Privacy
Privacy Policy
How Virsono Hearing Centers collects, uses, and protects information you share through virsonohearing.com, our forms, and our communications.
Virsono Hearing Centers Privacy Policy
virsonohearing.com | Effective Date: May 2026 | Governing Law: State of California, United States (with multi-state acknowledgments) | Version 6
Quick Summary
Virsono Hearing Centers, a subsidiary of Earlens Corp, takes your privacy seriously. This policy explains what we collect through virsonohearing.com, in our clinic locations, and through our communications (including SMS), how we use that information, and your rights over your data. Clinical health information you provide during a hearing appointment is protected separately under HIPAA and governed by our Notice of Privacy Practices, available at any Virsono clinic and on virsonohearing.com. SMS communications are opt-in. Contact us at privacy@earlens.com with any questions.
Important: This Policy and HIPAA
Virsono Hearing Centers operates licensed hearing healthcare clinics across the United States. We are a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Clinical health information collected during your appointment, including your hearing evaluation results, treatment recommendations, fitting data, and billing records, is Protected Health Information (PHI). PHI is governed by our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices, which is a separate document available at any Virsono clinic location and on virsonohearing.com.
This Privacy Policy covers information collected through virsonohearing.com, our online forms, our SMS communications, our marketing emails, and other non-clinical interactions. Where information collected through these channels intersects with clinical care, that intersection is governed by HIPAA and our Notice of Privacy Practices.
1. Who We Are
Virsono Hearing Centers is a multi-location hearing healthcare network providing diagnostic audiology, hearing aid fitting, and hearing-related care across the United States. Virsono is a subsidiary of Earlens Corp, a California-based medical technology company that develops and commercializes the Earlens Contact Hearing System.
Virsono Hearing Centers operates virsonohearing.com and its related subdomains. Our clinic locations operate under applicable state licensure and federal healthcare regulations. As a healthcare provider, Virsono is a HIPAA covered entity. Our regulatory and compliance practices reflect that status.
As a subsidiary of Earlens Corp, Virsono Hearing Centers uses the Earlens corporate privacy infrastructure for handling privacy inquiries and data requests. Privacy correspondence directed to privacy@earlens.com is processed by the Earlens privacy team on behalf of Virsono. Clinical care, patient communications, and Notice of Privacy Practices obligations remain the direct responsibility of Virsono Hearing Centers as a HIPAA covered entity.
| Contact | Details |
|---|---|
| Privacy Email | privacy@earlens.com |
| Website | virsonohearing.com |
| Clinic Locations | Full list of clinic locations available at virsonohearing.com/locations |
| Response Time | Within 5 business days for general inquiries. Within 45 days for formal privacy requests. |
| HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices | Available at any Virsono clinic location or at virsonohearing.com/hipaa-notice-of-privacy-practices |
2. What Information We Collect
A. Information You Provide Through Online Forms
virsonohearing.com operates multiple data collection touchpoints designed to connect prospective and current patients with our clinic locations:
Patient Contact and Inquiry Forms
- First name and last name
- Email address
- Phone number
- Preferred Virsono clinic location
- Self-reported hearing concern or reason for inquiry
- Approximate timeline for seeking hearing help
- Optional comments or questions
Appointment Request Forms
- Name, email, and phone number
- Preferred appointment date and time window
- Preferred Virsono clinic location
- Reason for visit (general, hearing test, hearing aid consultation, follow-up, etc.)
Health-Related Information Submitted Through Forms
Information you submit through online forms may include health-adjacent details such as the nature of your hearing concern or your reason for seeking care. Where this information is submitted before a clinical relationship begins, Virsono handles it as confidential personal information under this Privacy Policy and applicable state privacy law. Once you become a patient at a Virsono clinic, additional clinical information is collected and handled as Protected Health Information under HIPAA, governed by our Notice of Privacy Practices.
B. Information Collected at Virsono Clinic Locations
When you visit a Virsono clinic location, additional information is collected as part of providing hearing healthcare services. This includes intake paperwork, hearing evaluation data, treatment records, billing information, and other clinical documentation. This in-clinic information is Protected Health Information under HIPAA and is governed by our Notice of Privacy Practices, not this Privacy Policy.
C. Information Collected Automatically
When you visit virsonohearing.com, we and our technology partners automatically collect:
- IP address and approximate geographic location derived from IP
- Browser type, version, and operating system
- Pages visited, time on page, scroll depth, and links clicked
- Referring URL
- Device type, screen resolution, and hardware identifiers
- Date and time of visit
- Search terms that led to virsonohearing.com
D. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies on virsonohearing.com. These are managed through our cookie consent system and categorized as follows:
| Type | Purpose and Notes |
|---|---|
| Strictly Necessary | Required for the site to function. Session management, form processing, security. Always active. Cannot be disabled through our cookie tool. |
| Analytics | Measure site traffic and user behavior. We use Google Analytics (GA4). Data is aggregated and pseudonymized. |
| Marketing and Advertising | Deliver Virsono advertisements across other websites and platforms. Health-related pages are excluded from advertising targeting by default. |
| Retargeting | Show Virsono content to previous site visitors on third-party platforms. Cookie lifetime is typically 30 to 180 days. |
| Preference | Remember your cookie consent choices and site preferences across visits. |
Health Pages: Default Off
Non-essential cookies and trackers are kept off by default on health-related pages of virsonohearing.com. Analytics, advertising, and retargeting cookies do not fire on pages where you are asked to share health-related information, unless you have explicitly accepted all cookies through the consent banner.
3. How We Use Your Information
| Purpose | Details |
|---|---|
| Respond to inquiries | Connect prospective patients with the appropriate Virsono clinic location. Route existing patient inquiries to the correct clinical or administrative team. |
| Schedule appointments | Coordinate clinic visits, send appointment confirmations and reminders. |
| SMS communications | Send appointment confirmations, reminders, transactional updates, and clinic communications by text message to phone numbers you have provided and consented to receive SMS at. See Section 4 for full SMS terms. |
| Patient communications | Provide care-related information, follow-up after appointments, and respond to questions you submit through our website or other channels. |
| Provide hearing healthcare services | Deliver clinical care including hearing evaluations, fittings, and follow-up. Use of clinical PHI is governed by HIPAA and our Notice of Privacy Practices. |
| Site analytics | Understand how visitors use virsonohearing.com and improve the user experience. Health page analytics are subject to default-off cookie settings. |
| Advertising and retargeting | Deliver Virsono advertisements to previous site visitors on platforms including Google and Meta. PHI is never used for advertising targeting. |
| Marketing performance | Measure effectiveness of marketing and patient acquisition. No PHI is shared with advertising or analytics platforms. |
| Healthcare operations | Quality improvement, patient outcomes review, business operations consistent with HIPAA permitted uses. |
| Regulatory compliance | Maintain records required under HIPAA, state healthcare regulations, FTC, and applicable state privacy laws. |
| Site security | Detect and prevent fraudulent or unauthorized activity. |
4. SMS Communications
Where you provide your phone number to Virsono Hearing Centers and consent to receive text messages (SMS), Virsono may use SMS to confirm appointments, send appointment reminders, deliver transactional updates related to your care or inquiry, and provide service notifications. This section explains the terms that apply to those SMS communications.
Consent and Opt-Out
SMS consent is not a condition of purchase, treatment, or services. We maintain records of SMS consent where required for compliance and operational purposes. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Carriers are not liable for any delayed or undelivered messages. You may opt out of SMS communications at any time by replying STOP, and you may reply HELP for assistance.
How Your Mobile Information Is Handled
Mobile information will not be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.
We may use service providers to help us deliver SMS communications and support our operations, subject to applicable confidentiality and data protection obligations.
SMS Quick Reference
- Opt out: Reply STOP to any message.
- Get help: Reply HELP for assistance.
- Message frequency: Varies based on your care and interactions.
- Message and data rates: May apply, depending on your mobile carrier plan.
- Carriers are not liable for any delayed or undelivered messages.
- Mobile information sharing: Never with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.
- Support contact: privacy@earlens.com
Healthcare-specific note: SMS appointment reminders and clinical communications may reference appointments or services. We follow HIPAA-compliant SMS practices for any communications involving PHI.
SMS Opt-In Form Requirements
Where you provide SMS consent through a form on virsonohearing.com, the form includes a direct hyperlink to this Privacy Policy and clearly lists privacy@earlens.com as the support contact for SMS-related questions. These requirements ensure transparency at the point of consent and provide a direct channel for any concerns regarding SMS communications.
5. How We Share Your Information
Virsono Hearing Centers does not sell your personal information for monetary compensation. We share data only as described below.
Within the Virsono Network
Information you provide may be shared across Virsono clinic locations for coordination of care, appointment management, and patient communications. Access to clinical PHI within the Virsono network follows minimum-necessary access standards under HIPAA.
With Earlens Corp (Parent Company)
Virsono Hearing Centers may share operational and business data with Earlens Corp, our parent company, for internal business purposes consistent with this policy. Clinical PHI is not routinely shared with Earlens Corp outside of HIPAA-permitted uses.
Service Providers and Named Sub-Processors
We share data with the following categories of vendors under written agreements that include confidentiality and data protection obligations (and Business Associate Agreements where the vendor has access to PHI):
| Vendor Category | Purpose and Data Involved |
|---|---|
| Electronic Medical Records (EMR) | Clinical record keeping, scheduling, and patient management. Subject to Business Associate Agreement. Includes platforms such as Auditdata Manage, CounselEar, and Sycle depending on location. |
| Patient Acquisition Platform | CortexHQ platform for call intelligence, patient inquiry routing, patient lifecycle automation, and Intelligence Briefing. Operates under written data processing terms with confidentiality obligations. |
| SMS Service Provider (Salesforce) | SMS message delivery, opt-in and opt-out management, and message logs. Salesforce Privacy Notice: salesforce.com/company/privacy. Subject to confidentiality and data protection obligations. Mobile information is not shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. |
| Email and Lifecycle Communications | Patient communications, lifecycle messaging, and appointment confirmations. |
| Call Tracking and Intelligence | Inbound and outbound call routing, call recording for quality and training, and call analytics. Where call content includes PHI, vendor relationships are governed by Business Associate Agreements. |
| Google Analytics (GA4) | Site analytics and traffic measurement. Aggregated, pseudonymized data. Not applied to health-related pages by default. |
| Google Ads | Advertising delivery and retargeting. Hashed identifiers only. PHI excluded. |
| Meta (Facebook/Instagram) | Advertising delivery and retargeting. Hashed identifiers only. PHI excluded. |
| Website Hosting | Infrastructure and site delivery. Data is processed in the United States. |
| Cookie Consent Platform | Manages and records your cookie consent choices. |
For Treatment, Payment, and Healthcare Operations
Consistent with HIPAA, Virsono may share PHI for treatment (with other healthcare providers involved in your care), payment (with insurers and billing services), and healthcare operations (quality improvement, audits, training). These uses are governed by our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices.
Legal Requirements
We may disclose information when required by law, court order, or government authority, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Virsono Hearing Centers, our patients, our staff, or others.
Business Transfers
In the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your information may transfer as part of that transaction. We will provide notice before your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
6. HIPAA and Protected Health Information
Virsono Hearing Centers is a covered entity under HIPAA. Clinical health information you provide during your care at a Virsono clinic, including hearing evaluation results, treatment recommendations, fitting data, billing records, and clinical communications, is Protected Health Information (PHI). PHI is handled in accordance with HIPAA and our Notice of Privacy Practices.
Notice of Privacy Practices
Our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices is a separate document that describes:
- How Virsono may use and disclose your PHI
- Your rights regarding your PHI, including access, amendment, accounting of disclosures, and restrictions
- How to file a complaint with Virsono or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights
- Our duties regarding PHI under HIPAA and applicable state law
You may obtain a copy of the Notice of Privacy Practices at any Virsono clinic location, by request to privacy@earlens.com, or at virsonohearing.com/hipaa-notice-of-privacy-practices.
Business Associate Agreements
Where a service provider, vendor, or contractor has access to PHI in providing services to Virsono, we enter into a written Business Associate Agreement that requires the partner to safeguard PHI consistent with HIPAA.
Marketing Communications and PHI
HIPAA limits the use of PHI for marketing purposes. Virsono does not use PHI for marketing or advertising purposes without your specific authorization where required by HIPAA. Where you have provided SMS consent for service or appointment-related communications, that is treatment or healthcare operations communication, not marketing.
7. State Privacy Rights
Virsono Hearing Centers operates clinics in multiple US states. Depending on your state of residence, you may have specific privacy rights under state law in addition to your rights under HIPAA. The most prominent state privacy laws applicable to our operations include the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). Similar rights may apply in other states including Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, and others.
California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)
California residents have the following rights with respect to non-PHI information held by Virsono:
| Right | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Right to Know | Request the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected, the sources, purposes, and third parties we share it with. |
| Right to Delete | Request deletion of your personal information. Exceptions apply where retention is required by law or necessary for specific legitimate purposes (including retention of medical records as required by state healthcare regulations). |
| Right to Correct | Request correction of inaccurate personal information we hold about you. |
| Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing | We do not sell personal information for money. We share data with advertising partners in ways that may constitute sharing under CCPA/CPRA. You can opt out at any time. See Section 8. |
| Right to Limit Sensitive Personal Information | Self-reported hearing information is sensitive under CPRA. You can request we limit its use to purposes strictly necessary to deliver the service you requested. |
| Right to Non-Discrimination | We will not deny services, charge different prices, or provide a different level of service because you exercised any of these rights. |
Other State Privacy Rights
If you reside in a state with applicable privacy laws including Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Virginia (VCDPA), Utah (UCPA), or others, you may have rights to access, delete, correct, or restrict the processing of your personal information. PHI is governed separately by HIPAA and our Notice of Privacy Practices. Contact privacy@earlens.com to exercise applicable state privacy rights.
How to Submit a Request
Email privacy@earlens.com with the subject line State Privacy Request. Include your full name, email address used in your interactions with Virsono, your state of residence, and the specific right you wish to exercise. We will verify your identity before processing and respond within 45 days. One 45-day extension may apply for complex requests.
8. Opt-Out of Sale and Sharing
Virsono Hearing Centers uses advertising cookies and retargeting pixels that may constitute sharing of personal information under CCPA/CPRA. California law requires us to provide a clear and accessible opt-out mechanism.
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
A Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information link is available in the footer of every page on virsonohearing.com. Clicking this link allows you to opt out of cookie-based advertising data sharing in real time. Your preference is saved and honored on future visits. This opt-out covers advertising and retargeting cookies only. It does not affect information submitted through contact forms or PHI collected during clinical care, which is handled as described in Sections 2, 3, and 6 of this policy.
Global Privacy Control (GPC)
Virsono honors the Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signal. If your browser sends a GPC signal when you visit virsonohearing.com, we treat it as a valid opt-out of sale and sharing of your personal information.
Additional Opt-Out Methods
- Cookie Preferences: Use the Cookie Preferences link in the site footer.
- Browser settings: Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies through privacy settings.
- Digital Advertising Alliance: optout.aboutads.info
- Network Advertising Initiative: optout.networkadvertising.org
- Google Analytics Opt-Out: tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
- Direct request: Email privacy@earlens.com.
- SMS opt-out: Reply STOP to any SMS message you receive from Virsono.
9. Data Retention
| Data Type | Retention Period |
|---|---|
| Patient inquiry form submissions | Up to 24 months from submission, or until your inquiry is resolved, whichever is earlier. |
| Clinical records and PHI | Retained in accordance with state medical record retention laws (typically 7 to 10 years from last service, longer for minors). Governed by HIPAA and our Notice of Privacy Practices. |
| Appointment records | Retained alongside clinical records under applicable medical retention requirements. |
| SMS consent and message logs | Consent records retained for the duration of the relationship plus 24 months for compliance and operational purposes. Message logs retained as required by SMS service provider and applicable regulations. |
| Call recordings | Retained for quality, training, and compliance purposes. Recordings involving PHI are handled in accordance with HIPAA. |
| Analytics data | Up to 26 months, consistent with Google Analytics default data retention settings. |
| Advertising and retargeting cookies | Typically 30 to 180 days. Expires automatically per platform settings. |
| Cookie consent records | 12 months to document your consent or opt-out choice. |
| Email communications | Duration of the relationship plus 12 months. |
You may request early deletion of non-PHI information by contacting privacy@earlens.com. Deletion of PHI is governed by HIPAA and state medical record retention requirements, which may limit our ability to delete clinical records.
10. Children's Privacy
virsonohearing.com is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16 through our website without verifiable parental consent. Where Virsono provides hearing healthcare services to minors, those services are provided with parental or guardian consent and the resulting clinical records are handled as PHI under HIPAA. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 16 through our website, contact privacy@earlens.com immediately and we will delete it promptly.
11. Security
Virsono Hearing Centers implements reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information and PHI from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These include encrypted data transmission (TLS 1.2 or higher), access controls, secure hosting infrastructure, employee training, and HIPAA-required safeguards for PHI.
No data transmission or storage system is entirely secure. If you have reason to believe your interaction with us has been compromised, contact privacy@earlens.com.
12. Third-Party Links and Services
virsonohearing.com contains links to third-party websites including Earlens Corp and our clinical and operational service providers, and uses third-party services including Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Meta. This Privacy Policy applies only to virsonohearing.com and information Virsono Hearing Centers collects directly.
Key third-party privacy policies relevant to your use of virsonohearing.com:
- Google Privacy Policy: policies.google.com/privacy
- Meta Privacy Policy: privacycenter.fb.com/policy
- Earlens Corp Privacy Policy: earlens.com/privacy
- Salesforce Privacy Notice (SMS service provider): salesforce.com/company/privacy
13. Regulatory Context
Virsono Hearing Centers operates licensed hearing healthcare clinics and is subject to:
- HIPAA and HITECH Act (federal patient privacy and security)
- State licensing requirements for audiology and hearing instrument practice
- State medical record retention and access laws
- State consumer privacy laws (CCPA/CPRA in California and equivalents in other states)
- Federal Trade Commission rules on advertising and marketing
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and applicable state laws governing SMS and voice communications
This Privacy Policy is a legal disclosure document, not a promotional claim.
14. Changes to This Policy
Virsono Hearing Centers may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or regulatory obligations. Material changes will be indicated by an updated effective date. Continued use of virsonohearing.com following any update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy. Continued use of our SMS communications following any update constitutes acceptance of the revised SMS terms.
15. Contact and Privacy Requests
| Method | Details |
|---|---|
| Privacy Email | privacy@earlens.com |
| General Inquiries Subject | Privacy Inquiry |
| State Privacy Request Subject | State Privacy Request |
| HIPAA Privacy Officer | Contact the HIPAA Privacy Officer at privacy@earlens.com with the subject HIPAA Inquiry. PHI-related access, amendment, accounting, and restriction requests are governed by our Notice of Privacy Practices. |
| Opt-Out of Sharing | Do Not Sell or Share link in site footer, or email privacy@earlens.com |
| SMS Opt-Out | Reply STOP to any SMS message. Reply HELP for assistance. |
| Response Time | 45 days for state privacy requests. 5 business days for general inquiries. HIPAA access requests responded to within 30 days of receipt per HIPAA requirements. |
Virsono Hearing Centers Privacy Policy | virsonohearing.com | Effective May 2026 | Version 6 | A subsidiary of Earlens Corp