PRIVACY POLICY

WHO IS CRITICAL RESEARCH?

Critical Research is an independent market research agency established in 1991. Each year we conduct in the region of 300,000 interviews for a variety of client organisations. We conduct research from customer satisfaction to gaining your opinion on the current economic situation. You can verify we are a bona fide market research agency by calling the MRS (Market Research Society) on Freephone 0500 396 999.

This privacy policy applies to our website and all service provided by Critical Research

The purpose of this policy is to give you a clear explanation about how we collect and use the personal information you provide to us and that we collect. We ensure that we use your information in accordance with all applicable laws concerning the protection of your personal information.

When we get in touch with you, we will always tell you who we are, provide our contact details, and provide the name(s) of the data controller(s) that decided how your data should be processed.

Personal Data

The safety and privacy of your data is very important to us and we take every step possible to ensure the safeguarding of your data. This privacy policy applies to all those that have completed a survey with us, either by telephone, online, by post, or Face 2 Face.

We follow the Code of Conduct of the Market Research Society and comply with UK Data Protection Act 2018, UK GDPR and we are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller (registration number: Z1615219)

Why we contacted you

When we contact you, it will generally be for one of the following purposes:

  • To invite you to take part in market research or customer satisfaction survey
  • To conduct a telephone interview as part of a market research survey
  • To verify the answers, you recently provided in a market research survey

We will never ask you to buy anything or ask for a contribution to any organisation

We will never sell or send your details to another party for the purposes of direct marketing.

Any communication you receive from us, such as email invitations or phone calls, will clearly identify us and explain the purpose(s) of our contact.

Legal Basis

Our legal basis for processing of your personal information is:

  • Where you have given consent for the processing of data for a specific purpose
  • Processing is necessary to meet contractual obligations entered by you
  • Processing is necessary for purposes of a legitimate interest pursued by our company but are in relation to goods and services that you use in your role, or are in relation to your application for a job

When we rely on your personal consent which must be freely given and an unambiguous indication of your personal wishes. We will ensure that you have been given enough information for you to make an informed decision. At any point during the survey, you have the right to withdraw your consent or to terminate the interview.

Where did you get my details from?

Most of the time, we are commissioned by our clients to get in touch with you, either as named individuals or as professionals that fit within the category of respondents being researched.

We may have contacted you because you are the customer of one of our clients. In this case, they will have provided us with your details.

If you are not a customer, we may have acquired your details from a third-party supplier that builds lists of publicly available information to help us reach the right individuals or your telephone number may have been randomly generated or may have been taken from public sources.

If you would like more information concerning where your data was collected please contact:  [email protected]

Types of data

We only collect personal data for research purposes. If you participate, we may hold personal information about you such as (but not limited to):

  • Your name
  • Demographic information
  • Your telephone numbers
  • Your e-mail addresses
  • Your postal address
  • IP Address
  • Your employers’ name and workplace address.

Some of the data that we handle will be personal data, which will be anonymised. Under the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, our grounds for processing data are based on consent.

On occasion, we may handle sensitive personal data, this would include data consisting of racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, data concerning health, or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation. Our grounds for processing sensitive data is based on explicit consent

The personal information we collect will be used for the following purposes:

  • Conducting market research surveys. We may contact you by email, phone, or mail and will always ask for your consent to do so.
  • Payment of incentives
  • To verify the responses you provided us with, in a recent market research study
  • Dealing with enquiries and requests about our services submitted to us via email or phone
  • Internal record keeping
  • To respond to duly authorised information requests of governmental authorities or where required by law
  • To investigate suspected fraudulent activity in connection with the website or violation of another party’s rights To respond to requests you may make of us, including to provide services that you have requested and participate in activities that you have joined
  • To assess applications for jobs we have on offer

Children

We will not contact children under the age of 18 without the explicit consent of their parent or guardian.

Disclosure

We will never pass your personal information on to other organisations for them to use for their own marketing purposes.

However, we may disclose your personal information in the following circumstances:

  • We may share your contact details with a carefully selected third party we commission. They provide a service to us such as market research fieldwork agencies, email services providers or data processors. We require these third parties to comply strictly with our instructions and Data Protection laws and we make sure that appropriate controls are in place. We enter into contracts with all our third parties and regularly monitor their activities to ensure they are complying with our policies and procedures.
  • Required by law such as judicial reviews, court orders, or legal process we may be required to disclose personal information.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.

Our survey platform uses cookies that are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.

Some of our email communications contain tracking pixels. These are used to monitor where such communications are being opened.

International Transfers

We will sometimes need to transfer your data outside of the UK, to make sure we can deliver on our services or because our clients are based outside of the UK. We will always explain this to you, and we will never transfer your data outside of the UK without your consent.

We will always ensure safeguards are put in place by completing one of these measures:

  • Checking that the UK has an adequacy agreement in place with the country that your data is being transferred to (The transfer will be with a country that has Data Protection laws recognised by the UK Data Protection Act)
  • A contractual agreement is in place with the receiver of the data that requires them to protect your data to the same standards on the UK Data Protection Act 2018

How do we ensure your personal information is secure?

We take our responsibilities very seriously in ensuring your personal information is secure.

As such, we take every reasonable precaution to safeguard your information so that it is protected from loss, theft, or misuse. These precautions include secure servers, controlled access to our computer systems, anti-virus systems, encryption of any personal data, and physical security of our offices.

We have policies and procedures in place to ensure the confidentiality and security of data. We inform and train our staff based on these policies and procedures.

For research purposes only, we may have to transfer your data to a 3rd party that provides us with support and services, we require them to safeguard all personal information and maintain security measures as prescribed by our company.

Retention Period

Personalised identifiable data will be anonymised or deleted within six months of a project being finished unless prior permission has been received (you consented for us to contact you for periodic research on an ongoing basis).

Incentives

For certain market research studies, we offer an incentive for participation. Our staff will administer all incentive payments. In order to administer these, we may collect details such as your name and email address (e.g. to send an Amazon voucher). Unless you have previously consented, your personal data will only be used for the purpose of sending an incentive and will be deleted as per our retention period.

What are my rights?

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have certain rights

  • Right of erasure: Your right to have your personal details deleted
  • Right to be informed
  • Right to access data: Your right to access the personal data we hold
  • Right of rectification: Your right to change the personal data we hold for you
  • Right to restrict processing: to request that we limit the way that your personal data is used
  • Right to object: your right to stop or prevent us from processing their personal data
  • Right to Data Portability: the right to receive personal data you have provided to a controller and the right to request that a controller transmits this data directly to another controller.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact: [email protected]

Or by post:

FAO: Data Protection Team

Unit 7, Baden Place

Crosby Row

London

SE1 1YW

Complaints

If you have any further queries concerning how we handle your data, please e-mail us via [email protected]

If you are unhappy with the way that your data is being handled by Critical Research, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Changes to our policy

We regularly review our privacy policy and we will place any updates on this page.