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Privacy policy

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries globally (referred to interchangeably herein as “Pacific Biosciences,” “we,” “us,” and possessively as “our”) values the privacy of individuals who use our website, https://www.pacb.com/ (the “Site”).  This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) explains how we collect, use, and disclose information we may collect about you, or that you may provide when you visit our Site, any subdomains, Applications (Apps), or otherwise use or interact with us or our products or services (collectively referred to as our “Offerings”).  “Personal Information” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual.  By using our Offerings, you agree to the collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy.  Beyond this Privacy Policy, your use of the Site and interaction with our Offerings are also subject to the terms and conditions of Site usage, the terms and conditions of sale, and our State Resident Privacy Notice.

If you are located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or the United Kingdom (“UK”), please note the supplementary information in Section 19 below.

  1. Personal Information.  In using our Offerings, you may be disclosing and Pacific Biosciences may be collecting certain information from or about you.  This may include Personal Information that you are asked to submit in filling out any order form, customer or visitor registration, requests for product and/or service information, SMRT® Grant proposals, and inquiries or submissions in response to potential or actual Pacific Biosciences career opportunities.  The Personal Information may include personal contact information, such as your name, title, address, telephone number(s), e-mail address(es), company/organization name and address, and ordering and billing details, and in the case of career submissions, employment and education history and other information of a personal nature.  When you make a payment to Pacific Biosciences, your credit card information, debit card information, billing information, and any other financial information necessary to complete your payment (“Payment Information”) is processed by our third-party payment processor, and we do not collect, store, or process your Payment Information.  If you apply for a job with us through a third-party platform, we will collect the information you make available to us through such third-party platforms.  While the submission of this Personal Information is your choice, you may not be able to access any or all products and/or Offerings offered by Pacific Biosciences if such Personal Information is not provided.  If you do not wish to submit such information through the Site, you may contact Pacific Biosciences by clicking the contact link to access such products and/or services.
  2. Other Information.  In addition to the foregoing Personal Information, Pacific Biosciences may automatically collect certain other information while you are using the Site, including the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the website from which you have accessed the Site, the URLs that you have visited on the Site, the content you access, the functions, products, or services you use on the Site, location information, the date and time of your visit(s) to the Site, your computer’s operating system, your computer’s unique identifier (e.g., CPU serial number), the browser you are using to access the Site, and the Internet Protocol (IP) address from which you are accessing the Site.  Some of this information is collected through your submission of information.  Some of this information is collected through the use of cookies beacons, invisible tags, and similar technologies (collectively, “Cookies”), which may be placed onto your computer.  Some of this information is collected through other technologies (e.g., AdRoll).
  3. Your Consent.  In providing any information, including Personal Information, to Pacific Biosciences, you are consenting and agreeing to our collection and use of that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
  4. Pacific Biosciences is a Global Company Headquartered in the U.S.  Our headquarters are located in the United States (“U.S.”).  If you choose to use the Site or engage with our Offerings from the EEA, the UK, or other regions of the world with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law, then please note that you are transferring your Personal Information outside of those regions to the U.S. for storage and processing.  We may transfer your Personal Information from the EEA or the UK to the U.S. and other third countries based on European Commission-approved Standard Contractual Clauses, or otherwise in accordance with applicable data protection laws.  Also, we may transfer your Personal Information from the U.S. to other countries or regions in connection with storage and processing of data, fulfilling your requests, and operating the Site.  By providing any information, including Personal Information to us, you consent to such transfer, storage, and processing.
  5. Use and Processing of Your Information.
    1. Pacific Biosciences will use and process your Personal Information and other information to process any orders, transactions or requests for information.  We may also use and process your Personal Information and other information for marketing purposes (e.g., to offer or furnish additional information to you about Pacific Biosciences, its products and/or services); to personalize the types of information you receive from Pacific Biosciences; to store your interests and preferences in order to customize your use of the Site; to communicate with you (such as for product support and billing issues); to verify compliance with our terms and conditions of Site usage or any agreement with us; its content or our products and/or services; to authenticate customers and users; to evaluate how our Offerings are being used and the audience the Site is reaching; to compile, identify and analyze trends and interests that help us improve the Offerings that we offer; to process your job application; to develop and improve the content and operation of our Offerings to better serve the needs of our customers and users; to prevent fraud and respond to trust and safety issues that may arise; to evaluate or conduct a merger, divesture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale of transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Information held by us is among the assets transferred; with your consent; and for other purposes for which we provide specific notice at the time the Personal Information is collected.
    2. Personal Information may also be aggregated, de-identified, or anonymized such that the information no longer personally identifies you “De-identified or Anonymized Data”).  We may use and process the De-identified or Anonymized Data for any lawful purpose and for the general purpose of evaluating our market and/or business trends, our customer and user demographics, interests and behavior, our past and future product and/or service offerings and/or pricing, or other aspects of our business.  We may share such De-identified or Anonymized Data with our business partners, vendors, distributors or other collaborators, for these same purposes.  We may also sell or license such De-identified or Anonymized Data to one or more third parties for use and process in a similar manner.
  6. Payment Processing.  When you make purchases, your payment is processed by a third-party payment processor (“Payment Processor”).  This Payment Processor may collect Payment Information and other Personal Information from you, including your name, email address, and billing address.  The use of your Personal Information by the Payment Processor is governed by its terms and conditions and privacy policy, and Personal Information we receive about you from our Payment Processor is governed by this Privacy Policy.
  7. Security.  Pacific Biosciences has implemented and follows appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect against unauthorized access to and unlawful interception or processing of your Personal Information.  However, as no electronic transmission or storage of information can be entirely secure, we can make no guarantees as to the security or privacy of your Personal Information.
  8. Linked Websites.  The Site may contain links to other websites, products, or services that we do not own or operate (“Third-Party Services”).  We are not responsible for the privacy practices, policies, or other content of these Third-Party Services.  Please be aware that this Privacy Policy does not apply to your activities on these Third-Party Services or any information you disclose to these Third-Party Services.  If you have any questions about how these other sites use your Personal Information, you should contact them directly.  We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing any information to them.
  9. Cookies.  The Site may employ Cookies in order for us to monitor those portions of the Site visited by customers and users, so that we can improve the content and operation of the Site or our Offerings.  These Cookies are files stored on your computer by the Site that are accessible by the Site.  We may also use Cookies when you register, order, or submit requests for information through the Site, that allow the Site to identify your computer on return visits, and help us to improve your experience in using the Site.  The Site may also use Cookies to store information provided by you.  You can usually set your browser to reject Cookies or to alert you before one is placed, if you prefer, but this may mean that you cannot use all features of the Site.  For more information on our use of cookies or other tracking technologies, please visit our Cookies list.
  10. Changes to this Privacy Policy.  We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time.  When we make changes, we will post the revised Privacy Policy at the Site and it will become effective immediately.  Your continued access to our Site or use of our Offerings represents your acceptance of such revised Privacy Policy.
  11. Sharing of Information.  We do not share or otherwise disclose the Personal Information we collect from you except as described below or otherwise disclosed to you at the time of the collection.
    1. Partners and Affiliates.  In the normal course of business, we may disclose and transfer your Personal Information and other information to, and share it with our partners, corporate affiliates, parents, or subsidiaries for any purpose described in this Privacy Policy.
    2. Vendors and Service Providers.  We may share any information we receive with agents, consultants, contractors, vendors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business, including, without limitation, our authorized distributors, marketing partners, hosting providers and payment processors.
    3. Advertising Partners.  We work with third-party advertising partners to show you ads that we think may interest you.  These advertising partners may set and access their own Cookies on the Site and they may otherwise collect or have access to information about you which they may collect over time and across different online services.  Some of our advertising partners are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (http://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1#!/) or Digital Advertising Alliance (http://optout.aboutads.info/?c=2&lang=EN).  If you do not wish to receive personalized ads, please visit their opt-out pages to learn about how you may opt out of receiving web-based personalized ads from member companies. You may also opt out of our sharing of Personal Information with our third-party advertising partners by toggling off the “Sale of Personal Information” button on our management platform, accessible here [LINK].
    4. As Required by Law and Similar Disclosures.  We may access, preserve, and disclose your Personal Information if we believe doing so is required or appropriate to: (i) comply with law enforcement requests and legal process, such as a court order or subpoena; (ii) respond to your requests; or (iii) protect your, our, or others’ rights, property, or safety.  For the avoidance of doubt, the disclosure of your Personal Information may occur if you post any objectionable content on or through the Site.
    5. Merger, Sale, or Other Asset Transfers.  We may also disclose and transfer your Personal Information and other information to service providers, advisors, potential transactional partners, or other third parties in connection with the consideration, negotiation, or completion of a corporate transaction in which we are acquired by or merged with another company, or we sell, liquidate, or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets.
    6. Consent.  We may also disclose Personal Information from or about you or your devices with your permission.
  12. Release of Information.  We will release your Personal Information only if you direct us to do so (such as through a function or feature within the Site, our products and/or services, or other action or communication you make) or as permitted by this Privacy Policy, the terms and conditions of Site usage, or any applicable contract between us and you or your company/organization.  We may also release collected information if we reasonably believe we are required to do so by law, regulation, court action, to enforce or apply the terms and conditions of Site usage or any applicable contract between us and you or your company/organization, to prevent abuse of the Site or our Offerings, or if necessary to protect and defend the rights or property of Pacific Biosciences (including any of its affiliates and subsidiaries), employees, customers, users or others.  We also may be required to disclose your Personal Information in response to a lawful request by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
  13. Minors.  We do not knowingly collect, maintain, or use Personal Information from individuals under 16 years of age (“Minors”), and no part of the Site or our Offerings are directed to children.  If you learn that a Minor has provided us with Personal Information in violation of this Privacy Policy, please alert us at privacy@pacb.com.
  14. Retention.  We will retain collected information for so long as it is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purpose we collected it for, including for us to comply with law, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements, to enforce any rights in connection with the Site, its content or our products and/or our Services, to use as provided in this Privacy Policy, the terms and conditions of Site usage, or any applicable contract between us and you or your company/organization, and to resolve disputes. In some circumstances, you can ask us to delete your data: see our State Resident Privacy Notice or section 19.e. below for further information.
  15. Opting Out.  Unless you tell us otherwise by “unsubscribing” or “opting out,” we may also contact you regarding other products, services and related information that may be of interest to you.  You can exercise your right to prevent such contact by setting your preferences on the Site, using our cookie consent management platform Cookie Settings, or sending a letter to Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., 1305 O’Brien Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025, attention: Legal Department.  Please note that you may not unsubscribe or opt-out of account management communications (e.g., billing, status emails, support issues).
  16. Contacting You.  We may contact you as described in this Privacy Policy, the terms and conditions of Site usage, or any applicable contract between us and you or your company/organization, including as necessary in connection with the Site or Offerings you use (e.g., to provide you support, updates to the products and/or services, resolve billing issues, etc.).
  17. Contacting Us.  You may contact Pacific Biosciences regarding this Privacy Policy by clicking the contact link or sending a letter to Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., 1305 O’Brien Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA, attention: Legal Department – Privacy Policy.
  18. State Privacy Rights.  If you are a California resident or resident of another state providing comprehensive privacy rights similar to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), you can review our State Resident Privacy Notice for information about your privacy rights and choices under the CCPA or other similar laws.  If you choose not to provide us with the Personal Information we collect, some features of our Offerings may not work as intended.
  19. EEA and UK Supplement. If you are located in the EEA or the UK, then this Supplement applies in addition to the above.  In case of conflict between this Section 19 and the above Sections, this Section 19 shall prevail.
    1. Data Controller.  Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. is your data controller, as defined under the GDPR, for Personal Information processed in connection with your visit of the Site.  Please find the contact information in the below Section 19.f.
    2. Consent.  We process Personal Information based on your consent only if we have obtained your explicit and freely given consent for such processing.
    3. Marketing.  We process your Personal Information for marketing purposes only if we have a legal basis to do so, i.e., we contact you for marketing purposes only with your explicit and freely given consent if you are located in a country requires opt-in for marketing e-mails and where no other legal basis exists.
    4. Legal bases.  We only process your Personal Information when we have a valid “legal basis,” including when:
      1. Consent.  You have consented to the use of your Personal Information, for example to use cookies.
      2. Contractual necessity.  We need your Personal Information to provide you with the Site, for example to respond to your inquiries.
      3. Compliance with a legal obligation.  We have a legal obligation to use your Personal Information, for example to comply with tax and accounting obligations.
      4. Legitimate interests.  We or a third party have a legitimate interest in using your Personal Information.  In particular, we have a legitimate interest in using your Personal Information for product development and internal analytics purposes, and otherwise to improve the safety, security, and performance of the Site.  We only rely on our or a third party’s legitimate interests to process your Personal Information when these interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.
    5. Your rights.  You have the following rights related to the processing of Personal Information to the extent permitted by law:
      1. Right to obtain from us confirmation as to whether or not we process your Personal Information and, where that is the case, access to the Personal Information and receive a copy of your Personal Information (Art. 15 GDPR);
      2. Right of rectification of inaccurate Personal Information concerning you (Art. 16 GDPR);
      3. Right to obtain from us the erasure of your Personal Information without undue delay (Art. 17 GDPR);
      4. Right to obtain from us restriction of processing of your Personal Information (Art. 18 GDPR);
      5. Right to receive your Personal Information, which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another controller without hindrance from us (Art. 20 GDPR); and
      6. Right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, at any time to processing of your Personal which we process based on our legitimate interest or in the public interest, including profiling based on those provisions (Art. 21 GDPR). Where the processing is based on your consent you have the right to withdraw your consent with effect for the future at any time.  To exercise your rights please use the contact details set out under Section 19.f.  Before meeting your request, we may ask you to provide reasonable information to verify your identity.  Please note that there are exceptions and limitations to each of these rights, and that while any changes you make will be reflected in active user databases instantly or within a reasonable period of time, we may retain information for backups, archiving, prevention of fraud and abuse, analytics, satisfaction of legal obligations, or where we otherwise reasonably believe that we have a legitimate reason to do so. In addition, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, including in your country of residence, place of work, or where an incident took place.
    6. International data transfers.  Transfers of your Personal Information may be made to entities located outside the European Economic Area and the UK, including entities located in the United States, for processing consistent with the purposes above.  Pacific Biosciences will implement appropriate measures to ensure that the relevant Pacific Biosciences companies and third parties outside the European Economic Area or the UK provide an adequate level of protection to your Personal Information as set out in this notice and as required by applicable law, e.g., by putting in place the EU Commission’s standard contractual clauses and supplementary measures, or the UK Addendum to the standard contractual clauses.  You can request a copy of these measures by contacting us under the below details.
    7. Contact.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding the processing of your Personal Information relating to the European Economic Area or the UK, you may contact us by clicking the contact link or sending a letter to Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., 1305 O’Brien Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA, attention: Legal Department – Privacy Policy.
    8. Obligation.  You are not obliged to provide your Personal Information.  However, if you do not provide your Personal Information, we may only be able to provide you with limited services or not answer your enquiries.
    9. Other sources.  We may receive Personal Information about you from our third-party partners, such as advertising networks. This data may be combined with information from other sources.
    10. Automated decision making.  We do not make decisions based solely on automated decision making, including profiling, which produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects you.
    11. Cookies.  The Cookies described under Section 19 can be categorized as follows:
      1. Performance Cookies.  These Cookies allow us to track visits and Site usage so that we can measure and improve the performance of the Site.  They help us understand which pages are the most or least popular, or to record error messages on the Site.  All analysis based on this information is aggregated.
      2. Functional Cookies.  These Cookies allow us to improve the functionality and personalization of the Site.  They ensure that your Site preferences (e.g., settings or filters) are maintained and help us to include third-party services on the Site.  Any analysis performed based on this information is aggregated.
      3. Advertising Cookies.  These Cookies help us to better analyze the impact of the Site and your interests, e.g., to show you personalized advertising or put other content on our or other websites.  These may be displayed on the Site or on third-party websites.  In particular, the Cookie collects information about your browsing activities in order to understand which topics are relevant to you.
      4. Necessary Cookies.  These cookies are necessary for the functioning and management of the Site and cannot be disabled in our systems. They are usually set based on your input, such as when you set your cookie preferences, log in, or fill out forms.  You can set your browser to block these cookies, but then some parts of the Site will not work.

We use first- and third-party Cookies.  First-party Cookies come from our platform and send information only to us; third-party Cookies are placed on the Site by third parties and send information about your device to other companies that recognize that Cookie.  We use session Cookies, which are only stored for individual online sessions and are deleted when you close your browser; and persistent Cookies, which are deleted when they reach their expiry date or are deleted by the user. The placement and subsequent processing of Necessary Cookies is based on our legitimate interest or in order to provide you with an expressly requested tele-media service.  Our legitimate interest is to provide you with a technically optimized, user-friendly and appropriate Site.  We use other Cookies only with your consent.  You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future, e.g., by managing your Cookie Settings or using the contact information set out in Section 19.f

Please see our Cookies policy for form information about our use of cookies and third-party technologies.

Effective Date: September 1, 2022

Last updated: March 12, 2024

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