Privacy Policy
Last updated: Oct 8, 2026
This policy explains what personal information Biology Insights LLC (“we” or “us”) collects when you visit biologyinsights.com or contact us, how we use it, who receives it and the choices you have. Biology Insights LLC, based in Chicago, Illinois, is responsible for this information.
At a glance
- We collect what you send us, plus information about your device and the pages you visit.
- Analytics and advertising cookies are used only if you agree. Until then, any ads you see are not personalized.
- On health and medical articles, we request only non-personalized ads, whatever you have chosen.
- You can change your choices at any time through the Privacy choices link at the bottom of every page, and ask to see or delete your information by emailing [email protected].
Information we collect
Information you give us
- When you email us, for example to report an error or ask a question: your name, email address and whatever you include in your message. Please do not include health or other sensitive information.
- When you pitch or write for us: your name, contact details, professional background, writing samples, drafts, conflict-of-interest and AI-use declarations and, if you provide one, a headshot. Your name, bio, headshot and disclosure statement are published with your article.
- When you review an article for us: your name, qualifications, field and conflict-of-interest declaration. Your name and credentials are published with the article you review, unless you ask not to be named, in which case we publish only your field.
- When you donate: your name, email address and the amount and date of your donation. Donations are processed by a third-party payment processor, which collects your payment details directly under its own privacy policy. We never receive your full card or bank details.
Information collected automatically
When you visit the site, your browser sends us and the companies that help run the site:
- your IP address, and an approximate location derived from it, at the city or region level
- device and browser type, operating system and language settings
- the pages you view, how long you stay, the page that referred you and links you click
- identifiers stored in cookies and similar technologies, if you agree to them
Information from others
Contributors may give us the names and contact details of people they interviewed, and our payment processor tells us when a donation is made.
How we use information
| Purpose | Information used | Legal basis (EEA and UK) |
|---|---|---|
| Run, deliver and secure the site | Device details, IP address, server logs | Legitimate interests in keeping the site working and safe |
| Reply to messages and investigate errors and complaints | Your messages and contact details | Legitimate interests in answering readers and correcting our work |
| Consider pitches, and edit, review and publish articles | Contributor and reviewer information | Performing our agreement with you |
| Record donations | Donation details | Legal obligation to keep financial records |
| Measure which articles are read | Analytics data | Your consent |
| Show advertising | Device details, IP address, page address and, if you agree, cookie identifiers | Your consent for advertising cookies; legitimate interests in funding the site through non-personalized ads |
| Meet legal obligations and protect our rights | Whatever is relevant | Legal obligation; legitimate interests |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed them against your rights, and you can object at any time (see Your rights). We do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing.
Who receives information
- Service providers that host the site, deliver its content, protect it from bots and attacks, deliver email and measure site use. They act on our instructions.
- Advertising partners. When a page requests an ad, your IP address, device details, approximate location and the address of the page are sent to our advertising partners and to the companies bidding to show the ad. They use this to deliver ads, prevent fraud and measure results and, if you agree, to personalize ads. They act under their own privacy policies; the current list is in Privacy choices.
- Embedded content. Videos and other material embedded from other sites load from those companies’ servers, which receive the same technical details and may set their own cookies. Embedded videos load only when you choose to play them.
- Our payment processor, which handles donations under its own privacy policy and may set its own cookies to prevent fraud.
- Expert reviewers, who see the drafts they are asked to review and the contributor details relevant to the review. They agree to keep these confidential.
- Others, when required by law or to protect the safety, rights or property of our readers, contributors or Biology Insights LLC.
- A buyer or successor, if the business is sold or merged, in which case this policy would continue to apply to your information.
We do not publish your name or the contents of a message you send us without your permission.
Selling and sharing. If you agree to advertising cookies, our advertising partners collect identifiers, browsing activity and approximate location to show personalized ads. Under California and some other US state laws, this counts as “selling” or “sharing” personal information. We do not sell or share personal information in any other way, we do not knowingly sell or share information about anyone under 16, and we do not use sensitive information to infer anything about you.
| Category | Examples | Source | Sold or shared for advertising? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | Name, email address, IP address, cookie identifiers | You; your device | IP address and cookie identifiers, if you agree to advertising cookies |
| Internet activity | Pages viewed, links clicked | Your device | Yes, if you agree |
| Approximate location | City or region derived from your IP address | Your device | Yes, if you agree |
| Professional information | Background, bio, credentials, declarations | You | No |
| Commercial information | Donation amount and date | You; our payment processor | No |
| Images | Contributors’ headshots | You | No |
Cookies and your choices
| Type | What it does | Needs your consent? |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Used only to run and secure the site and to remember your cookie choices | No |
| Analytics | Counts visits and shows which pages are read | Yes |
| Advertising | Lets advertising partners measure ads, limit how often you see the same ad and personalize ads | Yes |
When you first visit, wherever you are, we ask whether you accept analytics and advertising cookies. Rejecting is as easy as accepting. We do not load analytics or advertising cookies, pixels or similar technologies until you agree. If you reject them or have not chosen, any ads you see are non-personalized, although ad requests still carry the technical details described above.
You can change your choice at any time through the Privacy choices link at the bottom of every page.
We treat a Global Privacy Control signal as a request to opt out of selling, sharing and personalized advertising for that browser, and Privacy choices shows when the signal has been applied. Browsers’ Do Not Track setting has no agreed standard, so we rely on Global Privacy Control instead.
How long we keep information
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Emails, complaints and pitches we do not accept | Up to three years |
| Contributor and reviewer records | As long as the article is online, plus three years |
| Donation records | Seven years |
| Analytics data | 14 months |
| Server and security logs | 90 days |
Interview recordings sent to us for transcription are deleted once the article is published. Advertising partners keep the information they collect under their own policies. We delete or anonymize information when these periods end, unless we need it longer to resolve a dispute or meet a legal obligation.
Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy in a portable format
- correct information that is inaccurate
- delete your information
- stop selling or sharing your information and stop personalized advertising
- restrict how we use your information
You can object at any time to our use of your information based on legitimate interests, and you can withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect anything we did before.
How to make a request. To opt out of personalized advertising, use Privacy choices or Global Privacy Control; this takes effect for that browser straight away and needs no proof of identity. For anything else, email [email protected]. We may ask you to confirm your identity, for example by replying from the email address you used with us or, for information linked to cookies, by giving us the identifier shown in Privacy choices. We respond within one month if you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, and within 45 days elsewhere. If we need longer, as the law allows, we will tell you why.
Authorized agents. Someone else can make a request for you with your signed permission. We may still ask you to confirm your identity.
Appeals and complaints. If we decline your request, reply to our decision with “Appeal” in the subject line and we will respond within 45 days. If your appeal is denied, you can contact your state attorney general. In the European Economic Area you can complain to your local data protection authority, and in the United Kingdom to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
We will not treat you differently for exercising any of these rights.
Security
We use encrypted connections, limit access to personal information to the people who need it, and require our service providers to protect it. No system is completely secure. If a breach affects your information, we will tell you promptly and as the law requires.
Children
The site is written for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13; if you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
Visitors outside the United States
We are based in the United States, and information we collect is stored and processed there, where data protection laws may differ from those where you live. When information is transferred from the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we rely on the safeguards our service providers offer, such as standard contractual clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK extension.
Changes to this policy
When we update this policy, we change the date at the top. For significant changes, we post a notice on the site before they take effect, and we will not use information we already hold in a materially different way without your consent where the law requires it.
Contact
| For | Contact |
|---|---|
| Privacy questions and requests | [email protected] |