Privacy policy
What we collect, where it is stored, how long we keep it, and how to ask us to delete it.
Your data is yours
Your genome, your bloodwork, your fitness data and your questionnaire all remain your property. We look after them as a steward. We do not own them.
We never sell your data, and we never share it for advertising or research.
To produce your analysis we rely on a small set of named sub-processors, listed under where it is stored. Each is bound by a signed Data Processing Agreement. Each may process your data only to deliver the service to you.
We do not use your data to train machine-learning models. Our sub-processor agreements prohibit them from doing so.
What we collect, and why
We collect only what is needed to prepare your analysis, in three categories.
Identity
Your name and email, to address your analysis and reply to you personally. Your shipping address, used only to send you the cheek swab kit.
Your order
What you ordered and when, and any message you send us. Used to prepare your analysis and to answer your questions.
If a link in one of our reports or pages brought you to the order page, the order records which one. The tag is part of the link itself: it sets no cookie and carries nothing about you.
Health and genetic information
Your DNA, sequenced from your cheek swab, and any DNA file you send us. Any bloodwork PDF or photograph you share. Any fitness and activity data you upload, or choose to connect from a wearable account (such as Oura, WHOOP, Withings or Polar). Your answers to the questions about your health and goals in your account.
All of it is used solely to interpret and write the analysis you requested, and to send it to anyone you name.
Results you send to a doctor
You can send the pages of your report written for a doctor to a doctor you name. We keep that doctor's name and email, the words you agreed to, how long the link works, and each time it was opened. The doctor gets a private link by email, and anyone with that email can open it until it ends. Send it only to an address you trust. You can turn the link off at any time in your account. Deleting your account deletes these records.
Where it is stored
All personal data is encrypted at rest and in motion, with industry-standard ciphers: AES-256 for storage and TLS 1.2 or later for transport.
We rely on the named sub-processors below, each under a signed Data Processing Agreement. They handle your data only to deliver your analysis, never for advertising or research.
Supabase
Database, in the US East region. It stores your order record, profile answers, status timeline and internal notes. Row-level security limits each row to the email it belongs to.
Mailgun
Transactional email, in the EU region for our domain. Used to send and receive messages with you. Mailgun keeps email content on its servers for a limited window, under its default policy.
Vercel
Application hosting and Vercel Blob storage, in the US. Vercel hosts this site. It also stores, for a short time, any DNA, bloodwork or fitness file you upload. Each file is deleted from Vercel once your analyst has a copy.
Gene by Gene
The laboratory in Houston, Texas, that sequences your DNA from your swab. It is certified under CLIA and accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). It destroys the swab once your DNA has been sequenced.
SelfDecode
Genetic analysis engine, in the United States. SelfDecode processes your genetic data to produce the variant-level analysis your report is built from.
We also share your name, shipping address, email and phone, so the kit can be sent and your sample sequenced.
This is the most sensitive data we handle. It is covered by a Data Processing Agreement, under which SelfDecode may not use it for advertising, research or model training.
Stripe
Payments, in the United States. When you pay, Stripe receives your name, email and payment details on its own secure page, with your invoice number and an internal reference. No genetic or health data is ever sent to Stripe.
Mapbox
Address autocomplete, in the United States, used only when you enter a shipping address for the kit. The address you type is sent to Mapbox to suggest a valid postal address. No genetic or health data is ever sent to Mapbox.
Connected wearables, only if you connect one
If you connect a wearable account (Oura, WHOOP, Withings or Polar) from your Fitness tab, you allow us to import, once, a short summary of your activity, sleep and heart rate. We store only that summary, kept with your other health data (see how long we keep it).
We never receive your wearable login. The access permission is discarded right after the import, so we hold no standing access to your account.
Each provider is the independent controller of the data on its own platform. Reconnect whenever you want to share a fresh summary.
How long we keep it
We keep your data no longer than we need it to prepare and stand behind your analysis. The periods below are guidelines for how long we may keep each type. They are not a promise of automatic deletion on a fixed date.
Your swab itself is never stored. The laboratory destroys it once it has read your DNA, on every analysis, without being asked. What remains afterward is the data below.
Deletion when you ask is the firm commitment. Write to privacy@helixirgenomics.com and we remove your records, the genetic file and the related correspondence.
| Data | How long we may keep it |
|---|---|
| Genetic data (DNA files, polygenic results) | Up to around 7 years, so you can return for a re-interpretation as the science moves. Removed sooner whenever you ask. |
| Bloodwork, fitness data and profile responses | Up to around 5 years. Removed sooner on request. |
| Application and email correspondence | While useful for our records. Removed on request. |
| Audit log (who sent what) | Kept indefinitely, as required by California Civil Code Section 56.18 for the audit of genetic-data access events. |
Your rights
You may exercise the following rights at any time, for any reason. We respond within five working days and never charge a fee.
- Access. Receive a copy of all data we hold about you, in a portable format: JSON plus the original DNA file we received.
- Correction. Ask us to correct anything inaccurate, such as a misspelled name or an outdated bloodwork value.
- Deletion. Ask us to remove all your data from our systems. We comply within five working days. A copy of the PDF you downloaded stays with you, and we cannot retrieve it.
- Portability. Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format, so you can take it elsewhere.
- Restriction and objection. Pause our processing of your data, or object to specific uses, while we work through any concern you raise.
How to ask
Send one email to privacy@helixirgenomics.com from the address on file. Say which right you want to exercise: access, correction, deletion, portability, restriction or objection. A person handles every request.
Withdrawal is total. On confirmation we remove your DNA file, your bloodwork, your questionnaire and profile responses, every derived analysis and every email exchanged from our systems.
Extra protection for genetic data
Genetic information receives extra protection under California Civil Code Section 56.18, the Genetic Information Privacy Act (also known as CGIPA or SB 41). Similar laws apply in Florida (FGIPA), Maryland, Tennessee and Utah. We honor these protections wherever you live.
Specifically:
- We will never disclose your genetic data to any insurer, employer, school or marketing partner.
- We will not transfer your genetic data outside the United States without your written consent.
- We will not use your genetic data for any purpose other than the assessment you commissioned.
If any of these conditions ever change, we will notify you in advance. We will ask for your written agreement before we use your DNA under the new terms.
If Helixir is sold or closes
If Helixir is sold, merges or closes, we delete your genetic data unless you agree in writing to move it to the new owner. It is never passed on as a business asset. You hear from us at least 30 days before anything changes.
Police and courts
We give your data to police or a court only when the law requires it, with a valid warrant or court order. We tell you first unless the law forbids it. We never allow searches by genealogy or forensic databases.
Cookies and analytics
The public site places no third-party advertising or tracking cookies on your device. We use privacy-respecting analytics that do not identify you personally.
Signing in uses one cookie, set by Supabase, to remember your session on /my-account. It expires when you sign out.
Security
Your data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in motion (TLS 1.2 or later). Every database table has row-level security.
Access is restricted to the scientist who prepares your report.
Files you upload pass through our file storage only briefly, behind unguessable addresses, and are removed from it once they reach your analyst. How long your data is kept is set out under how long we keep it.
If we ever have a security incident affecting your data, we will notify you and the relevant authorities under the applicable breach-notification laws. In the US these are set state by state. In the EU, the GDPR sets a 72-hour window.
Contact
For any privacy concern, write to privacy@helixirgenomics.com. A person reads every message.
Helixir Genomics (Adriano De Marino, sole proprietor), California, United States.
We announce material changes to this notice to every active client by email at least 14 days before they take effect. If you do not wish to continue under the revised terms, your right to deletion stands.