Compass Research Network Privacy Policy

Compass Research Network Limited (Compass Research Network) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines our practices regarding the collection, use, and sharing of personal information through our websites and other channels. We may provide further notices highlighting certain uses of your personal information, along with options to opt-in or opt-out of selected uses, when we collect your information. We take our duty to process your personal information very seriously. Please refer to the sections below for more details on how and why we use your information.

Compass Research Network is an expert network company. Part of our business activities involves identifying industry experts and introducing them to our clients for consultations and other interactions, aiding clients in making informed strategic decisions. Joining our network means that Compass Research Network team members may contact Experts with project invitations. Clients may browse Experts on our platform and contact them directly for project invitations. This Privacy Policy explains our privacy practices for Clients and Experts working with us.

Sources by Which We May Collect Personal Data About Clients or Experts

We may collect personal information about you through various methods, including when you:

• Correspond with us about becoming or being an Expert

• Correspond with us about becoming or being a Client

• Request more information

• Send us correspondence via email

• Provide feedback

• Correspond with us via post, telephone, email, SMS, WhatsApp, or other electronic means

We may also gather information about you or your organization from publicly available sources such as:

• Websites

• Social Media Channels

• LinkedIn Profiles

• Companies House

Website and Communication Usage

Details of your visits to our websites and information collected through cookies and other tracking technologies, including but not limited to your IP address, domain name, browser version, operating system, traffic data, location data, web logs, and other communication data, and the resources that you access. This information is collected under the process of Website Hosting, and we process this data under legitimate interests. Essential cookies are used to ensure the website functions and remains secure. Disabling these cookies may affect website performance. We use Google Analytics to track website traffic, which may use cookies for this purpose. Please refer to Google Analytics’ privacy policy for further information. 

 

When You Correspond with Us via Email

When you correspond with us via email, the information in the email will be used to respond to your request or question, and we might store data such as your contact details or views and opinions in our CRM to manage our relationship with you. Our legal basis for data protection purposes is legitimate interest.

 

When You Agree to Work with Us

Overview

Compass Research Network is the ‘data controller’ of the personal information you provide to us. Your relationship with us determines how much information we collect from you. We will only collect the information needed to provide you with advice and services. We will be clear with you about the reason for collecting information and how we intend to use, share, and store that information at the point we collect it.

Experts

When You Enquire About or Become an Expert

When you enquire with us about becoming an Expert, we will ask for specific information about your expertise and work experience to provide you with potential introduction and consulting opportunities that may interest you. When you agree that you wish Compass Research Network to consider you for suitable projects, we will retain your information on our database. This includes the information you provide and other relevant publicly available information, such as your LinkedIn profile. Our legal basis for data protection purposes is contractual obligations.

Survey Information

We may ask you to complete surveys for research purposes using the Zoho survey platform.

Information You Provide to Us

Information you provide to us may include your name, address, telephone numbers, email address(es), and other contact details, as well as detailed information regarding your academic and professional background and employment history (and other information typically contained in a detailed CV/resume).

If you participate in an Engagement through us, we will request your bank account details to make payment to you. The legal basis for doing so is contractual obligations.

Other Ways We Collect Information About You

We may use relevant publicly available information, including your name, academic and professional background, and employment history, including the identities of your current and former employers and job titles/positions. This information may be found using search engines, corporate websites, or information you have made public (such as on business networking platforms and social media like LinkedIn). Our legal basis for data protection purposes is legitimate interests.

Ways We Approach Experts to Work with Us

We will approach potential Experts who have particular skills, knowledge, or experience for projects commissioned by a Client. This means we may contact Experts via email, LinkedIn, or occasionally via phone calls. We will always ask if you want to receive further information about opportunities, and you can ask us not to contact you at any time. Our legal basis for data protection purposes is legitimate interests.

Monitoring of Certain Activities

We may monitor certain activities, such as calls and transactions, to ensure service quality, compliance with procedures, and to combat fraud. Our legal basis for doing so is legitimate interests (to ensure the quality and legality of our services).

How We Correspond with Experts

We will contact you using your business contact information most of the time. However, we understand that Experts may wish to receive information from us via their personal email address or mobile number. We are happy to contact you via your preferred method. If your contact information changes, please let us know so we can update our records. If you do not wish to hear about other opportunities from us, let us know, and we will amend our records accordingly.

Clients

When You Enquire About or Become a Client

When you enquire with us about becoming a Client, we will retain a record of the communication for a period of 12 months. When you become a Client and enter into a contract for services with us, we need to retain your accounts information for a period of seven years in accordance with UK accounting regulations. Throughout your engagement with Compass Research Network, we will retain notes and records of the services requested and provided. Our legal basis for data protection purposes is contractual obligations.

Service Provision Data

If you are a Client (or a prospective client), we may collect personal data on you in the ordinary course of our business relationship, i.e., the provision of our services to you. This includes carrying out our obligations arising from any agreements entered into between you and us, such as identifying the most suitable Experts for Engagements with you and identifying other products and services that may interest you. Our legal basis is contract performance.

For Research and Development Purposes

We may analyze usage and interaction to better understand you and your service requirements, helping us develop our products and services. We do this through the use of cookies on the basis of consent.

To Provide You with Marketing Materials

We may provide you with updates, where you have chosen to receive them. We may also use your contact details and personal characteristics to market our products and services to you by email, phone, and other electronic means. We will provide an option to unsubscribe or opt-out of further communication on any electronic marketing communication sent to you, or you may opt-out by contacting us as set out below. The legal basis is legitimate interest.

To Inform You of Changes

We may use your contact details to notify you about changes to our services and products. The legal basis is legitimate interests.

Financial Arrangements

Compass Research Network will take action to recover any payments due to us and, where necessary, to enforce such recovery through the engagement of debt collection agencies or taking other legal action (including the commencement and carrying out of legal and court proceedings). Our legal basis is contractual obligations.

Where Do We Store and Protect Information

Whenever possible, all personal information we process is processed within the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA). Some of our third-party service providers are based outside the UK or EEA, so their processing of your personal information may involve a transfer outside the UK or EEA.

No data transmission over the Internet or website can be guaranteed to be secure from intrusion. However, we maintain commercially reasonable physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect your personal information. Whenever we transfer your personal information outside of the UK or EEA, we do our best to ensure a similar degree of security of personal information is provided by implementing one of the following safeguards:

• We will only transfer your personal information to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal information by the European Commission; or

• Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts or codes of conduct or certification mechanisms approved by the European Commission, giving personal information the same protection it has in Europe.

If we have given you (or you have chosen) a password that enables you to access certain parts of our websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential and for complying with any other security procedures we notify you of. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

Your Rights

Right to Access

You have the right to request access to your personal information that we process. We will provide you with a copy of this information unless your request is manifestly unfounded, excessive, or repetitive. In this case, we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse to act on the request.

Right to Rectification

You have the right to request that we correct any inaccuracies in your personal information.

Right to Erasure

In certain circumstances, you may have the right to request that we erase your personal information. This right is not absolute, and we may have the right to refuse such a request in certain circumstances.

Right to Restrict Processing

In certain circumstances, you may have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information. This means we will only store your information and will not further process it.

Right to Data Portability

In certain circumstances, you may have the right to request that we provide you with your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and that we transfer this information to another organization.

Right to Object

In certain circumstances, you may have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. This includes, for example, situations where we process your information for direct marketing purposes or for research or statistical purposes.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, or if you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@compassresearchnetwork.com

Post: Compass Research Network Limited, Address: 71-75 Shelton St, London WC2h 9JQ, United Kingdom

We will respond to your requests or complaints within a reasonable timeframe.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on our websites. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

This Privacy Policy was last updated in May 2024.