PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: April 10, 2025

Our Commitment to Your Privacy

At Apex Bioacoustics and Apex Stethoscopes, we believe healthcare professionals deserve the same level of care and attention they provide to their patients. This commitment extends to how we handle your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, protect, and respect your data when you interact with us through our website (www.apexstethoscopes.com), related services, or offline channels.

Information We Collect

Personal Information

We collect information that you provide directly to us, including:

• Contact details (name, email address, phone number, shipping address)
• Professional information (credentials, specialty, workplace)
• Account information (username, password)
• Payment details (processed securely through our payment processors such as Stripe and PayPal; we do not store full payment card numbers or CVV codes on our servers)
• Your communication preferences
• Your product interests and purchases
• Content of your communications with us

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain information about your device and browsing actions:

• IP address and geographic location
• Browser and device characteristics
• Operating system
• Referring URLs
• Pages viewed and time spent on our website
• Actions taken on our website
• Device information

Information From Third Parties

We may receive information about you from other sources, including:

• Business partners
• Public databases
• Joint marketing partners
• Social media platforms (if you interact with us through them)

How We Use Your Information

We use your information for purposes that include:

Core Business Functions

• Processing and fulfilling your orders
• Managing your account
• Providing customer support
• Responding to your inquiries and requests
• Sending transactional messages about your orders or account

Improving Our Services

• Developing new products, services, and features
• Analyzing and enhancing our website performance
• Personalizing your experience
• Measuring the effectiveness of our marketing

Marketing and Communication

• Sending you product updates and promotional materials
• Delivering content relevant to your professional interests
• Communicating about special offers or programs
• Conducting surveys and collecting feedback

Legal and Security Purposes

• Protecting against fraudulent, unauthorized, or illegal activity
• Debugging to identify and repair errors
• Enforcing our terms and conditions
• Complying with legal obligations

Legal Bases for Processing (GDPR)

For individuals in the European Economic Area (EEA), we rely on the following legal bases to process your personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Consent: When you have given us explicit permission to process your data for a specific purpose.
• Contract: When processing is necessary to fulfill a contract with you (such as processing your order).
• Legal Obligation: When we need to comply with a legal requirement.
• Legitimate Interests: When processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests in a way that does not override your rights and freedoms (such as improving our services and preventing fraud).

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies, web beacons, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about your browsing behavior and deliver a better online experience.

Types of Cookies We Use

• Essential cookies: Necessary for the website to function properly
• Preference cookies: Remember your settings and preferences
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with our website
• Marketing cookies: Track your browsing habits to deliver targeted advertising

Managing Your Cookie Preferences

You may manage and withdraw your consent for non-essential cookies at any time via the Cookiebot preferences link available on each page of our website.

You can also control cookies through:

• Your browser settings
• Individual opt-out links provided by analytics and advertising services

Our website uses Google Tag Manager to manage and deploy marketing and analytics tags, and Cookiebot to manage cookie consent. Cookiebot categorizes cookies and allows you to customize your preferences. No marketing or analytics cookies are activated before you provide consent. For more information on how these services handle your data, please refer to their respective privacy policies.

Sharing Your Information

We do not sell or share your personal information as defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended by the CPRA), including for cross-context behavioral advertising. We respect your privacy and may share your information only with:

Service Providers

Companies that perform services on our behalf, including:

• Payment processors
• Shipping and fulfillment partners
• Customer service providers
• Marketing and analytics services
• Technology and cloud services

Business Partners

With your consent, we may share information with strategic partners that help us provide products or services you request.

Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information when required by law, such as:

• In response to lawful requests by public authorities
• To protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property
• To enforce our terms of service
• In connection with a business transfer, merger, or acquisition

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:

• Industry-standard SSL encryption for data transmission
• Secure server storage and regular security assessments
• Access controls and data minimization practices
• Regular security training for our team

While we strive to protect your information, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but continuously improve our security practices.

Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have specific rights regarding your personal information:

For All Users

• Access: Request information about the personal data we hold about you
• Correction: Update or correct inaccurate information
• Account management: Update preferences through your account settings

For European Economic Area (GDPR)

• Data portability: Receive your data in a structured, commonly used format
• Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data
• Restriction of processing: Limit how we use your data
• Objection to processing: Object to certain types of processing
• Withdrawal of consent: Revoke previously given consent

For California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

• Right to know: Information about personal information collected, used, and shared
• Right to delete: Request deletion of personal information
• Right to opt-out: Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information
• Right to non-discrimination: Receive equal service and pricing even if you exercise your privacy rights

For Other U.S. States

We comply with applicable state privacy laws, including those in Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia, which may provide additional rights.

To exercise your rights, please contact us at help@apexbioacoustics.com or through the designated form on our website. We will respond to your request within the timeframe required by applicable law.

International Data Transfers

As a U.S.-based company, we process data primarily in the United States. When we transfer personal data from other regions (such as the European Economic Area), we implement appropriate safeguards in compliance with applicable data protection laws.

Safeguards for International Transfers

We use mechanisms such as:

• EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF) principles
• Standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities
• Ensuring recipients adhere to similar levels of data protection
• Obtaining your consent where required

Data Retention

We retain your personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Factors we consider when determining retention periods include:

• The nature of the personal information
• Our legal obligations
• Operational necessity
• Account status (active vs. inactive)
• Statutory limitations periods

When we no longer need personal information, we securely delete or anonymize it.

Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 13 (or the applicable age of digital consent in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, nor do we use any tracking or analytics tools for users we know to be under 13. If we discover that a child has provided us with personal information, we will promptly delete that information. If you believe we might have information from or about a child, please contact us at help@apexbioacoustics.com.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any material changes by:

• Posting the updated policy on our website with the "Last Updated" date
• Sending an email notification to the address associated with your account
• Displaying a prominent notice on our website

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about our information practices.

Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:

Email: help@apexbioacoustics.com

Mail: Apex Bioacoustics Inc, 1420 E. Roseville Parkway, Suite 140 #514, Roseville, CA 95661

Phone: (916) 750-7466

For urgent privacy matters, please include "Privacy Concern" in your email subject line for expedited handling.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on April 10, 2025, and replaces any previous versions.