Privacy Policy

Australian Market and Social Research Society (T/A The Research Society) Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to The Research Society and that is why we wish to make clear in this Privacy Policy (Policy) how we collect, use, disclose and protect your personal information. This Policy also sets out the way in which we comply with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988. (Privacy Act).

The Research Society’s Constitution and Regulations may include other information about how we deal with your information.  You should consider these documents carefully.  Please also visit our website regularly as we may update this Policy from time to time and any changes will be posted there.

The personal information we collect

Information we collect from you

We collect personal information from you in a number of ways such as

• when you become a Member of The Research Society
• The Research Society website,
• applications to attend conferences and other events,
• applications for our Special Interest Groups, Committees and Working Groups,
• registering for training,
• applying for Research Society Awards, Mentoring Programs,
• when you become a QPR member or Fellow of The Research Society,
• when subscribing to one of our newsletters or email alerts,
• when you buy or request a listing in any of The Research Society’s Directories,
• using any other of our Member services, making enquiries about or applying to be a part of our programs whether for yourself or on behalf of an organisation you represent or otherwise engage with us.

We collect personal information from you, including your:

• name
• email address
• other contact information (including phone numbers and address details)
• date of birth
• profession, occupation, organisation and job title
• organisation details
• computer or network
• location
• interactions with us
• event attendance information, including dietary requirements and medical information.

You are responsible to ensure that all information you provide us is current, complete and accurate. If The Research Society believes that the information you provide is not current, complete, or accurate, may have the right to decline access to information or services, deny access to certain parts of The Research Society website, decline your application for membership with The Research Society or applications for Event registrations until current, complete or accurate information is provided, refuse registrations for Events.

If you are applying for membership and for some products and services, we will also collect your payment information. Your card information is not, however, retained after we have processed your payment.

We may record details of your interactions with us, for example, when you contact us regarding Member services, and Programmes or any other matter.

• When you use our website or mobile applications, we may collect information about your IP address, location or activity.
• Some of this website information is collected using cookies, which don’t personally identify you but do identify your browser. You can set your browser to refuse cookies but this may mean you won’t be able to take full advantage of our website.
• We also use Google Analytics to monitor search behaviour and measure traffic flows. Information on how Google collects and processes data can be viewed at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites (or any other link Google may provide from time to time).We may also collect information about your interest in our e-newsletters, any other personal information you may provide to us, or authorise us to collect, from time to time.
• Information we collect from others  We may collect information about you from others where you have authorised us to do so, or where you have authorised others to disclose your information to us, such as our corporate / alliance partners.
• We may also collect information about you that is publicly available.

Consequences of not providing to us, or authorising us to collect, the information requested

If you do not provide to us, or authorise us to collect, the personal information we have requested, you may not be able to enjoy your Member rights and benefits or we may not be able to provide you with our services, including, without limit, registration, notification of

• upcoming events,
• right to participate in and vote at an Annual General Meeting
• access to Online Services
• respond to any queries or requests for information you have submitted.

How we use your personal information

We collect your personal information in order to:

• perform our activities as The Research Society
• process membership applications, upgrades and membership renewals,
• verify your identity and contact details,
• conducting any Events,
• distribution of publications, newsletters and promoting our products and services,
• communication to individuals and providing requested products or services,
• manage the safety and security of our members and other users,
• personalise and customise your experience,
• to provide you with access to secure areas of our website,
• to improve our website,
• to provide content for our member and partner Directories,
• to send you information regarding The Research Society Events, opportunities, benefits of membership, updates, information surveys and newsletters and the like pertaining to The Research Society and the Market and Social Research sector,
• to conduct competitions or promotions on behalf of The Research Society and selected third parties
• to provide to third parties such as sponsors, strategic partners, exhibitors, and guest speakers, and,
• any other transaction of activity as a result of the performance of our role as an organisation providing, services, products and benefits to our members and to others.to notify you of your rights to participate in and vote at an Annual General Meeting.
• for posting content on our social media account(s);
• to carry out, and comply with, our administrative, business, and legal requirements including, but not limited to, administration of the Member products and services we make available to you and ensuring compliance with our Constitution and Regulations;
• to undertake analysis and research to ensure that we provide you with the best possible Member services; and
• to improve Member experience and to train our staff.

We may also use your information for other purposes authorised by you, or which are permitted by law.

Where we have obtained your consent to do so, or in circumstances where you would reasonably expect that your personal information would be used or disclosed for this purpose, we may contact you from time to time with marketing material about our other products or services. At any time, you may change your communication preferences by using the options in the member portal or by using the links in the emails that we send you. Your consent to receiving this information will remain current until you advise us otherwise. Please allow 8 working days for any changes to your preferences to come into full effect. If you need any assistance in this regard, please contact us on 02 9566 3100 or by email at info@researchsociety.com.au.

Who Do We Disclose Personal Information To?

We may disclose your personal information:

• to our board members, employees contractors, sub-contractors and agents,
• for the operation of The Research Society (or for the operation of our website),to provide products and services to you and fulfil any requests by you,
• to communicate with you electronically, by email, phone or by text/sms,
• to other delegates and third parties as part of the delegate list when you have registered for any Research Society Events,
• Our professional advisors, including our accountants, auditors and lawyers,
• Government and regulatory authorities and other organisations, as required or authorised by law,
• where we are permitted to under the Privacy Act 1988,to third parties where The Research Society utilises third parties to undertake services, but only to the extent required to fulfil those services, and
• with your consent.

We may share your personal information with third parties if you have authorised us to.  This will generally be for the purposes of

• related competitions,
• promotions,
• information and
• marketing.  

We will only disclose your personal information to trusted third parties. Third parties may include sponsors, strategic partners, exhibitors and guest speakers.  We do not share your information if you do not provide your consent. We impose strict conditions on their use of your information and require them to keep your information confidential. 

How we protect your personal information

We are committed to keeping your information safe. We implement a variety of appropriate security measures to ensure your information is protected. These are reviewed and updated as appropriate.

We use third party providers to store our data, including personal information and we ensure that our third party data processors can meet our privacy and security requirements. All the information we hold about you will be processed and stored in accordance with data protection laws which include but are not limited to the Privacy Act 1988.Depending on the third party, some levels of personal information may be disclosed to third parties in countries outside Australia and steps are taken to reasonably ensure it has similar levels of data protection. If the third party is not in a country with similar levels of data protection, this will be made known to you and we will only share the required personal information necessary for the purposes of the performance of our services upon receipt of your authorisation.

The Research Society will destroy or de-identify your personal information as soon as practicable once it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected. However, we may be required by law to retain your Personal Information after your relationship with us has expired. In this case your Personal Information will continue to be protected in accordance with this Policy. If we destroy Personal Information we will do so by taking reasonable steps and using up-to-date techniques and processes.

Beyond the above, we release personal information only when it is permitted under the Privacy Act 1988 or if required by law.

How is Your Personal Information Protected?

We take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information that we hold from misuse, loss, unauthorised disclosure or access.  If you suspect your personal information may no longer be secure or has been compromised, please let us know immediately.

How Can You Access or Correct Your Personal Information?

Registered members of The Research Society can update their member details by getting in touch with us. We request that you keep your information as current as possible so we can continue to improve our services.

Non-members who do not have access to our website can request access to or seek correction of their personal information by emailing us at info@researchsociety.com.au or calling us on +61 2 9566 3100.You have the right to ask for a copy of any personal information we hold about you and to ask for it to be corrected if you think it is wrong.  If you would like a copy of your information, or to have it corrected, please contact us at our contact details below.

If your personal details change, we encourage you to update your details with us. Holding up-to-date information about our Members and those who are part of The Research society can help us to provide better service to you.

Policy Changes

We may change this privacy policy from time to time. Updated versions of this privacy policy will be posted on our website.  We encourage you to frequently check for changes.

Contact Details

Our data privacy officer is responsible for overseeing your personal data requests. If you have any questions or intend to exercise your legal rights, we would appreciate the first opportunity to deal with your concerns so please contact the data privacy officer as set out below:

Data Privacy Officer: Angus Hunter
Email: angus@researchsociety.com.au
Telephone: +61 2 9566 3100
Address: 20-40 Meagher Street, Chippendale, NSW, 2008

We will respond and advise whether we agree with your complaint or not. If we do not agree, we will provide reasons. If we do agree, we will advise what (if any) action we consider it appropriate to take in response. If you are still not satisfied after having contacted us and given us a reasonable time to respond, then we suggest that you contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by:

Phone: 1300 363 992 (local call cost but calls from mobile and pay phones may incur higher charges).
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au