Introduction and Application of the Privacy Policy
Head Research Inc. is committed to maintaining high standards of confidentiality and protection of the information that has been provided to us. This Privacy Policy evidences our commitment to maintaining the privacy of participants in our focus groups, individual interviews and surveys. This Privacy Policy provides information on how we collect, use and disclose any Personal Information we obtain in the course of our research. The Privacy Policy also describes our practices regarding the privacy of information that we collect through our website, which is hosted and operated from Canada.
Our collection and use of Personal Information are governed by the requirements and provisions of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada), Canadian anti-spam legislation, the regulations enacted thereunder, and and any other applicable legislation or regulation. Equally important are our obligations for the protection of Personal Information as Gold Seal members of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association ("MRIA"). This organization sets standards for its members. Gold Seal members must demonstrate adherence to the MRIA's Code of Conduct and Good Practice that protects the privacy of marketing research participants. The Code is founded upon the history of practice of marketing research in Canada, the ICC/ESOMAR Code of Marketing and Social Research and the principles underlying Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
This Privacy Policy does not impose any limits on the collection, use or disclosure of non-personally identifiable information, the name, title, business address and/or telephone number of an employee of an organization or other information about an individual that is publicly available and is specified by regulation pursuant to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada) or Canadian anti-spam legislation.
Personal Information
For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, the term "Personal Information" means any information that is defined to be 'Personal Information' under applicable privacy laws, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada). This typically includes information about an identified individual, or information of an individual whose identity may be inferred or determined from the information.
Collection, Use and Disclosure
By providing Personal Information to us, or by using our website, or responding to or posting personal information on our social networking sites, you agree and consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms set out in this Privacy Policy, or do not consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information in this manner, we ask you not to provide any Personal Information to us.
Unless permitted or required by law, no Personal Information is collected about an individual, without first obtaining the consent of the individual to the collection and use of that Personal Information. Consent can be express or implied depending on the context and nature of the Personal Information at issue. When we act as agents and service providers for third parties, we will rely on the consents obtained by such third parties to disclose information to us.
The type of information that may be collected includes but is not limited to your name and personal contact information and other information relevant to the marketing research services we provide to our clients. Examples of this type of information include name, mailing address, phone numbers, email address, identification numbers and, in certain circumstances sensitive personal information such as health or financial information opinions, and individual preferences.
We collect this information through fair and lawful means, such as through response to one of our surveys, through social media or through links on our Website.
We do not use or disclose your Personal Information, except for the purposes for which it was collected, or which are otherwise in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We may disclose your Personal Information to a third party sub-contractor engaged by us to perform functions on our behalf. In such cases we ensure the third party follows the same privacy policies as ourselves.
We do not sell, loan, trade, barter or exchange or otherwise disclose any identifying Personal Information we have obtained to anyone outside of ourselves or a subcontractor, unless the disclosure has been agreed by you in advance of the disclosure. In obtaining your consent, we identify to whom, and for what purposes, we may disclose your Personal Information.
When Personal Information that has been collected is to be used or disclosed for a purpose not previously identified, your consent will be acquired before the information will be used or disclosed for the new purpose.
We may provide clients or other third parties with information from any focus group, interview or survey, in aggregate form. In aggregate form it is impossible to identify an individual respondent's Personal Information.
Purposes
We collect and use your Personal Information for the primary purpose of conducting quantitative or qualitative marketing and social research. We may also use the Personal Information to understand respondent opinions when establishing suitability for further quantitative and qualitative marketing and social research. We may also use your Personal Information as otherwise permitted by law.
Retention
The amount of time we will retain Personal Information varies, depending on the purposes for which it was collected and as permitted or required by law. We have established minimum and maximum retention periods and procedures for maintaining and destroying your Personal Information. Once your Personal Information is no longer needed, we will utilize the procedures we have in place to safely destroy, delete, erase or otherwise dispose of the information or to convert it into aggregated non-identifying form.
Security
We are committed to protecting the security of your Personal Information. We therefore use industry standard technology and security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the Personal Information to protect it from loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. These safeguards include physical measures, such as restricted access to offices and equipment, shredding of documents, organizational measures, such as publishing this policy to all of our personnel with the strict instructions to act in accordance with its principles and technological measures, such as the use of encryption, firewalls, digitally locked files and of course password protections.
If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us, whether personally, through our Website or otherwise, is no longer secure (e.g., you suspect that the security of your personal information has been compromised), we ask that you immediately notify us of the problem by contacting us using the contact information provided below.
Third Parties
In respect of our use of third party agents, contractors or service providers who may receive Personal Information in the course of their work for us, we will use contractual and/or other arrangements to ensure that these third parties use the same level of protection of your Personal Information as is required by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Accuracy
We endeavor to ensure that any Personal Information provided to us is as accurate, current and complete as necessary for the purposes for which we use that information. Upon request, you may review the Personal Information we have collected and where appropriate you may request that we update it or correct any errors, at the email address provided below. We will endeavour to respond to and comply with your request for updating or correction as soon as reasonably possible.
Amendment to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy is updated to and effective as of June 1, 2014. However, we reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy, and any of our policies and procedures concerning our practices for handling Personal Information, without prior notice. We will inform you on our Website if we have amended the Privacy Policy, and any such changes will apply to the information collected as of the effective date of the amendment. The amended Privacy Policy will also apply to Personal Information we hold prior to the effective date of the amendment.
Questions and Contacting Head Research's Privacy Officer
If you have questions about accessing your Personal Information, our practices surrounding the collection and use of Personal Information, or this Privacy Policy, or complaints about how your Personal Information has been handled, please contact our Chief Privacy Officer using the contact information below:
Head Research Inc.
Chief Privacy Officer
5075 Yonge Street, Suite 601
North York, Ontario M2N 6G9
Email: privacy@head-research.com