Ashridge Communications Ltd provides communications, market research and consultancy services for clients in and around the membership sector.  We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our clients and of our clients’ customers.

This privacy notice tells you how we handle personal data and information. It applies to information we collect about visitors to our website, data collected or processed during the course of our own marketing and business processes, and data collected or processed on behalf of our clients.

In cases where we collect and process data on behalf of a client, the client’s Privacy Notice also applies.

Visitors to our website

When you visit our website, www.ashridgecommunications.com, we use Google Analytics to collect standard internet log information in an anonymous format. 

Google Analytics uses cookies, and collects data related to the device, browser, IP address and visitor activities to measure and report statistics about visitor interactions on the website.

We use this information to measure the number of visitors to the various parts of the site, helping us understand what our visitors are most interested in and helping us to improve the site. 

This privacy notice does not cover other websites that we may link to.

Participating in our market research

We conduct market research using a variety of methodologies (including surveys, telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews and focus groups) for both our own business purposes and on behalf of our clients.  In these cases, we collect data for research purposes only and the information gathered is not used for marketing or sales.  The details individual participants provide are reported anonymously.

In our research, we may ask for your permission to share your identity and responses with us or with the client.  We will always inform you of the reasons for asking for this permission, and with whom the information is being shared. You are not obliged to share your identity and responses; all responses remain confidential and anonymous unless you tell us otherwise. 

If you wish to withdraw your consent, or exercise other rights relating to the collection or processing of your personal data, you should approach the organisation that invited you to participate.

To deliver our market research services, we may work with a limited number of carefully selected individuals and companies who will collect and process your data on our behalf and, in some cases, assist us in delivering our services to our clients.  Our agreements with these individuals and companies include requirements for safeguarding your data during the collection, handling and processing that is carried out on our behalf.

The personal data we collect in market research

When conducting our market research, we may ask you to provide contact information, demographic information about you or the organisation for which you work, and open-ended answers or explanations of your opinion.

In online surveys, we may collect your IP address to verify your right to participate and prevent fraudulent participation. IP addresses are never used to identify individuals.

Some client research projects may include an incentive for taking part. Where appropriate, we may carry out random selection of winners on behalf of our client.  The provision of any incentives is the responsibility of the client.

Lawful bases for collection and processing of data

Our lawful bases for collection and processing of data are: 

• Legitimate interests
  • We collect, store and process personal information to enable us to manage our existing business relationships and establish new relationships. 
  • We may ask you to take part in market research and process your personal information for our own, or our clients’ legitimate business interests. 
• Contract
  • We may collect, store and process your personal information to fulfil a contract with you or your organisation.
  • We may ask you to take part in market research to fulfil a contract that exists between you (or your organisation) and our client. In this case, we are appointed as an independent market research provider authorised to carry out the research on behalf of the client.
• Consent
  • You may have given us your permission to contact you.
  • You may have given us or our client your permission to participate in market research.  Where the permission is given to the client, we are appointed as an independent market research provider authorised to carry out the research on behalf of the client.

Retention and storage of data

We will only retain your personal data for as long as it is required to complete the task for which it was collected, or for as long as there is another legitimate reason to do so. After this, your personal data will be anonymised or deleted.

In the case of our own market research studies and business processes, our standard retention period for personal data is 5 years. 

In the case of market research that we conduct on behalf of a client, our standard retention period is 3 months beyond the end date of the client’s project, where the end date is defined as the date on which our final report is delivered to the client.

The retention period for data collected from our website by Google Analytics is 26 months.

We use DropBox to store and transfer information and data - including personal data - collected and processed for our own research and consultancy business purposes and for our clients.  You can find more information about DropBox security and privacy here.

We use HubSpot to record and store contact data of current, past and potential business clients.  You can view HubSpot’s privacy policy here.

We use MailChimp for sending bulk marketing emails in relation to our own research and consultancy business.  We do not send you these emails unless you have subscribed by sending us your details using an online form.  Subscription requires a double opt-in.  MailChimp’s privacy policy can be found here.

We will, at all times, use appropriate technical and operational measures to safeguard the data from unauthorised or unlawful processing or accidental loss, disclosure, destruction or damage.

You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you, and to ask us to correct, update or remove the information we hold. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us.

E-mail communications for marketing and market research purposes

We send e-mail to individuals for our own marketing purposes and in the course of conducting market research for ourselves or for our clients.  You may opt-out of receiving this e-mail at any time, either by clicking the unsubscribe links provided in the e-mails or by contacting us directly.

If you opt out of e-mails that we send on behalf of a client for the purpose of conducting a market research project, we may share this information with the client to ensure your preference is applied.

Updating our privacy policies and privacy notice

We will regularly review our privacy policies and this privacy notice and update them when necessary to ensure good business practice. 

This notice last reviewed: July 2020