GDPR

Personal data protection policy in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 27, 2016:

 

Date of publication: May 24, 2018

 

Who we are

qed is a market research company established in Greece in 1998. It is a limited liability company with its registered office and headquarters at 5 Sevastoupoleos Street, 11526 Athens.

For more information about our company’s activities, please visit: www.qed.gr .

 

Where we belong

qed is a member of:

 

 

Codes of conduct

 

As a member of SEDEA, qed complies with the ESOMAR/ICC codes of conduct regarding best practices in market research and PES quality control procedures. With regard to the General Data Protection Regulation, qed takes into account the implementation and best practice guidelines issued by SEDEA with the aim of specifying the application of the regulation in the market research sector in order to achieve maximum compliance.

 

Definitions

Personal data refers to information that, either independently or in combination with other information, can directly or indirectly lead to the identification of a person. As a general example, this information may include name, date of birth, gender, age, address, email address, user ID and password for accessing electronic services, and even technical information about your communication devices.

 

Purpose for which we collect personal data

At qed, we respect your privacy and handle the personal data you entrust to us with the utmost care in order to communicate with you and ask for your opinion in the context of market research projects. We process your opinion on each project anonymously and solely for the purpose of producing statistical tables.

 

Types of personal data we collect

The personal data we collect varies depending on the type of research projects we undertake and may fall into the following categories:

  • Contact details: e.g. first name, last name, telephone number, email address
  • Demographics: e.g. gender, age, occupation, place of residence, marital status, nationality
  • Consumer habits: e.g. consumer goods you purchase, consumption habits, etc.
  • Sensitive personal data: e.g. ethnic origin, religion, political and ideological beliefs, financial situation, membership of associations, trade unions, etc., sexual orientation, health status, etc.
  • In some cases, audio and/or video recordings may be made with your prior explicit consent.

 

Sources of personal data collection

 

In telephone surveys, we use telephone numbers listed in published directories that have been anonymized, i.e., we have disconnected the name from the telephone number. In addition, we use special software to generate random telephone numbers. These numbers are generated algorithmically and are not extracted from existing directories. Consequently, we do not know whether the numbers we use in telephone surveys are real or not, or to whom they belong.

 

  • By transferring contacts from our customers or suppliers for the purpose of conducting surveys. In this case, we ensure that the data has been collected lawfully and is transferred to us in accordance with the appropriate security measures.
  • In face-to-face surveys in households, we use special software to randomly select locations (building blocks) that we visit, without knowing in advance who lives there.
  • In other face-to-face surveys (e.g., outside stores, central locations, etc.), we randomly select potential participants from among those passing by or leaving the location.

 

In addition:

  • From CVs that we collect for the purpose of working with you as researchers or employees in our company
  • If you are a member of our company’s staff, you should be aware that we keep records for payroll and social security purposes in accordance with the applicable laws.

 

These sources are indicative and may be modified depending on the type of projects we undertake or market requirements.

 

Information and consent

Regardless of the type and method of personal data collection, we ensure that you are informed of the following:

 

  • The type of data we will collect
  • The purpose of processing
  • The length of time your data will be stored by our company
  • Possible transfer to a regulatory authority for auditing purposes
  • Possible transfer to a partner for the purposes of performing a project contract
  • How you can exercise your rights in accordance with the regulation.

 

Before we collect your data, we always obtain your explicit consent.

 

 

Informing parents and guardians and obtaining consent for interviews with persons under the age of 15

 

In some studies, we may need to interview minors (under the age of 15). In this case, we first seek the express consent of the child’s parent or guardian after informing them in advance.

 

Data retention period

  1. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

The company retains your data immediately after collection and keeps it in this form for a limited period of time and only for the purposes of checking the quality and authenticity of the data and the reliability of the research within the framework of its obligations to SEDEA and the quality control system For more information, please visit http://sedea.gr

 

  1. QUALITATIVE & ONLINE RESEARCH PANEL MEMBERS

The company keeps the personal data of individuals who agree to participate in qualitative & online research panels for a maximum of three (3) years in accordance with the European Commission’s Directive on the Protection of Personal Data (https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rules-business-and-organisations/principles-gdpr ).

 

Transfer

The company uses specialized subcontractors for the processing of personal data and enters into contracts with them containing the standard contractual terms drawn up by the EU for this purpose, i.e. to fully safeguard your rights. As a rule, our company does not transfer personal data to third parties. Exceptionally, personal data is transferred to the research client with your consent and after you have been informed of the time your data will be kept in an identifiable form and of the client’s full contact details. Also, as a rule, the company does not transfer your personal data to third parties within or outside the EU for processing purposes.

 

Return or destruction of data

After the retention period for personal data has expired, we ensure that the data is either returned safely to its source or destroyed securely. For these reasons:

 

  • We adhere to a secure data destruction protocol that describes the process and means of destruction/return.
  • We keep a destruction log.

 

Recording of interviews

In telephone surveys, interviews are recorded for internal quality control purposes. To do this, we first ask for your explicit consent. The recorded files are kept for 3-6 months and destroyed in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 11 above.

 

Links to social media websites

We maintain pages on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for the purpose of communicating with the general public. Whenever you communicate with us through these services, they may collect your personal data for their own use. If you visit our website after browsing social media sites, these services may record your personal data related to your accounts on these sites and your browsing history. Your personal data recorded on social networking sites is never transferred to us. Social networking sites have their own personal data protection policies that are independent of ours.

 

Cookies

Cookies are small files that browsers can collect in order to facilitate your future visits and measure traffic. At qed, we do not process cookies for market research purposes.

 

Your rights and how to exercise them

 

For as long as our company keeps your data in an identifiable form, you have the following rights:

 

  • Right to information: When we contact you to participate in a survey, you will be provided with the necessary information as set out in paragraph 8 above
  • Right of access: Upon your written request, you have the right to be informed of any data our company holds about you
  • Right to withdraw your consent: The withdrawal will take effect from the submission of a written request and thereafter in accordance with the following.
  • Right to update your data: The update will concern any processing that may take place after the submission of a written request in accordance with the following.
  • Right to delete your data: The deletion will take place no later than 7 working days from the receipt of the relevant request in accordance with the following.

 

You can exercise your rights in the following way:

 

To update your details or request deletion, you can send an email to gdprqed@qed.gr.

 

If you are a member of our company’s Quality Research Panel, you can send an email to gdprqed@qed.gr requesting an update of your details or deletion.

 

If you have received calls from our call center and do not want us to call you again to participate in a survey, you can request that your phone number be excluded by sending an email to gdprqed@qed.gr. Once we have processed your request, we will send you a confirmation email. The emails we have exchanged will be kept on file for future reference.

 

If you have already participated in a survey, please note that we cannot retroactively delete the answers you have already provided.

 

Security

Our company implements physical, technical, and organizational measures to protect your data against loss, theft, unauthorized access, or unauthorized modification.

 

Data Protection Officer (DPO)

If you have any questions or would like more details about how we use your personal information, you can contact the company’s Data Protection Officer at gdprqed@qed.gr.

 

Complaint management

For any complaints, you can contact us by sending an email to gdprqed@qed.gr.