PRIVACY POLICY
PRIVACY POLICY
Last Updated and Effective: July 31, 2026
1. WELCOME TO EYECELERATOR!
This is the Privacy Policy (“Policy”) of Eyecelerator (“we,” “us,” “our,” or “Eyecelerator”). This Policy is here to help you understand how we collect, process, and share your Personal Data (as defined below). We also describe our security practices with respect to your Personal Data, as well as your rights & choices with respect to how we process that Personal Data. Please read this Policy carefully.
2. SCOPE & ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This Policy applies to our website, including https://www.eyecelerator.com/, and any other website, application, or services where we post or link to this Policy (“Site”), as well as any offline services where we collect Personal Data from you (collectively, our “Services”).
This Policy does not apply to information processed by third parties, for example, when you visit a third-party website or interact with third-party sites, except to the extent those parties collect or process information on our behalf. Please review any relevant third party’s privacy policy for information regarding their privacy practices.
Your use of our Services indicates your acknowledgement of the notices provided in this Policy.
3. CONTACT US
The controller of your Personal Data under this Policy is Eyecelerator. You may contact our Data Privacy Team as follows:
General Inquiries and Data Updates: member_services@aao.org.
4. CATEGORIES AND SOURCES OF PERSONAL DATA
Categories of Personal Data We Process
In order to provide our Services, we may collect and process information that relates to identified or identifiable individuals (“Personal Data”). We collect and process the following categories of Personal Data (note: specific Personal Data elements are examples and may change):
Audio/Visual Data - Videos and images collected at in-person events, as well as audio files and records, such as voicemails, call recordings, and the like.
Biographical Data - Data relating to professional and employment history, organizational affiliations, qualifications, and similar biographic information.
Contact Data - Identity Data used to contact an individual, e.g., email address, physical address, or phone number.
Device/Network Data - Personal Data relating to your device, browser, or application, e.g. device identifiers, identifiers from cookies, session history and Site navigation metadata, and other data generated through applications and browsers, including via cookies and similar technologies.
General Location Data - Non-precise location data, e.g. location information derived from IP addresses.
Identity Data - Personal Data about you and your identity, such as your name or IP address.
Inference Data - Personal Data we create or use as part of a profile reflecting your preferences, characteristics, aptitudes, market segments, likes, favorites, or your interests.
Payment Data - Information such as bank account details, payment card information, and relevant information in connection with a financial transaction.
Transaction Data - Information about the products and services we provide to you and about transactions you make with us and similar information.
User Content - Personal Data included in content provided by users of the Site in any free-form or unstructured format, such as in a “contact us” box, free text field, in a file or document, or messages to us.
Sources of Personal Data
We collect Personal Data from various sources based on the context in which the Personal Data will be processed:
You - We collect Personal Data from you directly, for example, when you book a service, input information into an online form, or contact us directly.
Automatic Collection - We may collect certain Personal Data automatically. For example, we collect Device/Network Data automatically using cookies and similar technologies when you use our Site, access our Site, or when you open our promotional communications.
Service Providers - We receive Personal Data from service providers performing services on our behalf.
Data we create or infer - We, certain partners, and third parties operating on our behalf create and infer Personal Data such as Inference Data based on our observations or analysis of other Personal Data processed under this Policy, and we may correlate this data with other data we process about you.
Social Media Companies - We receive Personal Data from Meta and other social media companies (e.g., LinkedIn, X, and YouTube) when you interact with us on that social media company’s platform (e.g., our company page or account) on or in connection with our Services.
5. DATA PROCESSING CONTEXTS / NOTICE AT COLLECTION
Website
Generally
When you use our Site, we automatically collect and process Identity Data, Inference Data, General Location Data, and Device/Network Data. We use this data as necessary to initiate or fulfill your requests for certain features or functions through our Site, such as delivering webpages, or logging activities for security purposes. We may also process this Personal Data for our Business Purposes.
Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies
We process Identity Data, Device/Network Data, Contact Data, Inference Data, Transaction Data, and General Location Data in connection with our use of cookies and similar technologies on our Site. We may collect this data automatically.
We and authorized third parties may use cookies and similar technologies to process such data for the following purposes:
• for “essential” purposes necessary for our Site to operate (such as maintaining user sessions, content delivery, and the like);
• for “functional” purposes, such as to enable certain features of our Site (for example, to allow a customer to maintain an online shopping cart or similar tool);
• for “analytics” purposes and to improve our Site, such as to analyze the traffic to and on our Site (for example, we can count how many people have looked at a specific page, or see how visitors move around the Site when they use it, to distinguish unique visits/visitors to our Site, and what website they visited prior to visiting our Site, and use this information to understand user behaviors and improve the design and functionality of the Site).
• for “retargeting,” targeted advertising, or other advertising and marketing purposes, including technologies that process Inference Data or other data so that we can deliver, buy, or target advertisements which are more likely to be of interest to you; and
• for “social media,” e.g., via third-party social media cookies, or when you share information using a social media sharing button or “like” button on our Services or you link your account or engage with our content on or through a social networking website such as X or LinkedIn.
We may also process this Personal Data for our Business Purposes. See “Your Rights & Choices” below for information regarding opt-out rights for cookies and similar technologies.
Please note, in some cases, third parties may view, edit, or set their own cookies or place web beacons on our Site. We, or third party providers, may be able to use these technologies to identify you across Site, devices, sites, and services. Third parties have their own privacy policies and their processing is not subject to this Policy.
Event Registration
We process Transaction Data, Identity Data, Payment Data, Inference Data, Device/Network Data, and Contact Data when you register for an event.
We process this Personal Data as necessary to perform or initiate a transaction with you, process your registration and payment, document the transaction, and for our Business Purposes. We may process Identity Data, Transaction Data, Contact Data, and Device/Network Data for Commercial Purposes.
Third party businesses/controllers may receive your information. Third Party data controllers/businesses (such as Program Partners) provide, either directly or jointly with Eyecelerator, many of the activations and other services related to our events. We may disclose Identity Data, Transaction Data, Contact Data, and Device/Network Data to those third parties.
Contact Us
We collect and process Identity Data, Contact Data, and User Content when you contact us, e.g. through a contact us form or become a sponsor. If you call us via phone, we may collect Audio/Visual data from the call recording.
We process this Personal Data to respond to your request, and communicate with you, as appropriate, and for our Business Purposes. If you consent or if permitted by law, we may use Identity Data and Contact Data to send you promotional communications and for Commercial Purposes.
Becoming a Presenting Company
We process Identity Data, Contact Data, Biographical Data, Device/Network Data, and User Content in connection with your application to become an Eyecelerator presenting company. We process Audio/Visual Data if you provide a headshot with your application. We process this Personal Data as necessary to evaluate your application, as well as for our Business Purposes. We may process Identity Data, Contact Data, and Device/Network Data for Commercial Purposes.
Social Media
We process Identity Data, Contact Data, and User Content if you interact with or identify us on social media (e.g., if you post User Content that engages with or tags our official accounts). We process this Personal Data for our Business Purposes and may also process it for Commercial Purposes.
Posts may be public or reposted on our Service. Content you provide may be publicly available when you post it on our Service, or in some cases, if you reference, engage, or tag our official social media accounts or communications Site.
Informational or Promotional Communications
We may process Identity Data, Device/Network Data, and Contact Data in connection with email communications that we send in relation to our Services. For example, we send transactional email communications to you if you subscribe to our Service, make a purchase or book Services, or in connection with our delivery of Services that you request. Additionally, you may receive promotional email communications if you contact us, choose to receive them, or interact with us in a way that allows us to send you those communications. We may also automatically collect Device/Network Data when you open or interact with those communications so that we can better understand engagement with our communications. We may also process this Personal Data for our Business Purposes. You can opt out of promotional communications at any time as specified in the “Your Rights & Choices” section below.
Events and Conferences
We may process Identity Data, Contact Data, and User Content if you attend and interact with us at an in-person Eyecelerator event, or at any other conference, seminar, or online webinar. We may collect Audio/Visual Information in the form of promotional photos or videos at the event.
We process this Personal Data to put on the event, to provide any services or information you request, and for our Business Purposes and Commercial Purposes.
Promotional photos or videos may be public or posted on our Site. Live streaming, photography and other audio-visual capture may occur at our events. By attending, your Audio/Visual Data may be captured or streamed publicly as a member of the audience or participant, including in webinars and online events, and your participation indicates your consent to being filmed, photographed or live streamed during such event.
Business Purposes
In addition to the processing described above, we generally process Personal Data for several common purposes in connection with our business. Please see below for more information regarding the purposes for which we process your Personal Data.
Operate our Site and Fulfill Obligations
We process any Personal Data as is necessary to provide the Site, and as otherwise necessary to fulfill our obligations to you, e.g., to provide you with the information, features, and services you request.
Internal Processes and Service Improvement
We may use any Personal Data we process through our Site as necessary in connection with our improvement of the design of our Site, understanding how the Site is used or functions, for customer service purposes, in connection with the creation and analysis of logs and metadata relating to Site use, and for ensuring the security and stability of the Site. Additionally, we may use Personal Data to understand what parts of our Site are most relevant to users, how users interact with various aspects of our Site, how our Site performs or fails to perform, etc., or we may analyze use of the Site to determine if there are specific activities that might indicate an information security risk to the Site or our users.
Security and Incident Detection
We may process Personal Data in connection with our legitimate interest in ensuring that our Site is secure, identify and prevent crime, prevent fraud, and verify or authenticate users/individuals, and ensure the safety of our guests and users. Similarly, we process Personal Data as necessary to detect security incidents, protect against, and respond to malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity. We may analyze network traffic, device patterns, and characteristics, maintain and analyze logs and process similar Personal Data in connection with our information security operations and related activities.
Aggregate Analytics
We process Personal Data as necessary in connection with our creation of aggregate analytics relating to how our Site is used, the pages and content users view, and to create other reports regarding the use and performance of our Site, and other similar information and metrics. The resulting aggregate data will not contain information from which an individual may be readily identified.
Compliance, Safety & Public Interest
Note that we may, without your consent or further notice to you, and to the extent required or permitted by law, process any Personal Data subject to this Policy for purposes determined to be in the public interest or otherwise required by law. For example, we may process information as necessary to fulfil our legal obligations, to protect the vital interests of any individuals, or otherwise in the public interest or as required by a public authority. Please see “Data Sharing” for more information about how we disclose Personal Data in extraordinary circumstances.
Other Processing of Personal Data
If we process Personal Data in connection with our Site in a way not described in this Policy, this Policy will still apply generally (e.g., with respect to your rights and choices) unless otherwise stated when you provide it.
Commercial Purposes
We and certain third parties process Personal Data to further our commercial or economic interests (“Commercial Purposes,”) depending on the context of collection and Your Rights & Choices.
Please Note – We may require your consent, or we may not engage in processing of Personal Data for Commercial Purposes in some jurisdictions, or certain contexts.
Personalized Marketing Communications
Our marketing communications may be personalized based on certain Inference Data that we create in certain contexts, as described above. In those contexts, we may also process your Personal Data to conduct marketing research, advertise to you, provide personalized information about us on and off our Site and to provide other personalized content based upon your activities and interests. To opt out of our processing of your Personal Data for certain marketing purposes, please see Your Rights & Choices.
Targeted Advertising
In some jurisdictions, Eyecelerator, and certain third parties operating on or through our Services, may engage in advertising targeted to your interests based on Personal Data that we or those third parties obtain or infer from your activities across non-affiliated websites, applications, or services in order to predict your preferences or interests (“Targeted Advertising”). This form of advertising includes various parties and service providers, including third party data controllers, engaged in the processing of Personal Data in connection with advertising. These parties may be able to identify you across sites, devices, and over time. We generally use Targeted Advertising for the purpose of marketing our Services and to send promotional communications, including by creating custom marketing audiences on third-party websites or social media platforms.
7. DATA SHARING
Personal Data we collect may be shared with a variety of parties, depending upon the purpose for and context in which that information was provided. We generally transfer data to the categories of recipients or in connection with specific business purposes, described below.
Program Partners
Where allowed by law, or with your consent, we will share your Personal Data with our Program Partners, e.g., the American Academy of Ophthalmology or InterWest Partners. Through your use of our Service, you may direct us to disclose this data to or interact with these Program Partners, e.g., by registering for an event, contacting us, or by becoming a presenting company.
Affiliates
In order to streamline certain business operations and develop products and a Site that better meet the interests and needs of our customers, we may share your Personal Data with any of our current or future affiliated entities, subsidiaries, and parent companies.
Service Providers
In connection with our general business operations, product improvements, to enable certain features, and in connection with our other lawful business interests, we may share Personal Data with service providers or subprocessors who provide certain services to us, or process data on our behalf. For example, we may use third party hosting providers to host our sites or content, and we may disclose information as part of our own internal operations, such as security operations, internal research, etc. We may also share certain Personal Data with Google or other communications services when you link those accounts to Eyecelerator and use single sign-on.
Social Media Companies
We may share certain Personal Data with social media companies when you interact with Eyecelerator on social media. We may allow these third parties to operate through our Services, such as through a social media icon link on our homepage. We do not share Contact Data collected in connection with Eyecelerator’s promotional communications with these parties.
Corporate Events
Your Personal Data may be disclosed to a third party in the event that we go through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition, liquidation, or sale of all or a portion of our assets. For example, Personal Data may be part of the assets transferred, or may be disclosed (subject to confidentiality restrictions) during the due diligence process for a potential transaction.
Legal Disclosures
In limited circumstances, we may, without notice or your consent, access and disclose your Personal Data, our correspondence with you, and any other information that we may have about you to the extent we believe such disclosure is legally required, to prevent or respond to a crime, or in the vital interests of us or any person. Note, these disclosures may be made to governments that do not ensure the same degree of protection of your Personal Data as your home jurisdiction. We may, in our sole discretion (but without any obligation), object to the disclosure of your Personal Data to such parties.
8. YOUR RIGHTS & CHOICES
Your Rights
Applicable law may grant you rights in your Personal Data. These rights vary based on your location, state/country of residence, and may be limited by or subject to our own rights in your Personal Data. You may submit requests to exercise rights you may have by contacting us.
Note: We are able to fulfill rights requests regarding Personal Data that we control or process on our own behalf. We may not have access to or control over Personal Data controlled by or processed on behalf of third parties. Please contact the third party directly to exercise your rights in third party-controlled information.
Verification of Rights Requests
We verify all rights requests to ensure that the individual making the request is authorized to make that request, to reduce fraud, and to ensure the security of your Personal Data. For example, we may require that you verify that you have access to the email on file in order to verify your identity. If an agent is submitting the request on your behalf, we reserve the right to validate the agent’s authority to act on your behalf.
Your Choices
You may have the following choices regarding the Personal Data we process, to the extent required under applicable law:
Consent
If we rely on your consent to our processing of Personal Data, you may withdraw your consent at any time. You may be required to close your account in order to withdraw consent where your consent is necessary to perform essential aspects of our Services. You can withdraw your consent to receive promotional communications by clicking on the unsubscribe link in an email (for email), or for other communications, by contacting us at member_services@aao.org. To opt-out of the collection of information relating to email opens, configure your email so that it does not load images in our emails.
Email Marketing
You have the choice to opt-out of or withdraw your consent to email promotional communications. You may exercise your choice via the Unsubscribe link in our communications.
Cookies & Similar Tech
If you do not want information collected through the use of cookies and similar technologies, you can manage/deny cookies and certain similar technologies using your browser’s settings menu. You must opt out of the use of some third party Site directly via the third party.
To learn more about Google Analytics, please click here. To opt-out of Google’s analytic services, you may use the Google Analytics Opt-Out, or use your device’s settings.
Do Not Track
Our Site does not respond to your browser’s do not track signal.
9. SECURITY
We implement and maintain reasonable security measures to safeguard the Personal Data you provide us. However, we sometimes share Personal Data with third parties as noted above, and though we may take certain measures to help ensure the security of your Personal Data, we do not control third parties’ security processes. We do not warrant perfect security, and we do not provide any guarantee that your Personal Data or any other information you provide us will remain secure.
10. DATA RETENTION
We retain information for so long as it, in our discretion, remains relevant to its purpose, and in any event, for so long as is required by law. We will review retention periods periodically and may sometimes pseudonymize or anonymize data held for longer periods, if appropriate.
11. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS
We operate in and use service providers located in the United States. If you are located outside the U.S., your Personal Data may be transferred to or processed in the U.S. The U.S. may not provide the same legal protections guaranteed to Personal Data in your country. Contact us for more information regarding international transfers of data.
12. CHILDREN
Our Services are not intended for children under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from an individual under age 16. If You are under the age of 16, please do not submit any Personal Data through the Services. If You have reason to believe that We may have accidentally received Personal Data from an individual under age 16, contact us immediately at member_services@aao.org.
13. CHANGES TO OUR POLICY
We may change this Policy from time to time. Please visit this page regularly so that you are aware of our latest updates. Your use of the Site following any changes indicates acceptance of any changes.