Cookies Policy

Introduction and scope

Akouos, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company (“Akouos”, 645 Summer Street, Suite 200 Boston, MA 02210, United States, www.akouos.com), is responsible for the collection and processing of your data as they relate to cookies used in this website.

This policy will explain how this website is using cookies in order to provide clear and relevant information to users on what choices the user has in terms of controlling what happens when he/she accesses our website. The policy uses the term “cookies” to refer to cookies and similar technologies covered by the law (such as, for example, Local Shared Objects – commonly referred to as “flash cookies”, web beacons or bugs, including transparent clear gifs). The gathered information concerns data that could allow to identify web users/visitors by associating and processing them with other data kept by third parties (such as, for example, the IP address, domain and registration numbers of the computers used by people connecting to the website). These data are used and processed only for statistical purposes.

This document is an integral and substantial part of the Privacy Notice and the information notice contained in it complies with the provisions set out by applicable federal, national and European data protection and data privacy laws and regulations, including the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR 2016/679), the e-Privacy Directive 2002/58/EC, as amended and in force and any other relevant opinions and guidelines issued by competent data protection authorities. We recommend, therefore, that you also read our Privacy Notice to know more about Akouos’s general commitment to data protection.

What is a cookie

A cookie is a small file, typically consisting of letters and numbers, downloaded to a device when the user accesses the website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit. Cookies can be useful because they improve a website’s functionality and overall performance and provide its users with a more personalized experience. They also give insights on the use of our website by our visitors to help us understand how visitors are using our website and the services provided therein.

The use of cookies and similar technologies has for some time been commonplace and cookies in particular are important for the provision of many online services. Using such technologies is not, therefore, prohibited by the law but does require that people are well informed in advance about the use of cookies installed on a website and are given the choice to either directly accept all of them or to customize their cookies preferences.

Different types of cookies

Session and persistent cookies

Cookies can expire at the end of a browser session (the time from when a user opens the browser window to when they exit the browser) or they can be stored for longer periods of time.

Session cookies – allow websites to link the actions of a user during a browser session. These may be used for a variety of purposes such as remembering what a user has “clicked” on as they browse around a website. They could also be used for security when a user is accessing internet banking or to facilitate use of webmail. These session cookies expire after a browser session.

The use of session cookies (that are not stored persistently on the user’s computer and are deleted automatically as soon as the browser is shut down) is strictly limited to the purpose of transmitting data (made up of random numbers created by the server) identifying the specific session and necessary to allow safe and efficient website surfing. The session cookies used in this website avoid any other computer methods that could potentially compromise the privacy about users’ web-surfing.

Persistent cookies – are stored on a users’ device in between browser sessions, which allow the preferences or actions of the user across a website (or in some cases across different websites) to be remembered. Persistent cookies may be used for a variety of purposes including remembering users’ preferences and choices when using a website.

First and third-party cookies – whether a cookie is “first” or “third” party refers to the website or domain placing the cookie. First party cookies in basic terms are cookies set by a website visited by the user – the website displayed in the URL window: i.e., cookies set by Akouos. Third party cookies are cookies that are set by a domain other than the one being visited by the user, i.e., cookies, which are set by companies and websites other than Akouos, such as Google. If a user visits this website (www.akouos.com) and a separate company sets a cookie through www.akouos.com, this would be a third-party cookie.

How to accept, control and delete our cookies

Some cookies are strictly necessary for the correct functioning of this website and do not require user’s consent, such as those ensuring that the content of a page loads quickly and effectively by distributing the workload across numerous computers or else those providing security.

Other cookies are still reasonably necessary or important, but they are not strictly essential and, therefore, require a user’s consent. For these cookies (i.e., performance and functionality), we request your consent (by the “accept all cookies” button in our cookie banner or through our cookies settings or your browser cookie settings) before placing them on your device.

If you do not wish to give consent or wish to withdraw your consent to any non-essential cookies at any time, you will need to modify your preferences in the cookies settings or delete, block or disable cookies via your browser settings. These settings are usually found in the ‘options’ or ‘preferences’ menu of your internet browser. Otherwise, you should use the “help” option in your internet browser for more details or you can click on one of the links below to go directly to the user manual for your browser:

• Mozilla Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Safari
• Opera
• Microsoft Edge

Please note that disabling or blocking some or all of the categories of cookies may affect the functionality of the website and may impact your access and experience with our website and the services we are able to offer.

Any of your cookie preferences are limited to this website only and not to other third-party owned websites or any other webpages, which may be hyperlinked to this website. For more information on cookies used by those websites, please refer to the specific privacy notice or cookie policy of those websites.

Cookies that we use

When operating our website, Akouos uses cookies to offer services, to improve user’s experience, and, to develop aggregated statistics about the data collected for various reasons.

These cookies allow us to distinguish you from other users of the website, which helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and helps us improve it based on user experience.

The cookies we use allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around the site when they’re using it. This helps us improve the way website efficiencies and user experience, for example by making sure users are finding what they need easily.

This/our website uses the following types of cookies, as listed in the table below:

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

We use the following necessary cookies:

Performance cookies

These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, length of time spent on the site, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies you. All the information that these cookies collect is anonymous and is only used to improve how a website works.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.

You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. However, please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

For more details on how Google processes your data, please visit Google’s Privacy Policy.

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout (compatible with Chrome, Internet Explorer 8–11, Safari, Firefox and Opera).

Circulation and storage of data

Data concerning website users will not be stored for a longer period than the above mentioned for each cookie type except for any need of checking computer crimes damaging the website in compliance with applicable laws. No information coming from the web service will ever be either communicated or disseminated to unspecified recipients.

Cookies policy updating

The cookies policy of our website may be updated periodically, so it is recommended to consult this document each time you access the site, in order to be properly informed about any updates to our use of cookies.

More information on cookies

For more information on cookies installed through this website, you can contact our Privacy Office at: privacy@akouos.com.

You can also visit www.aboutcookies.org, www.allaboutcookies.org or www.cookiepedia.co.uk, which contain general information about cookies and comprehensive information on how to modify the cookie settings on a wide variety of browsers and how to delete cookies from your computer.

 

Last updated: December 21, 2022