Our data commitment

Our global privacy culture

The global privacy and data security landscape has changed considerably in recent years, and continues to evolve. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) is the world’s most comprehensive data protection regulation, state laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) have reignited the discussion around privacy rights in the United States, and many other countries are creating or updating their legal frameworks to strengthen the rights that people have over their data.

As a global data company and provider of research insights, we take privacy and data security very seriously, and believe that everyone’s personal data should be handled responsibly regardless of where someone lives. We have therefore decided to incorporate the GDPR’s principles as much as possible into our global operations, while complying with all other applicable privacy and security obligations in the markets that we operate. This approach has made it possible to create a global privacy framework that gives those who participate in our research, our clients and our colleagues as consistent experience as possible, regardless of what privacy laws exist (or don’t exist) where they live.

Using data ethically

We believe that our responsibilities go beyond mere legal compliance. While we must of course look to the many laws, regulations and guidelines that apply to us, we know that using data ethically is more than a box-ticking exercise.

While data privacy and data ethics are closely linked, they are not the same thing. Using data ethically requires us to “do what is right”, which is not defined in any data privacy law, and because every person has their own idea of what is acceptable and what is not, “doing the right thing” can sometimes be difficult.

We look to privacy principles, such as ‘fairness’, ‘transparency’, and ‘accountability’ as a starting point. Beyond those key principles, we also think carefully about how those whose data we hold, whether they are research participants or clients, would feel about our use of their data. We see every decision we make about data as another opportunity to create and reinforce trusted relationships with those who provide us with their personal data.

Find out more

On these pages, you can find out more about how we have fostered a culture of privacy and ethics in our approach to data protection and security, and what our clients can expect when they work with us. If you would like more information, you can contact our Data Privacy team at dataprivacy@yougov.com.