Why do you call me when I am registered with the Telephone Preference Service/TPS?

QRS Market Research does not sell or market any products – the purpose of our calls is always for research, the answers to which are completely confidential and only ever passed on to clients in an aggregate form unless you have given your explicit consent otherwise. As a market research company conducting surveys, QRS Market Research is exempt from TPS guidelines as TPS was set up to allow registration by those who do not wish to receive sales and marketing calls. This is stated in the letter TPS send out to all those who register with them: “Your TPS registration will not stop calls from companies involved in market research…”If you want to register with TPS to prevent sales or marketing calls please follow this link: http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/. TPS is a free service.

Where did you get my telephone number from?

There are 3 main ways in which we may have obtained your telephone number. Firstly, we may have been commissioned by a company to conduct a survey with their customers on their behalf. This ensures an independent, unbiased approach to collecting opinions and helps companies to get an accurate picture of their customers’ views. In such cases we would have been passed customer details by the company commissioning the research.Secondly, some clients want their surveys to be nationally or regionally representative of the population. In such cases we will have randomly generated your phone number through a widely used Market Research method called Random Digit Dialling. As these numbers are generated randomly we hold no personal information related to them. Indeed, until we call these numbers we do not know if they exist as live telephone numbers.Finally, we may be required to speak to people with a specific interest or in a certain demographic group. In these instances we use bona fide lifestyle lists from companies registered with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

I was recently contacted by you – where do I go to make a complaint or raise a query?

When we make telephone calls we always present a Caller Line Identification (CLI) number – the main numbers we use are 01707 384044, 01707 384048, 03330 001514, 0289 583 9953 and 028 9583 9934, but we may also use numbers in the range 01707 384<000-049> and 01707 583 <942–950>. If you do not want us to call you again please email pleaseremoveme@qrs-research.co.uk giving details of your number and ideally the date/time we called. We will add your number to our Do Not Call list to ensure you are not called again by us; this is usually actioned within 2 working days. In all cases we will endeavour to respond to you as quickly as possible. If you wish to raise a complaint please email dpo@qrs-research.co.uk including as much detail as possible so that it can be investigated.

Are my details safe? How will they be used?

QRS Market Research is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 as a Data Controller. The answers you gave to questions and your details will never be shared with another party, unless you give us your informed consent. You will remain anonymous unless we have asked for your consent to attribute your answers to you and you have given consent for us to do so. QRS Market Research will only store your personal contact data for a specific period of time, normally 12 months.If you have asked to be added to a Do Not Call list then the contact details you supply to us will be stored only so that we do not call in the future.

Are there any instances where you would share my information with anyone else?

No, we will keep your information confidential except where disclosure is required or permitted by law (for example to government bodies and law enforcement agencies). No data collected by QRS Market Research is stored outside the UK.

I was stopped in the street – how do I know the interviewer is genuine?

All QRS interviewers are issued with an Identification Card which they show or have on display before the survey commences. You may also have been supplied with a ‘Thank you’ card at the end of the survey. However, if you have any doubts please notify us at info@qrs-research.co.uk telling us the location, date and time you were approached and we will confirm whether it was a QRS interviewer.

I have been emailed by you to take part in a survey – how have you got my details?

As with telephone research, we may have been commissioned by a company to conduct a survey with their customers on their behalf in which an online survey methodology is being used. Your email address will only be used for the purpose of administering the survey for which we have been commissioned. Your contact details will never be used for any other purpose nor shared with any third party. All contact data supplied by our clients is securely deleted 12 months after the project has been completed. If you wish to opt out of any survey that you have been invited to take part in please reply to the email stating that you do not wish to take part in the project. Please be aware that it may take up to 2 working days for such requests to be actioned.

If I sign up to one of your research communities how will you contact me and where is my data stored?

If you sign up to one of our communities your data is stored on secure servers in the UK or EU. As an ISO27001 certified company we have strict controls in place to protect your personal information at all times. If you are member of the B2B Professionals Community (qrs-research.com) or our Kaboodle-MR panel (kaboodle-mr.com) you are most likely to be contacted by phone or email when seeking your co-operation to take part in a research project.

The QRS Research Panel (qrs-research.info) has been created in cooperation with Cint AB who manages the panel on our behalf. Your panel membership information is held by Cint AB on servers in the EU. You will be contacted to take part in a wide range of online surveys by email.

The information you fill out when you join one of our communities or panels will only be used for market research purposes and your personal information will never be given to third parties. You can update your information or terminate your membership at any point by logging into your profile.