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Privacy Policy

Effective as of June 16, 2023

Opthea, Ltd. and our affiliates (collectively, “Opthea,” “we”, “us” or “our”) is the ophthalmic biopharmaceutical company that is relentlessly pursuing the development of breakthrough treatments that may elevate the standard of care in angiogenic retinal diseases because a potentially revolutionary therapy and expert team are delivering on the highest unmet need: improving vision, that trying to improve quality of life for patients and care partners worldwide. Our first responsibility is to the patients and customers we serve and as part of that service, Opthea understands the importance of privacy and respects every patient’s right to determine the best way to protect their individual information.

This Privacy Policy describes how Opthea processes personal information that we collect through our website at https://opthea.com/ and any other website that we own or control and that posts or links to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Website”), as well as through social media pages, our marketing activities and other activities described in this Privacy Policy.

We strongly urge you read this Privacy Policy and make sure you fully understand our practices in relation to personal information before you access or use our Website. If you read and fully understand this Privacy Policy, but remain opposed to our practices, please discontinue all use of the Website and do not provide us with any personal information. Where you have read this Privacy Policy but would like further clarification, please contact us at [email protected].

NOTICE TO EUROPEAN USERS: Please see the Notice to European Users section for additional information for individuals located in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom (which we refer to as “Europe”, and “European” should be understood accordingly) below.

Index

Personal information we collect

Information you provide to us. Personal information you may provide to us through the Website or otherwise includes:

  • Contact data, such as your first and last name, email address, country, and phone number.
  • Demographic data, such as your city, state, country of residence, and postal code.
  • Communications data based on our exchanges with you, including when you contact us through the Website, social media, or otherwise.
  • Marketing data, such as your preferences for receiving our marketing communications and details about your engagement with them.
  • Other data not specifically listed here, which we will use as described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise disclosed at this time of collection.

Automatic data collection. We, our service providers, and our business partners may automatically log information about you, your computer or mobile device, and your interaction over time with the Website, our communications and other online services, such as:

  • Device data, such as your computer or mobile device’s operating system type and version, manufacturer and model, browser type, screen resolution, RAM and disk size, CPU usage, device type (e.g., phone, tablet), IP address, unique identifiers, language settings, mobile device carrier, and radio/network information (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE, 3G).
  • Website activity data, such as pages or screens you viewed, how long you spent on a page or screen, the website you visited before browsing to the Website, navigation paths between pages or screens, information about your activity on a page or screen, access times and duration of access, and whether you have opened our emails or clicked links within them.
  • General location data when you authorize the Website to access your device’s location.
  • Communication interaction data such as your interactions with our email or other communications (e.g., whether you open and/or forward emails) — we may do this through use of pixel tags (which are also known as clear GIFs), which may be embedded invisibly in our emails.

For more information concerning our automatic collection of data, please see the Tracking technologies section below.

No sensitive personal information. We do not ask for and request that you do not provide us with any sensitive personal information (e.g., social security numbers, information related to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion or other beliefs, health, biometrics or genetic characteristics, criminal background or trade union membership) through the Website. If you provide us with any sensitive personal information to us when you use the Website, you must consent to our processing and use of such sensitive personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent to our processing and use of such sensitive personal information, you must not submit such sensitive personal information through our Website.

Tracking Technologies

Cookies and similar technologies. Some of our automatic data collection is facilitated by cookies and similar technologies. For more information, see our Cookie Notice. We will also store a record of your preferences in respect of the use of these technologies in connection with the Website.

For information concerning your choices with respect to the use of tracking technologies, see the Your choices section of our Cookie Notice.

How we use your personal information

We may use your personal information for the following purposes or as otherwise described at the time of collection:

Website and business delivery and operations. We may use your personal information to:

  • provide and operate the Website and our business;
  • personalize the Website, including remembering your selections and preferences as you navigate the Website;
  • communicate with you about the Website and our business, including by sending Website or business-related announcements, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
  • communicate with you about events in which you participate; and
  • provide support for the Website, and respond to your requests, questions and feedback.

Website and business improvement and analytics. We may use your personal information to analyze your usage of the Website, improve the Website, improve the rest of our business, help us understand user activity on the Website, including which pages are most and least visited and how visitors move around the Website, as well as user interactions with our emails, and to develop new products and services.

Marketing. We may collect and use your personal information for direct marketing purposes. We may send you direct marketing communications [ and may personalize these messages based on your needs and interests]. You may opt-out of our marketing communications as described in the Opt-out of marketing section below.

Compliance and protection. We may use your personal information to:

  • comply with applicable laws, lawful requests, and legal process, such as to respond to subpoenas, investigations or requests from government authorities;
  • protect our, your or others’ rights, privacy, safety or property (including by making and defending legal claims);
  • audit our internal processes for compliance with legal and contractual requirements or our internal policies;
  • enforce the terms and conditions that govern the Website; and
  • prevent, identify, investigate and deter fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical or illegal activity, including cyberattacks and identity theft.

To create aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data. We may create aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data from your personal information and other individuals whose personal information we collect. We make personal information into aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data by removing information that makes the data identifiable to you. We may use this aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data and share it with third parties for our lawful business purposes, including to analyze and improve the Website and promote our business.

Further uses. In some cases, we may use your personal information for further uses, in which case we will ask for your consent to use of your personal information for those further purposes if they are not compatible with the initial purpose for which information was collected.

Retention. We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which we collected it, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, to establish or defend legal claims, or for Compliance and protection purposes. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. When we no longer require the personal information, we have collected about you, we may either delete, anonymize, aggregate or deidentify it, or isolate it from further processing.

How we share your personal information

We may share your personal information with the following parties and as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy, in other applicable notices, or at the time of collection.

Affiliates. Our subsidiaries and affiliates.

Service providers. Third parties that provide services on our behalf or help us operate the Website or our business (such as hosting, information technology, customer support, email delivery, marketing, consumer research and website analytics).

Partners. Third parties with whom we partner, including parties with whom we co-sponsor events, with whom we jointly offer products or services.

Professional advisors. Professional advisors, such as lawyers, auditors, bankers and insurers, where necessary in the course of the professional services that they render to us.

Authorities and others. Law enforcement, government authorities, and private parties, as we believe in good faith to be necessary or appropriate for the Compliance and protection purposes described above.

Business transferees. We may disclose personal information in the context of actual or prospective business transactions (e.g., investments in Opthea, financing of Opthea, public stock offerings, or the sale, transfer or merger of all or part of our business, assets or shares); for example, we may need to share certain personal information with prospective counterparties and their advisers. We may also disclose your personal information to an acquirer, successor, or assignee of Opthea as part of any merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or similar transaction, and/or in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership in which personal information is transferred to one or more third parties as one of our business assets.

Your Choices

In this section, we describe the rights and choices available to all users. Users who are located in Europe can find additional information about their rights below.

Opt-out of communications. You may opt-out of marketing-related emails and other communications we send to you by following the opt-out or unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email, or by contacting us. Please note that if you choose to opt-out of marketing-related emails, you may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing emails.

Cookies. For information about cookies employed by the Website and how to control them, see our Cookie Notice.

Blocking images/clear gifs: Most browsers and devices allow you to configure your device to prevent images from loading. To do this, follow the instructions in your particular browser or device settings.

Do Not Track. Some Internet browsers may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. We currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” signals.

Declining to provide information. We need to collect personal information to provide certain services. If you do not provide the information we identify as required or mandatory, we may not be able to provide those services.

Other sites and services

The Website may contain links to websites, mobile applications, and other online services operated by third parties. In addition, our content may be integrated into web pages or other online services that are not associated with us. These links and integrations are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party. We do not control websites, mobile applications or online services operated by third parties, and we are not responsible for their actions. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the other websites, mobile applications and online services you use.

Security

We employ technical, organizational and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we collect. However, security risk is inherent in all internet and information technologies and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

International data transfers

We are an Australia-based company with operations in the United States and may use service providers that operate in other countries. Your personal information may be transferred to Australia, the United States or other locations where privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your state, province, or country.

Users in Europe should read the important information provided below about transfer of personal information outside of Europe.

Children

The Website is not intended for use by anyone under 18 years of age. If you are a parent or guardian of a child from whom you believe we have collected personal information in a manner prohibited by law, please contact us. If we learn that we have collected personal information through the Website from a child without the consent of the child’s parent or guardian as required by law, we will comply with applicable legal requirements to delete the information.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by updating the date of this Privacy Policy and posting it on the Website or other appropriate means. Any modifications to this Privacy Policy will be effective upon our posting the modified version (or as otherwise indicated at the time of posting). In all cases, your use of the Website after the effective date of any modified Privacy Policy indicates your acknowledging that the modified Privacy Policy applies to your interactions with the Website and our business.

How to contact us

Email: [email protected]
Mail (Australia):
Suite 0403, Level 4,
650 Chapel Street
South Yarra, Victoria 3141
Australia
Mail (USA):
103 Carnegie Center Blvd
Suite 300
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
Phone: +613 9826 0399

Notice to European Users

General

Where this Notice to European users applies. The information provided in this “Notice to European users” section applies only to individuals in the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (i.e., “Europe” as defined at the top of this Privacy Policy).

Personal information. References to “personal information” in this Privacy Policy should be understood to include a reference to “personal data” (as defined in the GDPR) – i.e., information about individuals from they are either directly identified or can be identified.

Controller. Opthea is the controller in respect of the processing of your personal information covered by this Privacy Policy for purposes of European data protection legislation (i.e., the EU GDPR and where applicable, the “GDPR”). See the ‘How to contact us’ section above for our contact details.

Representatives. We have appointed the following representatives in the EEA/UK as required by the GDPR – you can also contact them directly should you wish:

Our representative in the EEA. Our EEA representative appointed under the EU GDPR can be contacted:
By email to: [email protected]
By postal mail to: 7/3 Boulevard Initialis, 7000 Mons, Belgium

Our representative in the UK. Our UK representative appointed under the UK GDPR can be contacted:
By email: [email protected]
By postal mail to: Waldeck House, Lyne Lane, Chertsey, KT16 0AW, United Kingdom

Our Data Protection Officer. We have appoited a “Data Protection Officer”, this is a person who is responsible for independently overseeing and advising us in relation to our compliance with the GDPR (including compliance with the practices described in this Privacy Policy). If you want to contact our Data Protection Officer directly, you can email:
[email protected]

Our legal bases for processing

In respect of each of the purposes for which we use your personal information, the GDPR requires us to ensure that we have a “legal basis” for that use.

Our legal bases for processing your personal information described in this Privacy Policy are listed below.

  • Where we need to perform a contract, we are about to enter into or have entered into with you (“Contractual Necessity”).
  • Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests (“Legitimate Interests”). More detail about the specific legitimate interests pursued in respect of each Purpose we use your personal information for is set out in the table below.
  • Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation (“Compliance with Law”).
  • Where we have your specific consent to carry out the processing for the purpose in question (“Consent”).

We have set out below, in a table format, the legal bases we rely on in respect of the relevant purposes for which we use your personal information – for more information on these purposes and the data types involved, see ‘How we use your personal information’.

Purpose Categories of personal information involved Legal basis
Website delivery and operations • Contact data
• Demographic data
• Communications data
• Marketing data		 Contractual Necessity
Website and business improvement and analytics • Contact data
• Demographic data
• Device data
• Online activity data
• Communication interaction data		 • Legitimate Interests. We have a legitimate interest in providing you with a good service, which is personalised to you and that remembers your selections and preferences.
• Consent, in respect of any optional cookies used for this purpose.
Direct marketing • Contact data
• Demographic data
• Communications data
• Online activity data
• Marketing data
• Communication interaction data		 • Legitimate Interests. We have a legitimate interest in promoting our operations and goals as an organisation and sending marketing communications for that purpose.
• Consent, in circumstances or in jurisdictions where consent is required under applicable data protection laws to the sending of any given marketing communications.
Events • Contact data
• Demographic data
• Communications data		 • Legitimate Interests. We have a legitimate interest in promoting our events, including associated publicising of our business and operations.
• Consent, in circumstances or in jurisdictions where consent is required under applicable data protection laws.
Compliance and protection • Contact data
• Demographic data		 • Compliance with Law.
• Legitimate Interest. Where Compliance with Law is not applicable, we and any relevant third parties have a legitimate interest in participating in, supporting, and following legal process and requests, including through co-operation with authorities. We and any relevant third parties may also have a legitimate interest of ensuring the protection, maintenance, and enforcement of our and their rights, property, and/or safety.
To create aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data Any and all data types relevant in the circumstances. • Legitimate Interest. We have legitimate interest, and believe it is also in your interests, that we are able to take steps to ensure that our services and how we use personal information is as un-privacy intrusive as possible.
Further uses Any and all data types relevant in the circumstances. • The original legal basis relied upon, if the relevant further use is compatible with the initial purpose for which the personal information was collected.
• Consent, if the relevant further use is not compatible with the initial purpose for which the personal information was collected.

Retention

Please see the section above titled Retention for a description of our retention practices.

Other info

No Automated Decision-Making and Profiling. As part of the Website, we do not engage in automated decision-making and/or profiling, which produces legal or similarly significant effects.

Your rights

General. European data protection laws give you certain rights regarding your personal information. If you are located in Europe, you may ask us to take the following actions in relation to your personal information that we hold:

  • Access. Provide you with information about our processing of your personal information and give you access to your personal information.
  • Correct. Update or correct inaccuracies in your personal information.
  • Delete. Delete your personal information where there is no lawful reason for us continuing to store or process it, where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal information to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons that will be described to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
  • Portability. Port a machine-readable copy of your personal information to you or a third party of your choice, in certain circumstances. Note that this right only applies to automated information for which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
  • Restrict. Restrict the processing of your personal information, if, (i) you want us to establish the personal information’s accuracy; (ii) where our use of the personal information is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (iii) where you need us to hold the personal information even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (iv) you have objected to our use of your personal information but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
  • Object. Object to our processing of your personal information where we are relying on Legitimate Interests (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation that makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedom – you also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
  • Withdraw Consent. When we use your personal information based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent.

Exercising These Rights. You may submit these requests by email to [email protected] or our postal address provided above. We may request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and process your request. Whether or not we are required to fulfill any request you make will depend on a number of factors (e.g., why and how we are processing your personal information), if we reject any request you may make (whether in whole or in part) we will let you know our grounds for doing so at the time, subject to any legal restrictions.

Your Right to Lodge a Complaint with your Supervisory Authority. In addition to your rights outlined above, if you are not satisfied with our response to a request you make, or how we process your personal information, you can make a complaint to the data protection regulator in your habitual place of residence.

  • For users in the European Economic Area – the contact information for the data protection regulator in your place of residence can be found here: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en
  • For users in the UK – the contact information for the UK data protection regulator is below:The Information Commissioner’s Office
    Water Lane, Wycliffe House
    Wilmslow – Cheshire SK9 5AF
    Tel. +44 303 123 1113
    Website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Data Processing outside Europe

We are an Australia-based company with operations in the United States and many of our service providers, advisers, partners or other recipients of data are also based in Australia. This means that, if you use the Website, your personal information will necessarily be accessed and processed in Australia. It may also be provided to recipients in other countries outside Europe.

It is important to note that that Australia is not the subject of an ‘adequacy decision’ under the GDPR – basically, this means that the Australian legal regime is not considered by relevant European bodies to provide an adequate level of protection for personal information, which is equivalent to that provided by relevant European laws.

Where we share your personal information with third parties who are based outside Europe, we try to ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by making sure one of the following mechanisms is implemented:

  • Transfers to territories with an adequacy decision. We may transfer your personal information to countries or territories whose laws have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal information by the European Commission or UK Government (as and where applicable) (from time to time).
  • Transfers to territories without an adequacy decision.
    • We may transfer your personal information to countries or territories whose laws have not been deemed to provide such an adequate level of protection (e.g., Australia, see above).
    • However, in these cases:
      • we may use specific appropriate safeguards, which are designed to give personal information effectively the same protection it has in Europe – for example, standard-form contracts approved by relevant authorise for this purpose; or
      • in limited circumstances, we may rely on an exception, or ‘derogation’, which permits us to transfer your personal information to such country despite the absence of an ‘adequacy decision’ or ‘appropriate safeguards’ – for example, reliance on your explicit consent to that transfer.

You may contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal information out of Europe. You may have the right to receive a copy of the appropriate safeguards under which your personal information is transferred by contacting us at [email protected].