General Privacy Policy

Introduction

Aurora Market Research is a market research agency. Our business involves conducting market research surveys, where we contact participants using personal data and invite them to give us their views and opinions on a particular subject or issue.

We are committed to making protection of your privacy a top priority and take our responsibilities regarding the security of individual’s personal data very seriously.

This privacy policy applies to the personal data that has been voluntarily provided to us with consent or which we have been provided with by a third-party source (i.e. a list of contacts from a client for the purposes of running a survey). It does not apply to the personal data that we collect and process in the context of our Answerpoints online panel services.The Answerpoints Privacy Policy can be found at www.answerpoints.co.uk.

In this document we cover how and why we maintain and process the personal information we collect either ourselves or from third-parties, who we disclose it to and how we protect your privacy. We only share your data with third parties engaged by us to store or process the data. We will never sell your personal data.

References in this privacy policy to “Aurora Market Research”, “we”, “us” or “our” mean Aurora Market Research Limited (a company registered in England and Wales with registration no 4342163 and registered office at Causeway House, 13 The Causeway, Teddington, TW11 0JR).

If you’ve given us consent to collect and hold your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time by contacting our Data Protection Officer on privacy@auroramr.com.

Coverage of this privacy policy

The privacy policy covers:

• The Data Controller
• What we mean by personal data
• The legal basis for collecting and processing your data
• The personal data we collect and process
• Our use of cookies
• Surveys involving children
• How we use and share your personal data
• International transfers
• How long do we keep personal data for
• Your rights and choices with respect to your personal data
• How we protect the security of your personal data
• External links on the Aurora Website (www.auroramr.com)
• How to contact us to update your contact information or ask questions about our privacy practices
• Updates to this privacy policy

1. The Data Controller

Aurora Market Research is the “Data Controller” for the purposes of the UK Data Protection Act 1998 (as amended or replaced), the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the “GDPR”) and other applicable European data protection legislation (together the “Data Protection Legislation”).

We are responsible for the purposes for which your personal data are used.

2. What we mean by personal data

When using the term “personal data” in our privacy policy, we mean any information that relates to you and allows us to identify you, either directly or in combination with other information that we may hold.

All personal data we collect that you provide is given voluntarily with consent by you. In all cases you have the right to withhold any personal information.

The personal data we collect from you will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Market Research Society (MRS) Code of Conduct, ESOMAR (European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research) and International Code of Marketing and Social Research Practice

3. The legal basis for collecting and processing your personal data

Aurora Market Research Ltd is committed to the lawful, fair and transparent use of personal data.

Where we are collecting your personal data for survey purposes this is on the grounds that our processing is necessary for legitimate interests we pursue as a business, namely that our business relies entirely on the ability to use your personal data to produce research and insight for our clients.

Where you are an individual in one of our client organisations or potential client organisations we will collect, store and process your personal data in order to send youinformation about our products, servicesand events and to send you newsletters. Our legal basis for these uses is that it is in our legitimate interests to market our business.

4. The personal data we collect and process

Personal information of Survey Participants provided by third parties

If your personal information has been provided to us by one of our clients, or included in a list of contacts to us we have purchased for you to take part in one of our surveys, we will hold information that can specifically identify you, such as your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.

We will ONLY use this information to contact you for the purpose of this research study.

Occasionally, our surveys may ask you for additional personal information that enables you to be identified - such as your name or email address - for the purposes of a prize draw notification, or a follow-up survey. When this information is requested, we will clearly state the reason we are asking for it, and ask you for your permission to use it for the purposes stated.

In the relatively few instances where we ask you for permission to pass data on in a form which allows you to be personally identified, we will do all that is reasonable to ensure that the information will be used only for the purposes stated.

Our company policy is to securely retain any personally identifiable information for a six month period. After this six month period, the data will be destroyed.

As with all forms of marketing and opinion research, your co-operation is voluntary at all times. No personal information is sought from or about you without your prior knowledge and agreement.

Special categories of data

In the course of our surveys, we may ask for information that could reveal your racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, political opinions physical or mental health, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership or genetic or biometric data. Such information is considered “special categories of data” under the GDPR and other data protection laws. We only collect this information where you have given your explicit consent.

Personal information provided to us by you for the purposes of receiving our market research services

Aurora Market Research Limited will collect and maintain personally identifiable data that you voluntarily submit with your consent to us for the purpose of receiving our market research services from us, either through the Aurora website (www.auroramr.com) or for example through attendance at events.

We take a proactive approach to the privacy of users of the Aurora website (www.auroramr.com) and ensure the necessary steps are taken to protect their privacy throughout their visiting experience. The Aurora website complies to all UK national laws and requirements for user privacy.

5. Our use of cookies

Overview

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.

Cookies will be placed on your internet browser. You can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level, but if you choose to disable cookies, it may limit your use of certain features or functions of a website.

The two sections below explain which cookies a user of the Aurora website and websites of our partners may be exposed to.

A. Aurora website: Google Analytics

The Aurora website uses Google Analytics. Google Analytics uses cookies, to help websites analyse how users use the site. Google Analytics cookies store information, such as what time the current visit occurred, whether the visitor has been to the site before, and what site referred the visitor to the web page.

The Google Analytics cookies used on the Aurora Market Research website are described in the table below:

B. Survey Specific: Forsta Plus (previously Confirmit)

Occasionally we may use a low privacy impact cookie when a survey respondent takes part in one of our surveys via the Forsta Plus software.

The sole purpose of the cookie is to remember a respondent's survey progress. This enables them to return to the survey where they left off and will expire after 60 days.

If we use this cookie we will inform respondents of this on the first page of the survey, and by clicking forward a respondent gives their consent to the use of the cookie.

Cookie Details: survey.euro.confirmit.com, together with the the project number (P number) of the survey

6. Surveys involving children

In research involving children, we will conform to the terms of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 and seek the verifiable permission of a parent or legal guardian before an interview commences.

7. How we use and share your personal data

Personal information of Survey Participants

All personal information is stored securely and is only accessible to staff that need access.

We will share your personal information with third party service providers we engage who operate the survey questionnaire software and data collection process. These include, but are not limited to, approved providers such as to Forsta (Forsta Plus/ Confirmit/ FocusVision) and Alchemer. At no time will the information you provide be used for any purpose other than research and you will in no way be adversely affected by taking part.

We will not sell your data. Your responses will be treated as confidential unless you consent to being identified.

In the relatively few instances where we ask permission to pass on your data in a way which would allow you to be personally identified, we will ensure that the information is only used for the stated purposes. We will not send you unsolicited mail or pass on your email addresses to others for this purpose. If we wish to send you any future emails, we will ask your explicit permission for this.

Personal information provided to us for the purposes of receiving our market research services

We only contact individuals who have voluntarily given their personal details to us. We may use your personal information for the following primary purposes:

• verify your identity;
• help us improve our products and services and develop and market new products and services;
• carry out requests made by you on the Site;
• investigate or settle inquiries or disputes;
• comply with any applicable law, court order, other judicial process, or the requirements of a regulator;
• enforce our agreements with you;
• protect the rights, property or safety of us or third parties, including our other clients and users of the Site;
• provide support for the provision of our Services; and
• use as otherwise required or permitted by law

8. How long do we keep personal data for

Personal information of Survey Participants

Our company policy is to securely retain any personally identifiable information provided to us for the purpose of running a survey, or collected in the course of running a survey, for a six month period after the end of the survey. After this six month period, the data will be destroyed.

Personal information provided to us by you for the purposes of receiving our market research services

Regarding personal information provided by you, we will retain relevant personal information for at least 12 months from the date of our last interaction with you and in compliance with our obligations under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (or similar legislation around the world).

Regarding personal information we have processed as part of providing our services to any client, we will retain relevant personal information for at least three years from the date of our last interaction with that client and in compliance with our obligations under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (or similar legislation around the world).

9. International transfers

We do not transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

10. Your rights and choices with respect to your personal data

If you’ve given us consent to collect and hold your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time by contacting our Data Protection Officer on privacy@auroramr.com

Right to request a copy of your information
You can request a copy of the personal data we maintain about you (this is known as a subject access request) at any time. To do this, please contact our Data Protection Officer on privacy@auroramr.com

Right to correct any mistakes in your information
You can require us to update and correct inaccuracies in your personal data in your information which we hold. To do this, please contact our Data Protection Officer on privacy@auroramr.com

Right to request we stop processing your information
You can withdraw any consent you previously provided regarding the processing of your personal data, at any time and free of charge. We will apply your preferences going forward and this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before your consent withdrawal. To do this, please contact our Data Protection Officer on privacy@auroramr.com

If you do this we will ensure that any survey responses you have submitted are not used in our analysis provided that we have not already shared it in an aggregated form with our third party clients.

Right to data portability
You have the right to request a copy of the information we hold on you. To do this, please contact our Data Protection Officer on privacy@auroramr.com

Right to lodge a complaint
If you have any complaints about the way in which we collect, store and use your information, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in the United Kingdom, the Information Commissioner’s Office: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

Rights regarding automated decision-making and profiling
We do not carry out any automated decision-making or profiling with the information we hold on you.

11.How we protect the security of your personal data

We take our responsibilities to keep your personal information secure very seriously. As such we take every reasonable precaution to ensure your information is protected from loss, theft or misuse. These precautions include appropriate physical security of our offices, controlled access to computer systems, and use of secure, encrypted internet connections when collecting personal information. Employees or agents of Aurora Market Research can only access data by use of authorised user name, passwords and two-step verification

All of our employees and data processors (i.e. those who process your personal information on our behalf, for the purposes listed above), who have access to, and are associated with the processing of personal information, are obliged to respect the confidentiality of the personal information of all users of our Services.

Despite the safeguards we implement, transmissions over the Internet or a mobile network are not totally secure. We will do our best to protect your information, but we cannot guarantee the security of your data. Any transmission is at your own risk. We are not responsible for any errors by individuals in submitting personal data to us.

We also take measures to delete your personal data or keep it in a form that does not permit identifying you when this information is no longer necessary for the purposes for which we process it, unless we are required by law to keep this information for a longer period. When determining the retention period, we take into account various criteria, such as the nature and length of our relationship with you and mandatory retention periods provided by law and the statute of limitations.

12.External links on the Aurora website (www.auroramr.com)

The Aurora website contains links to third party websites and services. We cannot guarantee or verify the contents of any externally linked website Please therefore remember that when you use a link to go from our Site to another website or you request a service from a third party, this privacy policy no longer applies. You click on external links at your own risk and this website and its owners cannot be held liable for any damages or implications.

13. How to contact us to update your contact information or ask questions about our privacy practices

If you have any questions or comments regarding our privacy practices or this privacy policy or if you would like to opt out of certain uses of your personal data, exercise your rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you or make a complaint about our privacy practice, please feel free to contact Aurora Market Research Limited:

Write to us at privacy@auroramr.com or write to Aurora Market Research, Causeway House, 13 The Causeway, Teddington, TW11 0JR. Attention: Data Protection Officer.

14.Updates to this privacy policy

We may need to update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our personal data practices. Any changes to this policy will be posted on this page. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy.

This privacy policy is effective: 24th May 2018.

APPENDIX A: Further Information

Approved third party service providers we engage who operate the survey questionnaire software and data collection process:

• Forsta (Forsta Plus/ Confirmit/ FocusVision): www.forsta.com
• Alchemer: www.alchemer.com