How we protect your medical information

1. Who we are

CICOVE — International Spine Center (Centro Internacional de Columna Vertebral), based at Hospital Ángeles Pedregal, Mexico City, is responsible for the personal and medical data you provide through this website.

2. What information we collect

When you submit our contact form, we collect:

• Personal data: first name, last name, email address, phone number.
• Medical information: a brief description of your spine condition and, optionally, imaging studies (MRI, X-rays) or radiology reports that you choose to attach.
• Technical metadata: date and time of submission, anonymized IP hash, browser information (used solely for fraud prevention and audit purposes).

3. How we use your information

Your data is used exclusively for:

• Reviewing your medical case by the CICOVE spine surgery team.
• Responding to your consultation request.
• If you authorize, including your case in our internal medical records system.

We do not use your data for marketing, do not sell it to third parties, and do not share it with any entity outside the CICOVE medical team.

4. Who has access to your information

Only the CICOVE medical team (co-founding surgeons and authorized associate physicians) and the administrative staff strictly required to coordinate your consultation will have access to your data. All personnel are bound by professional medical confidentiality.

5. How we store and protect your information

• Form submissions are transmitted over an encrypted HTTPS connection.
• Email correspondence is stored on our secured institutional email system (contact@cicovespine.us).
• Imaging studies and reports are stored only on internal systems with restricted access.
• We retain medical information for the time required by Mexican health regulations (NOM-004-SSA3-2012, minimum 5 years).

6. Your rights (ARCO rights)

Under the Federal Law on Protection of Personal Data Held by Private Parties (Mexico), you have the right to:

• Access your personal data we hold.
• Rectify any inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Cancel (delete) your data when you no longer wish us to hold it.
• Oppose certain uses of your data.

To exercise these rights, please email contact@cicovespine.us with your request.

7. Cookies and analytics

This website uses Google Analytics (G-FP9LPVMPK8) and Google Ads pixels for anonymized traffic measurement. No personally identifiable information is shared with these services. You can opt out of analytics via your browser settings or by using a tracker-blocker extension.

8. International patients

If you are submitting medical information from the United States, Canada, or Europe, please be aware that your data will be stored on servers located in Mexico under Mexican data protection law. By submitting the form, you consent to this international transfer.

9. Contact

For any privacy concern or to exercise your ARCO rights:
Email: contact@cicovespine.us
Phone: +52 55 3270 9776
Address: Hospital Ángeles Pedregal, Torre Ángeles, Suites 715 and 925, Mexico City, Mexico.

10. Changes to this notice

We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The 'last updated' date at the top reflects the most recent version. Significant changes will be communicated by email to active patients.