Privacy Policy

Aural Analytics, Inc. (“Aural Analytics”, “we,” or “us”) is a corporation created to develop automated and objective outcome measures that track with neurological damage or disease. These outcome measures help clinicians and companies reliably track the effects of behavioral intervention, pharmacological intervention, surgery, and devices.

We have developed the mobile application called SpeechAssess (“our app”) to facilitate our partnerships with research partners and customers interested in this area. The aim of our app is to facilitate the data collection and to understand the variations in data that track with neurological decline or that predict early signs of a disorder. Use of our app is restricted to those individuals that are currently participating in a research study or clinical trial with one of our research partners or customers.

This privacy policy describes our collection of data when you participate in a study making use of our app, our internal use of the collected data, our strict disclosure policy, and the series of steps we take as a company to protect collected data. In the context of this privacy policy, “collected data” means any speech samples collected using the SpeechAssess app.

By using the SpeechAssess app you consent to the privacy practices outlined in this privacy policy. The company responsible for the collection and processing of the collected data is Aural Analytics, Inc., Mailing Address: PO BOX 241 Tempe, AZ 85280-0241, Physical Address: 1355 North Scottsdale Road, Suite 110, Scottsdale, AZ 85257.

Registering to use the SpeechAssess app

In order to gain access to our app, you must be enrolled in a trial with one of our research partners or customers. All accounts are created by these third parties. Aural Analytics does not maintain or have access to any personal information regarding the user accounts created. 

Data We Collect

The application only collects the types of information described below:

• Research data related to speech production and cognitive-linguistics. The SpeechAssess app guides users through a series of speech elicitation tasks. These include reading tasks and spontaneous speech production tasks. We refer to this data as the “speech data”. SpeechAssess records the participant responses and sends the speech samples to the server using a secure connection. Aural Analytics processes the data using a suite of computational tools and extracts information and metrics regarding the acoustic and language composition of the speech signal. From this we infer information about articulation, phonation, resonance, prosody, cognition, linguistics, sentiment, and memory. These metrics and the raw speech files are collected and stored in a secure server.  

• Participant IDs from the study. At the end of each study, we provide our research partners and customers with a data file containing all relevant metrics extracted from the data. We store the participant IDs from each study in order to associate the relevant metrics with the participant ID.

• Log Information for Debugging. For the purposes of debugging our app, we log standard log information such as internet protocol address and details of how you used the SpeechAssess app (e.g. a history of whether a participant completed the task, which task took longest to complete, the date/time of a particular action within the app).

Data We Do Not Collect

Since users are provided with an account by the third party that enrolls them, it is important to note that our app does NOT collect any of the following personal information at any point:

• Name of user
• Demographic information related to user (age, information about where they live, socio-economic status, health or medical information)
• IDs not issued by the enrolling third party (Social Security number, insurance ID, Medicare/Medicaid ID)
• GPS tracking
• Device data generated by other applications (photos, contacts, internet browser information)

Internal Use of Collected Information

We do not collect your contact information, including email address, and therefore cannot contact you. As a result, all communication regarding your participation in the study will be done through the clinical site. 

We use the speech data to operate, maintain, enhance, and provide existing and new features of the SpeechAssess app. We also use the speech data to extract the objective metrics and to provide the metrics and raw data to our research partners or customers. 

Your data will be used for improving our analytics that provide objective measures of neurological health, for the purposes of medical research, and for the purposes of developing training tools for students and speech-language pathologists on perceptual assessment of speech disorders. Your data will NOT be used for advertising. We will not access your personal contacts, other applications, personal photos nor text and email messages on your iPhone, Android, or other smart device.

We use log files and other automatically-collected usage data that is essential for debugging the SpeechAssess app in order to ensure they function effectively, including to: (i) personalize the app, such as by remembering login information so that it does not need to be re-entered; (ii) monitor and analyze the app; and (iii) monitor aggregate usage metrics from the app. We do not use cookies, beacons or device fingerprinting.

How We Disclose Information

Except as described in this privacy policy, we will not sell, rent, lease, give away, disclose or share your data that we collect through the SpeechAssess app to third parties without your consent. We may provide coded study information to third parties if you consent to us doing so, as well as in the following circumstances:

• When we work with third parties who provide services on our behalf, we take steps to limit the personal data provided to them to that which is reasonably necessary for them to perform their functions for the allowable purposes listed above. We require them by contract to agree to only process the personal data in accordance with our instructions and to maintain the security and confidentiality of such information by applying adequate technical and organizational measures.
• To the extent permitted by applicable law, we may disclose your information if required to do so by law to comply with state and federal laws, in response to a court order, judicial or other government subpoena or warrant, or to otherwise cooperate with law enforcement or other governmental agencies.
• We also reserve the right to disclose your information that we believe, in good faith, is appropriate or necessary to (i) take precautions against liability, (ii) protect ourselves or others from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses or activity, (iii) investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations, (iv) protect the security or integrity of the SpeechAssess app and the research study and any facilities or equipment used to make the app available, or (v) protect our property or other legal rights (including, but not limited to, enforcement of our agreements), or the rights, property, or safety of others. We will notify all clinical sites participating in this research of any such disclosures.
• Information about our users, including personal data, may be disclosed and otherwise transferred to an acquirer, successor, or assignee as part of any merger, acquisition, debt financing, sale of assets, or similar transaction, or in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership in which information is transferred to one or more third parties as one of our business assets, to the extent and in the way as prescribed by applicable law.
• The raw speech data, as well as the metrics extracted from this data, will be provided to research partners and customers at the conclusion of each study.
• We will combine your data with those of other study participants. The combined data may be used to develop training materials for graduate and undergraduate students and practicing speech-language pathologists on how to perceptually identify speech characteristics. This may require that trainees listen to the speech data.  
• The data may be used by Aural Analytics’ employees for research and customer engagement purposes. This includes publishing metrics derived from the speech data in reputable scientific journals and presenting the speech data in presentations the company makes at research conferences or to potential customers. 

Do Not Track

We do not track our SpeechAssess participants across third party websites or online services to provide targeted advertising, and we do not specifically respond to Do Not Track (“DNT”) signals.

Data Security

Aural Analytics uses appropriate physical, managerial, and technical safeguards that are designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity and security of the data that we collect and maintain against accidental or unlawful loss, theft and misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration destruction, or any other type of unlawful processing. We cannot, however, fully guarantee the security of personal data or other information transmitted to us through the SpeechAssess app.

We take steps to ensure that your data is kept in de-identified format by never collecting additional personal data that reasonably can be used to identify you directly, such as name or telephone number. However, experts in re-identification may be able to reverse our processes and/or attempt to re-identify you if given sufficient cross-reference information (e.g. a comprehensive database of voice samples for cross-referencing). Total anonymity cannot be guaranteed.

Your Rights and Choices 

Subject to applicable law, you may have certain rights regarding the personal data we maintain about you. You may have the right to request access to and receive information about the data we maintain about you, or have your data rectified, blocked or deleted if it is incorrect, inaccurate or outdated. Following your request, we will accommodate your enquiry as required by applicable law.

If you wish to access, rectify, delete or block any other personal data we hold about you, you may contact us at support@auralanalytics.com.

If you would like to withdraw from a study, you may contact the research partner or customer conducting the trial informing them of your intent. No additional action is required on your end with respect to the application. Please note that if you withdraw from the study, we will stop collecting new data from you, but the data that you have already provided will be maintained in our database. 

If you have questions about your rights and choices in relation to your personal data, or would like to request additional information, please contact support@auralanalytics.com.

Cross-Border Transfer of Your Information

We may transfer your SpeechAssess data to countries outside of your country of residence which may have different personal data protection laws than the country in which you initially provided the information. In doing so, we will comply with applicable legal requirements pertaining to the transfer of personal data to other countries and will protect that information as described in this privacy policy.

Although you may access the SpeechAssess app or participate in the study from a location outside of the United States, any personal data collected by us in connection with the SpeechAssess app may be transferred to, processed, and stored within the United States. Also, we may transfer your data from the United States to other countries or regions in connection with storage and processing of data, fulfilling your requests, and operating the SpeechAssess app.

By using the SpeechAssess app, you are consenting to the transfer of your speech data to countries outside of your country of residence, including to the United States.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We may change this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. In the event that any changes to this privacy policy materially alter your rights or obligations under this privacy policy, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you of the change. For example, we may send a message to your email address, if we have one on file, or generate a pop-up or similar notification when you access the SpeechAssess app for the first time after such material changes are made. Your continued use of the app after the revised privacy policy has become effective indicates that you have read, understood and agreed to the then-current version of this privacy policy.

Contact

If you have any questions, comments or requests regarding this privacy policy or our processing of your information, please contact:

support@auralanalytics.com

Aural Analytics, Inc. 

1355 North Scottsdale Road, Suite 110 

Scottsdale, Arizona 85257
United States

Updated:  August 2019