Privacy Policy
Userneeds’ personal data policy is a description of information you leave on Userneeds’ websites or by completing Userneeds’ surveys.
Privacy statement
For distribution across:
- Website (userneeds.ie), with links from
- Emails
- Market research Surveys
- Webstatus surveys
- Member portals (Nebu)
Userneeds' declaration on protection of personal information
Userneeds collects data when you visit any of Userneeds' websites, when you participate in Userneeds' surveys, and when you sign up for Userneeds' market research panel.
This guide aims to inform you as to the type of information which Userneeds collects, how this information is stored and treated, the purpose of the collection of data, your rights in regards to your personal information, how you can confirm or change the information Userneeds has about you, and how you can get in touch with Userneeds should you have any further questions.
Content:
- Treatment of personal information at Userneeds
- The type of information that Userneeds collects
- The purpose of the collection
- How we use the information
- How and with whom the information is shared
- Voluntariness, signing up and resigning
- How you can edit and delete your information
- What rights you have with regards to personal information
- How you can get in touch with Userneeds
1. Treatment of personal information at Userneeds
What is personal information?
Personal information (or personal data) is defined in the "Data Protection Act" as "data relating to a living individual who is or can be identified either from the data or from the data in conjunction with other information that is in, or is likely to come into, the possession of the data controller". I.e. personal information is either data that can identify you (for instance your name), or data which when combined with other data can identify you. Data which is anonymized and not identifiable is therefore not personal information according to law.
Information about individual members of Userneeds' panels is an example of personal information.
Principles for the treatment of personal information at Userneeds
Userneeds has the following principles when it comes to the treatment of personal information:
1) Legislation: Treatment of personal information is regulated and determined by the Data Protection Act. The purpose of this legislation is to protect people's privacy and ensure that the law is upheld.
2) Industry standards: Userneeds is a member of ESOMAR, an international interest organization for market research and market analysis. ESOMAR has established ethical standards for, among other things, protection of personal information. Userneeds follows ESOMAR's ethical guidelines, which you can find here: ICC/ESOMAR Code on Market and Social Research.
3) Userneeds' policy: Userneeds has established a privacy policy which, besides ensuring that the current legislation and industry standards are upheld, ensures that Userneeds upholds its principles about respect and transparency. This policy also ensures that Userneeds maintains a high ethical standard and follows the code of conduct with regards to the treatment of data, and always has the user's perspective in mind when dealing with personal information.
At Userneeds we put a great deal of effort into maintaining a good relationship with each of our panel members, thus it is important to us that our processes are always open and transparent. Userneeds' panel members and survey respondents need to be able to trust that Userneeds upholds these standards, and users are always welcome to write to Userneeds' panel consultants with any questions they may have.
2. The type of information that Userneeds collects
Active and passive collection of information
Userneeds collects information in both an active and a passive way.
Active data collection takes place when you yourself write down information, for example when you complete a survey or edit your profile on the member portal. Passive data collection takes place automatically, and the type of information gathered may include your IP address, information about your browser and the time of your visit to the website.
Collection of data in Userneeds' surveys
Participation in Userneeds' surveys is always voluntary, whether you are a member of our panel or not. You can stop answering a specific survey at any given time, for instance if there is a question you do not wish to answer. Incomplete surveys are deleted. When you participate in Userneeds' surveys, both passive and active data collection takes place, as mentioned above. The information collected actively consists of the answers you give to the questions in the survey. This information will usually not be enough to identify the person who has answered the survey.
Personal identifiable information will not be given to the client who has commissioned the survey, nor to any third party.
Collection of data and information when participating in Userneeds' panels
Becoming a member of Userneeds' panel is completely voluntary, and when you choose to become a member you are required to fill out a user profile. The reason for this is that we need to know certain information in order for your membership to function properly. Required information includes: email address, date or year of birth, gender, country, region and municipality, postal code etc. Each panel member can then choose whether or not they wish to provide further information, for instance about occupation or traveling habits. Userneeds uses this information in relation to the membership and in order to invite individual members to surveys which we feel are relevant to them.
Userneeds stores this personal information in a safe and secure manner, and the information will not be forwarded to Userneeds' partners or any other third party, unless Userneeds has received explicit consent from the owner.
Collection of data on Userneeds' websites
When you visit Userneeds' websites, you leave electronic trails which contribute to Userneeds' statistics on how the sites are being used. The trails are also logged for security measures. The data gathered from these trails includes what sites you have visited at what time, what browser you use and your IP address. It is not possible to recognize individuals based on this information.
- 3. The purpose of the collection
The information collected from our surveys is used for research and analysis purposes.
The profile and contact information is collected for administrative purposes and enables us to manage services for our panel members.
The purpose of collecting IP addresses, browser information and the time of the visit on our website is for statistics, to ensure data security and to improve our website and member portal.
- 4. How we use the information
The information Userneeds gathers from the surveys is used for different types of research, as well as opinion and market research analysis, either by Userneeds' partners or by Userneeds themselves. Information from the surveys is anonymized, or pseudonymized (see below), before it is handed over to our partner and used for analysis.
In some surveys, the information given is used to further profile the members to ensure that each member receives surveys which are as relevant as possible to them. Surveys that are used for profiling are clearly labeled as such. Information from surveys is also used for internal analysis, administration of members and improvement of Userneeds' service level.
Anonymization
Data is anonymized before being handed over to Userneeds' partner, or client. This means that any personal information that could potentially identify you will be deleted from the data set so that none of the answers/replies can be identified.
There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule. For instance, Userneeds may conduct surveys with the purpose of recruiting people for focus groups or for in-depth interviews, and in such cases the client may require the names and background information of the people participating. In such a case, it will always be clearly stated as to who will receive the information provided, and the person answering the survey must give their full consent on this. This consent only applies for the specific survey of which it is asked, not for future surveys.
Pseudonymization
In a few cases, where it may be necessary to ask follow-up questions to certain replies, the client may receive data where each independent reply has a number allocated to it. Userneeds, for a limited time period, keeps a record of these numbers and their corresponding respondents' entity id. This is called pseudonymization.
This record is stored in a secure way for a limited period of time, and only Userneeds has access to it. This allows Userneeds to ask follow up questions of a specific respondent and hand over the respondent's replies to the client. However, the identity of the people behind the answers will not be revealed to the client or any third party.
Information gathered from Userneeds' member portals is used for administrative purposes and to serve our members. Your contact information is used to send you surveys which we believe may be relevant to you, to contact you in case you are the winner of a competition, or to contact you for any other reasons (for instance to send you information about a focus group interview, or to assign you points or similar).
Information that has been collected passively will be used to form statistics on the use of our websites as well as for security measures. This information will be treated anonymously and cannot identify the individual user.
- 5. How and with whom the information is stored
The answers you give in a survey will be delivered to the client who has ordered the specific survey. Your email address, and any other information which could potentially identify you, will not be sent to the client.
Your profile data is only used by Userneeds to map out the panel members in different segments, as well as for finding members who fit the target group of a given survey.
- 6. Voluntariness, signing up and resigning
Participation in Userneeds' surveys is completely voluntary. You can always choose not to complete a survey or at any moment choose to exit a survey that you have started.
Becoming a member of Userneeds' panels is also voluntary, and you can resign at any time.
Passive data collection (cookies, IP addresses etc.)
Userneeds' member portals, surveys, and regular websites, leave cookies on the device that you have used for your visit. See more information about cookies here.
Signing up and resigning
In order to maintain a representative spread of the population in Userneeds' panels, only people who have been invited can become members.
Signing up consists of a two-step process which we call double opt-in. When you sign up to our panel you do so using your email address, and a confirmation link is then sent to the same address. This ensures that the person who signs up is actually the owner of the email address that they sign up with. Userneeds sends a number of invitations to join the panel within a certain time period. If the person does not sign up or resigns within that period, Userneeds will delete the email address.
The email address, as well as any other contact information which the user supplies, will only be used by Userneeds and will not be given to third parties.
You can resign from Userneeds' panel at any time. Like the sign-up process, the resignation process consists of two steps which ensure that it is the actual owner of the membership who resigns. One of the reasons that Userneeds has chosen this process is because members who resign lose their accumulated points, and it is important to Userneeds to make sure that members do not lose their points by mistake or through misuse of their account. Members who have resigned will not receive any further emails from Userneeds, unless contact is requested. The email addresses are kept in Userneeds' archive for a maximum of 12 months which allows Userneeds to document the resignation process to authorities and to the member. This also means that Userneeds can answer any queries from former members. After the 12 months, the email address will be deleted entirely.
- 7. How you can edit and delete your information
You can view your basic membership data on your member portal, where you can also correct the information in case of errors. If you have any questions in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact Userneeds who can also edit or delete the information for you.
If you no longer wish to receive email invitations from Userneeds, you can resign by using the resignation link at the bottom of any email which Userneeds sends you. If you have questions, you are more than welcome to contact Userneeds. When you resign, you will lose any points you may have earned during your membership period.
- 8. What rights you have with regards to personal information
Your rights are written in the "Data Protection Act". You have the right to know what information Userneeds has about you. You also have the right to correct or delete the information, or have the information corrected or deleted for you. Userneeds handles inquiries on a weekly basis.
If you have any questions or wish to get in touch with Userneeds for other reasons, you are more than welcome to contact our panel consultants by writing to info@userneeds.ie.
- 9. How you can get in touch with Userneeds
At Userneeds we are very focused on our panel members and in maintaining good communication with them. We therefore hope that you were able to find the answers to your questions. However, should you have any further questions or comments regarding how Userneeds treats personal information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Data responsibility and contact information
Userneeds A/S, headquartered in Denmark, is responsible for handling Userneeds' member data, surveys and any other information which Userneeds collects. Questions should be sent to Userneeds A/S, Købmagergade 60, 2nd floor, 1150 Copenhagen, Tel (+45) 4290 9090, email: info@userneeds.ie
