InQuest Privacy Policy

InQuest abides by the Code of Ethics of the Professional Marketing Research Society (PMRS: www.pmrs-aprm.com) as well as the Code of Ethics of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA: www.qrca.org)

1. Accountability: Please forward your comments / requests to the InQuest Privacy Officer.

2. Indentifying Purpose: InQuest does not collect personal information except when required for internal business use only in recruiting for qualitative research purposes and recording of interviews for research purposes.
o Once projects are completed ­ i.e. proprietary reports have been submitted­ any personal information collected by InQuest, including respondent identities, sign-in sheets, consent forms and recordings are destroyed.
o Reports do not have any personal information ­ they are a reflection of cumulative findings.
o Any audio and/or video tapes provided by InQuest to commissioning marketing professionals for viewing the research conducted by InQuest are later destroyed by InQuest or the marketing professional, as per privacy legislation requirements.
o InQuest does not house any personal information.
o InQuest does not keep/maintain resume files.

3. Consent: It is the policy for InQuest to obtain consent from research respondents for taping and viewing of interviews/focus groups. All respondents and/or their guardians are aware that marketing professionals are viewing groups either live and/or by video tape/audio tapes prior to the interviews and interviews are not conducted if consent is. Permission for and acceptance of this is obtained from respondents by InQuest prior to conducting interviews.

4. Limiting Collection: Only information relating to/required for research purposes is collected from individuals. Any information collected by InQuest is obtained by fair and lawful means.

5. Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention: Personal information is not used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected. Personal information is retained only as long as necessary to fulfill research requirements (see #2)

6. Accuracy: Any personal information received by InQuest is treated as confidential­ the accuracy of any information depends on the respondent giving it. Projects are typically completed within a month, therefore any information is considered up-to-date.

7. Safeguards: Any personal information is protected by safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

8. Openness: InQuest makes readily available to individuals specific information about its policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.

9. Individual Access: InQuest does not keep / maintain personal information, however, upon request, an individual will be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of any personal information and shall be given access to that information, if it exists, and amend it, if appropriate.

10. Challenging Compliance: An individual can address a challenge regarding compliance to the InQuest Privacy Officer or via the Privacy Commissioner.