1.     Your privacy is important to us

This panel is run by GfK NOP Limited (“GfK”), part of the GfK Group, one of the world’s largest market research agencies. GfK aims to provide You, through its web site, http://uk.Surveys.com (the "Web Site"), the opportunity to participate in various surveys that GfK and its clients wish to carry out from time to time (the "Surveys"). By using this Web Site and participating in the Surveys (together, the "Services") You will be bound by GfK's Privacy Policy and these terms and conditions (together, the "Contract").

GfK takes your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains the steps GfK take to ensure information about you is kept secure and confidential. In addition to the undertakings which GfK give you here GfK is bound by all the major market research codes of conduct. These include the ESOMAR/ICC International Code on Market and Social Research (http://www.esomar.nl) and the UK Market Research Society (http://www.mrs.org.uk). In addition, GfK is wholly committed to meeting the requirements of the European Directive EU 95/46/EC on Data Protection, and all other relevant legislation regarding privacy of personal information.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully as once you use GfK's web site or participate in any of the panel surveys online you will be deemed to have read and accepted this Privacy Policy.

GfK have developed its web site to provide a forum for panel surveys which it hopes to carry out for our clients with your assistance. You must not use GfK's web site or participate in any of the panel surveys if you do not accept the terms of this Privacy Policy and GfK's Terms and Conditions

Market and survey research serves an important function in society. Businesses and governments make better decisions through survey research. As a survey participant, your opinions help companies develop new products, make existing ones better, and improve customer service. Political organisations and governments also rely on survey research to advance laws and policies that the public wants or needs. When you participate in research conducted by GfK, you can be assured that we will protect your privacy.

• We will not make your personal information available to anyone without your knowledge unless it is for research purposes only and it is handled in a confidential manner, or if required by law. This includes your name and e-mail address.
• We will never try to sell you anything and we will never sell your name to anyone. That is not our business. We are not telemarketers or direct marketers. We are market researchers interested only in your opinions.
• Occasionally, we may re-contact you to validate your responses. We will never misrepresent ourselves or what we are doing.
• Your decisions about participating in a study, responding to specific questions, or discontinuing participation will be respected without question.

We have developed rigorous privacy standards that are set out in our privacy policy below. Several members of our firm’s professional staff belong to ESOMAR, the world organisation for enabling better research into markets, consumers and societies. ESOMAR sets professional standards to which our firm adheres, and which also protect your privacy.

If you have any privacy questions or concerns, please contact our Privacy Officer via e-mail at (pamhughes@e.surveys.com)

2.     The information that we collect

When our firm conducts online research, our invitations and questionnaires clearly identify us and explain the purpose(s) of our contact.

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

• To pay you a reward for participating in our research
• To notify you if you have won a prize draw that we sponsored;
• To invite you to participate in survey research;
• To conduct a survey research interview with you;
• To validate answers you gave in a recent survey we conducted;
• To update and to ensure that our records of your personal information are correct.
• To ask for your permission to use your personal information for a purpose that was not identified to you when we first collected your personal information.

When you participate in our research, we may ask you for your personal opinions, as well as demographic information, such as your age and household composition. You may refuse to answer certain questions or discontinue participation in a study at any time. If you join our Internet research panel, you may rescind your membership at any time by following the opt-out instructions that we include in every email that we send.

We never knowingly invite children under the age of 16 to participate in research studies without taking measures to ensure appropriate parental consent.

3.     Confidentiality of survey responses and contact information

We combine your survey responses in a given survey with the responses of all others who participate and report those combined responses to the client that commissioned the study. We will never intentionally report your individual survey responses, except as described below.

Your survey responses may be collected, stored or processed by our affiliated companies or non-affiliated service providers, both within and outside the European Union. They are contractually bound to keep any information they collect and disclose to us or we collect and disclose to them confidential and must protect it with security standards and practices that are broadly equivalent to our own.

In addition to keeping your survey responses confidential, we will never sell, share, rent or otherwise intentionally transfer your name, address, telephone number or e-mail address to our clients, other market research companies, direct marketing companies or anyone else.

The only exceptions when we may disclose your personal information or survey responses to third parties are as follows:

• You consent to sharing your identifying information and individual responses with the third parties for a specified purpose;
• In accordance with the ESOMAR guidelines, we provide your responses to a third party who is contractually bound to keep the information disclosed confidential and use it only for research or statistical purposes;
• In the rare but possible circumstance that the information is subject to disclosure pursuant to judicial or other government subpoenas, warrants, orders or for similar legal or regulatory requirements.
• In order to process information supplied by you to GfK it may be necessary to transfer your data worldwide within the GfK group or to an associated company. By using this web site you consent to this transfer of your personal information worldwide.

4.     Security

Keeping information about you secure is very important to GfK. GfK has appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against loss, misuse or alteration of information. GfK safeguards personal information in its possession or control from loss or theft and from unauthorised access, disclosure, duplication, use or modification.

We inform our employees about our policies and procedures regarding confidentiality, security and privacy, and we emphasise the importance of complying with them. Our security procedures are consistent with generally accepted commercial standards used to protect personal information.

We may transfer personal information to affiliated companies or non-affiliated service providers for research-related purposes, such as data processing, and fulfilment of prize draws or other incentives. We require these companies to safeguard all personal information in a way that is consistent with our firm’s measures and/or as regulated by law.

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

5.     Accuracy of personal information

GfK makes reasonable efforts to keep personal information 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 respondents, such as panel members, to keep certain personal information relating to them accurate, complete and current.

6.     Access to personal information

To request access to personal information that we hold about you, we require that you submit your request in writing at the e-mail address or postal address shown below. You may be able to access your personal information and request that it be corrected, amended or deleted where it is inaccurate.

We will endeavour to provide your requested personal information within 40 days of receiving your access request.

7.     Use of cookies, log files and other technologies on our website

GfK uses 'Cookies' in order to recognise you as a previous user; to provide a better service to you and to enable you to take part in special studies. A cookie is a small piece of information which a web site stores via your web browser on your PC and which can later be retrieved. Cookies cannot be read by another party other than the one that set them. We set Cookies through Gfk’s surveys.com and also by our partner nurago GmbH through gfk.sensic.net. None will contain information that will enable anyone to contact you via telephone, e-mail, or any other means. You can set up your web browser to inform you when cookies are set or to prevent cookies from being set however if you do this you may not use this web site or take part in our research studies. For further details please contact us or have a look at our special privacy policies for cookies at http://gfk.sensic.net/index2.html

We use optional cookies and/or software applications that are available only to members of our panel who have agreed to participate in behavioural targeting research. The information that we collect from members who participate in this program is used strictly for research purposes and is designed to help advertisers and websites develop relevant and useful content for online consumers. You may discontinue your participation in this program at any time by following the instructions that are available to you when you are logged into our site.

As is true of most Web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes Internet Protocol addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp and clickstream data. We use this information to analyse trends, to administer the site, to track users' movements around the site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. To protect against fraud, we may link this automatically-collected data to information submitted at GfK’s survey and panel sites.

In general, active agent technologies assign a unique identifier or "Machine-ID" to a user's computer to identify and track the computer. GfK will not use active agent technology to collect personal information or track the online activities of computer users without your express permission. The technology does not disrupt or interfere with your use or control of your computer and it does not alter, modify or change the settings or functionality of your computer. We use the technology to assist our clients in ensuring the integrity of survey results. The technology analyses information and data obtained from your computer's web browser and from other data points, including without limitation the technical settings of your computer and applications already installed on your computer, the characteristics of your computer, and your computer's IP Address, to create a unique identifier assigned to your computer. The unique identifier is an alpha-numeric id which we will retain; however, we do not retain the information analysed by the technology to create the unique identifier. In furtherance of our efforts to assist clients in protecting and ensuring the integrity of survey results, we (a) may link or associate your unique identifier to you and any of your personal information; (b) may share your unique identifier with our clients and with other sample or panel providers; and (c) may receive or obtain a unique identifier linked to you from a third party, including without limitation a sample or panel provider or a client of our firm. Any unique identifier(s) received or obtained by our firm and linked to a specific individual will be protected in accordance with this privacy policy.

We shall use and distribute the technology in a professional and ethical manner and in accordance with (a) our privacy policy, (b) any statements and/or disclosures made by our firm to respondents, and (c) applicable laws and codes.

In the event that we discover or learn of any unethical conduct in connection with the use of the technology, or that the technology is being used in a manner that is inconsistent with the statements and/or disclosures made by us to respondents or in violation of applicable laws and codes, we will take immediate action to prohibit such unethical conduct and to ensure the proper administration of the technology.

Local Shared Objects

Our survey websites may use Local Shared Objects (LSO), also known as “Flash cookies,” for a variety of research purposes, including storing some of your preferences, displaying content based upon what you view, personalizing your visit, tracking your behaviour and activities across multiple visits to the site, and to combat survey fraud.

Flash cookies are different from browser cookies because of the amount and type of data stored and how the data are stored. Cookie management tools provided by your browser or anti-spyware applications will not remove Flash cookies, nor will the “Private Browsing” modes prevent their placement on your computer.

You can, however, manage privacy and storage settings for Flash cookies or disable their use entirely by visiting Macromedia’s website, the manufacturer of Flash Player, at the following link:

Macromedia support flash player documents

Place of registration:  England and Wales
Company number:  2512551
Registered office:  GfK NOP Limited, Ludgate House, 245 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 9UL

Terms and Conditions

In these terms and conditions, visitors to this web site are referred to as You? Your? and "Yourself".
GfK aims to provide You, through its web site, http://www.Surveys.com (the "Web Site"), the opportunity to participate in various surveys that GfK and its clients wish to carry out from time to time (the "Surveys"). By using this Web Site and participating in the Surveys (together, the "Services") You will be bound by GfK's Privacy Policy and these terms and conditions (together, the "Contract").
You must read carefully and understand the Contract before using the Services.

You may only use the Services if You agree to the Contract. By using the Services You are deemed to accept the Contract in full. If You do not agree to them You must not use the Services.