Informed Consent
By contracting the services offered by Secret Sequence LLC (henceforth, “Secret Sequence”), you consent to and accept the terms of this informed consent and legal agreement (henceforth “Consent”). Specifically, by this Consent, you state and expressly accept that you : (i) are informed of the process by which Secret Sequence carries out its services; (ii) are conscious of the potential benefits, limitations, and risks associated –directly or indirectly- with the same. It is necessary to clearly understand: (i) the context of the genetic information to which, through the services provided, Secret Sequence has access; and (ii) the possible consequences derived from that knowledge.
Refund and Password Policy. Secret Sequence only offers refunds prior to sequencing a DNA sample, and refund requests are handled on an individual basis. Since Secret Sequence does not verify identities for accounts, we will not manually reset passwords in the interest of our customers’ data security. Refunds WILL NOT be provided to individuals who have forgotten their passwords and who have chosen not to provide an email for account retrieval.
Purpose of the genetic analysis by Secret Sequence that you requested. The service provided by Secret Sequence for the analysis and interpretation that you requested is designed with a purely informative purpose used by Secret Sequence and based on the available scientific evidence. Specifically, through the service provided by Secret Sequence, you will be informed of the aspects which promote the prevention and/or the treatment of certain conditions, pathologies and/or illnesses (genetic predispositions to suffer distinct illnesses, drug metabolism capacity and response to treatment or possibility of being a carrier of hereditary disorders).
Swab samples provided to Secret Sequence. You guarantee that the sample provided is your own. Accordingly, it is understood that Secret Sequence only provides a service to private individuals. In this regard, you guarantee that you do not act for a third party including, and not limited to, insurance companies, companies related –directly or indirectly- to healthcare or any other type of company or private individual that could be interested in obtaining information about a policyholder, employee, director or any other person without prior authorization. In addition, if you reside outside the United States, on acceptance of the present Consent or any other documents necessary for contracting services, you confirm specifically that you are not subject to any prohibition or legal restriction related to sending swab samples from your country of residence or, in general, to contracting any genetic services such as those you are requesting from Secret Sequence.
Non-acceptance of swab samples from children for the provision of services. If you agree to this document, you agree you are over 18, or what is considered the age of majority in your country and region of residence.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid Analysis (henceforth, “DNA”). You give your permission to Secret Sequence, its employees, directors, managers, contractors, subcontractors, and collaborators to carry out the requested services for DNA analysis of your saliva sample. For these purposes, you are informed that the current data processing center contracted by Secret Sequence have all the necessary sanitary licenses for the analysis.
Results of the genetic analysis (report). You authorize Secret Sequence to pass on to you –partially or entirely – the results (report) of your DNA analysis as well as to those persons for whom you have given previous authorization. You acknowledge and accept that the information provided by Secret Sequence after carrying out your genetic analysis as requested can be positive or negative. Consequently, you recognize and accept that you are aware that said furnished information can be unexpected and can cause situations of emotional stress. Nevertheless, you also manifest that you know and accept that in the case that your genetic information indicates a higher risk than the average for developing a determined pathology or illness does not mean that irremediably you will develop it. Likewise, you state that you understand that as research in genetic material advances, in order to more completely evaluate the significance and the information relative to your DNA within the context of said advances, it could be necessary to reuse these services.
Genetic counseling. As a client of Secret Sequence, you have access through the website www.secretsequence.com (or any other site set up for these purposes by Secret Sequence) to the interpretation of your genetic analysis. However, in the case of needing further additional clarification or having any doubts or uneasiness derived from your genetic analysis, you can contact Secret Sequence at the email address info@secretsequence.com where specialized personnel will try to resolve your questions. In any event, as previously stated, the provision of services by Secret Sequence does not pretend to be nor can be a substitute for personalized and particular attention by healthcare professionals.
PROTECTION OF GENETIC DATA
Your genetic information obtained as a consequence of the services rendered by Secret Sequence is subject to our Protection of Personal Data Policy. Summarizing, as stated in the Protection of Personal Data Policy, Secret Sequence watches out for your right to store and to consult your personal genetic information confidentially and safely.
Genetic data. The laboratory contracted by Secret Sequence to process the saliva sample will analyze your DNA with the sole objective of determining your genetic information. Neither said laboratory nor Secret Sequence will research your saliva sample for any other biological or chemical agent, marker, or component that is not your DNA. Likewise, said laboratory will not have access to any of your personal data since the data will be subject to a dissociation process. Only a unique order number will permit Secret Sequence to link the genetic information derived from your saliva sample to your account as a client of Secret Sequence. In any case, and for greater security, two (2) months after finalizing the requested analysis, the saliva sample is given and the remaining DNA will be destroyed.
Security. In fulfillment of the current legislation and of the internal policies of Secret Sequence, rigorous security measure will be employed to impede unauthorized access, transmission or destruction of your data. This security system includes our regular system audits and security measures.
RISKS
Secret Sequence understands that it is of great interest to help its clients to access and understand their genetic information. However, accessing and understanding genetic information is complex and not free from risks. In this respect, by signing this Agreement, you manifest knowledge and acceptance of these possible risks. For illustration purposes only, below you will find some of the considerations that you have to take into account and accept through this Consent, given prior to the hiring of Secret Sequence’s services:
Discovery of unexpected information. It is very probable that you will find genetic information about yourself that you did not expect. Said genetic information could provoke under certain situations emotional stress and in some cases can even alter lives. Specifically, you can discover things about yourself that could worry you. For example, you might have a greater possibility than the average of a particular segment of the population to develop a certain condition, pathology or illness. In this case, you have the right to revoke this Agreement at any time in writing (this right does not exempt you from the economic obligations assumed on contracting Secret Sequence’ services).
Minimum analysis errors. Without prejudice to that expressed in the following paragraph, you are informed that Secret Sequence follows rigorous quality protocols in the DNA analysis process. Nevertheless, an extremely small proportion (<0.05%) of the data generated during the process carried out in the external laboratory of Secret Sequence can be incorrect or cannot be interpreted.
Future genetic research. Future scientific research in genetic material can alter –totally or partially- the interpretation of your DNA since new genetic markers can be discovered related to the risk of suffering diverse conditions, pathologies or illnesses.
Non-sharing of genetic data. The genetic data that is shared with third parties whether they come from a service carried out by Secret Sequence or from other sources may be used against your own interests. You are informed that Secret Sequence strongly recommends that you do not share your genetic information with third parties (including family members, friends, work colleagues, etc). Even in the event that you decide to share your genetic information with health care professionals, you run the risk that said information can become part of your medical history and, because of this, could be in the future accessible to undesired third parties (for example, health care provider service companies or insurance companies). You declare that you understand that if you share now minor or seemingly unimportant genetic information, the information could be relevant in the future when genetic research has advanced and new discoveries have been made (for example, the discovery of new genetic markers related to the risk of suffering diverse conditions, pathologies or illnesses). In any case, you acknowledge that you will: (i) assume responsibility for the possible consequences derived from sharing access to your genetic data with third parties; and (ii) exonerate Secret Sequence, its employees, managers, directors, contractors, subcontractors, collaborators, successors, and authorized representatives and consider them free from any responsibility derived from (A) the use or transmission of any information provided by you and/or obtained as a consequence of a service requested from Secret Sequence; and (B) the transmission or utilization of your genetic information or other personal data provided in the event that you share said information with third parties- whether it be intentional or inadvertently, or to third parties for a diagnosis or other purposes.