Description of Services
Primarily, EMI Research Solutions is an online sample and quantitative marketing services provider. We leverage our partner network to help our clients bring the right survey sample (i.e., the right respondents) to their projects, sometimes mixing and matching respondents from different survey panels.
If you are a member of panel that is one of our partners, you be redirected to the Platform in connection with a survey opportunity offered by your panel. In such cases, we provide our clients with data related to surveys you take in connection with the Platform.
In addition to sample services on the Platform, we also provide panel recruitment services, translation services, and conduct mobile surveys and targeting, focus groups and online interviews, and in-home usage testing (“IHUTs”) (i.e., where you are surveyed in connection with sample products that have been shipped to you).
All of the foregoing services, including the Website, may be referred to herein collectively as the “Services.”
Your Privacy Rights
This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, share, and store your personal data. As used in this Privacy Policy, the terms “personal data” and “personal information” mean information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular individual or household.
Depending on your location, you may have certain rights under the law of your home jurisdiction with respect to your personal data.
To access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data, or to request a copy of your personal data or opt out of the processing of your personal data, please contact us as provided in the “Contact Us” section below. Depending on your location, you may also have the right to appeal any decision we make regarding your personal data by contacting us as provided below.
Individuals in California and Europe have certain special rights as further described in the applicable sections below.
Personal Data We Collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following types of personal data from you:
Technical Information
In many cases, we automatically collect certain technical information related to your interaction with the Platform or the Website which may constitute personal data, such as your IP address, date and time you access the survey or the Website, information about your browser, operating system, and computer or device, pages viewed, and items clicked. We may also collect location information, including your country location and/or location information automatically provided by your computer or device or inferred by your IP address. We use cookies and similar technologies (including those operated by third parties) to collect some of this information.
Online Survey Data
You may submit various types of personal data when you complete a survey. Survey data may include any information requested in a survey, including personal data relating to you as an individual, your preferences, your responses to questions, or other information you may choose to provide. In all such instances, you will know what personal data you provide because you are providing it directly.
If you are completing a survey online through our Platform we will not store any personal data collected in connection with the survey, except for the technical information described above. Any other survey data submitted through the Platform is subject to the privacy policy of the respondent’s home panel and/or the client who has commissioned the survey.
Please note that your provision of survey data is always voluntary. If you do not wish to provide any personal data in connection with a survey, do not submit the survey or answer any questions that request personal data.
Data Provided by Our Clients
In limited circumstances, we may receive personal data provided to us by our clients (e.g., another market research firm) where you have consented to such sharing with us. We will not use such personal data except as necessary to complete the Services requested by the client.
In-Home Usage Testing (“IHUT”)
We will also collect any personal data you provide to us in connection with an IHUT’s online survey portion. If we are programming the IHUT, we may have access to any other personal data, including your home address, in connection with IHUTs.
Translation
If you have provided personal information to a third party who has hired us for translation services, and your personal information is included in the materials we are hired to translate, we will access your personal information that way.
Our Clients and Business Partners
If we work with you as a client, service provider, or other business partner, we may also collect basic personal data about you or your personnel, including without limitation names, email addresses, and payment information, as necessary to do business with you.
Sensitive Personal Data
Please note that some of the personal data described above may constitute sensitive personal Information under applicable laws. We will never use your “sensitive” personal data except for research purposes, or otherwise to verify your identity or prevent fraud. For more information on how to opt out of the processing of your sensitive personal data, please click here.
How We Use Your Personal Data
We use your personal data to operate, evaluate, and improve our business, including for such purposes as verifying your identity, developing new products and services, managing our communications, and analyzing our Services.
Specifically, and without limitation, we use any survey data you provide to us to communicate research results and other insights to our clients. We also use your personal data, including your IP address, for quality control and fraud detection purposes.
If you provide us with your name and contact information, we will use this information to answer requests from you, communicate with you regarding the Services, inform you about new products and services (unless and until you opt-out of marketing information), and deliver any email updates, newsletters, or other communications to which you’ve subscribed.
Otherwise, we may use your personal data for our own internal business purposes, or for any other purpose with your consent.
How We Share Your Personal Data
Clients
Pursuant to our contract with the client, and subject to appropriate confidentiality and privacy restrictions, we may share survey data with the client who requested our Services.
Service Providers
In some circumstances, we may share personal data with commercial data suppliers so that we can obtain additional information relevant to a survey, to better validate your survey responses, so that we may share additional aggregated data with our clients, or for other business purposes.
Other
We may share otherwise information about you with third parties as follows: (i) with your consent; (ii) as required by law, or in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements; (iii) to protect you, our business, or third parties from harm, including but not limited to fraud and data security breaches; or (iv) in a reorganization or sale of our company or assets, subject to the acquirer accepting the commitments made in this Privacy Policy and in compliance with applicable law.
How We Protect Your Personal Data
We use reasonable security measure in an effort to prevent loss, misuse, and alteration of information under our control. However, we cannot guarantee the security of information on or transmitted via the Internet. We rely on various security procedures and systems to ensure the secure storage and transmission of data to effect secure transmission of confidential information. Additionally, please note that we have no control over the security of other sites you might visit, interact with, or do business with.
If we learn of a security systems breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps, by posting a notice on the Website if a security and/or by sending an email to you at the email address you have previously provided to us.
Third-Party Websites
The Website or other of the Services may contain links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for any personal data collected by such third parties and strongly encourage you to review their privacy policies.
Cookies
We may use “cookies” to collect information about your visit to the Website and to manage information concerning your preferences. A “cookie” is a unique identifier that we transfer to your device to enable our systems to recognize you and your device, so that we can provide you with features that enhance your user experience.
Tools available as part of most commercial browsers allow you to block new cookies from your device, instruct you on how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie and, in some instances, delete existing cookies.
Please be advised that if you set your browser to delete or restrict cookies, this may negatively affect your experience on the Website.
This Website also uses Google Analytics to better understand the kind of people who come to our Website and what content they’re reading. This allows us to make better decisions about design and content. All of our activity falls within the bounds of the Google Analytics Terms of Service.
How Long We Retain Your Personal Data
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. In some circumstances, we may anonymize your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.
Children
The Services are not intended for use by children under the age of 16 without the prior written consent of a parent or guardian, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from such children without such consent, or unless the third-party panel who is providing us with sample for a survey has acquired such consent. Children under the age of 16 should not use the Site, participate in research, or otherwise send any personal data to us without such consent.
If you become aware that we have unknowingly collected personal data from a child under the age of 16 without the consent of a parent or guardian, please contact us immediately at the information provided in the “Contact Us” section below.
Additional Information for California Users
If you are a California resident, you have certain special rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), in addition to your other rights outlined in this Privacy Policy.
Your Right to “Know”, to Request Deletion, and to Correct
You have the right to know the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you. You have the right to know the categories of sources from which the personal information has been collected, the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information, and the categories of third parties with whom we share personal information.
You also have the right to request deletion of personal information we’ve collected or maintain, subject to certain exceptions. Please note, however, that our deletion of your personal information may negatively affect your ability to receive or interact with the Services.
You also have the right to correct any inaccurate personal information that we maintain about you.
To exercise these rights please contact us as provided in the “Contact Us” section below.
We may ask you to provide additional information, such as your name, email address, or other basic personal information about you that we already have on file, in order to verify who is making the request. Please note that any requested disclosures may only apply to the 12-month period preceding the request, depending on how difficult it is for us to retrieve the necessary information, and you are entitled to request disclosure regarding your personal information twice in any 12-month period.
Your Right to Opt Out
We will never disclose personal information such as your name or address to third parties in exchange for monetary consideration without your consent.
However, under CCPA’s broad definition, “personal information” may also include, in addition to names, addresses, and the like) unique identifiers, IP addresses, biometric information, internet or other network, geolocation data, audio/visual data, and even inferences which may be drawn from any of the above.
CCPA also defines the term “sell” broadly. Its meaning includes “renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, [and] transferring…for monetary or other valuable consideration.”
Under these broad definitions, certain information we provide to our clients as part of research study results may arguably be deemed a “sale” of “personal information” under CCPA. You have the right to opt out of this “sale.” For more information on how to opt out, please click here.
Please note that we will not “share” your personal information for purposes of cross-context behavioral advertising, as that term is defined under CCPA.
Personal Information “Sold” or Disclosed
You also have the right to know what categories of personal information we’ve “sold” or disclosed for a business purpose, and the third parties to whom that information was “sold” or disclosed.
In the last 12 months we’ve “sold” Respondent IDs and IP addresses to our clients in connection with our delivery of Service (i.e., we share such information with a client in order to allow respondents to participate in one of their surveys).
In the last 12 months we’ve also disclosed the following categories of personal information to the following parties for the following purposes: (1) IP address and other usage information with Google Analytics and other Service Providers who help us operate and analyze traffic on our Site; (2) usage information with Amazon Web Services to help us operate our Site; and (3) the categories of information described in the preceding paragraph with our service providers to help us administer surveys, deliver research results, and otherwise operate our business.
Your Right to Non-Discrimination
You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment for the exercise of the privacy rights conferred by the CCPA, including but not limited to by denying you services, charging different prices or rates, or providing you with a different level or quality of services.
Your Right to Use an Authorized Agent
You have the right to designate an authorized agent to make a request under the CCPA on your behalf. To designate an authorized agent, please contact us as provided in the “How to Contact Us” section below. In order to verify you have authorized an agent we will require a signed, written authorization from you.
Additional Information for European Union Users
The Services may be accessed abroad. All personal data collected by us will be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which EMI Research Solutions or its affiliates, contractors or agents maintain facilities. By using the Services, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country.
Users in Europe have the right to request access to and rectification or erasure of personal data, to restrict of processing of their personal data, and to object to processing. Users in Europe also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. If you would like to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact us using the “Contact Us” section below.
We will not process your personal data unless you have given your consent to our processing for a specific purpose, processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or to comply with a legal obligation, or processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or a third-party controller.
In cases where the purpose of our processing is the “legitimate interest” purpose, we will also carefully balance those interests against your fundamental rights and freedoms related to your Information. Where processing is based on your consent, we will identify the processing purposes and provide you with relevant information to make the processing fair and transparent.
Additional Information for Canada Users
Some of your personal information may be maintained on our servers or those of our service providers and will be accessible by authorized employees, agents and representatives who require access for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. You may request access to or correction of the personal information in our custody or control by contacting us as set forth in the “Contact Us” section. Your right to access and correct personal data is subject to applicable legal restrictions. We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before providing access or making corrections.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to change our Privacy Policy at any time. If we make changes, we will post them and will indicate on this page the policy’s new effective date. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you by email or through notice on the EMI Research Solutions services.
Contact Us
EMI Research Solutions welcomes your comments regarding this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions or if you believe that EMI Research Solutions has not adhered to this Privacy Policy, please contact EMI Research Solutions at [email protected] or at the address below.
EMI Research Solutions
8280 Montgomery Road, Suite 200
Cincinnati, OH 45236
866-511-5713