www.rfassociates.co.uk | Privacy Notice

Privacy notice

Effective Date: Updated 22 September 2022

Privacy Statement

RF Associates (Whitehall Holdings Ltd) is a social and market research, evaluation and consultation agency and your privacy is very important to us. We are a private limited company registered in Northern Ireland (NI 631266) Registered address 393 Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 2LS.

We take great care in protecting your privacy and the information you provide whilst conducting research with us (whether hosted on our own website, other websites on our behalf or by any other means, including by telephone or face to face).

The purpose of this policy is to give you a clear explanation about how RF Associates collects and uses the personal data 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 data.

We conduct social and market research, evaluation and consultations and we commit, in obtaining your co-operation, not to mislead you about the nature of our work or how the findings will be used. Your responses will be treated as confidential unless you consent to being identified.

Our data protection lead

If you have any queries concerning this policy, or would like to make a subject access request (find out what, if any data we hold about you) please contact our Managing Director, Ruth Flood:

Email: ruth@rfassociates.co.uk

Phone: 07802 702352

Personal data we collect

We will collect personal data when you participate in a market research study with us, the information we collect can contain your personal opinions as well as personal data such as:

Your full name
Gender
Age
Phone number
Address
Email address
Photos, audio & video footage
Occupation

We may also occasionally collect sensitive personal data (for example, your ethnic origin), but we will always obtain your explicit consent and tell you why and how the information will be used.

Where relevant to the research being undertaken, we may collect business contact information, such as, company name, job title, and department.

In addition, for online surveys we may record your IP address, which type of browser you are using, your screen size and other basic metrics.

We do not do any invisible processing of data from your computer. We will only collect and use personal data in accordance with this policy to the extent deemed reasonably necessary to serve our legitimate business purposes, and we will maintain appropriate safeguards to ensure the security, integrity, accuracy and privacy of the information you have provided.

RF Associates makes reasonable efforts to keep personal data in its possession or control, which is used on an ongoing basis, accurate, complete, current and relevant, based on the most recent information available to us. We rely on you to help us keep your personal data accurate, complete and current by answering our questions honestly.

How we use your personal data

When we contact you, we generally do so for one of the following purposes:

To invite you to participate in research.
To confirm the details of research you have agreed to take part in.
To conduct research with you.
To update and to ensure that our records of your personal data are correct. (applicable to those consenting to being part of an ongoing project).

The personal data we collect is:

Combined with the responses/views/opinions of others who participated in the same research and reported back anonymously to the client that commissioned the study.
Used on an aggregated basis to determine which groups of people think certain things more than others.
Occasionally used to re-contact you to validate your responses (if you have consented to us doing so).

All of your survey responses are treated as confidential. We will never intentionally disclose your personal data or individual survey responses to the client that commissioned the study or any third parties unless you consent to sharing your identifying information and individual responses.

Who we share your personal data with

We will never pass your personal data on to other organisations for them to use for their own marketing purposes. However, we may disclose your personal information in the following circumstances:

To third parties to perform functions on our behalf. 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 agreements with all our third parties and regularly monitor their activities to ensure they are complying with our policies and procedures. They will only have access to the personal data needed to perform their functions, and will not use it for other purposes.
Where we are under duty to disclose your personal information in order to comply with law or the disclosure is ‘necessary’ for purposes of national security, taxation and criminal investigation or where we have your written consent.

All the personal information we process is processed outside the European Economic Area (EEA), in the United Kingdom. The IT hosting and maintenance of your information is also situated outside of the European Economic Area (EEA).

Provision of market research services to our clients

Information will be required from stakeholders in order to provide an efficient service. Personal data requested will be kept to a minimum and only that information which is required to provide the service, and to keep the clients updated, will be requested. Clients may be asked if they consent to be contacted with broader information about the work of RF Associates. Consent once given can be withdrawn at any time.

Children

For those under 16 please we will always obtain a parent/guardian’s consent before collecting any personal information.

Using our website – Cookies

Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information. This information is used to track visitors’ use of the website and to compile statistical reports on website activity. These are the only cookies in use on our website.

For further information visit www.aboutcookies.org. You can set your browser not to accept cookies and the ‘aboutcookies.org’ website tells you how to remove cookies from your browser.

We collect information from those who contact us with a request for information. Information provided is processed and stored in order to provide an information service to stakeholders. Your details may be forwarded within RF Associates to the appropriate employee in order to deal with your query however they will not otherwise be shared.

Links to other sites

Our service contains links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site that you visit. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the content, the privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

How we protect your personal data

RF Associates maintains appropriate technical, administrative and physical safeguards to protect information, including, without limitation, personal data, received or collected by us. We review, monitor and evaluate our privacy practices and protection systems on a regular basis.

We sometimes transfer information on secure servers hosted by WeTransfer. WeTransfer’s detailed privacy policy can be found here: https://wetransfer.com/legal/privacy

We sometimes use Survey Monkey to collect online survey data. Survey Monkey is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield framework. Personal data is always encrypted at rest and in transit using secure TLS cryptographic protocols. Only certain employees have access to the personal data you provide us and are only granted access for data analysis and quality control purposes. Survey Monkey’s privacy policy can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/mp/legal/privacy/

We sometimes use Mailchimp to circulate information by email. Mailchimp has staff based outside the EEA, and stores your data in the USA. Mailchimp is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield framework. Mailchimp’s GDPR compliance can be found here: https://mailchimp.com/en-gb/gdpr/

Attending a RF Associates event

Individuals’ names may be shared as part of a delegate list for networking purposes, no contact details will be shared. This will only be done with the consent of the individual concerned, however. Delegate lists used by us for communication before and during events for planning and reminder purposes, and may be used to contact delegates about future events that may be of interest to them. Consent will be sought where appropriate.

Group photographs may be taken at events and can be used for post event communications and in reports. Event attendees will be made aware of this and can advise RF Associates if they do not wish to be visible in any photograph. Individual photographs where people’s names are attributed will only be used with consent.

Security
The security of your personal information is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. As such we make no warranties as to the level of security afforded to your data, except that we will always act in accordance with the relevant UK and EU legislation.

How long we will keep your personal data

Unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law, we will only hold your personal information on our systems for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy or until you request it is deleted.

Your choices and rights

You have the right to ask for a copy of the information RF Associates holds about you.

You can find out more about all of your rights under The General Data Protection Regulation here: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr

Queries and complaints

If you have any queries concerning this policy, or would like to make a subject access request, please contact our Director who advises on Data Protection issues, Ruth Flood at ruth@rfassociates.co.uk Phone: 07802702352

In the event that you wish to make a complaint about how your personal data is being processed by RF Associates (or third parties as described above), or how your complaint has been handled, you have the right to lodge a complaint directly with the ICO.

Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns

Telephone helpline: 0303 123 1113

Changes to our privacy policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we change the Privacy Policy, we will post the revised version here and change the “Effective Date” listed at the top of this Policy. We encourage you to check here periodically for the most up-to-date version of our Policy.

Your rights

Under the Data Protection Act (2018), you have rights as an individual which you can exercise in relation to the information we hold about you. You can read more about these rights here – https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-of-access/

RF Associates tries to be as open as it can in terms of giving people access to their personal information. Individuals can find out if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’. If we do hold information about you we will:

Give you a description of it
Tell you why we are holding it
Tell you who it could be disclosed to
Let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form
Remove your data if this would not prevent the administration of a service we are contracted to deliver.
Remove your data if this would not prevent the administration of a service we are contracted to deliver
To make a request for any personal information we may hold you need to put the request in writing: ruth@rfassociates.co.uk

Jurisdiction

This Policy shall be governed and construed with the laws of Northern Ireland, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

When you email us

Any email you sent to us, including any attachments, may be monitored and used by us for reasons of security and for monitoring compliance with office policy. Email monitoring or blocking software may also be used. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send to us is within the bounds of the law. Emails may be shared within RF Associates to ensure that a query is addressed to, and resolved by, the correct employee.

When you contact us via social media

RF Associates uses a variety of social media outlets to engage with stakeholders. We cannot guarantee that information shared through these media will be private, for example, if you share your contact details in an unsecure and public space then these may be viewed by parties other than RF Associates. Please do not share personal information in a public forum. For the relevant privacy notices, please see:

If you send us a private or direct message via social media the message will be stored but will not be shared with any other organisations.