Privacy is very important to us. We also understand that privacy is very important to you. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) sets forth the policies of Advanced Bionics (“AB”, “we”, or “us”) regarding the collection and use of information relating to the AB web sites located at www.advancedbionics.com and www.hearingjourney.com (collectively, the “Site”). When we refer to AB, we or us, we mean our entire company, including our affiliates and subsidiaries.

Certain areas of the Site contain information intended only for licensed medical professionals. Accordingly, AB reserves the right to limit certain areas of the Site to those persons who register and meet the qualifications imposed by us. This Policy addresses our privacy practices relating to general use of our Site as well as its use by any registered user.

By using this Site, you agree to the terms of the most recent version of this Policy. Please read our Terms and Conditions of Use to understand the general rules about your use of this Site. Except as written in any other disclaimers, policies, terms of use, or other notices on this Site, this Policy and the Terms and Conditions of Use are the complete agreement between you and AB with respect to your use of this Site. You may be subject to additional terms that may apply when you access particular services or materials on certain areas of this Site, or by following a link from this Site.

Personally Identifiable Information (“Personal Information”) is information that can be used to identify or contact you, such as your name, email address, telephone number or similar information. AB only collects Personal Information that you choose to share with us, such as when (1) contacting us via the Site (by clicking the “Submit” button for a form), (2) submitting your resume online in response to a job posting, (3) registering online for an event or course, (4) registering in the online store for purchasing products or, (5) upon registration for access to those areas of our Site intended only for licensed medical professionals.

To register, you must provide us with certain Personal Information, including your name, profession, email address, postal mail address, title and clinical affiliation. We will use this Personal Information to review and verify your registration information. We may use your Personal Information to send periodic marketing or promotional notices to you or notify you of any changes to this Policy. You can always opt-out of receiving these communications from us by following the “opt-out” procedures described below.

We may also use your Personal Information to improve our marketing efforts, statistically evaluate site usage, improve our Site or customize our Site’s content, layout and services.

Any information you provide to AB must be true, accurate, current, non-misleading, and consistent and relevant for the purpose for which you are providing the information. If you are a registered user, you must have the authority to provide the information submitted to and through the Site, and understand and agree that we may from time to time verify such authority.

If your Personal Information is submitted through the Site when applying for a position with AB, your Personal Information will be used solely for the purpose of accepting and evaluating you for the position. We may retain your Personal Information for a period of time, but only for the purpose of considering your application for current or future positions at AB. This information may be shared within AB as well as with third party service providers contracted by us to collect and maintain candidate submissions for job postings.

If you contact AB via the Site, we will only use your Personal Information contained in your email to respond to your specific inquiry or comments in the email. We may retain your email for a period of time, but will not use any of your Personal Information for any purpose other than responding to your email.

The Site automatically tracks certain information about your behavior while visiting the Site. The information gathered includes only the URL from which you accessed this Site, and which URL you visit next. We collect and store this aggregate information in order to measure the Site’s performance and improve the Site’s design and functionality. We may also share this aggregate information with third parties to illustrate how the Site is used and for other marketing purposes. If you are a registered user, we may use your Usage Data with or without your Personal Information, in order to measure the Site’s performance and improve the Site’s design and functionality. We may also share this aggregate information with third parties to illustrate how the Site is used and for other marketing purposes.

At this time, AB does not permanently store “cookies” on your PC without your permission. We do not employ “cookies” to transmit personal information. AB may use “session cookies,” which consist of information stored in a browser’s memory and passed back to the applicable server whenever a request for a new page on the Site is made. The session cookie is never saved nor written to disk, and the information contained in the session cookie is only valid for that one particular session. The session cookie is discarded when the browser is closed. Most web browsers automatically accept session cookies, and most may also be configured to provide notice of when a session cookie is about to be placed on the browser. No information is saved in these session cookies other than an identification number associated with the particular session.

Subject to applicable law, we and our Service Providers (as described below) may disclose your Personal Information:

• To unaffiliated third parties that are under contract to perform services for or on behalf of AB (“Service Providers”), and are required to uphold and maintain AB’s policies with respect to privacy and the treatment of your Personal Information (e.g., vendors maintaining our computer databases or performing marketing activities for AB relating solely to services provided by AB and its affiliates);
• To other persons as permitted by applicable law or regulation; and
• To law enforcement personnel and agencies, or as part of a legal process, in order to protect our property or in furtherance of an investigation regarding a breach of the Site rules and policies, unauthorized access to or use of the Site or any other illegal activities.
  

Any access to such information will be limited to the purpose for which such information was provided to our affiliate, subsidiary or Service Provider. Our affiliates, subsidiaries and Service Providers may be located throughout the world. Accordingly, information may be sent worldwide to countries which have a different level of privacy protection than the United States.

By using our Site, or providing information to AB, you understand and unambiguously consent to the collection, processing, transfer and use of information in the United States and other countries and territories, for the purposes set forth in this Policy. You hereby consent to the collection, processing and disclosure by AB of your Personal Information as described under this Policy, including but not limited to the transfer of your Personal Information between AB’s Service Providers, affiliates and subsidiaries in accordance with this Policy. For further certainty, any consent relating to a right to transfer information referred to in this paragraph shall be deemed to include your consent to the transfer of the applicable Personal Information to a jurisdiction which may have a different level of privacy protection than that available in your own country.

To “opt-out” of (1) receiving communications from AB (except for communications necessary for your use of the Site), (2) having your personally identifiable information disclosed to third parties for marketing purposes, or (3) any other consent previously granted for a specific purpose concerning your personally identifiable information, send an e-mail to AB at webmaster@advancedbionics.com.

If you are a registered user, you may request to review, change or delete information previously provided to us by modifying your profile at the Login Screen or by sending an e-mail to webmaster@advancedbionics.com. Requests for changes to or deletions of your Personal Information should be made by you directly.

This Policy applies only to www.advancedbionics.com and www.hearingjourney.com. AB, its affiliates and subsidiaries operate many web sites for different purposes and in multiple jurisdictions where local laws may apply. This Site includes links to both our affiliated sites and to non-AB web sites, including access to content, products and services of such affiliated and non-affiliated sites (“Other Sites”). We urge you to familiarize yourself with the individual privacy and other terms for each other site prior to submitting your Personal Information.

In the event of a sale, merger, liquidation, dissolution, or sale or transfer of substantially all of the assets of AB, registration data and/or Usage Data collected about you from the Site may be sold, assigned, or transferred to the party acquiring all or substantially all of the equity and/or assets of AB in order to permit the party to continue the operation of the Site, including the restricted areas. Subject to your ability to opt-out as described above, by using this Site and submitting your information to us, you consent to the sale and transfer of your information as described in this paragraph

AB takes seriously the security of the information it collects. AB has therefore implemented technology and security policies and procedures intended to reduce the risk of accidental destruction or loss, or the unauthorized disclosure or access to, such information, reasonably appropriate to the nature of the data concerned.

Our Site is not generally intended for use by children under the age of 13, and AB does not knowingly collect Personal Information from children in this age group. If we become aware that a user under the age of 13 has registered or is attempting to register, we will notify the user that he or she is not eligible for registration. We will then expunge any related Personal Information from our records.

AB may, in its sole discretion, update this Policy at any time and from time to time, by posting the amended Policy on this Site. The amended Policy shall be effective upon posting, and your access to or use of the Site following an update shall be deemed consent to the revised Policy. If you are a registered user, amendments to this Policy may be sent to you via email or such other form of communication as you have requested. We urge each visitor to refer back to this page regularly and especially prior to providing or updating any Personal Information. This Policy may not be otherwise amended without the written consent of AB. This Policy was last updated on March 22, 2011.

If you would like to communicate with AB regarding privacy issues or have questions, comments or complaints about this Policy or Site, please forward such communication to: webmaster@advancedbionics.com.

We understand that most of our U.S. customers are “Covered Entities” under the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) privacy regulations. As a HIPAA Covered Entity, our customers are legally obligated to maintain the privacy of all patient information that they create or receive. AB has departments and components (“Health Care Components”) that perform or support the functions of a Covered Entity – specifically the supplier function that distributes auditory accessories and submits claims for them (“Covered Functions”). AB also has departments and components (“Non-Health Care Components”) that perform non-Covered Functions. As such, the rules promulgated pursuant to the HIPAA permit AB to designate itself as a “Hybrid Entity” and only cause its Health Care Components to comply with the HIPAA rules. We recognize the impact that the HIPAA privacy regulations have on our customers. We wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that AB remains committed to interacting with you and your patients as responsible professionals who are dedicated to maintaining the privacy of information that we receive on-the-job, consistent with applicable law and regulations.

To perform our jobs, AB employees may create, develop or receive information about patients’ experiences with our medical devices in a variety of situations, including:

• We provide information or technical support for our products.
  
• We receive questions and suggestions about our products and services from patients, nurses, physicians and other health care providers.
  
• We enroll patients in clinical trials we sponsor.
  
• We collect information as required by the FDA and other governmental authorities relating to the quality, safety and efficacy of our devices.
• We collect, analyze and re-analyze our data in a continuous effort to improve the design, quality and functioning of our devices.
  

We have made available to our sales and marketing employees training materials on the HIPAA privacy regulations, and expect our employees to respect our customer’s explicit and implicit instructions regarding incidental exposure to protected health information while visiting a customer’s site.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at webmaster@advancedbionics.com.