Last Updated: 11th August, 2020
BGI PRIVACY POLICY
BGI Genomics Co., Ltd., a publicly listed company incorporated under the laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China (“China”), and its affiliated companies (hereinafter referred to as “BGI” or “we“) is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy and is the data controller for your Personal Information under this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, process, disclose, transfer, and store your Personal Information when you use our websites, mobile applications, and/or our genetic testing and sequencing services(collectively the “Services”). Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand how we treat your Personal Information and/or Genetic Data that we may obtain in the course of providing our Services.
This Privacy Policy will help you understand the following:
1) Definition
“Affiliated Company” refers to a company that is related to BGI due to joint ownership or control.
“Third Party”refers to a company or person who does not have a related relationship arising out of joint ownership or control with BGI (i.e., a non-affiliated company) or other non-related person, or the Customer who engage the Services from BGI (i.e., Clinician, Hospital, Health Professional, Healthcare Service Provider, University, Research Institution, Pharmaceutical Companies).
“Genetic Data” refers to personal data relating to the inherited or acquired genetic characteristics of a natural person which give unique information about the physiology or the health of that natural person and which result, in particular, from an analysis of a biological sample from the natural person in question.
“Personal Information” refers to any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person(“Personal Data Subject”), including Genetic Data. An identifiable natural person is one who can be identified directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location information, an online identifier or one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.
“Sensitive Personal Information” refers to any Personal Data that the leakage, disclosure, or abuse of which could easily endanger personal and property safety, and easily lead to the harm of one’s personal reputation and mental and physical health, or lead to discriminatory treatment.
2) What and How We Collect Your Personal Information
The Personal Information can be collected by BGI directly from the Personal Data Subject or from a Third Party with the consent of the Personal Data Subject or where permitted by law.
BGI is responsible for the processing and treatment of Personal Information of you regarding to the Services entrusted to BGI. For the information which may constitute sensitive Personal Information in certain jurisdictions and regions,relevant terms and articles would be marked in bold for your special attention..
The Personal Information collected by BGI can include but is not limited to:
2.1) Information You Directly Provide to Us
Certain Personal Information concerning you including Genetic Data are collected directly from you by BGI.
BGI might collect the Personal Information in the following circumstances:
The information above may be necessary for the adequate performance of the contract or purchase order between you and BGI and to allow us to comply with our legal obligations. Without it, we may not be able to provide you with relevant requested Services.
2.2) Information We Collect from Third Parties
To enable us to provide better Services to you, where permitted by applicable laws, we may collect your Personal Information indirectly from a Third Party.
We will put efforts to ensure the legitimacy of source of your Personal Information. However, please note that we do not control, supervise or respond for how the Third Party processes your Personal Information. Any request regarding the disclosure of your Personal Information to us should be directed to such Third Party.
2.3) Information We Automatically Collect from You with Cookies and Similar Technologies
A Cookie is a plain text file that is stored on computers or mobile devices by web servers. The contents of Cookies can only be retrieved or read by its creating server. Every Cookie is unique to your web browser or mobile application. A Cookie usually includes identifier, site name and some numbers and characters. Using Cookies, a website can store data of user preferences or products in shopping basket, etc.
To ensure that our website is working normally and to personalize and customize your experience, we will use Cookies or similar tracking technologies, such as web beacons, pixels, and mobile identifiers to analyse trends, operate our website, track users’ movements around the websites, and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We will not use Cookies for any purpose other than those stated in this Privacy Policy.
As true of most websites, our website gathers certain information automatically. This information may include Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, the files viewed on our website (e.g., HTML pages, graphics, etc.), operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data to analyse trends in the aggregate and administer the site.
You may manage or delete Cookies based on your preferences. You can clear all Cookies on your computer and most web browsers have Do Not Track function. If Do Not Track is enabled on your browser, all of our websites will respect your choice.
If you want to know more about how to change browser settings, please click the following links for popular browser software: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari for macOS and Safari for iOS.
BGI does use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics does make use of cookies in order to facilitate analysis of how users use the Site and to track Site traffic. This data does not identify individual users and BGI is not able to use this data to individually identify any user of the site. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. However, please note that should you refuse the use of cookies, you may not be able to use certain features otherwise available on the Site.
BGI does use HubSpot to record and store customer information when it has been voluntarily submitted to us through a form on our website or obtained through other legitimate means. HubSpot may also be used to contact customers for marketing or commercial purposes where consent has been given or where local laws allow.
3) How We Use Your Personal Information
We collect your Personal Information so that we can:
3.1) Use Upon Your Consent
We may process your Personal Information for the purposes as follows with your consent.
We will acquire your consent in advance when the information is to be used for a purpose that is not specified in this Privacy Policy. We will acquire your consent in advance when the information collected for a specific purpose is to be used for other purposes.
3.2) Use Without Your Consent
In accordance with applicable laws, BGI may process your Personal Information for the one of the following purposes without your consent:
4) How Long We Keep Your Personal Information
BGI will retain the Personal Data for no longer than it is necessary for the purposes as long as needed to provide the Services requested from BGI or requested by applicable laws and regulations. Beyond the above retention period, we will delete or anonymize your Personal Information.
5) How We Share and Disclose Your Personal Information
Within BGI, the Personal Information collected are only accessible to the members of BGI who, within the scope of their specific tasks, are responsible for it and whose access to these data is expressly required for the performance of their tasks.
BGI may also share the Personal Information collected with its affiliated companies, trusted third parties, suppliers and sub-contractors through which you have ordered one of our services and consented to receive your Personal Information, as well as the Insurance Company if their intervention is required.
We will never share or disclose your Personal Information without obtaining your consent unless when:
6) How Your Personal Information is Transferred
Subject to applicable local legal requirements, your Personal Information may be transferred, stored and processed outside of the country where you live or have ordered our Services from, including to our subsidiaries, affiliated companies and service providers located in other jurisdictions, and may become subject to the laws of such jurisdictions. The primary location of where your Personal Information will be stored or processed for the Services you have ordered from BGI will be stated in the governing contract and/or the test request form.
We only provide your Personal Information to our subsidiaries, affiliated companies and services providers where it is necessary to meet the purpose for which you have submitted your Personal Information and in particular if necessary for the provision of services and support. We take steps to ensure that BGI companies follow our data protection policy, this privacy notice and applicable local law when handling Personal Information and that service providers put in place adequate safeguards to protect the Personal Information entrusted to them, as outlined below.
6.1) Transfer outside of EU
For Personal Information of Personal Data Subjects who are in EU: BGI will implement appropriate measures to ensure that Personal Information remain protected and secure when transferred outside EU, in accordance with applicable data protection and privacy laws, such as:
In the absence of the above appropriate safeguards, we will ask you for your explicit consent for cross-border transmission of your Personal Information. In the meantime, security measures such as encryption or de-identification will be adopted for the safety of your Personal Information.
7) How We Protect Your Personal Information
BGI uses a variety of security measures and technologies to help protect Personal Information from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, alteration or destruction with applicable data protection and privacy laws.
Amongst others, when BGI shares the Personal Information of a Personal Data Subject with external suppliers/subcontractors or services providers, BGI may put in place a written agreement which commits the suppliers/sub-contractors or services providers to keep these Personal Information confidential and put in place appropriate security measures to keep this information secure.
Some of the safeguards we use to protect your information are firewalls, data encryption, and access controls. The administrative measures we use include establishment of department and designation of person responsible for protection of Personal Information, conducting self-evaluation on security of Personal Information, organization of training on relevant staff, etc.
In case of Personal Information security incident, we will in a timely manner according to laws and regulations inform you about the basic conditions and possible influence of security incident, response measures that are already taken or to be taken by us, suggestions for you regarding precautions and risk control, corrective measures for you, etc. To the extent permitted by law, we will inform you about relevant situations of the incident in a timely manner via email, fax, telephone or push notification, or any other means of communication we deem appropriate. When it is difficult to notify every Personal Data Subject individually, we will properly and effectively issue a public announcement.
8) Your Rights
We respect your legal rights with regards to your Personal Information. Below are the rights you may exercise before us by sending an email to BGI_INTL_GDPR@bgi.com. Please note that for the sake of security, we may ask you to verify your identity before further processing your request.
However, please note that BGI is contractually obliged to retain certain information as necessary for our legitimate business interests, to comply with our legal interest, or in accordance with legislation.
9) How We Process Children’s Personal Information
Although the definition of children varies according to laws and customs in different jurisdictions, we treat anyone under 16 years old (or equivalent minimum age in relevant jurisdiction) as a child.
We will only collect and process Children’s Person Information after we have obtained explicit consent of their guardian. When we find that a child’s Personal Information is collected without explicit consent of his or her guardian, we will delete the relevant data as soon as possible
10) How This Privacy Policy is Updated
BGI reserves the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time in accordance with this provision. The circumstances where we may change our Privacy Policy include but not limited to: there is major change of our service mode, e.g. purpose of processing Personal Information, type of processed Personal Information, usage mode of Personal Information; major change in terms of our ownership structure, organization structure, e.g. change of owners due to business adjustment, bankruptcy, merging, etc.; change of main object to which the Personal Information is publicly disclosed, shared, or transferred; change of your rights involved in Personal Information processing and their exercises; change of our responsible department, contacts and complaint channels for security of Personal Information; when there is high risk according to the Personal Information impact assessment report, etc.
If we make major changes to this Privacy Policy, we will post the revised Privacy Policy on our website and update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy.
11) Contact Us
For any privacy concern, you may, at any time, contact BGI through BGI_INTL_GDPR@bgi.com and generally you will get our reply in thirty (30) working days or such shorter period as provided by law.
These Terms of Use describe rules for visitors to www.bgi.com (“Site”), owned and operated by BGI (“BGI,” “we,” or “us”).
These Terms of Use should be read carefully prior to using the Site.
Information Contained on the Site
General informational and educational nature of information on the Site The information, and materials on the Site relate to products, and services offered by BGI (“Services”). It is intended for informational, educational and marketing purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice, nor is it a substitute for medical advice from a qualified healthcare provider. BGI does not practice medicine or provide medical services or advice. Prior to undergoing any testing or treatment, patients should consult with a qualified health care professional regarding any risks, diagnoses, treatment, and/or any other potentially relevant healthcare issues.
Furthermore, healthcare information is constantly developing, and recommended standards and practices may change quickly.Please note that BGI does not administer genetic testing directly. Rather, tests are administered by BGI’s local partners throughout the world. Patients should consult with qualified healthcare professionals, and/or BGI’s local partner regarding whether any genetic test is right for them, and whether there is additional information available regarding testing. Furthermore, the Site may contain information about products or Services that are not available or authorized in your country.
The Terms of Use Generally
These Terms of Use for this site were last updated on 26/06/2015. We may revise and update these Terms of Use from time to time, at our discretion, by posting the amended Terms of Use on the Site. Please review the Terms of Use each time you visit the Site. You are solely responsible for ensuring your review of the most up to date version of the Terms of Use. By using the Site, you accept and agree to the conditions contained in the most recent version of the Terms of Use, and the Privacy Policy.
Your Use of the Site
The materials on the Site belong to or, are licensed to BGI. The materials are protected by copyright. You may e-mail, download, or print copies of the materials on the Site, for your personal, non-commercial use only. However, when you e-mail, download, or print a copy of the materials on the Site for your personal use, you must also include all copyright and other notices that are in the materials, including the copyright notice on the bottom of the page. We own the names we use for our products and Services on the Site, and these names are protected by trademark laws. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. There may be special rules for the use of materials provided on certain parts of the Site, which will be posted near the relevant materials.
Use of the materials or trademarks on the Site in a way that is not permitted by these Terms of Use, constitutes a violation of your agreement with us and may also be a violation of copyright, trademark, and other laws. In such cases, we automatically revoke your permission to use the Site. Title to the materials remains with us or with the authors of the materials contained on the Site. We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you.
License to use the Site
BGI hereby grants you a non-exclusive, limited, and revocable license to link to the Site. BGI reserves the right to revoke this license generally, or otherwise restrict your right to use specific links at any time. If BGI revokes this license, you agree to immediately remove and disable any and all of your links to the Site.
You agree not to present the link to the Site in such a way that it is associated with advertising or appears to be an endorsement of any organization, product, or service. You agree that the link will not appear on a web site that a reasonable person may consider obscene, defamatory, harassing, grossly offensive, or malicious. Under no circumstances may you “frame” the Site or any of its content or copy portions of the Site to a server. You agree not to display or use the BGI logo or trademarks in any manner without our prior written consent.
Third Party Websites
The Site may contain links to third party web sites not operated by BGI. We provide these links for your convenience, but we do not review, control, or monitor the materials or any other web sites. These third party web sites may contain information about uses of BGI products that have not been approved in your country. We do not control or endorse this type of information. We are not responsible for the performance of these third party web sites or for your business dealings with them. Your use of third party web sites is subject to the terms of use of those webs sites, including the privacy policies of those web sites.
Warranty Disclaimer
To the maximum extent permitted by law, BGI provides the site, including all information contained therein, and any services “as is,” without any warranty or condition, express, implied, or statutory. BGI specifically disclaims any implied warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, BGI is not responsible for the accuracy of any information contained on the site, or in connection with any services provided. You are solely responsible to ensuring that you obtain competent medical advice prior to obtaining any service, and may not rely on any statement on the site, or otherwise made by BGI in connection with any service.
BGI makes no representations or warranties that use of the site will be uninterrupted or error-free. Furthermore, to the maximum extent permitted by law, you are responsible for taking all precautions necessary to ensure that any content you may obtain from our site is free of viruses and any other potentially destructive computer code. The foregoing representations and warranties are in lieu of all other representations and warranties not expressly set forth herein.
Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, you agree that neither BGI nor any person or company associated with BGI shall be liable for any damage resulting from your use or inability to use the site, the materials on the site, or any information contained on the site. This protection covers claims based on warranty, contract, tort, strict liability, and any other legal theory. This protection covers BGI, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and suppliers whether or not mentioned on our site. This protection covers all losses including, without limitation, direct or indirect, special, incidental, consequential, exemplary, and punitive damages, personal injury/wrongful death, lost profits, or damages resulting from lost data or business interruption.
Additional Terms
Terms additional to these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy on the Site may apply when you access particular services or materials on certain areas on the Site, such as when you register to receive materials. Please read our Privacy Policy to learn how we protect and use information that we gather through the Site.
If any provision of these Terms of Use is found to be invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms of Use, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition.
If you violate these Terms of Use or the Privacy Policy in a way that causes harm to others, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold BGI harmless against any liability for that harm. You and BGI are independent contractors, and no agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by these Terms of Use.
These Terms of Use shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the People’s Republic of China. We do not guarantee continuous, uninterrupted or secure access to the Site, and operation of the Site may be interfered with by numerous factors outside of our control.
These Terms of Use and all incorporated agreements may be automatically assigned by BGI, in our sole discretion, to a third party in the event of a merger or acquisition. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches.
Referral Program
BGI Tech Solution (Hong Kong) and Affiliates
Program Description
When you (a Referrer) refer a person who is not an existing customer or account holder of BGI (a Referred Party), you and the person referred by you may qualify to participate in the BGI’s referral program (the “Program”), subject to certain terms and conditions outlined below. Under the Program, you and the person referred by you will receive gift cards (Referral Reward) after the referred person makes a Qualifying Purchase Order in the BGI Customer Account Portal, as defined below, within 6 months of receiving the Referral Email.
Please note, the person referred by you must not be part of your laboratory or a laboratory that is an existing BGI customer. The referral program is only eligible for next generation sequencing (NGS) or mass spectrometry service orders and excludes gene synthesis services.
Definitions
Referrer: A Referrer is someone who enters the email address of a Referred Party in the BGI Customer Account Portal.
Referred Party: A Referred Party is a person who i) has been referred by a Referrer, ii) is not an existing customer of BGI or account holder, iii) is not an existing participant of the Referrer’s laboratory, and iv) registers a BGI Customer Account and makes a Qualifying Purchase Order on the BGI Customer Account Portal within 6 months of receiving the Referral Email, enabling the Referrer and the Referred Party to become eligible to potentially receive a Referral Reward. For clarity, a person who has previously signed up for a BGI account, or is an employee of a laboratory that has previously signed up on the BGI Customer Account Portal is not eligible to be a Referred Party.
Program: The BGI Referral Program. The referral program is only eligible for next generation sequencing (NGS) or mass spectrometry service orders and excludes gene synthesis services.
Referral Email: The Referral Email is the email that is sent to the Referred Party when the Referrer enters the Referred Party’s email address for the Program in the BGI Customer Account Portal. The Referral Reward for both the Referred Party and the Referrer is only valid for 6 months from the date that the Referral Email is sent to the Referred Party by BGI.
Referral Reward: A benefit offered by BGI Genomics to the Referrer and the Referred Party upon the Referred Party ’s purchase on the BGI Genomics Customer Account Portal.
Qualifying Purchase Order: A Qualifying Purchase Order is a purchase of a next generation sequencing (NGS) or mass spectrometry service using the BGI Customer Account Portal. There is no minimum purchase amount for a Qualifying Purchase Order.
Terms of Participation:
If a Referred Party cancels or otherwise fails to meet all these requirements, the Referrer will not receive a Referral Reward and, to the extent a Referral Reward has been provided by BGI, the Referrer will be required to return (or BGI may cancel) the Referral Reward.
Notification
Referrers are notified by email once they have entered the Program and again by their designated BGI account manager after a Referred Party places a Qualifying Order. The BGI account manager will arrange to issue the Referral Reward, as outlined in the Current Offer below, to the Referrer.
Referred Parties are notified by email by the BGI Customer Account system when their email is entered for the Program by a Referrer, with details of the Program and how to qualify for the Referral Reward. Their designated BGI account manager will contact them with the Referral Reward as outlined in the Current Offer below, after they have placed a Qualifying Purchase Order.
BGI is not responsible for email that is blocked, lost or misplaced by the recipient, their service provider or users of the recipient’s computer and equipment, or that is otherwise undeliverable due to changes in the Referrer’s or Referred Party’s email address, blacklisting or blocking of a service provider, or other such failures beyond BGI’s reasonable control.
Program Modification and Termination
BGI reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, suspend or terminate all or part of this Program, including any rewards, reward amounts, timing of rewards, at any time without notice. Referrers and Referred Parties are solely responsible for verifying that the Program is still in effect at the time they make or participate in new referrals. Any potential rewards at the time the Program is modified, suspended or terminated will be subject to the terms and conditions in effect at the time of a Referred Party’s purchase with a Referral Code.
Abuse
If at any time BGI suspects or determines, in its sole discretion, that a Referrer or Referred Party has not complied with these Terms & Conditions or have otherwise abused the spirit or terms of this Program or violated any laws or ordinances in any way, it may, in addition to any other rights and remedies it may have against Referrer or Referred Party, immediately and without notice to Referrer or Referred Party, terminate or suspend their participation in the Program and refuse to award for referrals. BGI shall not be liable to Referrer or Referred Party or to any third party for any claim or cause of action arising out of such termination or suspension.
Taxes
BGI may be required by law to report payments to Referrers or Referred Parties to state, federal and/or local tax authorities. If it is determined that a Referrer or Referred Party has received reward payments requiring BGI to report those payments, BGI may contact the Referrer or Referred Party by email to request required tax reporting information including, but not limited to the Referrer’s or Referred Party’s social security number or other valid taxpayer ID. Failure to provide such information within 30 days will result in the payments being forfeit.
Limitation of Liabilities and Disclaimer of Warranties
While BGI will use its commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the accuracy and reliability of its website and the Program, it does not warrant or represent that the website or Program will always function or be error-free. BGI SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO, USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM, THE LOSS OF DATA OR THE RECEIPT OR USE OF ANY REWARDS AWARDED THROUGH THE PROGRAM. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, THE PROGRAM AND REWARDS ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so some of the above exclusions may not apply to you. Neither BGI Genomics nor any other party involved in creating, producing, maintaining or delivering the Program shall be liable for any damages to or viruses that may infect your computer equipment or other property on account of your access to or use of the website or Program.
This offer is void where prohibited by law, regulation, agency or institutional policy, or by contract, including an employment agreement. Employees of BGI Genomics, its affiliates, investors, and members of their immediate families are not eligible to participate in this Program.
Current Offer
August 1st, 2020 until February 1st, 2021, for any eligible purchase made by a Referred Party on the BGI Customer Portal, Referrer will receive $50.00 in an Amazon.com Gift Card* and Referred Party will receive $50.00 in an Amazon.com Gift Card* (*restrictions apply, see amazon.com/gc-legal). A Referral Reward may only be received once by a Referred Party. A designated BGI employee will directly contact the Referred Party and Referrer to arrange issue of the Gift Card. Where Amazon Gift Cards may not be available locally for convenient issue to the Referred Party and/or Referrer, BGI reserves the right to substitute the Amazon Gift Card for another offer of similar value at its sole discretion.
GOVERNING LAW, DISPUTE SOLUTION
This Agreement is made in, governed by, and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the Hong Kong without reference to conflicts of laws principles. The Parties hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Hongkong for the purposes of resolving any dispute arising from this Agreement.