Privacy Policy

1. Key Points (Quick Summary)

• We do not sell personal information for third‑party marketing or engage in cross‑context behavioral advertising.
• We do create aggregated, de‑identified datasets from user submissions and may license or sell those datasets to third parties. You can opt out of inclusion in future third‑party commercial datasets via an account setting; opt‑out applies to future distributions only.
• Receipt images are auto‑deleted after 30 days (except during fraud investigations). We retain metadata after deletion.
• Patient accounts use auto‑generated anonymous usernames; reviews and Price Reports are displayed without your real name.
• Certain fields are internal‑only and are never displayed publicly (see Section 2.1).
• We use PostHog (self‑hosted), Vercel Analytics, and Google Search Console for analytics. We do not use advertising cookies or Meta Pixel.
• For privacy requests (including CPRA/CCPA requests), contact us via our contact page: glassyindex.com/about/contact.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

• Account info: email address, username, password, profile details. Patient accounts receive an auto‑generated anonymous username; reviews and Price Reports are displayed on the Site without your real name.
• Price Reports and reviews: procedure type, price paid, clinic/provider, treatment area, dates (month/year), notes, ratings (worth‑it, results), side effects, how long results lasted, whether you'd return, receipt images (optional), and follow‑up survey responses.
• Clinic claims: business info and verification documents (for clinic owners).
• Communications: messages, support requests, and opt‑out preferences.

Never displayed publicly

Certain fields collected during submission are internal‑only and are never displayed publicly on the Site. These include:

• Your real name and email address;
• Your age range (e.g., 18–24, 25–34, etc.);
• How you discovered the clinic (discovery source);
• Whether you received an incentive to submit the report (incentive status).

We may use internal‑only fields for analytics, fraud detection, Sparkle calculations, and product improvement, but they are not shown on profiles or Price Reports to other users.

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically

• Usage data: pages visited, clicks, search queries, timestamps.
• Device & technical info: IP address, browser type, screen resolution, operating system, referrer, and approximate location.
• Analytics: PostHog (self‑hosted), Vercel Analytics, and Google Search Console metrics.

2.3 Information from Third Parties

• Publicly available clinic and provider data (NPI Registry, public directories).
• Identity verification services for clinic claims (when used).

3. How We Use Information

We use information to:

• Provide, operate, and improve the Site and Services.
• Display Price Reports and reviews (without real names) and allow clinics to claim profiles.
• Generate aggregated and de‑identified datasets and analytics for internal use and commercial licensing (see Section 8).
• Detect, prevent, and investigate fraud or abuse.
• Respond to support and legal requests.
• Send transactional communications and optional product emails (you can opt out of non‑essential emails).

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

4.1 What we use

• Essential cookies: required for authentication and session management.
• Analytics cookies: PostHog (self‑hosted) and Vercel Analytics to understand Site usage.
• Google Search Console: for search index and performance monitoring.

We do not use advertising or targeted marketing cookies. You can control non‑essential cookies through your browser settings. When you first visit the Site you will see a cookie notice allowing you to accept or decline non‑essential cookies. Declining non‑essential cookies will not prevent essential cookies needed for the Site to function.

4.2 Do Not Track

We do not currently respond to browser Do Not Track signals, and there is no industry standard for DNT.

5. How We Share Information

5.1 Service Providers

We share data with processors who perform services on our behalf (Clerk, Supabase, Vercel, and other vendors). They are contractually required to protect data.

5.2 Aggregated and De‑Identified Data

We create aggregated, de‑identified datasets and analytics derived from user submissions (pricing trends, satisfaction ratings, side effect frequencies, duration metrics, and deal/discount patterns). These datasets do not include direct identifiers and are subject to technical and policy safeguards (see Section 8). We may license or sell these datasets to third parties (e.g., pharma companies, clinic groups, researchers). You can opt out of inclusion in future commercial datasets via an account setting (see Section 8).

5.3 Legal and Safety

We may disclose information to comply with legal obligations, to respond to lawful requests (including subpoenas), to protect rights, safety, or property, or to detect and prevent fraud.

6. Receipts and Verification Documents

• Optional receipt images you upload are used to validate Price Reports and increase credibility.
• Receipt images are automatically deleted 30 days after upload by our scheduled job. If a fraud investigation is pending, deletion may be suspended until the investigation concludes.
• After deletion, we retain only metadata: uploader user ID, upload timestamp, and file hash for deduplication and integrity.

7. Data Retention

We retain information according to the following general schedule:

• Account information: retained for the life of your account and a reasonable period after deactivation for legal and business purposes.
• Price Reports and reviews: retained indefinitely for data integrity and historical pricing analysis. You may request your Price Reports be hidden from public view; we will retain internal copies as required for integrity.
• Price history: previous prices are archived (not deleted) when updated to maintain a complete pricing record.
• Receipt images: deleted after 30 days (fraud exception) — only metadata retained.
• Automatically collected analytics: retained in accordance with our analytics providers' standard retention periods.

8. Commercial Use of Aggregated Data; De‑Identification; Opt‑Out

8.1 What we sell/license

We may sell or license aggregated and de‑identified datasets that summarize pricing, patient satisfaction (worth‑it and results ratings), treatment outcomes (duration, side effects), and deal/discount patterns to third parties including pharmaceutical companies, private equity, clinic chains, and researchers.

8.2 De‑identification and Re‑Identification Risk Mitigation

Before licensing, we apply de‑identification and risk mitigation measures:

• Removal of direct identifiers (names, emails).
• Enforced minimum cell size: aggregated slices with fewer than 5 records are suppressed.
• Combination suppression: when cross‑tabulation risks produce small cells, we suppress or generalize fields to prevent unique combinations.
• Additional techniques where appropriate: k‑anonymity thresholds, generalization (broader age ranges, date windows), and noise injection or differential privacy methods for highly sensitive datasets.

Buyers must agree contractually not to attempt re‑identification and to implement appropriate security controls.

8.3 Opt‑Out Mechanics

• You can opt out of inclusion in future third‑party commercial datasets via an account setting (Opt‑Out applies prospectively only).
• Opt‑out does not remove your contributions from public site displays or internal analytics used to operate the Site.
• For data already licensed or sold prior to your opt‑out, buyers are contractually required to honor future opt‑out requests going forward (i.e., they must exclude the user's data from subsequent distributions or updates). Buyers are not required to recall datasets already distributed to third parties prior to the opt‑out.

8.4 How to Opt Out

Sign in, go to account settings, and toggle "Exclude my submissions from third‑party commercial datasets." You may also request opt‑out via the contact page.

We will log opt‑outs and apply them to future licensing processes.

9. Follow‑Up Review Prompts

GlassyIndex may send automated follow‑up prompts at intervals after a procedure (approximately 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months) to collect updated information about results and satisfaction. Follow‑up prompts are linked to your original Price Report and are voluntary. You may opt out of follow‑up prompts in account settings or by following the instructions in the emails.

10. What We Do Not Do

• We do not sell personal information for third‑party marketing.
• We do not share personal information for cross‑context behavioral advertising.
• We do not use or disclose your personal information for targeted advertising without your consent.

11. Your Rights and Choices

11.1 Access and Correction

You may request a copy of personal information we hold about you or request correction of inaccurate personal information via our contact page.

11.2 Deletion and Account Deactivation

You may request account deactivation via the contact page. Deactivation will deactivate your account from public access, but Price Reports and reviews will remain unless you request they be hidden. We retain internal copies as described in the retention schedule.

11.3 California Residents: CCPA/CPRA Rights

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights:

• Right to Know: Request disclosure of categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.
• Right to Delete: Request deletion of personal information, subject to exceptions (e.g., retention for data integrity of Price Reports).
• Right to Correct: Request correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Right to Opt‑Out of Sale/Sharing: We do not sell personal information for marketing; however, we do license aggregated, de‑identified datasets. Use the "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" mechanism by contacting us via our contact page to exercise applicable rights. We will respond to verifiable requests within 45 days.

11.4 Other State Rights

Residents of other states with privacy laws (e.g., Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Oregon, Washington) may have similar rights. Contact us via the contact page for requests.

11.5 Exercising Your Rights

To exercise rights, contact us via: glassyindex.com/about/contact. We will verify requests to the extent necessary and respond within statutory timelines.

12. Washington My Health My Data (MHMD)

Washington's MHMD law applies to consumer health data about Washington residents. If you are in Washington, we provide the following:

• Consumer Health Data We Collect: treatment types, reported side effects, duration of results, and satisfaction ratings.
• Purpose of Use: We use CHD for site operation, analytics, and to produce aggregated datasets. We may share aggregated CHD with third parties in de‑identified form (see Section 8).
• Opt‑Out and Rights: You may opt out of commercial use as described in Section 8. For additional MHMD rights, contact us via the contact page.

13. Business Transfers

If GlassyIndex is involved in a merger, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, or bankruptcy, user information (including Price Reports and reviews, account data, and aggregated datasets) may be transferred as part of the transaction. We will notify affected users of any change in ownership and any choices available regarding transferred information.

14. Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect information, including HTTPS encryption, secure database controls, access controls, and authentication protections. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security.

15. International Transfer

The Site is operated in the United States. If you access the Site from outside the U.S., your information may be transferred to and processed in the U.S. By using the Site you consent to such transfers. We put contractual safeguards in place with processors.

16. Children's Privacy

The Site is not directed to children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If we learn we have collected such information, we will delete it. If you believe we have collected data from a minor, contact us via the contact page.

17. Third‑Party Links

The Site may contain links to third‑party sites. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those sites. Review their privacy policies before sharing information.

18. DMCA and Copyright Takedowns

We comply with DMCA procedures. For takedown notices, see our DMCA & Copyright Policy. For takedowns targeting reviews, price reports, or receipts we require a signed declaration and proof of ownership, and we perform a two‑step human review. Abuse of the DMCA may expose the submitter to liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f).

19. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. Material changes will be reflected in the "Last Updated" date and, where required, we will notify registered users. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

20. Contact

For privacy inquiries, data access or deletion requests, Do Not Sell/Share requests, or other questions, contact us at: glassyindex.com/about/contact.