PRIVACY STATEMENT FOR
KNOWLEDGEPANEL® MEMBERS
Effective date: 08/10/2000
Last updated: 02/23/2017
KnowledgePanel® Members have been invited to take part in a major national research
effort. Members may complete surveys to provide feedback and opinions on a range
of political, lifestyle, advertising and other questions, and may contribute other
types of data along with other Panel Members. Active Panel Members receive certain
benefits from Ipsos Public Affairs, LLC in exchange for participating in surveys.
OUR PRIVACY COMMITMENTS
Ipsos Public Affairs, LLC (“Ipsos”) respects the privacy of every Panel Member. This
Privacy Statement outlines the information Ipsos will collect and how we will use
that information you provide on our web site: www.knpanel.com/participate
. This Statement will also tell you how you can verify the accuracy of your Personal
Information (defined below) submitted to Ipsos and how you can request that we delete
or update your Personal Information.
We've developed our privacy policy from industry guidelines and standards, and local,
national, and international laws and requirements. All privacy practices and methods
described in this policy apply only insofar as permitted by the applicable standards,
laws and requirements.
Thanks again for placing your trust in Ipsos.
INFORMATION COLLECTED AND HOW WE USE IT
WHAT WE COLLECT:
A) PERSONAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
During the KnowledgePanel® recruitment process, Ipsos collects personal information that
is information that could personally identify you, such as your name, address, email address and
the names and ages of members of your household (such personally identifiable information being referred
to as "Personal Information”);" Personal Information excludes Demographic Information,
as defined below). In addition, Ipsos frequently asks Panel Members for characteristics that will not generally
by themselves personally identify you (such as health problems or consumer habits), attributes, and demographic
information (such as age, income, gender) (collectively, "Demographic Information") via online surveys.
B) OPERATING INFORMATION
Ipsos may, in the course of interacting with Panel Members, gather other types of
information from Panel Members ("Operating Information"). For example,
as a KnowledgePanel® Member, you will receive surveys from Ipsos on a regular basis.
These surveys will ask questions about your interests, needs, and attitudes. We
will receive your responses to these surveys. If we offer features, services, or
programs in which you explicitly agree to participate, then Ipsos will receive information
from those features, services, or programs.
C) LOG FILES
As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically and store
it in log files. This information includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser
type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time
stamp, and clickstream data.
We use this information, which does not identify individual users, to analyze trends,
to administer the site, to track users' movements around the site and to gather
demographic information about our user base as a whole.
We do not link this automatically-collected data to Personal Information.
D) COOKIES AND TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES
Technologies such as: cookies, beacons, tags, scripts and similar technologies are used by Ipsos and our partners for market research purposes.
A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user's computer for record-keeping
purposes. We use persistent cookies on the Ipsos panel member site. Persistent cookies
are used when you register as a Panel Member or log into our site, and are used
to store information such as your email address and password. We use these cookies
to recognize Panel Members when they participate in surveys and to record information
about the survey, such as when the survey is completed and how much of the survey
has been completed. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended
period of time. You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided
in your internet browser's "help" file. If you reject cookies, you may
still use our site, but your ability to use some areas of our site, such as contests
or surveys, will be limited.
In addition, we use cookies to measure certain advertisements that are displayed on your
computer. We may invite you to participate in surveys that ask whether you recalled seeing
certain advertisements online. By detecting these cookies, we may also track certain information regarding
your activity on our or a third party’s website, which we use to conduct research on Panel Members’ demographics,
interests, and behavior. We do not link the information we store in cookies to any Personal Information you submit while on
our site. We do not have access to, or control over, cookies that may exist on your hard drive that were placed by third parties.
We cannot control how they may be used by third parties or otherwise have any control over the type of content that may
be included with any tags incorporated in those cookies.
E) WEB BEACONS
A web beacon (also known as a tag, clear gif or 1x1 pixel), consists of a small
string of code that is embedded within a web page or email. There may or may not
be a visible graphic image associated with the web beacon, and often the image is
designed to blend into the background of a web page or email.
We use web beacons in our email messages to help determine whether our messages
are opened and to verify any clicks through to links within the email. We may use
this information to determine which of our emails are more interesting to users,
to improve the quality of the emails that we send and to query users who do not
open our emails as to whether they wish to continue receiving them. The web beacon
is deleted when you delete the email.
We also use web beacons that interact with our audience measurement cookies to inform
us when a Panel Member has viewed certain ads and other online content that we are
measuring. We and our authorized service providers may link personally identifiable
information to web beacons for operational and research purposes.
If you would prefer not to have web beacons in the emails that you receive, you
should adjust your email program to receive messages in plain text rather than HTML.
It is also possible to detect and control web beacons that are present on web pages
by downloading a plug-in for your browser.
BROWSER DO NOT TRACK SETTINGS
Your browser offers a Do-Not-Track (DNT) privacy setting. Enabling it may result
in your browsing history not being used by some advertising networks to serve targeted
ads to you. The cookies that we use to measure advertising effectiveness may tell
us which websites you visited where certain ads were displayed. Enabling or disabling
the DNT setting in your browser has no impact on our use of cookies that measure
exposure to ads or other online content on third party websites. For more information
about DNT privacy settings, visit www.allaboutdnt.com.
HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION:
A) PERSONAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Personal Information is used to set up e-mail accounts for each household member
who is 13 years of age or older (if you do not have internet access at the time
of recruitment), to communicate with you and your household members, and to assist
you with questions that you may have about the KnowledgePanel procedures. It may
also be used for panel recruitment, contest entry processing or delivery of free
gifts to KnowledgePanel Members, and delivery of our quarterly newsletter, which
you are automatically enrolled to receive via email.
(To opt out of the newsletter, follow the unsubscribe instructions included in these emails,
accessing the email preferences in your account settings page or you can go
to: members.knowledgepanel.com.) Personal
Information concerning location or address is also used to ensure that our panel accurately represents
the country's population as a whole.
Panel Members are asked for Demographic Information in order to pre-qualify members
or households for surveys that target specific groups. We also use this information
to ensure that our panel accurately represents the country's population as a whole.
Ipsos uses Personal Information and Demographic Information solely in the conduct
of its research business. Personal Information or Demographic Information may be
combined with information collected about you by Ipsos or third parties with your
express permission, with information that is collected about you from public records,
or with information that Ipsos may acquire from third parties that have a legal right
to provide such information to Ipsos.
If you provide us with your mobile phone number, Ipsos and/or its agents may contact you periodically
using an automatic telephone dialing system, interactive voice response technology or SMS text message
for purposes related to your participation in KnowledgePanel. For example, we may use interactive
voice response technology and SMS text messages to notify or remind panel members when a survey is available
for completion. You may revoke your consent to be contacted by an automatic telephone dialing system or
interactive voice response technology on your mobile phone by contacting Ipsos. See the ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION
AND COMPLAINTS section below. If you no longer want to receive SMS text messages from Ipsos or our agents,
please reply to our or their SMS text messages by writing STOP.
Please refer to “Accessing, Correcting, Updating and Preventing Use of Your Personal Information or
Demographic Information” below for information regarding your ability to control and manage your Personal
Information and Demographic Information.
B) OPERATING INFORMATION
Ipsos uses Operating Information solely in the conduct of its research business. As
is the case with Personal Information and Demographic Information, Operating Information
may be combined with information collected about you by third parties with your
express permission, with information that is collected about you from public records,
or with information that Ipsos may acquire from third parties that have a legal right
to provide such information to Ipsos.
DATA SHARING AND TRANSFER
A) HOW WE MAY SHARE INFORMATION:
Except as detailed in this section of the Privacy Statement, Personal Information
regarding Panel Members will never be shared with any third parties without your express permission.
We do not sell your personal information to third parties.
We reserve the right, however, to disclose your Personal Information as required by law and when we
believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or comply with a judicial proceeding,
court order, or legal process served on Ipsos or its employees or agents.
In addition, occasionally Ipsos will share contact information, such as name and mailing
address, with third parties with whom we have partnered to provide specific services
to Ipsos, or services on behalf of Ipsos, specifically for the purposes of panel recruitment,
panel communications, contest entry processing or delivery of free gifts to KnowledgePanel
Members. These partners have agreed not to share or resell this data and they are
contractually obligated not to use any Personal Information except for the purpose
of providing these services, unless you enter into a relationship with them that
would directly allow them to do so.
Ipsos collects and shares Demographic Information and Operating Information with its
research clients (“Clients”) in an anonymous form. We may share this information
with our Clients on an anonymous individual basis to provide your individual Demographic
Information and Operating Information (without specifically identifying you), and
may provide this information on an aggregate basis with respect to a group of our
Panel Members to describe group demographics or interest profiles (again, without
specifically identifying any Panel Member). As discussed above under the heading
“Cookies,” certain web pages that you view may be tracked by third parties using
advanced cookies, and this tracking data may be provided by such third parties to
our Clients, and combined by our Clients with your Demographic Information and Operating
Information for market research purposes.
Our research Clients will never receive Personal Information of Panel Members, nor
will they be able to identify Panel Members, without your express permission.
Ipsos is an expanding business, and like other companies, we sometimes acquire or
divest business units or ourselves be acquired. As part of such transfers or mergers,
we may convey the business assets of the particular business unit, or the company
as a whole, including Personal Information, Demographic Information, or Operating
Information of Panel Members. In that eventuality, you would be notified via email.
B) DATA TRANSFERS:
Your Personal Information, Demographic Information, and Operating Information will
generally be stored in our Ipsos databases. For easier processing of e-mail communications,
contests, sweepstakes, or other marketing purposes, or for panel recruitment or
panel communications, however, your Personal Information, Demographic Information,
or Operating Information may be sent to or accessed by Ipsos’ service providers and
contractors who are obligated to keep such information confidential in countries
outside the United States or the European Union. Ipsos data protection standards and
those of its service providers and contractors are the same, regardless of where
your information is stored.
Ipsos’s legal entities outside the European Union have entered into intra-company
data protection agreements using standard contractual clauses prepared by the
European Commission. Moreover, Ipsos’s U.S. entities have entered into data
protection agreements with service providers and other business partners.
These agreements require the contracting parties to respect the confidentiality
of your Personal Information and to handle European personal data in accordance
with applicable European data protection laws.
CHILDREN'S PRIVACY
Ipsos believes that it's especially important to protect children's privacy online
and encourages parents and guardians to spend time online with their children to
participate and monitor their internet activity.
Ipsos complies with all applicable national and international children's privacy regulations.
We do not permit children who are under 13 years of age to become KnowledgePanel
Members. We do not collect any Personal Information from children under 13 years
of age. As part of the registration process for new Panel Members, we collect from
the new Panel Member the names of each individual in the Panel Members' household,
which may include the names of children who are under 13 years of age. Occasionally
we may send a survey to a Panel Member who is a parent or guardian of a child under
the age of 13 that asks that Panel Member to have his or her child who is under
13 answer the survey. We take reasonable steps to ensure parental consent to such
procedure by sending the survey to the parent or guardian's password-protected email
address. The information collected in response to such surveys is not combined with
identifying information about the child. In every case such survey does not collect
Personal Information about the child. We comply with the Children's Online Privacy
Protection Act of 1998.
If a Panel Member has provided us with Personal Information about a child in the
Panel Member's household who is under the age of 13, a parent or guardian of that
child may contact us at the email address or mailing address listed at the bottom
of this Privacy Statement if he or she would like this information deleted from
our records. We will use reasonable efforts to delete the child's information from
our databases.
If you would like to contact us about your or your child's Personal Information,
or to find out how you can have your child's Personal Information removed from our
database, please see the "Access To Your Information and Complaints" section
later in this document.
DATA SECURITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
Ipsos is committed to keeping the data you provide us secure and will take reasonable
precautions to protect your Personal Information from loss, misuse or alteration.
Vendors, contractors, or partners of Ipsos who have access to your Personal Information
in connection with providing services for Ipsos are contractually required to keep
the information confidential and are not permitted to use this information for any
other purpose than to carry out the services they are performing for Ipsos.
Ipsos also safeguards Personal Information, Demographic Information, and Operating
Information from unauthorized access. Most Operating Information is maintained in
databases that are separate from those containing Personal Information and Demographic
Information. Only authorized Ipsos employees or agents carrying out permitted business
functions are allowed to access these databases. In addition, each employee of Ipsos
is required to sign a confidentiality agreement requiring him or her to keep confidential
all Personal Information of Panel Members. Employees who violate the confidentiality
agreement are subject to disciplinary actions, including termination when appropriate.
While we strive to use industry-standard security technology, procedures and other
measures to help protect your Personal or Demographic Information, we cannot guarantee
the security of the information you transmit.
LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES
Our Site includes links to other websites whose privacy practices may differ from
those of Ipsos. If you submit personal information to any of those sites, your information
is governed by their privacy policies. We encourage you to carefully read the privacy
policy of any website you visit.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT
We may update this privacy statement to reflect changes to our information practices.
If we make any material changes we will notify you by email (sent to the e-mail
address specified in your account) or by means of a notice on this Site prior to
the change becoming effective. We encourage you to periodically review this page
for the latest information on our privacy practices.
ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION AND COMPLAINTS
A) Accessing, Correcting, Updating and Preventing Use of Your Personal Information
or Demographic Information.
If you have submitted Personal or Demographic Information to Ipsos through KnowledgePanel
or otherwise, or if someone else has otherwise submitted your Personal or Demographic
Information to Ipsos, you can:
-
Access, Correct, Update Your Personal or Demographic Information, by emailing your
request to: privacy@knowledgepanel.com,
or by sending us a letter to the address listed below. Ipsos will use reasonable efforts
to supply you with the information you requested to access and to correct any factual
inaccuracies in this information within a reasonable timeframe.
-
Prevent Further Use of Your Personal or Demographic Information, by emailing your
request to: privacy@knowledgepanel.com.
Alternatively, you may call us at 1-800-782-6899 or send us a letter to the address
listed below. In each case, we will then use reasonable efforts to prevent further
use of your Personal Information or Demographic Information in our files.
-
We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed
to provide you services. If you wish to cancel your account or request that we no
longer use your information to provide you services contact us at
privacy@knowledgepanel.com
. We will retain and use your information as necessary
to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
B) Complaints
Ipsos is committed to working with consumers to obtain a fair and rapid resolution of any complaints
or disputes about privacy. Please send us your questions or comments regarding our privacy practices or
requests to revoke consent to be contacted by an automatic telephone dialing system or interactive voice
technology on your mobile phone by emailing us at: privacy@knowledgepanel.com,
Ref: Ipsos KnowledgePanel
Data Protection Officer,
Ipsos Public Affairs, LLC
PO Box 479
Roseland, NJ 07068-0479
We value the opinions and feedback of Panel Members to help improve our service.
If your participation in KnowledgePanel comes to an end, we may choose to send you
a brief, voluntary exit survey regarding your experience.
If you would like to see the Ipsos general privacy policy for Ipsos.com, click here.