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This Policy applies to The Leading Edge Market Research Consultants Pty Limited (“The Leading Edge”) and outlines the obligations of The Leading Edge in regards to the information collected from this website (Part A) and as managing personal information we hold about clients, research respondents, contractors and others (Part B). |
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| Part A of this Policy outlines the obligations of The Leading
Edge in regards to the information collected from this website. |
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Information collected When you access this web site, our Internet Service Provider (RUCC) makes a record of your visit and logs the following information for statistical purposes: |
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your server address  |
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your top level domain name (for example
.com, .gov, .net etc) |
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the pages you accessed and documents
downloaded |
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the previous site you have visited |
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the type of browser you are using |
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Use of information collected We will only record your e-mail address if you send us a message. Your e-mail address may be used for direct mail purposes (an opt-out facility will be available) and may be added to a mailing list. This site does not provide facilities for the secure transmission of information across the Internet. Users should be aware that there are inherent risks transmitting information across the Internet. |
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| Part B of this Policy outlines the obligations
of The Leading Edge in managing personal information we hold about clients,
research respondents, contractors and others. |
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What principles does The Leading Edge comply
with in the way we protect individuals’ privacy? The Leading Edge is a member of The Association of Market Research Organisations (“AMRO”). By virtue of this membership, The Leading Edge has elected to be bound by the Market and Social Research Privacy Principles(“M&SRPPs”) that were developed by AMRO and the Market Research Society of Australia (“MRSA”) and were approved by the Federal Privacy Commissioner on 1 September 2003 to replace the National Privacy Principles (“NPPs”) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”) and the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000. The M&SRPPs govern the handling of information about the participants of research. The Leading Edge also abides by the principles of the MRSA’s Code of Professional Behaviour. |
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For what purpose does The Leading Edge collect or hold information? Generally, The Leading Edge may use and disclose personal information for the primary purpose for which it is collected, for reasonably expected secondary purposes which are related to the primary purpose and in other circumstances authorised by the Privacy Act. We use information collected from research respondents only for research purposes. This means that we use it to investigate the behaviour, needs, attitudes, opinions, motivations or other characteristics of a whole population or particular part of a population. We do this in order to provide accurate and timely information to government, commercial and not-for-profit organisations about issues relevant to their activities to support their decision-making processes. Input by individuals into these decisions is important and the more people that participate, the more the results we obtain truly reflect the spectrum of Australian society. |
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How do we generally collect information? The information we hold is generally collected from individuals in the course a research exercise such as a telephone or online survey, questionnaire, discussion group or interview. Sometimes, our clients want us to conduct research with their customers. In these cases, they might give us a list of their customers so that we can contact them to invite them to participate in the research. In some circumstances, we may be provided with personal information about an individual from a third party such as a reference from another person. Participation in market research is voluntary. |
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Using customer information provided by clients for research sampling. Where customer information is collected and retained for the primary purpose of contacting customers of an organisation in relation to products and/or services of that organisation, the secondary purpose of contacting those customers to invite them to participate in research on those or related products and/or services is considered both related to the primary purpose and reasonably expected by individuals. However, while it is not essential to obtain customers’ consent in order to use their information for this secondary purpose, The Leading Edge recommends that clients should make their customers aware if there is any possibility that they will want to use their customer information to contact customers for research and ideally give them the opportunity to indicate if they do not wish to be contacted for research purposes. AMRO and the MRSA have prepared Guidelines for using customer information for research sampling which have been adopted by The Leading Edge and can be provided to any interested party on request. |
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What kind of information does The Leading Edge collect and retain? The Leading Edge holds information such as contact details (e.g. names, phone numbers and addresses), basic demographics (e.g. age, gender, occupation, education) and other information relating to individuals’ behaviour, needs, attitudes, opinions and motivations. Most of the information we retain is not connected with details that identify whom the information is about. This is because researchers are not generally concerned with the identity of the person who provided their data. Researchers generally remove identifying details as soon as they are no longer needed. The information of any given individual is combined with the information collected from a number of other participants in a particular research project. |
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What, if any, of that information is sensitive information under the Privacy Act? Some of the information we collect may be sensitive information, as defined by the Privacy Act. This might include information such as: |
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identified information about an identified
participant’s racial or ethnic origin, |
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political opinion, membership of a
political association or religious beliefs, |
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affiliations or philosophical beliefs,
membership of a professional or trade |
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association, membership of a trade
union, sexual preferences or practices, |
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criminal record or health information. |
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with the identity of the person who provided their data, identifying details
are removed as soon as they are no longer needed. So we are unlikely to
store sensitive information along with any identifying or contact details
of the person to whom the sensitive information applies for very long. |
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For what purposes do we use identifying or contact details? We use the identifying or contact details we collect in identified form to carry out certain activities that are essential to conducting any given research project. Some specific examples of uses of this information are: quality control or validation of research, as a source of potential research participants for future research projects or to contact past participants to conduct further, follow-up research with them. |
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To whom do we pass identified information and why? Sometimes, we pass the information we collect to other research organisations. These research organisations might carry out research activities essential to the research process for The Leading Edge. These activities might include quality control activities, data processing and contacting people to ask them to participate in research exercises. Apart from this, information containing details that identify the person the information is about is not passed on or presented to any other party without his or her permission. Nor is it published in a form that would enable the person to be identified without the person’s permission. Sometimes, the client organisation that commissioned the research may wish to see or obtain copies of some of the information we collect for their project. However, we only pass on information in a form that identifies who the information is about if we have the individual’s permission to do so. Generally, we do not transfer overseas any information that identifies the individual to whom it relates. We will not send an individual’s personal information to recipients outside of Australia without obtaining the individual’s consent (in some cases this consent will be implied) or otherwise complying with the M&SRPPs. |
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How does The Leading Edge store and secure information? The Leading Edge staff are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of individuals. The Leading Edge takes steps to protect personal information held from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, for example by use of physical security and restricted access to electronic records. Where we no longer require an individual’s personal information for a permitted purpose, we take reasonable steps to de-identify or destroy it. |
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What are an individual’s rights in relation to the information we hold about them? Most of the information The Leading Edge holds is not connected with details that identify who the information is about. This is because researchers are not generally concerned with the identity of the person who provided their data, and remove such details as soon as they are no longer needed. However, if we did collect identifying details, while a person’s information remains identifiable, the person has the right to request access to, or deletion of, any information about you held by The Leading Edge. During this time an individual can also contact us to let us know if any of the information they provided needs correction. Subject to the exceptions set out in the Privacy Act, an individual may seek access to personal information which The Leading Edge holds about them by contacting The Leading Edge's Privacy Officer. Individuals may ask us to destroy or delete their personal information which we hold, while it remains identifiable. If a panel member seeks access to or deletion of their personal information, it may be necessary to remove them from the panel in which case all our obligations to the panel member will cease. We will require individuals seeking access to their personal information to verify their identity and to specify what information they require. A fee may be charged for providing access and the likely cost will be advised in advance. |
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Updates to this Policy This Policy will be reviewed from time to time to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our operations and practices and the changing business environment. |
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Enquiries If you have any questions about privacy-related issues please contact The Leading Edge's Privacy Officer: Address: The Privacy Officer The Leading Edge Market Research Consultants Pty Limited Pier 8/9, 23 Hickson Road Millers Point NSW 2000 |
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(02) 9258 4444 |
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(02) 9258 4455 |
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privacyofficer@theleadingedge.com.au |
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