Privacy Policy

1. Our Commitment to Privacy

Tendance Research Insights (“Tendance”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a market research, expert recruitment, data collection and insights organization. We respect the privacy and confidentiality of individuals whose personal data we collect or process in connection with our websites, research studies, expert-network activities, clients, partners, suppliers and business operations.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, how and why we use it, when we may disclose it, how we protect and retain it, international transfers, cookies and online technologies, and the rights available to individuals. Tendance may act as a data controller/data fiduciary for some activities and as a processor/data processor for others, depending on the purpose of the processing and the instructions governing the engagement.

2. Scope of this Policy

This Policy applies to personal data collected or processed through Tendance websites, contact and enquiry forms, research recruitment and screening, surveys, online and telephone research, in-depth interviews, focus groups, expert consultations, panel/network activities, client and partner engagements, incentives/honoraria, recruitment communications, events, employment applications and related business interactions.

Where Tendance conducts research on behalf of a client and the client determines the purposes and means of processing, the client may also provide a project-specific privacy notice. In such circumstances, Tendance will process personal data in accordance with the applicable client instructions, contract and law.

3. Tendance as Controller/Fiduciary and Processor

Tendance may operate in both roles. For example, Tendance may act as a processor when collecting and processing respondent data strictly on a client’s documented instructions. Tendance may act as a controller/data fiduciary when managing its own expert network, respondent recruitment database, website enquiries, business contacts, incentive administration, recruitment records or other activities for which Tendance determines the purposes and means of processing.

4. Personal Data We May Collect

• Identity and contact data: Name, email address, telephone/mobile number, business address and other contact identifiers.
• Professional/business data: Employer, company, job title, seniority, department, industry, responsibilities, professional experience, expertise, qualifications, public professional profile information and CV/resume where relevant.
• Research profile and screening data: Eligibility information, demographic information, professional characteristics, purchasing/usage experience and other information needed to qualify an individual for a study.
• Research responses: Opinions, experiences, attitudes, preferences, feedback, survey answers and information provided in interviews, focus groups or expert consultations.
• Qualitative research materials: Audio/video recordings, transcripts, chat content, photographs, research notes or other materials, where applicable and with appropriate notice/consent.
• Technical/usage data: IP address, device/browser information, operating system, timestamps, referring pages, approximate location and online interaction information collected through websites or research platforms, where applicable.
• Payment/incentive data: Information reasonably required to issue honoraria, incentives or reimbursements, which may include payment account, bank, tax or other payment details depending on the selected payment method.
• Communications: Messages, enquiry details, attachments, consent/withdrawal records, complaints and correspondence with Tendance.

5. How We Obtain Personal Data

• Directly from you when you contact Tendance, register for a study, complete screening questions, participate in research, join an expert/research network or communicate with us.
• From clients or authorized project partners that provide contact or eligibility information for a research engagement.
• From professional and business sources, such as company websites, professional directories, industry associations, conferences, publications and other publicly available professional information, where permitted by law.
• From Tendance’s expert/research networks, referrals, recruitment partners, panel providers and other suppliers acting under appropriate contractual arrangements.
• Automatically through websites and research platforms, including cookies, log files and similar technologies, subject to applicable consent requirements.

6. Purposes of Processing

• Recruit and screen respondents, experts, professionals and stakeholders for legitimate market research and business research.
• Conduct quantitative and qualitative research, including surveys, IDIs, focus groups, CATI/online research and expert consultations.
• Validate eligibility, prevent duplicate or fraudulent participation, perform quality checks and maintain research integrity.
• Schedule interviews, send study invitations/reminders and communicate research-related information.
• Administer incentives, honoraria, reimbursements and associated accounting or tax requirements.
• Analyze research responses and prepare outputs using aggregated, anonymized or pseudonymized information wherever practical.
• Maintain and update professional/research profiles for future studies where permitted and where appropriate notice/consent has been provided.
• Operate, maintain, secure and improve our websites, systems, research platforms and business processes.
• Manage client, supplier, partner and business-development relationships.
• Meet contractual, legal, regulatory, audit, fraud-prevention and information-security obligations and protect the rights, safety and property of Tendance and others.

7. Lawful Bases for Processing

Where applicable law requires a lawful basis, Tendance may rely on one or more of the following, depending on the circumstances: consent; performance of a contract or steps requested before entering into a contract; compliance with a legal obligation; legitimate interests that are not overridden by an individual’s rights and interests; protection of vital interests; public-interest grounds; or another lawful basis recognized by applicable law.

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to applicable legal limitations. Withdrawal will not affect processing already carried out lawfully before withdrawal.

8. Market Research Confidentiality

Tendance treats research participation and research responses as confidential. Unless you have expressly agreed to identifiable disclosure, individual responses will normally be provided to clients in aggregated, anonymized, pseudonymized or otherwise de-identified form.

We will not intentionally disclose your name, direct contact details or individual research responses to a study sponsor or third party in a way that identifies you unless you have requested, authorized or consented to that disclosure, or disclosure is required or permitted by law.

If a research engagement involves an identifiable expert introduction, reference interview, consultation or other named interaction, Tendance will provide appropriate information and obtain the required permission before making the identifiable introduction.

Tendance does not intentionally use genuine market-research recruitment as a disguised sales or promotional activity. Participants will not be asked to buy a product or service as a condition of research participation.

We do not intentionally ask research participants to provide confidential business information, trade secrets or material non-public information about their employer or another organization.

9. Recordings and Qualitative Research

Some qualitative studies may be recorded for transcription, quality assurance, analysis or reporting. Where recording is used, Tendance will provide appropriate notice and obtain consent where required. Clients and other authorized recipients will receive only the level of identifying information permitted by the research design, consent and applicable law.

10. Sensitive / Special-Category Data

Certain studies may involve information classified as sensitive or special-category personal data under applicable law, including certain health, biometric, political, religious, racial/ethnic or other sensitive information. Tendance seeks to avoid collecting such information unless it is relevant and necessary to the research or service. Where required, we will obtain explicit consent or rely on another lawful exception and apply appropriate safeguards.

Tendance generally conducts research with adults. We do not knowingly recruit children without the parental/guardian consent or other safeguards required by applicable law.

11. Sharing and Disclosure

Tendance does not sell personal data. We may disclose or provide access to personal data where necessary and legally permitted, including to:

• Clients commissioning or sponsoring research, to the extent necessary to deliver the engagement and consistent with the research notice and permissions.
• Affiliates, subsidiaries or group entities involved in delivering the relevant service.
• Research recruitment partners, expert-network providers, panel suppliers, survey/interview platforms, transcription providers, data-processing vendors and other service providers.
• Payment and incentive providers where necessary to deliver an agreed incentive or honorarium.
• Professional advisers, auditors, insurers, legal counsel and other advisers where reasonably necessary.
• Courts, regulators, government authorities or law-enforcement bodies where required by law or legal process.
• A purchaser, successor or relevant party in connection with a merger, acquisition, restructuring or sale of assets, subject to applicable confidentiality and privacy safeguards.

Third-party processors and service providers are expected to process personal data only for agreed purposes, maintain confidentiality and implement appropriate security measures.

12. International Data Transfers

Tendance works across multiple countries and may use service providers, clients, affiliates or research platforms located in different jurisdictions. Personal data may therefore be transferred, accessed, stored or processed outside the country in which it was collected.

Where applicable law restricts international transfers, Tendance will implement an appropriate lawful transfer mechanism and safeguards, which may include an adequacy decision, contractual safeguards, consent or another legally recognized mechanism.

13. Data Security

Tendance maintains reasonable technical, organizational and administrative safeguards designed to protect personal data from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, loss, misuse or destruction. Depending on the processing activity, controls may include role-based access, least-privilege permissions, confidentiality commitments, secure authentication, secure transmission, encryption where appropriate, vendor due diligence, backups, monitoring, staff awareness/training and incident-response procedures.

No electronic transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Tendance therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, but applies measures proportionate to the nature and risk of the processing.

14. Cookies, Log Files and Analytics

Our websites and research platforms may use essential cookies and similar technologies to operate services and maintain security. Where permitted and appropriate, we may also use analytics or functionality technologies to understand website usage and improve our services. Where applicable law requires consent for non-essential cookies, we will provide an appropriate consent mechanism.

Technical information may include IP address, browser/device information, timestamps, referring pages and usage patterns. Such information may be used for security, analytics, quality control, fraud prevention and service administration.

15. Data Accuracy

We take reasonable steps to keep personal data accurate, complete, current and relevant for the purposes for which it is used. Individuals may request correction or update of their information through the contact details below.

16. Data Retention

Tendance retains personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including research delivery, quality assurance, contractual requirements, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, legal compliance and legitimate record-keeping.

Unless a project notice, client contract or applicable law requires a different period, Tendance’s operational target is to retain respondent-level personal data associated with a completed market research project for up to 12 months after project completion. De-identified or aggregated research outputs may be retained longer because they do not reasonably identify an individual.

Where an individual opts out of future research recruitment, Tendance may retain a limited suppression record to ensure the individual is not contacted again, subject to applicable law.

17. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location and the law applicable to the processing, you may have rights including:

• Right to access and receive information about personal data we hold about you.
• Right to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Right to request deletion/erasure, subject to applicable exceptions.
• Right to restrict processing in certain circumstances.
• Right to object to certain processing, including certain direct-marketing activities.
• Right to withdraw consent where processing is consent-based.
• Right to data portability where applicable.
• Right to lodge a complaint with an applicable data-protection or supervisory authority.

For individuals in India, Tendance intends to process digital personal data in accordance with applicable requirements of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and applicable rules, notifications and implementation requirements.

18. How to Exercise Your Rights / Opt Out

You may submit a privacy request, correction request, deletion request, objection, withdrawal of consent or research-recruitment opt-out using the contact details in Section 22. Please provide sufficient information to help us identify the relevant records and understand your request.

Where permitted by law, we may verify your identity before completing a request. We will respond within the period required by applicable law.

19. Do-Not-Contact and Research Recruitment Suppression

If you do not wish to receive future research invitations from Tendance, you may request that your contact details be suppressed from future recruitment communications. We may retain only the minimum information necessary to honor the suppression request and prevent unwanted future contact, unless applicable law requires otherwise.

20. Third-Party Websites and Platforms

Our websites, research invitations or communications may link to third-party websites, research platforms or services. Those third parties operate under their own privacy notices and terms. Tendance is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites or services that it does not control.

21. Data Incidents and Breach Response

Tendance maintains procedures for identifying, assessing, containing and responding to suspected personal-data incidents. Where required by applicable law or contract, Tendance will notify the relevant client, regulator and/or affected individuals within the applicable timeframe and provide appropriate information regarding the incident and mitigation.

23. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology, processing activities, legal requirements or privacy practices. The updated version will be published with a revised effective date. Where required, we will provide additional notice or obtain consent.

24. Applicable Privacy Frameworks

This Policy is intended to operate alongside applicable privacy and data-protection laws in the countries in which Tendance conducts business or processes personal data. Depending on the individual and processing activity, this may include India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and applicable rules, the EU/EEA GDPR, UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act, and applicable U.S. state privacy laws.

Nothing in this Policy limits rights or protections that cannot lawfully be waived under applicable data-protection law.

25. Research Ethics and Professional Standards

Tendance aims to conduct research recruitment and data collection transparently, fairly and responsibly. Our operating practices are designed to support recognized market-research privacy and professional standards, including applicable ESOMAR/ICC principles and relevant local professional codes. Project-specific client, regulatory or contractual requirements may impose additional controls.

Appendix A — Research Participant Privacy Statement

When you are contacted by Tendance to participate in market research, our purpose is to obtain your genuine views, experience and expertise for research. Participation is voluntary. We will explain the relevant study requirements, including any material use of your personal data, recording, identifiable introduction, incentive or other special processing, before or at the point required by applicable law.

Your individual research responses will normally be treated confidentially and reported in aggregated, anonymized or de-identified form. We will not intentionally ask you to disclose confidential business information or material non-public information. You may decline a question or withdraw from a study where permitted by the study terms and applicable law.

Appendix B — Recommended Internal Privacy Controls

• Maintain a record of processing activities for controller activities and appropriate processing instructions for processor activities.
• Maintain documented respondent consent/notice where consent is the applicable basis.
• Keep identifiable recruitment data separate from research responses wherever practical.
• Apply least-privilege access and confidentiality obligations to personnel and suppliers.
• Conduct vendor due diligence for research platforms, panel providers, transcription vendors and incentive providers.
• Use appropriate contractual safeguards for processors and international data transfers.
• Maintain a documented data-retention schedule by data type and project.
• Maintain a suppression/do-not-contact mechanism.
• Maintain a documented privacy-rights request and breach-response workflow.
• Review website cookies and analytics periodically and maintain a separate Cookie Policy where appropriate.
• Avoid collecting unnecessary sensitive/special-category data and apply enhanced safeguards when it is necessary.