.
Under California Civil Code sections 1798.83-1798.84, California residents are entitled to ask for and obtain from us an annual list identifying the categories of personal customer information which we shared, if any, with our affiliates and/or third parties in the preceding calendar year for marketing purposes. This list will be provided free of charge. Contact information for such affiliates and/or third parties must be included. If you are a California resident and would like a copy of this notice, please submit a written request to the following address:
CONTACT INFORMATION |
If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, the ways in which we collect, use, or disclose your Personal Data, or your rights regarding such collection, use, and disclosure, please contact us at hello@akinmh.com.