Privacy Policy

Healthcare Professionals Privacy Notice

Biogen is committed to respecting your privacy and we understand how important it is to protect an individual’s personal data and apply high ethical and regulatory standards to the processing of such data. This Privacy Policy explains the policies and practices that Biogen International GmbH (“Biogen”) has developed to safeguard personal data and to comply with applicable data protection laws.

WHAT WE COLLECT

(a)        Information that we collect directly from you

Biogen collects information directly from you when you choose to create an account on our websites or in our mobile applications, call or e-mail us, or otherwise provide information directly to us. The following are examples of information we may collect directly from you:

• Name
• Contact details (e-mail address, telephone number, postal address, etc.)
• Username and password
• Date of birth
• Communication preferences
• Age
• Business information, including employment history, education history, qualifications, occupation and areas of specialization.

(b)        Information we collect when you visit our websites

When you visit this website, we have access to the following types of information about you:

Site registration. Biogen has constructed this website so that you may visit us and review information about the services and products we offer without volunteering any personal data. If you choose to register to use Biogen features and services, either as a consumer or a healthcare professional, we will collect personal data from you and this information may be combined, to provide you with services or information you request or to ensure that we maintain complete, current and accurate personal data.

IP address. We record the internet protocol (IP) address of your computer when you visit this website. The IP address does not identify you personally, but it allows us to maintain communications with you as you move about this website.

(c)        Sensitive personal data

Biogen avoids collecting sensitive personal data. However, in rare instances such as facilitating access to patient support offerings, Biogen may need to collect sensitive personal data including health data. In the event it is necessary to collect any sensitive personal data about you, where required by data protection laws we will gather your explicit consent to do so.

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

By providing your personal data, you agree that, where it is permitted by local law or where you have agreed to receive these communications from us, we may use the information:

• to respond to your requests;
• to improve our level of service;
• to improve the content of our communications;
• to provide you with tips, helpful information, product news and updates;
• to notify you of our new products and services;
• to seek your views on our products and services;
• to consider your application for employment;
• for our own administrative and quality assurance purposes; and
• for other purposes that may be detailed on this website.

In using your personal data, we follow the following principles:

(a)        Limitation

Biogen will only collect personal data about you that is necessary for one or more of our legitimate business purposes, or is required by law. In addition, Biogen will only collect personal data by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive manner.

(b)        Purpose

When Biogen collects your personal data, we will take reasonable steps to advise you of what personal data we are collecting, the purposes for which we are collecting the information and will use such information only for stated primary or related secondary purposes.

(c)        Disclosure

Biogen will advise you of the organizations (or types of organizations) to which we may normally disclose that personal data, and we will provide you with contact information in the event you would like access to your personal data we hold about you or need to update your personal data or preferences.

HOW WE SHARE YOUR DATA WITH OTHERS

Please note that permitted transfers of personal data to third parties or other companies within the Biogen group include the transfer of data from one country to another and may include transfers to a country where the laws provide different protection from your country. In such cases, we will take appropriate measures to ensure adequate data protection in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

(a)        Affiliates

We may disclose personal data to our affiliated companies for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. Affiliates are those companies that are under common control of our parent company Biogen, Inc.

(b)        Third Parties

Biogen may use third parties to provide services to us which may require disclosure of your personal data to such third parties. If we allow a third party to have access to your personal data, they will only be permitted access for purposes that are consistent with this privacy policy and will be required to protect your personal data in accordance with all applicable data protection laws.

(c)        Law enforcement

In certain circumstances, we may be called upon to release your personal data in response to a court order, subpoena, search warrant, law or regulation. We plan to cooperate in responding to such requests, taking appropriate measures to ensure that the requester understands the sensitive nature of the personal data that they may receive. We also reserve the right to cooperate with law enforcement authorities in investigating and prosecuting users who violate our rules or engage in behavior that is illegal or harmful to individuals or the personal data we are responsible for.

(d)        Product reports

If you contact us regarding your experience in using one of our products, we may use the information you provide as necessary in submitting complaint or adverse event reports to local and international health or pharmaceutical regulators, and as otherwise required of us by law.

(e)        Corporate transactions

We may disclose your information to a third party in connection with a corporate reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all or any portion of our business, assets or stock, including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings.

COOKIES AND OTHER TECHNOLOGY

Biogen uses a variety of technologies to assess how our sites are used, to personalize your experience and to deliver online content tailored to your interests, such as internet tags and cookies. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or other web-accessing devices by our websites. These cookies allow us to distinguish you from other users of this website, and to enhance this website and your experience when you browse this website. For more information on cookies and other data collection technologies, please refer to our Cookies and Other Technology Policy.

OUR SECURITY MEASURES

We want your personal data to remain as secure as reasonably possible. We will maintain the levels of protection of your personal data in accordance with data protection laws and use all available technical resources to prevent the loss, alteration and unauthorized access or processing of your data. The security measures we use to protect all personal data are designed to meet or exceed industry standards to prevent intruders from gaining access, however you should be aware that no security measure is guaranteed to be 100% secure and you should always take appropriate security measures to protect your personal data, including ensuring that you have up-to-date antivirus software.

LINKS TO OTHER SITES

Biogen websites may also feature links to websites that we believe you might find useful and informative. We do not endorse or recommend these sites’ content or services, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of these other sites. We encourage you to be aware of and read the privacy policy of each site you visit.

Biogen may also partner with other companies to provide you with content or services on a joint or “co-branded” basis using a co-branded site with both the Biogen logo and the logo of the co-branded partner displayed. You should read the individual privacy policies of the co-branded sites, as these may differ in some respects from ours.

OUR CHILDREN’S POLICY

This website’s content and services are intended for users over the age of 18. The website is not designed to attract child users. If we learn that someone under 18 has volunteered personal data on this website, or that a provider has volunteered information about a patient who is identified as younger than 18, we will delete such information from our active databases.

HOW WE STORE INFORMATION AND YOUR RIGHTS

We retain your personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it has been collected.

You may contact Biogen at any time if you would like to access your Personal Data or require information about the Personal Data that we hold about you (such as the source of the Personal Data). You may object to the processing of your Personal Data for legitimate reasons and you may also request the correction or erasure of it.

Where Biogen processes your personal data on the basis of your consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time without any prejudice to you by contacting us using the contact details below. This will not affect the processing of your data based on your consent previous to the point at which you withdraw consent.

Please note that some of these rights are limited by applicable Data Protection Law and we have the right to collect, process and hold your Personal Data to perform our legal obligations (for example: data regarding an adverse drug event). We may require you to provide additional information necessary to confirm your identity before we comply with any request made by you.

CONTACT US

If you have any concerns about the manner in which your personal data has been collected or handled by Biogen, or any queries in regard to this privacy statement or would like to exercise your rights as outlined above, you can contact Biogen’s Global Privacy Office at privacy@biogen.com.

CHANGES IN OUR PRIVACY POLICY

We will only use personal data in the manner described in the Privacy Policy in effect when the information was collected from you. However, we reserve the right to change the terms of this Privacy Policy at any time (for example due to changes in data protection laws) by posting revisions to this website. We will take adequate and reasonable action to obtain your consent if required, as a result of any such change.

INFORMATION FOR EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA RESIDENTS

Under European Union data protection law, a "data controller" is the legal entity that is responsible for protecting your personal data and helping you to exercise your data protection rights. The data controller of your personal data in relation to this website is:

Biogen International GmbH
Neuhofstrasse 30
6340 Baar
Switzerland

You can contact Biogen’s EU Data Protection Officer by e-mailing: privacy@biogen.com.

You may, should you feel it necessary, lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you feel your privacy rights have been infringed. You can find details of your local data protection authority here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/article-29/structure/data-protection-authorities/index_en.htm.

Cookies and Other Technology Policy

Cookies

We collect information about your use of this website through cookies and similar technology. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or other web-accessing device by this website that allow us to recognize you and maintain your preferences when you return to our website. Cookie technology collects “clickstream” data, which does not include personally identifiable information, but which reflects your activities on the website and helps us to customize our website experience and anticipate what may be of interest to our users, by monitoring traffic in popular areas and modifying the services and information to meet customer demand.

We use the following types of cookies:

• First-party cookies – cookies set by the website displayed in the browser window – identified by the domain name in the address bar of the browser window.
• Session cookies – cookies that expire at the end of a browser session, starting with the time when a user opens the browser window, and finishing when the user exits the browser.
• Persistent cookies – cookies that ‘persist’ (are stored) in the device after the end of a browser session and therefore can allow the preferences or actions of the user to be remembered when they return to the website.

We use cookies on this website to:

• direct users to the relevant sections on the website;
• make sure the website has a consistent look across different browsers and devices;
• enable complex areas of the website to function; and
• track aggregated statistics about visits to the website to help us improve website performance.

These are the specific cookies we use on this website, with information on how they function:

We only use first-party cookies or cookies that function as first-party cookies.

We do not allow other websites or third parties to use our cookies for their own purposes or to use their own cookies on your computer when you visit our website.

Internet tags

Occasionally, we may use Internet tags (also known as web beacons, action tags, single-pixel GIFs, clear GIFs, invisible GIFs and 1-by-1 GIFs) on this website. We may deploy these tags and cookies through a web analytical service partner, which may locate and store the respective information, including your IP address, in a foreign country that may protect the protection of personal information differently than the country where such information is collected. These tags are placed on different pages of this website and we use this technology to measure the registered user’s responses to our websites, including how many times a page is opened and which information is consulted, as well as to measure the use of this page.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). Google Analytics uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is generally transferred to a Google server in the United States and stored there. Because we have activated “internet protocol anonymization” on this website, Google shortens your IP address at a point within the European Economic Area before transfer to the United States. This means that the full IP address will only be transferred to Google in the United States only in exceptional circumstances for shortening there.

Google will use the received information to evaluate your use of this website for Biogen, to compile reports on website activity, and to provide other services related to website usage and internet usage. The IP address provided by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with any other Google data.

How can I control the cookies that you use on this website?

Most web browsers allow control of cookies through the browser settings. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, which will enable you to decide if you want to accept it or not. However, if you do not accept a particular cookie, certain elements of the website may not function correctly or completely.

You can prevent Google from collecting and processing your data (including your IP address) related to your use of this website, by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available at the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

If you do not allow any cookies from our website, some functionalities and content may be affected and may not work properly.

To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to the delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Changes to the Cookies Policy

We may update the Cookies Policy for our website. We therefore recommend that you re-read this policy every time you access out website so that you are adequately informed about how and why we use cookies.

Updated: July 1, 2019