Privacy Policy

So What Research Pty Ltd (“So What Research”) (ABN 30 131 306 548) a member of ADIA (Australian Data and Insights Association) respects and upholds your rights under the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) ("Privacy Act").  So What Research also adheres to the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2021 (“Code”).  

For more information about the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles click here: Australian Privacy Principles, OAIC

For more information about the Code click here: The Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2021

This Privacy Policy for So What Research lets you know what personal information of yours we hold, what we do with it, who we will disclose it to and how you can access the personal information we hold about you.  You can also find out here how to change inaccurate personal information and how to opt out of receiving communications from us.

How does So What Research generally collect information?

So What Research undertakes market research on behalf of clients and uses information collected from individuals for market research purposes only.  So What Research does not engage in any direct marketing.  The information we hold is collected from individuals participating voluntarily in market research activities such as telephone surveys, online surveys, face-to-face interviews and group discussions.

As part of our research activities, we develop survey studies which ask people to provide information such as their opinions, behaviours, experiences, perceptions, needs and attitudes.  We do this in order to provide accurate and timely information to client organisations about issues relevant to their activities to support their decision-making processes.

To view the So What Research Collection Statement click here

What personal information about you does So What Research collect and hold?

The information So What Research collects may include your name, contact details, opinions and feedback in relation to companies and products.  When providing personal information you have the option of remaining anonymous.  However, in certain circumstances, such as where we receive your contact details from a third party or where your contact details are required to process honoraria, this may not be practicable.

Depending on the nature of the research we conduct, we may also collect sensitive information from you, for example, health information.  Sensitive information will only be collected with your prior consent and only if it is directly related to, or reasonably necessary for, the research we conduct.

How does So What Research collect and hold your personal information?

So What Research will generally collect your personal information directly from you in the course of you participating in our research and/or surveys.  However, we may also from time to time collect personal information about you from third parties, such as clients or organisations that provide lists of potential candidates for market research.  If so, we will inform you as soon as practicable of this collection and the circumstances of this collection.

What are the purposes for which So What Research uses, handles and discloses your personal information?

We will only use and disclose your personal information for the purpose of conducting our research and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.  We will not use or disclose your personally identifiable information for the purpose of advertising, promotions or direct marketing activities.  If you declined to participate in our research, we may use your personal information to re-contact you for a research purpose if we have valid reasons to believe a genuine research concern warrants such re-contact.  If you have participated in our research, we will only re-contact you if you were informed of this or we have valid reasons to believe a genuine research concern warrants such re-contact.

Who will So What Research disclose your personal information to?

So What Research will not disclose any personally identifiable research information we collect from you unless we have your express prior consent and will only report the information you provide in an aggregate form that will not personally identify you.  We will not disclose any personal information or personally identifiable research information to a third party unless we have your express prior consent or are required to do so by an Australian law or court/tribunal order.

In the course of conducting our research we may rely on third party service providers to host, process, transfer or store the data we collect which are located overseas. The location of those suppliers are the UK and the US. We will also take reasonable steps to ensure any service providers (and their employees and contractors) comply with the Privacy Act and this Privacy Policy and/or are subject to similar privacy laws and you have the ability to enforce those rights.

Openness

You have the right to request access to any personal information we hold about you.  You can request this information by contacting the Privacy Officer at the details listed below.  Where we hold information that you are entitled to access, we will respond to your request in a reasonable time and endeavour to provide you with a suitable range of choices as to how access is provided (e.g. emailing or mailing it to you).  A fee may be charged to cover the cost of retrieval.  However, this fee will not be excessive and will only apply to the facilitation of your request.

If at any time you believe that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request amendment of it and we will either amend the information or make a record of your comment, as we think appropriate.

Questions and complaints

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or believe that we have at any time failed to keep one of our commitments to you to handle your personal information in the manner required by the Privacy Act, the APPs or the Code, then we ask that you contact us immediately using the following contact details:

Privacy Officer

So What Research Pty Ltd
Suite 8.07, 2-14 Kings Cross Road, Potts Point 2011 NSW Australia
Email: info@sowhatresearch.com.au

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 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).  If calling from overseas (including Norfolk Island): +61 2 9284 9749  TTY: 1800 620 241 (this number is dedicated to the hearing impaired only, no voice calls)  TIS: Translating and Interpreting Service: 131 450 (If you don’t speak English or English is your second language and you need assistance and ask for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner).

Post: GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 5218

Fax: +61 2 9284 9666

Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au

When visiting So What Research’s web site, the site server makes a record of the visit and logs the following information for statistical and administrative purposes:

•   the user’s server address – to consider the users who use the site regularly and tailor the site to their interests and requirements;

•   the date and time of the visit to the site – this is important for identifying the website’s busy times and ensuring maintenance on the site is conducted outside these periods;

•   pages accessed and documents downloaded – this indicates to So What Research which pages or documents are most important to users and also helps identify important information that may be difficult to find

•   duration of the visit – this indicates to us how interesting and informative the So What Research site is to candidates; the type of browser used – this is important for browser specific coding

•   In order to optimize the So What Research web site and better understand its usage, we collect the visiting domain name or IP address, Computer Operating System, Browser Type and Screen Resolution

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of information that an Internet web site sends to your browser when you access information at that site. Cookies are either stored in memory (session cookies) or placed on your hard disk (persistent cookies). We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience on our website. If you choose to close our Newsletter sign-up pop-up, we will remember your preference using a persistent cookie. This cookie prevents the pop-up from being displayed again for 30 days. It does not collect personal information and is solely used to improve your browsing experience. You can manage or delete this cookie through your browser settings. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of this cookie for the specified purpose.

Retention and destruction of Personal Information

So What Research will destroy or de-identify your personal information as soon as practicable once it is not longer needed for the purpose for our research purposes.  However, we may in certain circumstances be required by law to retain your personal information after our research has been completed.  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.

Security of Information

So What Research will take reasonable steps to protect your personally identifiable information as you transmit your information from your computer to our website and to protect such information from loss, misuse, and unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

However, you should keep in mind that the transmission of information over the Internet is not completely secure or error-free.  In particular, e-mail sent to or from this website may not be secure, and you should therefore take special care in deciding what information you send to us via e-mail.

Miscellaneous

In this policy "personal information" has the same meaning as under the Privacy Act.

This policy is effective from 02 March 2015. We may change this policy from time to time.  Although we intend to observe this Privacy Policy at all times, it is not legally binding on So What Research in any way.  From time to time we may regard it as necessary or desirable to act outside the policy.  So What Research may do so, subject only to any other applicable contractual rights you have and any statutory rights you have under the Privacy Act or other applicable legislation.

Collection Statement

Collection Statement – Personal Information (i.e. not research information)

So What Research respects your privacy.  We will only use the information you provide for market research invitations and honoraria payments.  Your contact details may have been provided to us by a client who we understand obtained your consent to disclose this information to us for market research purposes.  If you wish to withdraw this consent, you may do so by contacting us at info@sowhatresearch.com.au

Collection Statement – Identifiable Research Information

So What Research will only use the information you provide for research purposes.  

Participation in our research studies is voluntary. During a survey/interview, you can choose not to answer any question or decide to stop at any time.

The information you provide will be treated as private and confidential. Unless you agree otherwise, your information will only be used for the purposes of the research.

At any time during or after the survey/interview, you can ask that the information you provided not be used by So What Research Pty Ltd.

We do re-contact people from time to time for research projects. With your permission, we will retain your name and contact details for research purposes only. If at any time you change your mind, you can contact us to request that we remove your name from our list.

We will not disclose any identifiable research information to a third party for a purpose other than conducting our research unless we have your express prior consent or are required to do so by an Australian law.  You have the right to access any information we hold about you.  You may also request at any time to have any information we hold about you de-identified or destroyed.

Our Privacy Policy, available above, contains further details regarding how you can access or correct information we hold about you, how you can make a privacy related complaint, and how that complaint will be dealt with.

Should you have any questions about our research or any of the above matters, you should contact our Privacy Officer at info@sowhatresearch.com.au