thepeoplepartnership is an independent market research company and works with a range of different organisations in the UK. We (thepeoplepartnership) are committed to the privacy of all of those with whom we work, and this policy is intended to explain how we will treat your personal data. What information we collect All participation in our projects is entirely voluntary. We only collect information that is relevant in the context of our work and this may include (although may not be limited to) the following: Information about you and who you are, such as your name, age, gender, educational background, job role, income bracket Contact details, such as your home/work address, email address, telephone number Information that we ask you to provide before coming to a research session that relates to the topic under discussion, which may take the form of you writing some notes about your attitudes in response to specific questions Footage of our interaction with you, such as audio or visual recording or photographs Information that emerges from your interactions with us during the course of the research session, such as your attitudes/behaviours/experiences regarding a product, service or organisation Your bank details if you are entitled to receive an incentive from us and wish us to transfer money to you electronically We collect information about you when you participate in a project we are conducting, request products or services, become an employee or you otherwise provide us with information in the course of our interactions with you (which may include correspondence you send to us or during the course of interactions via social media). Those under the age of 16 should not contact us without getting permission from a parent or guardian. How information is used Information is used to: Provide information to our clients Contact you for views on our clients’ products and services Send you invitations to take part in project activities (such as interviews or group discussions) or activity updates Enable us to issue payments or other incentives to you Analyse data for research Enable us to supply the services/information you requested Deal with queries, problems or complaints All other purposes consistent with the appropriate and proper running of our operations and business. How information is stored and for how long Information is stored within the European Economic Area. If information needs to be transferred outside of this, we will only do so to countries that have been determined by the European Commission to have an adequate level of data protection. If there is a need to transfer personal information to countries not determined to have an adequate level of protection, we will do so using a variety of legal mechanisms, including contracts, and technological strategies to ensure your rights and protection. Information is only stored for as long as necessary. We retain personal information on our systems only for as long as necessary to provide research service to our clients or for other essential purposes, such as complying with legal obligations, resolving disputes or enforcing agreements. The precise length of time varies according to the type of information in question and its use and you will be advised of this on a project by project basis. Specifically, we are very focused on protecting the security of your information and use a range of strategies to protect it, including the use of encryption for digital transfer and storage. Legal bases for processing information We are required by law to have considered why we are using your information and we have defined these reasons as follows: In a situation where you have provided your consent for us to use your personal information in a certain way (for example, we ask for your consent to participate in a research study, using personal information to confirm arrangements and/or when appropriate recording you on film or audio tape) Where there is a legitimate interest in us using your personal information as long as it is reasonably necessary to achieve our, or our clients’ legitimate interests (as long as that processing is fair, balanced and does not unduly impact your rights). ‘Legitimate interests’ refers to our clients’ interest in conducting research with you. For example, where they have an interest in making sure their products and services are relevant to you, or that you are satisfied as a customer. When we process your personal information for our clients’ legitimate interests, we make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you, whether positive or negative, and your rights under data protection legislation. Our clients’ legitimate interests do not automatically override your interests – we will not use your personal information for activities where our clients’ interests are overridden by the impact on you, unless we have consent or are otherwise required/permitted to by law. If you have any concerns about our processing, you have the right to object to processing that is based on our legitimate interests. Sharing your information In most circumstances, we will not pass your information on to third parties without your express consent. However, it may be the case that in some instances we use selected third parties to process your information on our behalf, such as online research platforms or data processing firms. These third parties will be authorised to see and use your information but only to fulfil their contractual obligations to us and will not be permitted to use it for any other purpose. We retain full responsibility for how your personal information may be used by these third parties. In exceptional circumstances we may share your information when we are legally required to do so. Your rights and how to access your information You have specific rights connected to provision of your personal information to us. One of these is to be informed, and this policy is part of this right. Your specific rights include your right to request that we: Confirm to you what personal information we may hold about you, if any, and for what purposes Correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information we hold about you Change the consent you have provided to us in relation to how we deal with your personal information Explain any automated decision making or profiling and review this if you are unhappy Provide you with a complete copy of your personal data for you to move elsewhere, including in the case where you have provided this information by consent or by a contract with us Stop the processing of your personal information, while an objection from you is being resolved Permanently erase all your personal information promptly, and confirm to you that this has been done (although there may be reasons why this is not possible) Stop the processing of your personal information for the purpose of direct marketing. You also have the right to Withdraw consent you have provided to us to process your personal information, at any time Object to profiling or to any decisions being taken by us by automated means. However, due to the nature of our activities, and our need to survey attitudes and opinions at a certain point in time, it is not possible to amend any responses you made as part of the research process, for example within a discussion group. thepeoplepartnership’s Data Protection Officer is Ann Whalley – if you have any queries specific to our activities, please contact her at ann@thepeoplepartnership.com If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, if we do not address your request, or fail to provide you with a valid reason why we have not done so, you have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office to make a complaint. They can be contacted via their website: ico.org.uk or by telephone on 0303 1233 1113. If your personal details change, you can help us to keep your information up to date by notifying the Data Protection Officer. We may revise or update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our activities or for other purposes.