Security and Privacy
- FST Secure Online Shopping
- Privacy Notice
- Information We Collect
- How We Use Your Information
- Process and fulfill orders
- Manage your registered user account
- Respond to your inquiries and provide customer support
- Send transactional emails (order confirmations, shipping notifications)
- Send marketing communications (with your consent)
- Analyze website usage and improve our services
- Comply with legal obligations
- Prevent fraud and enhance security
- Detect, prevent, and investigate automated abuse, spam, fraud, and other security threats through Google reCAPTCHA v3
- Payment Processing
- How We Share Your Information
- Service providers (payment processors, shipping carriers, email service providers, analytics providers such as Google Analytics, and Google LLC for Google reCAPTCHA) under strict confidentiality agreements
- Law enforcement or government agencies when required by law, court order, or legal process
- Business successors in the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale
- Google reCAPTCHA v3
- International Data Transfers
- Data Retention
- Maintain your account (while active)
- Fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Notice
- Comply with legal obligations (typically 7 years for tax and accounting records)
- Resolve disputes and enforce our agreements
- Your Privacy Rights
- Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
- Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
- Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal exceptions)
- Opt-Out: Unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time
- Email: america@finescience.com
- Phone: +1 800-521-2109
- Response time: We will respond within 10 business days
- California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)
- Right to Know: Request disclosure of categories and specific pieces of personal information collected
- Right to Delete: Request deletion of your personal information
- Right to Opt-Out of Sale: We do not sell personal information
- Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights
- Right to Correct: Request correction of inaccurate personal information
- Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information: We do not collect sensitive personal information beyond what is necessary for transactions
- Identifiers (name, email, IP address)
- Commercial information (purchase history, preferences)
- Internet/electronic activity (browsing behavior, log data)
- Geolocation data (general location based on IP address)
- Opt-Out for Direct Marketing
- Clicking "Unsubscribe" at the bottom of any marketing email
- Emailing america@finescience.com
- Calling +1 800-521-2109
- Cookies Policy
- What Are Cookies?
- Types of Cookies We Use
- Essential Cookies: Required for website functionality (session management, security)
- Analytics Cookies: Google Analytics and similar tools to understand website usage
- Preference Cookies: Remember your settings and preferences
- Technical & Functional Cookies
- Convenience & Personalization
- External Services (Google, LinkedIn, Instagram)
- Third-Party Cookies
- Your Cookie Choices
- Do Not Track Signals
- Children's Privacy
- Data Security
- TLS 1.2+ encryption for data transmission
- Secure server infrastructure
- Access controls and authentication
- Regular security assessments
- Data Breach Notification
- Changes to this Privacy Notice
- How to Contact Us
- Email: america@finescience.com
- Phone: +1 800-521-2109
- Mail: Fine Science Tools Inc., 4000 East 3rd Ave, Suite 100, Foster City, CA 94404-4824
- Photography and Copyright
The Secure Server Seal guarantees the website you are viewing actually belongs to Fine Science Tools (FST®) and that this site uses industry-standard TLS 1.2+ encryption technology to help ensure your transactions and communications are received without alteration or interception.
Fine Science Tools ("FST," "us", "we", or "our") operates www.finescience.com. This Privacy Notice applies to information collected when you visit our website www.finescience.com (our "Website"). By visiting our Website, you are agreeing to the terms of this Privacy Notice and the accompanying Terms of Use.
Last Updated: October 15, 2026
We collect the following categories of personal information:
| Category | Examples | Purpose | Legal Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account Information | Name, email address, password, unique identifiers | Account registration and management | Contract performance |
| Billing Information | Processed by third-party payment processors (Stripe, PayPal) - we do not store credit card data | Order processing | Contract performance |
| Log Data | IP address, browser type and version, pages visited, time/date stamps | Security, analytics, website improvement | Legitimate interest |
| reCAPTCHA Security Data | IP address, browser and device information, operating system, language settings, date and time of access, interaction signals, cookies and other identifiers, and reCAPTCHA tokens or risk scores | Bot detection, abuse prevention, fraud prevention, and protection of our Website and online forms | Legitimate interest; consent where required by applicable law |
| Communication Data | Email correspondence, support requests | Customer service | Legitimate interest |
| Marketing Preferences | Newsletter subscriptions, communication preferences | Direct marketing (with consent) | Consent |
We use your personal information to:
We use a third-party payment processor (EBiz Charge) to process credit card payments. These processors collect and store payment information pursuant to their own privacy policies and terms of use. You authorize these vendors to collect, process, and store payment information. We do not store or process credit card information directly.
We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties.
We may share your information with:
We use Google reCAPTCHA v3, a service provided by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California 94043, USA, to protect our Website, online forms, account-related functions, and other designated areas from automated abuse, spam, fraudulent activity, and other malicious activity.
reCAPTCHA v3 operates in the background and evaluates whether an interaction appears to be made by a human or an automated system. When reCAPTCHA is activated, Google may collect and process information such as your IP address, browser and device information, operating system, language settings, date and time of access, interaction signals, cookies, and other identifiers or technical information necessary for risk analysis. We may receive a reCAPTCHA token and/or risk score that helps us assess whether an interaction is likely legitimate.
We use this information solely to protect the security and integrity of our Website and services, prevent spam and abuse, and detect potentially fraudulent or automated activity.
Google processes information collected through reCAPTCHA in accordance with the Google Privacy Policy and Google Terms of Service.
Google may process information in the United States and other countries in which Google or its service providers maintain facilities. Where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent before activating reCAPTCHA. If you do not provide consent where consent is required, certain protected functions or forms may not be available.
Our use of reCAPTCHA is based on our legitimate interest in protecting our Website, users, forms, and services against automated misuse, fraud, and security threats, except where applicable law requires consent.
Fine Science Tools operates globally with offices in the United States, Canada, and Germany. Your information may be transferred to and processed in these locations. We use Standard Contractual Clauses and other appropriate safeguards to protect your data during international transfers.
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to:
You may request deletion of your account data at any time, subject to legal retention requirements.
General Rights:
How to Exercise Your Rights:
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act:
To exercise these rights, contact us at america@finescience.com or call +1 800-521-2109. We will verify your identity before processing requests.
Categories of Personal Information We Collect:
We collect this information for the business purposes described in Section 2.
You may opt out at any time from marketing communications by:
Please allow up to 10 business days to process your request. You cannot opt out of transactional emails related to your account or orders.
Fine Science Tools ("us", "we", or "our") uses cookies on our website, www.finescience.com (our "Website"). By using our Website, you consent to the use of cookies.
Cookies are small text files stored in your web browser that allow websites to recognize you and remember your preferences.
Cookies can be "persistent" or "session" cookies.
When you use and access our Website, we may place a number of cookie files in your web browser.
| Cookie Name | Validity Period | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| _fbp | 90 days | Facebook Pixel - Tracking user behavior for advertising and conversion measurement |
| _gcl_au | 90 days | Google Ads Conversion Tracking - Measuring advertising effectiveness |
| marketing-facebook | 1 month | Control of Facebook marketing cookies via Cookie Consent |
| marketing-floodlight | 1 month | Control of Google Floodlight tracking cookies |
| marketing-google-ads | 1 month | Control of Google Ads cookies |
| marketing-linkedin | 1 month | Control of LinkedIn marketing cookies |
| marketing-yahoo | 1 month | Control of Yahoo marketing cookies |
| Cookie Name | Validity Period | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| fst-domain-id | 400 days | Unique identification for FST domain-specific functions |
| instagram-cdn | 400 days | Optimized delivery of Instagram content |
| moorl-location-map | Session | Location-based map features (Shopware Plugin) |
| timezone | 1 month | Storage of user timezone for correct time display |
| session- | Session | Session management for shopping cart and login status |
| Cookie Name | Validity Period | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| acris_customers_also_viewed | 1 month | "Customers also bought" recommendations |
| acris_recently_viewed | 1 month | Display of recently viewed products |
| cookie-preference | 1 month | Storage of user's cookie settings |
| youtube-video | 1 month | Control of embedded YouTube videos |
| Cookie Name | Validity Period | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Secure-ENID | 1 month | Google security cookie for bot detection |
| AEC | 6 months | Google security cookie against spam and abuse |
| _GRECAPTCHA | Up to 6 months | Google reCAPTCHA security cookie used to perform risk analysis and help distinguish legitimate users from automated traffic |
| bcookie | 1 year | LinkedIn browser identification |
| DV | 1 day | Google cookie for ad validation |
| li_gc | 6 months | LinkedIn guest cookie for non-members |
| lidc | 1 day | LinkedIn datacenter routing |
| socs | 1 month | Google cookie settings |
We use Google Analytics, Google reCAPTCHA, and other third-party services that may place cookies. These services have their own privacy policies.
You can manage or delete cookies through your browser settings or by usiung the cookie settign link in teh footer of our Website . Note that disabling cookies may limit website functionality. To opt out of Google Analytics, visit: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
Our Website does not currently respond to "Do Not Track" browser signals, as there is no industry-wide standard for compliance.
Our Website is not intended for individuals under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn we have collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it promptly.
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:
However, no internet transmission is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.
In the event of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and relevant authorities as required by applicable law, typically within 72 hours of discovery.
We reserve the right to update this Privacy Notice at any time. Changes will be effective immediately upon posting to this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to review this Privacy Notice periodically. Your continued use of our Website after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Privacy Notice.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or wish to exercise your privacy rights:
For California-specific privacy requests: america@finescience.com
All photographs appearing on this site are the property of Fine Science Tools, Inc. They are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws and may not be downloaded or reproduced without written permission from Fine Science Tools, Inc.
Copyright © 2026 Fine Science Tools, Inc. All Rights Reserved.