Privacy Policy
Last updated and effective: August 10, 2026
MDLupdate.com ("MDL Update," "we," "us," or "our") provides information about federal Multidistrict Litigation and helps people who may have a legal claim connect with law firms. This Privacy Policy explains exactly what information we collect, how we collect it, how we use it, and who we share it with. MDL Update is intended for users in the United States.
Please read this policy carefully. By using our website, you consent to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.
The Short Version
- • If you submit a case inquiry, we send it — including the health details you provide — to the law firm designated for that litigation, so they can evaluate and contact you.
- • We keep a record of how you found and browsed our site (for example, the page you arrived on and the pages you viewed), and we attach that record to your submission for our own marketing analysis.
- • We set no cookies and run no third-party analytics or ad trackers. We use your browser's built-in storage instead, and only for the purposes described below.
- • We do not sell your personal information to data brokers or advertising networks.
- • You can ask us to show you, correct, or delete your information at any time: privacy@mdlupdate.com.
Information You Provide
We collect information you choose to give us through the forms on this site:
- Case eligibility check: name, email, phone number, state, an optional date of birth, whether you already have an attorney, the litigation you selected, and health-related information relevant to that litigation — the health effects you select, an optional free-text description, and whether treatment was sought. For our social-media litigation intake this also includes the platforms used, the age use began, and current age.
- Information about a child provided by a parent or guardian: our social-media intake allows a parent or legal guardian to submit an inquiry on behalf of their child, including the child's age and health effects. See Children & Minors below.
- Consultation requests: name, phone, email, and a description of your potential case.
- Partial form saves: if you begin the eligibility check and choose "Save My Progress," your email address and the answers you have entered up to that point are transmitted to us at that moment, so we can follow up.
- Newsletter signups: email, and optionally your name, firm, role, and interests.
- Contact form: name, email, inquiry type, and your message.
- Advertiser forms (for law firms): work email, firm name, firm website, and optional goal, budget, and role answers.
Automatic Collection — Browser Storage, Not Cookies
We do not set cookies, and we do not run third-party analytics, advertising pixels, or cross-site trackers. Instead, our own code uses your browser's built-in storage (called sessionStorage and localStorage) to remember a small amount of information on your device:
| Stored item | What it holds | How long |
|---|---|---|
| mdl_journey | Your visit journey: the page you arrived on, the referring site or campaign tags (UTM, click IDs), the pages you view here, and time on site | Until you close the browser tab |
| mdl_first_touch | The date, landing page, and source of your first visit | Until you clear browser data |
| clix-intent-trail | A list of the MDL pages viewed this session (used with advertiser forms) | Until you close the browser tab |
| clix-lead-submitted | A non-reversible (hashed) marker of emails already submitted on advertiser forms, to prevent duplicate submissions | Until you clear browser data |
| mdl-report-subscribed, mdl-updates-subscribed, mdl-firm-subscribed, lawFirmSubscribed, exitPopupDismissed | Simple yes/no flags so we don't re-show signup forms or popups you have already handled | Until you close the browser tab |
You can clear all of this at any time through your browser's settings (clear site data). Separately, our hosting provider (Vercel) keeps standard server logs, which may include IP addresses, for security and operations.
Visit Information Attached to Your Submission
The visit journey described above stays on your device — unless you submit a form. When you do, we may attach it to your submission so we can understand which pages and campaigns lead people to ask for help:
- Case inquiries (currently our social-media litigation intake): your entry page, traffic source, campaign tags, the pages you viewed here, time on site, and device type are transmitted as an internal record linked to your name and email. This record is kept by MDL Update for marketing analysis and is not part of what the reviewing law firm receives; the firm's copy of your inquiry carries only a short reference ID. The same applies if you use "Save My Progress."
- Advertiser (law firm) forms: the submission includes the page it was made from, your referrer and campaign tags, and the list of MDL pages viewed during the session.
If you browse the site and never submit a form, none of this leaves your browser.
How We Use Your Information
- Connecting you with legal help: evaluating your inquiry and delivering it to the designated law firm for your selected litigation
- Communication: responding to your questions and following up on inquiries you started
- Newsletters: sending the updates you signed up for
- Marketing analysis: understanding which pages, sources, and campaigns lead to inquiries, so we can improve the site
- Legal compliance: keeping records of the consent language shown when you submitted, and complying with applicable law
How We Share Your Information
With Designated Law Firms
When you submit a case inquiry, it is shared with a participating law firm that handles the litigation you selected. For certain litigations, inquiries are transmitted directly to a single designated law firm, which will contact you about your potential case. What the firm receives includes your contact details and the case information you provided — including health-related details. Once received, your information is governed by that firm's own privacy policy. MDL Update may receive compensation from participating law firms for advertising and marketing services or case referrals.
With Service Providers
We use a small number of service providers to run the site, and your information passes through or is stored with them:
- Web3Forms — delivers form submissions to us (and, for designated litigations, to the reviewing law firm)
- Google Workspace — our email inboxes and spreadsheets where submissions are received and logged
- Vercel — website hosting and server logs
Legal Requirements
We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or governmental regulation, or if we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.
What We Don't Do
We do not sell your personal information to data brokers or advertising networks, and we do not share it with anyone for cross-context behavioral advertising. Sharing with the designated law firm happens only when you submit a case inquiry asking for that review.
Consumer Health Data
Some of what you submit — health conditions, treatment status, and related details — is "consumer health data" under laws such as the Washington My Health My Data Act and Nevada SB 370. We collect it only when you provide it, use it only to evaluate and route your inquiry, and share it only with the designated law firm and the service providers named above. Our separate Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy describes this in detail, including your rights to access, delete, and withdraw consent, and how to appeal a decision.
Children & Minors
Our website is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13. If we learn we have collected information directly from a child under 13, we will promptly delete it.
Our social-media litigation intake is designed for adults: a person under 18 cannot submit for themselves, and information about a minor — such as their age, platform use, and health effects — is accepted only from a parent or legal guardian filing on the minor's behalf. That information is used solely for the case inquiry and shared only as described in this policy. A parent or guardian may request access to or deletion of it at any time.
Data Retention
We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy. Case inquiries and leads that do not proceed are routinely purged from our inboxes and logs, typically within 24 months. Newsletter details are kept until you unsubscribe. You can request earlier deletion at any time (see Your Rights below); note that the designated law firm retains its copy of your inquiry under its own policy, and we will pass your deletion request along to them.
Data Security
Form submissions are encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and delivered to access-controlled inboxes and logs. We limit who can see your information and implement reasonable safeguards to protect it. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security — but we collect deliberately little, keep no database of our own, and purge what we no longer need.
Your Rights and Choices
You may, at any time and regardless of where you live:
- Access: ask what personal information we hold about you
- Correction: ask us to correct inaccurate information
- Deletion: ask us to delete your personal information
- Opt out: unsubscribe from emails (one click in any newsletter) or ask us to stop contacting you
To exercise any right, email privacy@mdlupdate.com from the address you used on the site (that is how we verify it's you — we may ask a follow-up question if needed). We respond within 45 days. We will never discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right.
California Privacy Rights
If you are a California resident, the CCPA/CPRA gives you the rights listed above plus the right to know the categories of information we collect and disclose (described throughout this policy) and the right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information. We do not sell personal information to data brokers or advertising networks and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. If you consider the transmission of your case inquiry to a compensated law firm a "sale" or "sharing," you may opt out or request deletion at any time via privacy@mdlupdate.com.
Global Privacy Control: because we set no cookies and use no cross-site trackers or advertising networks, there is no cookie-based sale or sharing for a GPC signal to switch off. Any request signaled to us or emailed to us is honored as described above.
Other US State Privacy Rights
Residents of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and other states with comprehensive privacy laws have similar rights of access, correction, deletion, and opt-out, which we honor for all users as described above. Washington and Nevada residents: your rights regarding health-related information, including the right to appeal a decision, are covered in our Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy.
Third-Party Links
Our website contains links to third-party websites, including courts, government sources, and law firm websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites, and we encourage you to review their policies.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Last updated" date. Material changes to what we collect or share will be reflected here before they take effect.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at: