Privacy Policy
Hello Bio understands that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your personal data is used and shared online. We respect and value the privacy of all of our customers and everyone who visits our website, hellobio.com (“our site”) and will only collect and use personal data in ways that are described here, and in a manner that is consistent with our obligations and your rights under the law.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it. Your acceptance of our Privacy Policy is deemed to occur upon your first use of our site, or first communication with us. If you do not accept and agree with this Privacy Policy, you must stop using our site immediately.
Definitions and Interpretation- Information about us
- What does this policy cover?
- Your rights
- What data do we collect?
- How and why do we use your data?
- How and where do we store your data?
- Do we share your data?
- What happens if our business changes hands?
- How can you control your data?
- Your right to withhold information
- How can you access your data
- Our use of cookies
- Contacting us
- Changes to our privacy policy
Definitions and Interpretation1. Definitions and Interpretation
In this Policy, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
“Account” means an account required to access and/or use certain areas and features of our site;
“Cookie” means a small text file placed on your computer or device by our site when you visit certain parts of our site and/or when you use certain features of our site. Details of the Cookies used by our site are set out in section 13, below;
“Cookie Law” means the relevant parts of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003;
“Personal Data” Personal data is defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (EU Regulation 2016/679) (the “GDPR”) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier’. Personal data is, in simpler terms, any information about you that enables you to be identified. Personal data covers obvious information such as your name and contact details, but it also covers less obvious information such as identification numbers, electronic location data, and other online identifiers.
“We/us/our” means Hello Bio Ltd, a limited company registered in England under company number 08891750, whose registered address and main trading address is Unit 3, IO Centre, Cabot Park, Moorend Farm Avenue, Avonmouth, Bristol, BS11 0QL, UK
2. Information About Us
2.1 Our site is owned and operated by Hello Bio Ltd, a limited company registered in England under company number 08891750, whose registered address and main trading address is Unit 3, IO Centre, Cabot Park, Moorend Farm Avenue, Avonmouth, Bristol, BS11 0QL, UK
2.2 Our VAT number is GB 183357686.
2.3 Our Data Protection Officer is Dr Samantha Roome, who can be contacted by email at hello@hellobio.com, by telephone on +44(0)117 3180505, or by post at Unit 3, IO Centre, Cabot Park, Moorend Farm Avenue, Avonmouth, Bristol, BS11 0QL, UK.
3. What Does This Policy Cover?
This Privacy Information explains how we use your personal data: how it is collected, how it is held, and how it is processed. It also explains your rights under the law relating to your personal data. Please note our site may contain links to other websites. Please be aware that We have no control over how your data is collected, stored, or used by other websites and we advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites before providing any data to them.
4. Your Rights
Under the GDPR, you have the following rights, which we will always work to uphold:
4.1.1 The right to be informed about our collection and use of personal data;
4.1.2 The right of access to the personal data we hold about you (see section 12);
4.1.3 The right to rectification if any personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete (please contact us using the details in section 14);
4.1.4 The right to be forgotten – i.e. the right to ask us to delete any personal data we hold about you (We only hold your personal data for a limited time, as explained in section 6 but if you would like us to delete it sooner, please contact us using the details in section 14);
4.1.5 The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data;
4.1.6 The right to data portability (obtaining a copy of your personal data to re-use with another service or organisation);
4.1.7 The right to object to us using your personal data for particular purposes; and
4.1.8 Rights with respect to automated decision making and profiling.
4.2 If you have any cause for complaint about our use of your personal data, please contact us using the details provided in section 14 and we will do our best to solve the problem for you. If we are unable to help, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
4.3 For further information about your rights, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office or your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
5. What Data Do We Collect?
We may collect some or all of the following personal and non-personal data (please also see section 13: Our use of Cookies and similar technologies)
5.1 name;
5.2 salutation
5.3 gender;
5.4 business/company/institution name
5.5 job title;
5.6 profession;
5.7 contact information such as email addresses and telephone numbers;
5.8 demographic information such as post code/ZIP code, preferences, and research interests;
5.9 your orders, shopping preferences and favourites
5.10 your comments and product reviews
5.11 your social media username if you interact with us through those channels, to help us respond to your comments or feedback.
5.12 financial information such as Institution VAT certificates
5.13 Copies of documents that you provide that are legally required for certain product purchases eg. End User Statements
5.14 Information gathered by the use of cookies in your web browser. (See Section 13)
5.15 Information gathered to deliver the best possible web experience: IP address; web browser type and version; operating system; the country where your computer is located, web pages viewed during your visit, search terms that you entered, which site you came from to ours, and the site you exit to.
5.16 for your security, we keep an encrypted record of your login password
5.17 credit and debit card numbers are not collected or stored by us or our site. They are collected and processed by a 3rd party data processor who uses a frame on our site (see section 8)
6. How and Why Do We Use Your Data?
6.1 All personal data is processed and stored securely, for no longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. We will comply with our obligations and safeguard your rights under the GDPR at all times. For more details on security see section 7, below.
6.2 Our use of your personal data will always have a lawful basis, either:
because it is necessary for our performance of a contract with you,
| For example, if you order an item from us we will collect your address details and pass them to our courier |
because we are required to do so by law,
| For example, we can pass details of people who have purchased substances controlled by the Anti-Terrorism Act to the UK Department for International Trade Export Control Organisation |
because you have consented to our use of your personal data
| For example, by subscribing to emails using your personal email address |
or
because it is in our legitimate interests to use your data in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of running our business, and which does not materially impact your rights, freedoms, or interests.
| For example we will use your purchase history and research interests to send you or make available personalised offers. |
| We will also use your corporate / institution email to send you direct marketing information by email telling you about products and services that we think might be of interest to your work. |
Specifically, We may use your data for the following purposes:
6.2.1 Providing and managing your Account. We do this on the basis of our legitimate interests in providing you with the best service;
6.2.2 Processing orders that you make
6.2.3 Providing and managing your access to our site;
6.2.4 Personalising and tailoring your experience on our site; For example, displaying the most interesting products to you. We do this on the basis of your consent for our apps or our site to place cookies on your device.
6.2.5 Supplying our products and services to you (please note that We require your personal data in order to enter into a contract with you);
6.2.6 Personalising and tailoring our products and / or services for you. We do this on the basis of our legitimate interests in providing you with the best service;
6.2.7 Replying to emails from you, and keeping a record of our correspondence. We do this on the basis of our legitimate interests in providing you with the best service;
6.2.8 Supplying you with newsletter emails to your corporate / institution email address, (on the basis of our legitimate business interests) or with your consent, your private individual email address, that you may unsubscribe from or opt-out of at any time by Clicking the Unsubscribe link provided, or visiting the My Preferences page in your Account
6.2.9 To send you communications required by law. For example, updates to this Privacy Notice, product recall notices and legally required information relating to your orders. These service messages will not include any promotional content, and do not require prior consent.
6.2.10 To administer any of our prize draws or competitions which you enter.
6.2.11 To send you survey and feedback requests to help improve our products and services. We have a legitimate interest to do so as this helps to make our products and services more relevant to you;
6.2.12 Analysing your use of our site and gathering feedback to enable Us to continually improve our site and your user experience. We’ll do this as part of our legitimate business interests.
6.2.13 To protect us, yourself and others from fraud and other illegal activities associated with misuse of our site or products. For example, we will share details of any attempted suspicious transactions for substances controlled by the Anti-Terrorism Act, or Controlled Substances Act. We’ll do this as part of our legitimate business interests.
6.2.14 Complying with our legal and reporting obligations. For example, we monitor for suspicious transactions
6.3 Where permitted by law, we may also use your data for marketing purposes which may include contacting your corporate / institution email address or mailing address with information, news and offers on our products and services. We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that we fully protect your rights and comply with our obligations under GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
6.4 You have the right to withdraw your consent to us using your personal data at any time, and to request that we delete it. But remember, if you choose not to share your personal data with us, or refuse certain contact permissions, we might not be able to provide some services you’ve asked for:
| For example, if you’ve asked us to let you know when an item comes back into stock, we can’t do that if you’ve withdrawn your general consent to hear from us. |
6.5. We will keep your Personal Data until you ask us to remove it, as long as this complies with our legal obligations. You should also note that we are required by law to retain your Personal Information indefinitely, if you have purchased substances controlled by the Anti Terrorism Act, or Controlled Substances Act. 8. How and Where Do We Store Your Data?
7. How and Where Do We Store Your Data?
7.1 We only keep your personal data for as long as we need to in order to use it as described above in section 6, and/or for as long as we have your permission to keep it.
7.2 The European Economic Area (“the EEA”) consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. Some or all of your data may be stored outside of the EEA (such as the USA). You are deemed to accept and agree to this when placing an order, or by using our site and submitting information to us.
If we do store data outside the EEA, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is treated as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the Data Protection Act 1998 or GDPR,
| For example, our contracts and policies with third parties detail the standards they must follow to assure data security. |
7.3 Data security is very important to us, and to protect your data we have taken suitable measures to safeguard and secure data collected through our site.
Steps we take to secure and protect your data include:
7.3.1 We secure access to all areas of our site using ‘https’ technology
7.3.2 Access to your personal data on our site is password-protected and is secured by SSL encryption.
8. Do We Share Your Data?
8.1 We may sometimes share your data with trusted third parties to supply products and services to you on our behalf. These may include:
8.1.1 IT companies and business consultants who support our website and other business systems
8.1.2 Payment processors who collect and process your credit and debit card details
8.1.3 Operational companies such as delivery couriers
8.1.4 Google / Facebook to show you products that might interest you while you’re browsing the internet (this is based on your acceptance of cookies on our website)
8.1.5 Direct marketing companies who help us to manage our electronic or postal communications with you
In some cases, the third parties may require access to some or all of your data. Where any of your data is required for such a purpose, We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data will be handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, our obligations, and the obligations of the third party under the law.
8.2 We may compile statistics about the use of our site including data on traffic, usage patterns, user numbers, sales, and other information. All such data will be anonymised and will not include any personally identifying data, or any anonymised data that can be combined with other data and used to identify you. We may from time to time share such data with third parties such as prospective investors, affiliates, partners, and advertisers. Data will only be shared and used within the bounds of the law.
8.3 We may sometimes use third party data processors that are located outside of the EEA such as the USA.
Where we transfer your data to a third party based in the USA, this may be protected if they are part of the EU-US Privacy Shield. This requires that third party to provide data protection to standards similar levels of data protection to those in Europe. More information is available from the European Commission.
Where we transfer any personal data outside the EEA, We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is treated as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the GDPR including:
| For example, our contracts and policies with third parties detail the standards they must follow to assure data security. |
8.4 In some limited circumstances, we may be legally required to share certain data held by us, which may include your personal data,
| For example, we may have to share your data where we are involved in legal proceedings, where we are complying with legal requirements, a court order, or a governmental authority |
9. What Happens If Our Business Changes Hands?
9.1 We may, from time to time, expand or reduce our business and this may involve the sale and/or the transfer of control of all or part of our business. Any personal data that you have provided will, where it is relevant to any part of our business that is being transferred, be transferred along with that part and the new owner or newly controlling party will, under the terms of this Privacy Policy, be permitted to use that data only for the same purposes for which it was originally collected by us.
9.2 In the event that any of your data is to be transferred in such a manner, you will be contacted in advance and informed of the changes. When contacted you will not, however, be given the choice to have your data deleted or withheld from the new owner or controller.
10. How Can You Control Your Data?
10.1 When you submit personal data via our site, you may be given options to restrict our use of your data (see Section 11).
We also aim to give you strong controls on our use of your data for direct marketing purposes
| For example, you will have the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from us either by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails, at the point of providing your details, or by managing your Account. |
11. Your Right to Withhold Information
11.1 You may access certain areas of our site without providing any data at all. However, to use all features and functions available on our site you may be required to submit or allow for the collection of certain data.
11.2 You may restrict our use of Cookies.
| For example you can use your browser to restrict, block or delete cookies from hellobio.com. Each browser is different, so check the Help menu of your particular browser (or your mobile phone's handset manual) to learn how to change your cookie preferences. However, please note that this will mean that you will not be able to access all features of our website |
For more information, see section 13.
12. How Can You Access Your Data?
You have the right to ask for a copy of any of your personal data held by us (where such data is held). Under the GDPR, no fee is payable and We will provide any and all information in response to your request free of charge. Please contact us for more details at hello@hellobio.com or using the contact details below in section 14.
13. Our Use of Cookies
13.1 Our site may place and access certain first party Cookies on your computer or device. First party Cookies are those placed directly by us and are used only by us. We use Cookies to facilitate and improve your experience of our site and to provide and improve our products and services. We have carefully chosen these Cookies and have taken steps to ensure that your privacy and personal data is protected and respected at all times. Our cookies don't store sensitive information such as your name, address or payment details: they simply hold the 'key' that, once you're signed in, is associated with this information.
13.2 By using our site you may also receive certain third party Cookies on your computer or device. Third party Cookies are those placed by websites, services, and/or parties other than us. Third party Cookies are used on our site for monitoring our site to improve its performance, enabling video content, or showing you relevant personalised content whilst browsing our site and the internet. For more details, please refer to section 6, above, and to section 13.6 below. These Cookies are not integral to the functioning of our site and your use and experience of our site will not be impaired by refusing consent to them.
13.3 All Cookies used by and on our site are used in accordance with current Cookie Law.
13.4 On your first visit to hellobio.com, you will be shown an information box telling you about the setting of Cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are giving your consent to the placing of Cookies, enabling us to provide the best possible experience and service to you. You may, if you wish, restrict, block or delete Cookies (see 13.9 and 13.10); however certain features of our site may not function fully or as intended.
13.5 Certain features of our site depend on Cookies to function. Cookie Law deems these Cookies to be “strictly necessary”. These Cookies are shown below in section 13.6. Your consent will not be sought to place these Cookies, but it is still important that you are aware of them. You may still block these Cookies by changing your internet browser’s settings as detailed below in section 13.10, but please be aware that our site will not work properly if you do so. We have taken great care to ensure that your privacy is not at risk by allowing them.
13.6 The following first party Cookies may be placed on your computer or device:
| Name of Cookie | Purpose | Strictly Necessary |
| Frontend | Keeps track of your current location and selections on our website. Without this you would not be able to use our shipping cart, checkout or account pages. | Yes |
| Store | Remembers which country and language should be used to view our site. Without it the site would always be seen in English with USD as a currency. | Yes |
| User_allowed_save_cookie | Remembers your cookie preference. | Yes |
| External_no_cache | This cookie tells us whether the pages you are viewing should be cached. Our site would work more slowly if this cookie was not used. | Yes |
| X-Store | This cookie indicates which design files should be used. Without it our site would look terrible. | Yes |
| FPC_product_viewed | Used to remember the last product viewed. This speeds up your web experience. | No |
and the following third party Cookies may be placed on your computer or device:
| Name of Cookie | Purpose | Strictly Necessary |
| IDE | Enables us to serve you with relevant adverts and content when you are browsing the internet after visiting our site | No |
13.7 Our site uses analytics services provided by Google. Website analytics refers to a set of tools used to collect and analyse anonymous usage information, enabling us to better understand how our site is used. This, in turn, enables us to improve our site and the products and services offered through it. Use of these cookies does not pose any risk to your privacy or your safe use of our site, but it does enable us to continually improve our site, making it a better and more useful experience for you.
13.8 The analytics service used by our site uses the following Cookies:
| Name of Cookie | First/Third Party | Provider | Purpose |
| _ga | third | Google Analytics | Used to analyse use of our site to allow us to develop & improve website. |
| _gid | third | Google Analytics | Used to analyse use of our site to allow us to develop & improve website. |
| _gat | third | Google Analytics | Used to analyse use of our site to allow us to develop & improve website. |
| Anow | first | Google Analytics | Used to analyse use of our site to allow us to develop & improve website. |
13.9 You can choose to enable or disable Cookies in your internet browser. Most internet browsers also enable you to choose whether you wish to disable all cookies or only third party Cookies. By default, most internet browsers accept Cookies but this can be changed. For further details, please consult the help menu in your internet browser or the documentation that came with your device.5.3 The links below provide instructions on how to control Cookies in all mainstream browsers:
- Google Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en-GB
- Microsoft Internet Explorer: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/278835
- Microsoft Edge: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/products/microsoft-edge (Please note that there are no specific instructions at this time, but Microsoft support will be able to assist)
- Safari (macOS): https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21411?viewlocale=en_GB&locale=en_GB
- Safari (iOS): https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201265
- Mozilla Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-Cookies-website-preferences
- Android: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en (Please refer to your device’s documentation for manufacturers’ own browsers)
13.10 You can choose to delete Cookies on your computer or device at any time, however you may lose any information that enables you to access our site more quickly and efficiently including, but not limited to, login and personalisation settings.
13.11 It is recommended that you keep your internet browser and operating system up-to-date and that you consult the help and guidance provided by the developer of your internet browser and manufacturer of your computer or device if you are unsure about adjusting your privacy settings.
14. Contacting Us
If you have any questions about our site or this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email at hello@hellobio.com, by telephone on +44(0)117 318 0505, or by post at Unit 3, IO Centre, Cabot Park, Moorend Farm Avenue, Avonmouth, Bristol, BS11 0QL, UK. Please ensure that your query is clear, particularly if it is a request for information about the data we hold about you (as under section 12, above).
15. Changes to Our Privacy Policy
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time (for example, if the law changes). Any changes will be immediately posted on our site and you will be deemed to have accepted the terms of the Privacy Policy on your first use of our site following the alterations. We recommend that you check this page regularly to keep up-to-date.