Privacy Policy for Informed Opinions Limited
Version 1 - Issued May 2018
Privacy Policy Statement
Informed Opinions Limited takes privacy seriously and we use the principles below to determine our approach to respecting your privacy
We will always use your personal information in a way that is reasonable and fair. As a minimum we will comply with the relevant legislation and observe accepted best practice and principles governing data protection
We aim to be transparent and provide accessible information about how we use your personal information - what information we collect, what we do with it, who we share it with and who you should contact if you have any concerns
We will take all reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse and keep it secure
Introduction
Informed Opinions is a company that recruits participants for market research that operates within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 1998, and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Informed Opinions is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (registration number ZA115308).
In processing your data we will comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (EU) 2016/679 (from 25 May 2018), as well as the Data Protection Act 1998 (and any amendment of or replacement for that Act) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (and any amendment of or replacement for those Regulations), as well as any other data protection laws that apply from time to time (together the "Data Protection Laws"). Informed Opinions processes personal data (that is, data by which a living individual can be identified) relating to participants (i.e. those that take part in research).
This privacy statement applies to the processing of this type of data.
How do we collect personal data?
Informed Opinions uses data stored on panel members who have applied to be considered for research projects, client supplied databases and data obtained by other means, to locate participants with whom to conduct research. This is in the legitimate interest of Informed Opinions and its clients, but participants do have rights relating to this type of storage and processing (including the right to object to the processing of their data in this way- see below for more information).
Informed Opinions also collects and uses personal data obtained from participants as part of conducting research. The reason we collect this data is usually only for analysis purposes and to determine that we have sourced the right people for our clients, but all purposes for which data is being collected are always made clear at the time of data collection. This processing is based entirely upon informed consent – which again brings with it legal rights (again including the right to object to the processing of your data in this way).
What information do we collect?
When you apply to join informed Opinions we collect and store the following data in our secure, encrypted, panellist database.
Email address
Name
Home postcode
Home telephone number
Mobile telephone number
Your ethnicity
Your date of birth
The date and time on which you joined the database
Once your application to join our panel has been processed and you start applying for projects, being screened and/or selected for projects we store the following information
Your record of project applications, including those you were recruited for and your record in completing those projects
We may also contact you by phone or email to collect the answers to the project recruitment questions
Any and all information we gather from you is related to your wish to take part in market research projects.
Why do we collect this information?
We collect and store this information to be able to match you with the selection criteria for market research projects to be carried out by our clients. We may then contact you to recruit you to participate in a research project on the basis of the information we hold.
If you are identified as a potential research participant for any client market research project, we may contact you directly by email and/or by telephone to provide you with details of the project and gather additional information that enables use to ensure you are a match for any particular client project and/or obtain information required for that project.
We will pass some or all of the information we gathered from you across to our client to enable them to involve you in their market research project. Our clients have their own Privacy Policies which we can provide you links to or they comply with this Privacy Policy.
Data Storage, Deletion, and Sharing
Personal data that you have given us as part of the application process or in your dealings with us in relation to your wish to be selected for market research projects is stored in our database until you notify us that you no longer wish to be a member of our panel.
Personal data of which Informed Opinions and our clients are joint controllers (e.g. data which you have given consent for us to collect as part of the research we do) is stored in the form in which it was collected for 12 months from project completion.
Personal data of which Informed Opinions is not the controller (e.g. the customer database of the client we are representing to locate potential participants) is deleted immediately upon completion of the project.
Informed Opinions share your personal data with our clients. These are other organisations commissioning the research for whom we recruit participants. This is so they can see that we have recruited the correct participants and also give them the opportunity to overview the mix of people attending their market research project prior to it happening. This will only ever be done with your full and informed consent or where legally required. We’re committed to protecting your personal information. We adopt robust and appropriate technologies and policies to protect it from unauthorised access and improper use. In addition we do not transfer your personal data out of the EEA.
Where is your information?
All personal data with Informed Opinions is safely and securely stored within the EEA.
Is your information shared with any third party?
We never use data for the purposes of anything other than those uses related to research. We do not sell on personal details and you will not be contacted for any type of sales or promotions. We only use the details we collect for genuine market research purposes.
Consent and how to exercise your rights:
We only process your data with your consent and you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time by:
Unsubscribing from the website and mailing list
You can also modify your consent by removing certain elements of your personal data. This may subsequently restrict our ability to consider you for market research projects.
Through a process referred to as a Subject Access Request; you have a right to obtain:
confirmation that your personal data is being processed
access to your personal data
other supplementary information (largely contained within this document).
You also have the right to the following;
where you have given Informed Opinions your informed consent to process your personal data, to revoke that consent.
to know where your data originated from, where your personal data came to Informed Opinions other than from you.
to block future processing of your data.
to apply for the erasure of any personal data being held.
to request any incorrect personal data be corrected.
to lodge a complaint with the supervisor authority (in most cases the Information Commissioner) if you believe your data is being handled unfairly.
if you exercise your right to request that your personal data be deleted, Informed Opinions will have no way of ensuring you are not contacted again. If your objective is to not be contacted again, consider exercising your right to block processing instead – Informed Opinions would then hold just the absolute minimum data needed to ensure you are not contacted again.
All requests will be processed within 30 days, there is no fee involved in exercising any of these rights.
If and when we contact you and request further personal information you may feel you do not want to answer certain questions and you have the right not to do so, though this may affect your participation in that project
Changes to this Privacy Policy and your duty to inform us of changes
We may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post any changes to our site.
All communications regarding personal data (including subject access requests or the execution of any of your other rights, as well as any queries relating to this policy document) should be addressed in writing to hello@informedopinions.co.uk.