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Privacy & Cookie Policy for Survey participants

Privacy

Gravitas Analytics has been commissioned by your organisation to provide research services. When providing these services and running surveys the privacy of personal data is of the highest importance. To support this we maintain a Privacy Policy which covers how we collect, transfer, store and use any personal information captured during your interaction with us. This document describes how we will do this and how we protect your data when you provide information in response to a survey to which you are being invited to respond.

If anything is unclear, or if you have any questions relating to how Gravitas Analytics protects your personal information, please feel free to contact Gravitas Analytics directly - contact details are shown below.

Principles

Generally, our surveys do not collect any personal data that could immediately and directly identify individuals. Most surveys are optional and anonymous with no ‘directly identifiable’ personal data (eg. name) being requested, collected or stored. Additionally, the responses to any demographic questions (eg. age, gender) cannot routinely be traced directly back to any individual. That said, some surveys may indeed ask for ‘directly identifiable’ personal data such as; your name, email address and other contact details.

In all cases, when personal data is being collected:

  • We will collect, process, retain and use your personal data for specific purposes only.

  • We will keep your personal information secure, accurate, up-to-date and complete.

  • We will only hold the minimum information necessary and only retain it for as long as required.

  • Any requests you make to access, correct or delete your personal information will be addressed swiftly.

Governance

Gravitas Analytics strictly enforce privacy safeguards within the company and review data privacy governance measures regularly.

  • Gravitas Analytics is committed to complying with relevant data protection legislation, including; local legislation (including the Data Protection Acts of 1988 and 2003), current EU data privacy directives (95/46/EC, 1995) and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, 2018).

  • Gravitas Analytics is registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the UK and process your data in accordance with the ICO’s guidance.

  • When conducting surveys Gravitas Analytics are acting as Data Processor on behalf of your organisation. Your organisation is the Data Controller.

Types of data

Types of personal information that could be captured during the completion of a survey are as follows:

  • Identification Data - information such as; your name, email address and other contact details.

  • Questionnaire Data - your responses to the questionnaire, such as; your opinions about the workplace, your experiences and evaluations, your motives, competencies, interests, engagement, values, wellbeing etc.

  • Demographic Data - questions about yourself, such as; your age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, qualifications etc

  • Tracking Data - such as; your IP address, date and time of survey completion, cookies to track questionnaire completion.

Data collection

  • Data provided by your organisation - In order to allow us to invite you to participate in a survey your organisation may have provided us with your name and contact email address. They may also have provided details such as job title, length of service, your organisational unit / department, your line manager and your location.

  • Data collected via the survey - We may ask you to provide some personal data via the survey itself. For example, you may be asked for your name, job title, length of service, your organisational unit / department, your line manager and your location. You may also be asked to provide information on additional protected characteristics to allow your organisation to check that it is conforming to equal opportunities legislation and/or view reporting trends, such as; age, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc.

  • Data collected automatically - The IP address of the electronic device used to carry out the survey may be collected along with the date and time the survey was completed.

  • Your views - The survey will collect your views of the workplace by asking you to respond to statements and questions via a mix of tick boxes and open text.

  • Personal information we collect from other sources - In conducting a survey we do not collect personal information from any source other than your organisation (the Data Controller) and yourself.

  • Data capture - Data which we collect from you electronically may be collected, stored and processed on a secure server located in the UK, EU or outside of the European Economic Area (EEA), eg. the US, in accordance with Article 45 of the GDPR. We will only capture data in this manner when it complies with data protection legislation and provides adequate safeguards in relation to your data, incorporating the current standards adopted by the European commission and with entities that have certified their compliance to the EU-US Privacy Shield framework.

How your survey information is used

The survey reports and services we provide to your organisation will generally be used by them to improve the workplace experience for employees. Where appropriate, it may also be used for the selection and development of individuals in an employment or human resources context. We do not make any automated decisions from the data you provide in a survey.

The lawful basis for holding and processing the data is based upon ‘legitimacy’ - we use people’s data in ways they would reasonably expect and which have a minimal impact upon privacy. This legitimacy is supported through the contract with your organisation and by individual consent, either formal or participative.

Your organisation is entitled to use the personal information that we provide to them for their own purposes, however they are obliged to process such personal information in accordance with their own obligations under all applicable law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, 2018) and in accordance with our Terms & Conditions of contract. You will have rights with respect to the manner in which your organisation processes your personal information provided by us to them.

Anonymous surveys

Anonymous surveys are where you are not asked to give your name in the survey and you are not named or individually identifiable in the survey’s results or report(s). It will be made clear from the onset when a survey is anonymous.

The information we collect and hold is used only for the purposes of the survey contract we have with your organisation to allow your views to be captured and reported upon. We will not report your views in any way that allows you to be personally identified by your organisation.  Protecting your anonymity is an important part of the service we provide.

Any personal data collected is only used to allow us to ensure your personal views are analysed and aggregated properly to allow the accurate reporting of survey results.

Where a survey asks for comments and suggestions your responses will be repeated verbatim in any report. Therefore, when providing comments you should consider whether you might be identified by your comments and if so, whether you wish to be.

We will not use your personal data for any purpose except to invite you to participate in a survey, support your participation in the survey and provide anonymous aggregated reporting to your organisation.

Your personal data will never be used for marketing purposes, sold or forwarded on to third parties.

Identifiable (individually named) surveys

Identifiable surveys are where you are asked to give your name in the survey, or you have been sent a personal and unique invitation to participate in the survey, and you will be named or individually identifiable in the survey’s results or report(s).

The information we collect and hold is used only for the purposes of the survey contract we have with your organisation to allow your views to be captured and reported upon. The report(s) generated from this type of survey will be treated confidentially and managed in accordance with your organisation’s policies for confidentiality and data protection.

Individually named reports will not be published or shared with a wide audience. You may wish to contact the ‘Privacy Manager’ within your organisation for more information on how your survey report(s) and/or personal information may be viewed.

Any personal data collected is only used to allow us to identify you with the survey responses, generate an individual report on your behalf (if required) and allow the accurate trending of survey results by demographic.

Your personal data will never be used for marketing purposes, sold or forwarded on to third parties.

Data security

The security of your information is important to us. All of your data is private and confidential and we take all reasonable steps to ensure that your information is handled securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We follow generally accepted standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once it is received, using encryption where appropriate.

However, please note that transmitting information over the Internet is never completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee that your information is absolutely secure in all situations.

If you suspect there has been any unauthorised access or misuse of your personal information, please contact Gravitas Analytics, directly - contact details are shown below

Retention

We retain personal information only as long as required to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected as outlined in this policy, or as long as we are legally obliged to do so. In respect of our participation in a survey we will retain your data until reporting has been completed and then review retention on a periodic basis with your organisation (the Data Controller).

Data access

You may request a copy of any personal information we may hold about you on behalf of the Data Controller. You can do this by using the contact details at the end of this policy. You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, move or remove your personal data. You may alter your communications preferences at any time. Your requests for this type of access or amendment will be subject to the relevant data protection legislation.

Changes

We reserve the right to make changes to our Privacy Policy. Changes will be posted on the Gravitas Analytics website 30 days prior to such changes becoming effective.

Accepting this policy

By completing a survey questionnaire with Gravitas Analytics you are confirming that you have read and understand this Privacy Policy, including how and why we use your information. If you do not want us to collect or process your personal information in the ways described in this policy, you should not complete the survey.

Cookies

We use cookies (small bits of data (alphanumeric text files) stored on your device - pc, laptop, smartphone, tablet) to enable you to access a survey effectively. Each cookie expires after a certain period of time depending on what it is used it for. We may use this information to remember your settings (if a survey is configured in this way) and to enhance your survey-taking experience.

Below we list and describe the types of cookies used when you take a survey with us. They are only deployed if the survey configuration requires them.

You can clear or disable cookies in your browser. However, this might impact your ability to take the survey effectively. Enabling cookies ensures a smoother survey-taking experience.

Required Cookies

Certain cookies are necessary in order for a survey to operate correctly. For example, cookies to authenticate you to let us know who you are during a browsing session (if the survey is configured in this way).

Functionality Cookies

These cookies are used to enable certain additional functionality, such as preventing users from taking the same survey multiple times (if the survey is configured in this way). This functionality improves the user experience.

Analytics & Performance Cookies

Some cookies are used to collect information about how respondents interact with surveys. The information is used to analyse how users use surveys, detect problems with surveys, and help improve and refine features. Other cookies help manage survey traffic and provide you with quicker response times by distributing traffic and load balancing.

Targeting or Advertising Cookies

These cookies are never used in surveys.

List of Cookies used in Surveys

  • RecentRedirect - Expiry 30 mins - Prevents redirect loops if a site has custom URL redirects

  • ss_cid & ss_cvr - Expiry 2 years - Identifies unique visitors and tracks a visitor’s sessions on a site

  • ss_cvisit & ss_cvt - Expiry 30 mins - Identifies unique visitors and tracks a visitor’s sessions on a site

  • ep201 - Functional - Expiry 1 hour - Set by load balancer. User tracking for abuse and troubleshooting problems

  • ep202 - Functional - Expiry 90 days - Used on the respondent experience page to measure survey completion rates

  • RP_XXXXXXXX - Required - Expiry 90 days - Enforces the one response per computer setting

  • sso_user - Required - Expiry 90 days - Determines if respondents are authenticated, if respondents are required to authenticate

  • CX_XXXXXXXX and P_XXXXXXXX - Functional - Expiry 1 year - Used for pop-up surveys to track whether the survey was already taken to avoid re-showing the pop-up

  • sm_ir - Functional - Expiry after session - Used by the instant results page to display data

How to contact us

If you have any queries about our Privacy Policy please contact us using the details below:

Email:     enquiry@gravitasanalytics.com

Phone:   0800 772 3899

Post:      Gravitas Analytics, 28 Victoria Place, Plymouth PL2 1BY

You may also wish to contact the ‘Privacy Manager’ within your own organisation which is the Data Controller for your personal information. Contact details will be found in your organisation’s Privacy Policy.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.

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