Privacy Policy

(Updated February 12th, 2024)

1. Parties

1.1. This Privacy Policy describes how Avicenna Research Services, Inc. ("Avicenna Research", "we", or "us") collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects your information in connection with services offered by Avicenna Research including, but not limited to, services provided at or using the domain avicennaresearch.com or avicennaresearch.ca (the "Site"); tools or applications including, but not limited to, mobile and other software applications related to the Site (the "Applications"); and images, text, playlists, metadata, and other material available through the Service (the "Content") (collectively, the "Service").

1.2. This Privacy Policy applies when you ("you", "Researcher" or "Participant") access, visit or use any portion of the Service. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, a "Researcher" is a researcher affiliated with an academic institution who uses Avicenna Research to design and conduct scientific studies, and a "Participant" is a person who voluntarily participates in the study, after reviewing the study’s consent form and explicitly providing consent.

1.3. This Privacy Policy is part of, and is governed by, the terms and conditions set forth in the Avicenna Research Terms of Use.

2. Agreement to Terms of Privacy Policy

2.1. Any Service provided by Avicenna Research is purely voluntary. You are not required to provide any personal information to us unless you choose to access features of the Service that require such information. If you do not agree with the terms of this policy or Avicenna Research’s Terms of Use related to the Service, then please do not provide us with personal information, exit the Applications immediately, and discontinue using the Service.

2.2. Accordingly, by creating an Avicenna Research Account (as defined in the Terms of Use), or by otherwise accessing, visiting or using the Service, you expressly consent to our collection, use, disclosure, and retention of your information as described in this Privacy Policy and in the Avicenna Research’s Terms of Use.

3. Changes to the Privacy Policy

3.1. We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. You may be required to accept the amended Privacy Policy upon logging in to your Avicenna Research Account in order to keep using the Service. Alternatively, we may post any material changes to this Privacy Policy on the Site with a notice advising of the changes in advance of the effective date of the changes. We may also notify you of material changes to this Privacy Policy, before the effective date of the changes by sending an email or in another conspicuous manner to give you a reasonable notice period. If you do not agree to the new Privacy Policy, you may terminate using the Service within the applicable thirty (30) day period and you will not be bound by the new terms. Otherwise, the new terms will take effect after thirty (30) days.

4. Rights to Access, Rectify, Cancel, and Object

4.1. You have the right to access, rectify, cancel, and object to the processing of your personal data by directing any such requests to Avicenna Research Services, Inc. (with Business Number 847090834RC0001) to the address 273 Lawrence Ave E, North York, ON M4N 1T6, Canada as stated in the applicable privacy laws.

5. Data Collection from Researchers

As a Researcher, we collect information relating to you and your use of our Services from a variety of sources:

5.1. Information We Collect Directly From the Researcher

a. Registration information: information you provide to us when you register for an account.

b. "My Profile" settings: you can view and edit various preferences and personal details on “My Profile” settings. For example, your email address, avatar, and your name.

c. Study design data: We store the information you enter as part of designing your study on Avicenna Research. This information will be passed to Participants’ devices who are willing to enrol in your study. It includes study name, consent form, duration, and type of data being collected.

d. Plan + Billing info: we store information about your Plan. If you are subscribed to a paid account, we require you to provide your billing details.

e. Other data you want to share: We may collect your personal information or data if you submit it to us in other contexts. For example, if you provide us with a testimonial.

5.2. Information We Collect About the Researcher Indirectly or Passively When Interacting With Us

a. Usage data: Avicenna Research collects usage data about the Researcher whenever he or she interacts with our services.

b. Device and application data: Avicenna Research collects data from the device and application the Researcher uses to access our services, such as the IP address and browser type. We may also infer the geographic location based on the Researcher IP address.

c. Referral data: if the Researcher arrives at a Avicenna Research website from an external source (such as a link on another website or in an email), we record information about the source that referred the Researcher to Avicenna Research.

d. Information from cookies and page tags: Avicenna Research uses third party tracking services such as Google Analytics that employ cookies and page tags (also known as web beacons or web bugs) to collect aggregated and anonymized data about visitors to our websites. This data may include usage and similar statistics.

6. Data Collection From Participants

6.1. As a Participant, you can use your Avicenna Research account to participate in a study, conducted by a Researcher affiliated with a scientific institution, who usually is the same person invited you to participate in the Avicenna Research’s study.

6.2. Prior to joining a study, you will be presented with the consent form related to the study. The consent form will specify, among other things, (1) what is the purpose of the study (2) what are the potentials risks or benefits to you as the Participant (3) what type of data is being collected (each referred to as a Data Source) (4) how the data will be handled and who will have access to the data (5) how you can contact the Researcher (6) what is the withdrawal process.

6.3. Upon accepting the consent form, for the duration of the study, and as long as the Applications remain installed on your device, the Applications will collect the Data Sources specified in the consent form through one or both of the following methods:

Automatically without your direct involvement which may include (a) recording data from your smartphone’s embedded sensors such as GPS, motion sensors, and environmental sensors; (b) data from wearable devices paired with your smartphones; and (c) other digital footprints such as screen time or app usage statistics.
Through your direct interaction with the the Avicenna Research app in the form of responding to survey questions, or performing other study-related tasks.

6.4. The Applications may not collect certain Data Sources from your device, even though they are mentioned in the consent form, due to technical limitations or platform restrictions. For example, certain Data Sources are not available on Apple’s iOS, or certain Android devices do not have the hardware required for specific Data Sources. In this case, the Data Source is not recorded from your device.

6.5. Data Sources We May Collect From the Participant, While Enrolled in a Study

6.5.1. Contact Network

6.5.1.1. Technical Definition: Bluetooth allows the device to detect nearby devices, determine their type (e.g., computer, smartphone or radio-controlled toy), and estimate their proximity. This can be used as a proxy for human proximity, as smartphones are often on or proximate to their owners. Devices in the proximity can only be detected if they are in discoverable mode, which must be specifically enabled by their users. Modern phones are by default non-discoverable to save power, so users must specifically enable discoverable mode, providing implicit consent for monitoring. If the study you are participating requires monitoring Contact Network, your phones are locked in discoverable mode. You as a Participant will be informed of this in the consent form and throughout the study via the Applications.

6.5.1.2. Potential Limitations: Avicenna Research for iOS does not support collecting Contact Network. Android devices running Android OS version 6 or below are capable of providing this data, assuming the device does have the required bluetooth hardware.

6.5.1.3. Privacy & Anonymization: Bluetooth devices are identified by a unique media access control (MAC) identifier. This allows the Researcher to determine repeated contacts with the same device. While this is highly desirable for understanding contact patterns in human behavior studies, it can reveal the frequency of contact with other individuals. It cannot explicitly or implicitly identify who the other individual is.

6.5.2. Location

6.5.2.1 Technical Description: Location data provides the Researcher with the location of your device, its speed, and heading. Location data can be collected in various ways, usually decided by the operating system of your device (such as Android or iOS):

GPS: The acquisition of GPS (or assisted GPS -- AGPS -- if a network connection is available) allows Avicenna Research to detect the device’s speed, heading, and location. The location can be accurate up to three meters outdoors, or in low density indoor settings.
Cell Tower Data: Proximity to cell tower data can give a coarse representations of location by placing the Participant in the cell containing the radio to which they are currently connected. This method is clearly inferior to GPS but may occasionally be collected at places where GPS signals are not available, as a coarse location information.
Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi data allows the device to identify nearby Wi-Fi access points. The physical location of access points can be derived from for-profit external services, databases maintained by facilities, or estimated from coincident GPS measurements. When several Wi-Fi access points are detected, Avicenna Research can perform post-hoc trilateration (i.e., determine location). Trilateration accuracy varies with Wi-Fi router density. At high router density, localization within 6 meters is possible, particularly if building layouts are available to discard impossible locations or paths.

6.5.2.2. Potential Limitations: This Data Source is available both on Android and iOS devices. Majority of the smartphones sold in the market have the required hardware and supporting software to provide location data as explained above.

6.5.2.3. Privacy & Anonymization: Location data is tagged with the Participant ID. However, location data, to be useful, cannot be hashed or scrambled as it destroys the correlation with services offered at the locations the Participant visits. This is particularly problematic because location data is sufficiently rich to permit re-identification in several cases. The Researcher undertakes, as part of the informed consent, to not actively attempt to de-identify any of the data. Any parties to data sharing agreements must agree to these same terms.

6.5.3. Activity and Motion

6.5.3.1. Technical Description: While location measurement deals with where the Participant is and with whom they are with, activity and motion detection deal with understanding what the Participant is doing at a location. While the entire scope of human activity is well outside the measurement capabilities of a smartphone, many important behaviors such as sitting/standing, sedentary/active, walking/running or even if the phone is being carried by the Participant can be inferred from motion sensors on the device. The following sensors in a smartphone provides information on activity and motion:

Accelerometer: The accelerometer measures acceleration on three axes, and contains information about starting and stopping behavior on each of those axes. As gravity provides a constant downward acceleration, these sensors can also infer the orientation of the phone with respect to the surface of the Earth.
Gyroscope: The gyroscope measures the rotational speed of the phone. This information is typically used in conjunction with the accelerometer to determine the orientation of the phone, by disambiguating between gravitational and centripetal acceleration.
Magnetometer: The magnetometer measures the local magnetic field. This is typically used in conjunction with an estimate of the phone’s orientation to determine magnetic north, and act as a compass.

6.5.3.2. Potential Limitations: This Data Source is available both on Android and iOS devices. Majority of the smartphones sold in the market have the required hardware and supporting software to provide motion and activity data as explained above.

6.5.3.3. Privacy & Anonymization: Beyond the anonymization of the Participant identification information as described in section 6.6, no further anonymization is required or performed for activity and motion sensors. These sensors provide information about what was done at a specific time, but this is unlikely to be sufficient for re-identification without substantial additional context (e.g. only one participant is in a wheelchair, and moves without detectable steps) or additional sensing (e.g. the person in a classroom who is always standing is likely the professor; here the classroom is the key piece of information, not the standing).

6.5.4. Environmental Sensors

6.5.4.1. Technical Description: The environment in which the Participant exists can have an impact on their behavior. he environmental sensors embedded in the Participants’ smartphones allow Researcher to monitor different environmental factors, relevant to the study subject, as follow:

Temperature: Ambient air temperature correlates with behavior (propensity for outdoor activities decreases with temperature) and with several disease parameters from the probability of the spread of a cold, to the rate of mosquito hatching. Temperature also covaries with relative humidity.
Atmospheric Pressure: This metric can be used to help distinguish the transition from indoor to outdoor or from one building to another adding a useful parameter to aid location sensing. It is also a covariate with humidity.
Humidity: An excellent measure of the current comfort level, and can even be used as a proxy to determine if it is currently raining near the Participant.

6.5.4.2. Potential Limitations: This Data Source is not available in iOS devices. Most Android devices support one or more of the environmental sensors, though very few support all available sensors. You can refer to your smartphone’s specification list for details on available environmental sensors.

6.1.5.3. Privacy & Anonymization: Beyond the anonymization of the Participant identification information as described in section 6.6, no further anonymization is performed.

6.5.5. On-Phone Surveys

6.5.5.1. Technical Description: While automatic monitoring sensors can provide a great deal of information on the physical state of the Participant, their mental state must be probed using more traditional survey-based techniques. Avicenna Research provides a framework for deploying surveys while the Participant is involved in data collection. The Avicenna Research survey follows a typical digital survey structure, permitting multiple choice, selection, and free-form questions organized in linear, branching or looping question constructs. This tool captures most of the typical survey question styles such as Likert scales, select-all-that-apply questions and short free form queries.

6.5.5.2. Potential Limitations: The ability to present Participants with survey questions is available in Avicenna Research Applications for both Android and iOS devices, regardless of the model or manufacturer of the phone.

6.1.6.3. Privacy & Anonymization: Beyond the anonymization of the Participant identification information as described in section 6.6, no further anonymization is required. Anonymization is not the primary ethical concern for surveys, either on-phone or off, rather it is the content of the survey. The content must be vetted using standard ethical criteria on a case-by-case basis for each proposed study. Please note that Avicenna Research is not responsible for the content of the survey, and you as the Participant need to refer to the study’s consent form for the details and privacy policy of the Researcher conducting the study.

6.5.6. Device’s Battery Status

6.5.6.1. Technical Description: The Applications can measure the remaining energy level, temperature, and voltage of the battery. Whether the phone is charging and, if so, what source it is charging from (i.e., wall or USB) can also be identified. This is used to track Participant compliance, model power consumption and to help determine activity. For example, if the phone is plugged into the wall, the Participant is not likely to be walking.

6.5.6.2. Potential Limitations: This Data Source is available in Avicenna Research Applications for both Android and iOS devices, regardless of the model or manufacturer of the phone.

6.5.6.3. Privacy & Anonymization: Beyond the anonymization of the Participant identification information as described in 6.6, no further anonymization is performed.

6.5.7. Device’s Screen State

6.5.7.1. Technical Description: The Screen State Data Source records each time the device’s screen turns on or turns off. This Data Source does not record the content on the screen, or the reason behind this state change. It only records the time of the event, and whether the screen turned on or off. This can provide information on the habits of smartphone use, distraction, or sleep patterns, which is valuable in understanding human behavior.

6.5.7.2. Potential Limitations: This Data Source is not available in iOS. All available Android devices do provide this Data Source.

6.5.7.3. Privacy & Anonymization: Beyond the anonymization of the Participant identification information as described in section 6.6, no further anonymization is performed.

6.5.8. Statistics on App Usage

6.5.8.1. Technical Description: This Data Source records how long you as the Participant use which app, per day. The information received from this data source reports the name of the apps you have used in a given day, and how long (in seconds) the app was open. No additional information such as how the app was used or what was the content of the app will be included.

6.5.8.2. Potential Limitations: This Data Source is not available in iOS. All available Android devices do provide this Data Source.

6.5.8.3. Privacy & Anonymization: Beyond the anonymization of the Participant identification information as described in section 6.6, no further anonymization is performed.

6.6 Data Encryption, Upload, Storage, and Anonymization

6.6.1. All data on the device is encrypted using industry standard techniques. In the event that the phone is lost or stolen, the data is protected. Data is stored in an encrypted format in a directory on the phone allocated by operating system for this purpose.

6.6.2. A small cache of recent data (usually the past hour) is kept in volatile memory on the phone to aid in context detection for survey triggering. Because it is stored in random locations in the phone’s RAM this data is essentially unreachable to anything but the program itself.

6.6.3. Data from this directory is periodically uploaded to the server specified by the Researcher in the study settings in its encrypted format. Even if the phone were hacked, and the upload redirected to another server the data would be useless to the hacker without the key, stored separately on a secure server.

6.6.4. Once on the secure server, the data is decrypted, parsed, and inserted into an internal server. As soon as the data is successfully uploaded to the servers, uploaded data is validated, and then the data is wiped from the phones.

6.6.5. Data collected by Avicenna Research from the Participant can be divided to the following: (a) personal identification information entered by the participant while registering the the Application. This includes name, email address, optional demographic information, the make and model of the devices used to access the Applications, the IP address used to connect to the Applications, and list of studies the Participant is registered in. These data are referred to as Metadata (b) behavioral data recorded as part of the study requirements as described in section 6.5, referred to as Study Data. Study Data do not contain any explicit personal identification information. They may contain data which can be reverse engineered to implicitly extract the Participant’s identity, in which case the Applications does the best possible to anonymize them, as described for each Data Source in section 6.5.

6.6.5. Avicenna Research stores Metadata and Study Data in two separate database, located in two different servers. Each of these databases have separate credentials and authorization. Certain employees of Avicenna Research will have access to the Metadata database in order to provide the necessary technical support. These individuals do not have access to the Study Data database.

6.6.7. Researchers have access to the Study Data database in order to monitor and analyze the data they have received for the study. None of the Researchers will have access to the Metadata database. This ensures the Research team does not have access to the Participant’s explicit personal identification information.

6.6.8. In certain cases, Avicenna Research may share Metadata information about one or more Participants with certain authorized Researchers. This will be mainly to allow the Researcher to contact the Participant for study-related matters. Such data sharing will be limited only to the data which is needed by the Researcher.

6.7 Information We Collect About the Participant From Other Sources

a. Usage data: Avicenna Research collects usage data about the Participant whenever he/she interacts with our services.

b. Device and application data: Avicenna Research collects data from the device and application the Participant uses to access our services, such as, among others, the IP address, browser type and operating system. We may also infer the geographic location based on the Respondent IP address.

c. Referral data: Avicenna Research records information about the source that referred the Participant to a study (i.e. a link on a website or in an email).

d. Information from cookies and page tags: Avicenna Research uses third party tracking services that employ cookies and page tags (also known as web beacons or web bugs) to collect aggregated and anonymized data about visitors to our websites. This data may include usage and statistics.

7. General Information We Collect About Visitors to the Site

7.1. When you visit our Site we may collect information that you manually enter to contact us or post comments on our community boards, such as your name, email address or telephone number. If you are a prospective customer, we use the personal information we have collected from you to provide you with information about and access to our Services.

7.2. As is true of most web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. Avicenna Research does not collect IP addresses of end users on behalf of third parties. We may combine automatically collected log information with other information we collect about end users. We use the information we collect automatically from end users of our Site and Services to improve the Services we offer to our Customers, and to improve marketing, analytics and the functionality of the Services.

7.3. If your personally identifiable information changes, or if you no longer desire to receive communications from us, you may correct, update, delete or deactivate your information from our records by contacting us at support@avicennaresearch.com. We will respond to your request to access within 30 days.

8.1. We use the information we collect from you to perform the services requested in connection with the "Avicenna Research Account" selected for the purposes described in the Terms of Use.

8.2. We also use your information to review, investigate, and analyze how to improve the services provided. We may also collect and analyze your data to monitor, maintain and improve our services and features.

8.3. We internally perform statistical and other analysis on information we collect (including usage data, device data, referral data, question and response data, and information from page tags) to analyze and measure user behavior and trends, to understand how people use our services, and to monitor, troubleshoot, and improve our services, including to help us evaluate or devise new features.

8.4. We may use your information for internal purposes designed to keep our services secure and operational, such as testing purposes, troubleshooting, to prevent abusive activity (i.e. fraud, spam, phishing activities), and for service improvement, research, and development purposes.

8.5. Likewise, we collect your personal data through your "My Profile" page, explicitly entered by you, and not collected as part of any specific study, for the purposes of inviting you to studies which are relevant to you by any means, including email and similar means of electronic communication. In order to customize such information and commercial communications as much as possible, Avicenna Research may use statistical techniques that allow the creation of user profiles and data segmentation. f you do not wish to receive such information and commercial communications, regardless of the form of communication used, you can opt-out through your "My Profile" page to exercise your rights, and in any case, by means of the box that follows. Your agreement to receive information can be revoked at any time, but such revocation shall not be retroactively applicable.

8.6. We only share the data you have provided for a given study with the Researcher who conducted the study. We do not sell your Avicenna Research data to third parties without your explicit permission.

8.7. The Service is based in Canada. If you are located outside Canada and choose to use the Service or provide your information to us, please note that your information may be transferred, processed, and stored in our servers in Canada. Privacy laws of Canada may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction. Your agreement to the terms of this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of information in connection with the Service represents your agreement to this practice. If you do not want your information transferred to or processed or stored in Canada, you should not use the Service.

8.8. Your data is not disclosed to any third party except (i) when we have your explicit permission, (ii) when it is required by a competent authority in the exercise of its duties (for example in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities), or (iii) as otherwise required by law.

8.9. We do not use your Avicenna Research data other than as described in this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use.

8.10. If ownership of all or substantially all of our business changes, or we undertake a corporate reorganization (including a merger or consolidation), or any other action or transfer between Avicenna Research entities, you expressly consent to Avicenna Research transferring your information to the new owner or successor entity so that we can continue providing our services. If required, Avicenna Research will notify the applicable data protection agency in each jurisdiction of such a transfer in accordance with the notification procedures under applicable data protection laws.

9. Cookies

9.1. A cookie is a small string of information that the website you visit transfers to your computer for identification purposes. Cookies can be used to follow your activity throughout the Avicenna Research Service and that information helps us to understand your preferences and improve your experience.

9.2. For a detailed description of the types of cookies we use and on how you can control the use of cookies, please see our Cookie Policy.

10. Opting Out of Study, Canceling Your Account, and Deleting Your Data

10.1. As a Participant, your participation in any study delivered through Avicenna Research Data is completely voluntary. You can opt out from the study at any time you choose. Depending on the study’s policy, and in accordance with the consent form you reviewed prior to your participation, you may not be able to enrol in the study again after opting out, or you may not receive all or part of monetary or non-monetary incentives for your participation in the study.

10.2. You can opt-out permanently from a study by choosing the "Leave Study" option in the Applications on your device. Alternatively you can uninstall the Applications from all your devices. Avicenna Research will cease activities related to all of the studies you are enrolled immediately after the uninstall is completed.

10.3. Certain studies may allow you to permanently opt-out from part of the study. If this option is included in the study you are participating, you will have the relevant tools to permanently opt-out from one or more parts of the study through the Applications.

10.4. To protect your privacy, the Applications offer you a "Pause" mode, while you are enrolled in an ongoing study. Selecting the Pause mode will stop all study related data collection and activities for 1 hour. The Applications will notify you when the 1 hour is passed and prior to resuming the study. You can select the Pause mode as many times as necessary. While Pause mode is selected, no data is collected by the Applications.

10.5. You may cancel your account and you may opt out of receiving any emails from Avicenna Research at any time by contacting our Help Center page. Deleting your account will cause all the records on your participation on any study to be permanently deleted from our systems within a reasonable time period, as permitted by law and will disable your access to any other services that require an Avicenna Research account. We will respond to any such request, and any appropriate request to access, correct, update or delete your personal information within the time period specified by law (if applicable) or without excessive delay. We will promptly fulfill requests to delete personal data unless the request is not technically feasible or such data is required to be retained by law (in which case we will block access to such data, if required by law).

10.6. As a Participant, you can delete all or part of the data you have provided for any study conducted using Avicenna Research, at any time, by using the "Delete Data" option in the "My Profile" section of your account. Avicenna Research will not store any copy or backup of the deleted data. The Researcher may create a backup of your data outside of Avicenna Research servers, as long as it is in accordance with the consent form you have agreed to prior to joining his or her study. In such case, your request to delete the data only removes the copy stored by Avicenna Research, and not the copy owned by the Researcher. You must contact the Researcher to request deleting the copy owned by him or her.

11. Retention of Your Information

11.1. We retain information for active Avicenna Research Accounts as long as it is necessary and relevant for our operations. In addition, we may retain information from closed accounts to comply with the law, prevent fraud, collect any fees owed, resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigation, enforce the Avicenna Research Terms of Service, and take other actions permitted by law. The information we retain about you will be handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

12. How to Contact Us

12.1. Please also feel free to contact us at the "Contact Us" page or using this email address if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy.