Askable is committed to ensuring the fair and appropriate handling of your personal data.
This Privacy Policy explains how we handle your personal data, whether you are a client (aka: a corporate client conducting research), a prospective research participant, or you are simply reviewing what we have to offer.
Askable applies the privacy principles set out in Australia’s Privacy Act 1988. The privacy principles guide how we collect and manage your personal information (for simplicity, we have used the term personal data throughout this document). Importantly, we:
Our approach to privacy includes meeting personal data handling requirements set out in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the NZ Privacy Act 2022 and other relevant data protection laws where our platform users are from outside of Australia.
Askable is a market research facilitation platform, accessible via the ‘askable.com’ and ‘everask.com’ websites. In essence, we are matchmakers who find suitable participants for the research studies being conducted by our clients.
The platform has a number of functions:
Askable collects and processes your personal data to provide our platform services. Specifically, we use personal data for the following purposes and under the legal bases set out below. Askable will not use personal data for a purpose not related to its services or functions.
Consent
We ask you to agree to this. If you don’t agree… we don’t do it.
(Anyone) We analyse the usage of our website and improve the platform and user experience - e.g. through cookies
(Anyone) We offer you an opportunity to chat about our services
(Anyone) We receive your response to a marketing offer we made via our website or social media pages
(Participants) You can choose to populate your account profile with information held in your Google or social media accounts
(Participants) You can choose to add information to your account profile to assist us in matching you with our clients’ study opportunities
(Participants) You can choose whether we collect sensitive information about you, including as part of the screening process for client studies.
(Participants) We promote Everask.com using real examples of participants engaging in our clients’ study studies
(Participants) We offer participants opportunities to provide video responses to generic research topics, which will be made accessible to clients in a gallery-type setting via the Everask.com service
Contract
Fulfilling our contract with you, as set out in the Terms, requires this.
You register an account with us and sign in securely
We answer your queries, concerns or complaints
We communicate with our clients about the services we are providing to them
We communicate with participants about upcoming research opportunities they may be interested in
We build participant profiles based on the information they provide to us
We screen participants for client studies (using screening questions supplied by the client or our +Researchers)
We verify the accuracy of participant applications and responses to screening questions
We connect our clients (or +Researchers) with research participants
We set up research study session times
We facilitate communication between our clients (or +Researcher) and selected participants
We engage participants in our clients’ market research via the Askable Sessions feature (formerly Askable Live)
We display in a gallery-type setting participant video responses to generic research topics as part of the Everask.com service for clients
Personal data is informatiaon that identifies you (or could reasonably lead to you being identified). The types of personal data we collect and process depends on our relationship with you. We explain this below:
Analytics data - We collect and use analytics and cookie data collected from your use of the Askable platform. We collect this data from website visitors, clients and participants.
Enquiries and chat data - When you contact us or use our chat function, we use your personal data to communicate with you and answer your enquiries.
Client registration data - As our clients are generally companies, personal data required for the registration of clients is generally limited to details of a company’s nominated contact person.
Participant registration data - We collect and process participant personal data to register participant accounts.
Participant profile data - We collect and process personal data to build participant profiles and set participant preferences.
Screening Data- We collect and process participant personal data as part of the screening process for an upcoming research study.
Research study data - When participants undertake client studies – and the Askable platform facilitates – we collect and process this data to provide our agreed services to the client.
Video response data - When participants provide video responses to market research topics, we collect and process this data to provide our agreed services to the client via the Everask platform.
Contact data - We collect and process this data to contact clients and participants about upcoming research study opportunities or scheduled studies.
Request for access or correction data - When you submit a request to access or correct your data, Askable uses this data to process your request and communicate with you.
The following sections set out specific information on how we collect and process personal data that relates to:
Askable collects and processes your personal data in a number of instances, which have been set out below. We may share your personal data with our external service providers in some of these instances.
Analytics - When visiting our websites (askable.com and everask.com), Askable collects data about your navigation of the websites to help us monitor and improve our platform and your user experience.
The data collected and processed when you visit our website includes your:
Cookies - Our websites also use cookies. A cookie is a small piece of data that our website asks your browser to store on your PC, laptop, smartphone or other device. Cookies act like signposts, markers or tiny pieces of memory that enable us to give you the best experience possible when visiting our website.
You have the option to accept all, customise our use of or refuse these cookies. In some cases, the use of cookies by Askable will be necessary for your use of our website and disabling our ability to deploy them may prevent you from using our site with ease and using some portions of our services.
You can choose which cookies you wish to accept when you navigate to our site by following the prompts on the cookie banner. You will see this banner pop-up within moments of navigating to our site. As an alternative, if you wish to disable, delete, prevent or clear cookies, you can follow the instructions available on your web browser.
When you contact us or use our chat function, we use your personal data to communicate with you and provide you with information about our services. We may collect and use your name, email, phone number and enquiry details.
If you choose to respond to a marketing offer that we make on our website or social media pages, we will collect some of your personal data, including your email, approximate location, the landing page ID and the time you visited the page.
When you submit a request to access or correct your personal data, or submit a privacy complaint, Askable uses this data to process your request or investigate your concern and to communicate with you.
We collect and use your name, contact information and details regarding your request or concern.
As our clients are generally companies (and/ or corporations, organisations, government agencies), personal data collected from clients is usually limited to details of the nominated contact person, which we process in a number of circumstances, set out below.
We may share personal data with our external service providers in some circumstances.
When you visit our client platform (app.askable.com and app.everask.com), we collect analytics data including your device’s IP address, URL’s visited and the time and date you visited.
Clients can register an account with Askable.com and/or Everask.com, i.e. an Askable product. During registration, personal data collected from clients is generally limited to details of the client’s nominated contact person, including name, email and phone number.
When clients purchase credits with Askable, they will generally provide payment information of a company, as opposed to an individual. However there may be limited circumstances where personal payment information is provided and processed by Askable for the purpose of purchasing credits (such as name on card, card type, amount purchased). We do not knowingly receive payment information associated with a person; rather, we ask our clients to use their approved corporate payment facilities.
Askable collects and processes a client’s contact person’s email address when receiving email notifications.
Askable provides a virtual video conferencing tool that works in conjunction with other Askable products. The tool is referred to as Askable Sessions (formerly Askable Live). Clients can use the tool to conduct virtual research studies with their selected participants. Through Askable Sessions, we collect an audio and visual recording of the research session and the individuals involved in the research session.
Askable collects and processes participant personal data in a number of instances, which have been set out below.
We may share your personal data with our external service providers in some of these instances.
When you visit our participant platform (my.askable.com), we collect analytics data including your device’s IP address, URL’s visited and the date and time you visited.
When you register an account with Askable as a participant, we collect and use a range of personal data to set up an account, including:
You may also choose to sign up using Google. If you choose to do this, Google will provide us with information from your social media profile, such as your name, email address, language preference and profile picture.
Askable clients (or +Researchers conducting research on behalf of our clients) will be provided with your name, gender, age, suburb location and occupation status when you apply for a research opportunity with them. Our clients cannot access all of your information held by Askable, and instead are only provided details that are relevant to their research study.
Before our clients can select participants to complete their research study, they must request and be approved to hold an account with Askable and have purchased credits with Askable. Only then are our clients provided with your information for the purpose of selecting participants and conducting their research study.
Where +Researchers conduct research on behalf of our clients, Askable enters into arrangements with +Researchers to ensure they only use research information (including any personal data) for the purpose of conducting research studies, and not for any other purpose.
You can optionally provide us with additional profile details in your participant account. We collect and process these details to build your participant profile and set your preferences (e.g. the types of research opportunities you would like to be considered for).
You can provide the following additional personal data to build your participant profile:
Participants are able to connect to LinkedIn via the online participant account. Where requested by you, LinkedIn will provide Askable with details about you that are included in your LinkedIn profile.
When you apply for a research opportunity, our clients or +Researchers may be provided with certain information about you in addition to your name, gender, age, suburb location and occupation status as described above, where it relates to the type of participants required for the study (for example, whether you are working in a “profession”).
During the application process, you will be asked to answer a number of screening questions. The screening questions are provided by our clients or +Researchers in relation to the particular research studies they are conducting.
Askable uses your answers to assist our clients or +Researcher in narrowing down the participant pool from which to select people to participate in a particular study. Askable does not use these answers to build a database of information about you; rather, the answers are held only in order to match you with the research opportunities our clients are seeking participants for.
Screening questions may include details about your:
Where we ask for personal data about you that is considered sensitive information, we will ask for your permission first before we collect and use that information.
For quality assurance, it is important that all screening questions are answered by you to the greatest degree of accuracy (i.e., that you abide by our Terms by answering honestly and do not change your answers in order to appear to be a best-fit for the research opportunity). To facilitate this, we record your device’s screen when you are completing applications and answering the screening questions for each research opportunity.
As part of the application process, we also collect details regarding your availability to participate in each research opportunity.
Our clients or +Researchers will be provided with your answers to their screening questions, as well as your availability, for the purpose of selecting participants to participate in their research.
To participate in and complete research studies, you are required to provide details about yourself, including your opinions and preferences. The exact personal data that you are required to provide is dependent on the study being conducted and is determined by the client (or our +Researcher conducting the research on behalf of the client).
In some study projects you may be recorded, via audio or visual recording (or both), including when you participate in an interview or provide an opinion verbally.
When you participate in research, one of the following may occur:
In accordance with our Terms, all Askable clients must commit to fair and lawful personal data handling practices. All +Researchers must agree to only using research information (including personal data) for the purpose of conducting the research study.
Where the study is conducted and facilitated solely by a client, the client is responsible for the collection and processing of your personal data during the study.
Some clients may choose to use tools provided by third parties when completing studies (such as Survey Monkey or Validity). In this scenario, Askable is not involved in the collection or processing of personal data during the study. It is important that you consider how clients and any non-Askable tools or services will handle your personal data before participating in these studies.
When clients (or our +Researchers) choose to use the Askable Sessions (formerly Askable Live) tool to facilitate a research study, both the client and Askable will collect and store your personal data during the study. Askable Sessions is a web conferencing tool provided by Askable that facilitates and records virtual interviews. Askable collects and stores the Askable Sessions recordings, including video files and audio files, and makes them available to the client conducting the research study.
Askable will not provide your personal data collected during studies facilitated via the Askable Sessions tool to any other entity. Askable does not have control, however, of how the client conducting the study will use and disclose your personal data. It is important that you consider this prior to participating in research studies.
Everask is a branded service for our clients, whereby clients can access a library of short video responses to generic research topics. Participants are given the opportunity to provide a short video response to market research questions that are of interest to multiple clients. When you submit your video response, this recording will be stored by us in a database and may be accessed by multiple clients that have registered an account with us. In essence, you will be submitting your short video response to a library – or gallery – of participant video responses that clients can access. Your response video may also be published on the everask.com website. We will always ask for your permission to use your video response as part of the Everask service, prior to the recording.
While our clients access Everask via the Everask website (everask.com), participants will always apply for opportunities and access the video recording tool via Askable.com.
We pay you when you participate in research studies! We call this an incentive payment. The personal data we collect and process in order to pay you includes:
We may contact you in a number of circumstances, including when we notify you of potential research opportunities, provide communication from our clients, or remind you of your upcoming study sessions. We collect and process your personal data when we communicate with you, including:
Askable collects and processes participant personal data in a number of instances, which have been set out below.
We may share your personal data with our external service providers in some of these instances.
When you visit our participant platform (my.askable.com), we collect analytics data including your device’s IP address, URL’s visited and the date and time you visited.
When you register an account with Askable as a participant, we collect and use a range of personal data to set up an account, including:
You may also choose to sign up using Google. If you choose to do this, Google will provide us with information from your social media profile, such as your name, email address, language preference and profile picture.
Askable clients (or +Researchers conducting research on behalf of our clients) will be provided with your name, gender, age, suburb location and occupation status when you apply for a research opportunity with them. Our clients cannot access all of your information held by Askable, and instead are only provided details that are relevant to their research study.
Before our clients can select participants to complete their research study, they must request and be approved to hold an account with Askable and have purchased credits with Askable. Only then are our clients provided with your information for the purpose of selecting participants and conducting their research study.
Where +Researchers conduct research on behalf of our clients, Askable enters into arrangements with +Researchers to ensure they only use research information (including any personal data) for the purpose of conducting research studies, and not for any other purpose.
You can optionally provide us with additional profile details in your participant account. We collect and process these details to build your participant profile and set your preferences (e.g. the types of research opportunities you would like to be considered for).
You can provide the following additional personal data to build your participant profile:
Participants are able to connect to LinkedIn via the online participant account. Where requested by you, LinkedIn will provide Askable with details about you that are included in your LinkedIn profile.
When you apply for a research opportunity, our clients or +Researchers may be provided with certain information about you in addition to your name, gender, age, suburb location and occupation status as described above, where it relates to the type of participants required for the study (for example, whether you are working in a “profession”).
During the application process, you will be asked to answer a number of screening questions. The screening questions are provided by our clients or +Researchers in relation to the particular research studies they are conducting.
Askable uses your answers to assist our clients or +Researcher in narrowing down the participant pool from which to select people to participate in a particular study. Askable does not use these answers to build a database of information about you; rather, the answers are held only in order to match you with the research opportunities our clients are seeking participants for.
Screening questions may include details about your:
For quality assurance, it is important that all screening questions are answered by you to the greatest degree of accuracy (i.e., that you abide by our Terms by answering honestly and do not change your answers in order to appear to be a best-fit for the research opportunity). To facilitate this, we record your device’s screen when you are completing applications and answering the screening questions for each research opportunity.
As part of the application process, we also collect details regarding your availability to participate in each research opportunity.
Our clients or +Researchers will be provided with your answers to their screening questions, as well as your availability, for the purpose of selecting participants to participate in their research.
To participate in and complete research studies, you are required to provide details about yourself, including your opinions and preferences. The exact personal data that you are required to provide is dependent on the study being conducted and is determined by the client (or our +Researcher conducting the research on behalf of the client).
In some study projects you may be recorded, via audio or visual recording (or both), including when you participate in an interview or provide an opinion verbally.
When you participate in research, one of the following may occur:
In accordance with our Terms, all Askable clients must commit to fair and lawful personal data handling practices. All +Researchers must agree to only using research information (including personal data) for the purpose of conducting the research study.
Where the study is conducted and facilitated solely by a client, the client is responsible for the collection and processing of your personal data during the study.
Some clients may choose to use tools provided by third parties when completing studies (such as Survey Monkey or Validity). In this scenario, Askable is not involved in the collection or processing of personal data during the study. It is important that you consider how clients and any non-Askable tools or services will handle your personal data before participating in these studies.
When clients (or our +Researchers) choose to use the Askable Live tool to facilitate a research study, both the client and Askable will collect and store your personal data during the study. Askable Live is a web conferencing tool provided by Askable that facilitates and records virtual interviews. Askable collects and stores the Askable Live recordings, including video files and audio files, and makes them available to the client conducting the research study.
Askable will not provide your personal data collected during studies facilitated via the Askable Live tool to any other entity. Askable does not have control, however, of how the client conducting the study will use and disclose your personal data. It is important that you consider this prior to participating in research studies.
Everask is a branded service for our clients, whereby clients can access a library of short video responses to generic research topics. Participants are given the opportunity to provide a short video response to market research questions that are of interest to multiple clients. When you submit your video response, this recording will be stored by us in a database and may be accessed by multiple clients that have registered an account with us. In essence, you will be submitting your short video response to a library – or gallery – of participant video responses that clients can access. Your response video may also be published on the everask.com website. We will always ask for your permission to use your video response as part of the Everask service, prior to the recording.
While our clients access Everask via the Everask website (everask.com), participants will always apply for opportunities and access the video recording tool via Askable.com.
We pay you when you participate in research studies! We call this an incentive payment. The personal data we collect and process in order to pay you includes:
We may contact you in a number of circumstances, including when we notify you of potential research opportunities, provide communication from our clients, or remind you of your upcoming study sessions. We collect and process your personal data when we communicate with you, including:
The nature of our business means that we are unable to provide our market research services anonymously.
We do not provide our services to children under the age of 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with their personal data, we will immediately delete their data. If you are a parent or guardian and become aware that your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so that we can securely destroy their data.
Children aged less than 18 years, but who are at least 13 years, are able to create an account and use the Askable platform provided that a parent or legal guardian agrees to supervise them in doing so. For more information see our Terms here.
Clients may require parents or legal guardians to enter into an agreement with them directly, where their research involves collection and processing of personal data of children aged between 13 and 18 years.
Where participants choose to participate in research studies, Askable shares participant personal data with clients that have an account with us via our Askable and Everask platforms.
Additionally, where participants choose to provide video feedback, Askable may (with your consent) publish these recordings on our everask.com website.
Otherwise, Askable will not sell or share your personal data with advertisers, sponsors, content providers or anyone else – unless:
Askable does not control how personal data collected by our clients (i.e. during a research study) may be used or disclosed. Your personal data (including video and voice recordings) may be published, reproduced or stored by our clients. If you are a participant, it is important that you consider how your personal data may be handled by clients prior to participating in their studies by reading their privacy notices and privacy policies.
Askable will only store your personal data in electronic format, either on-site or in ‘the cloud’. Askable uses cloud storage service provider, MongoDB, to store personal data, including your registration data, purchase or payment data, communications data, profile data and data from study sessions including recorded video responses. This information is stored on a server located in Sydney, Australia, and a backup is stored in the United States.
Askable also uses other third-party service providers to store specific types of personal data (such as payment processing data, email and communications data). The personal data stored by third party providers, relates to their functions and services. A full list of our service providers is available on request.
At Askable, we securely manage and dispose of personal data, by implementing a range of data security practices, including (but not limited to):
Protection of personal data from unauthorised access and disclosure is a priority for us. Any concerns about the security of personal data held by Askable should be reported to us without delay, by email: privacy@askable.com or phone: +61 7 3040 4719.
We retain your personal data for differing periods, depending on the purpose for which it was collected. We will only keep your personal data for the periods set out below, before your personal data is securely destroyed:
In the event you would like your personal data to be completely removed from the Askable platform (and not just a deletion of your account), you can request us to delete your data at any time. Deletion may, however, not occur instantly, as we will require time to delete your data from our backups and from any of our platform service provider locations. If you would like us to delete the personal data we hold about you, please write to us at privacy@askable.com.
Askable maintains a number of social media accounts for the purpose of advertising research opportunities that participants may be interested in, recording and sharing reviews of Askable.com and Everask.com and pushing out information about our platform to those with an interest.
Social media platforms generally apply their own privacy policies to any personal data that is captured or shared while on their sites. As such, some Askable clients and participants may prefer to deal with us directly via askable.com and/or everask.com, and not via the socials, when sharing their personal data.
The table below sets out more information about our use of social media.
LinkedIn
Askable uses the LinkedIn platform for various purposes, including:
When marketing the Askable platform and services, Askable may post articles to inform, blog and attract new clients; and advertise specific research study opportunities to participants. Users of the Askable platform, including clients and participants, have the option to (or not to) engage with Askable via the LinkedIn platform.
Facebook
Askable uses Facebook to promote the Askable company and services and directly message platform users. To promote the Askable platform and services, Askable may advertise specific research study opportunities to participants and post reviews of Askable participants and client experiences. You have the option to (or not to) engage with Askable via Facebook. Askable platform users that choose not to engage with us via the Facebook platform can instead engage with us directly via the Askable platform.
Instagram
Participants are able to interact with Askable using the Instagram platform. Askable uses Instagram to promote the Askable company and advertise specific research study opportunities to participants. Askable may also use the platform to directly message Askable participants. You have the option to (or not to) engage with Askable via the Instagram platform. Askable platform users that choose not to engage with us via the Instagram platform can instead engage with us directly via the Askable platform.
Google
Participants can use Google to sign up and register an account with Askable. Google provides authentication and sign-up technology to the Askable site, and may automatically sign you in the next time you use the Askable platform. You can choose whether you use this function, or instead sign up using the Askable platform registration process.
If we hold personal data about you, we are happy to tell you what it is. We will not, however, tell someone else what personal data we hold about you (unless you permit us or there is a lawful ability or requirement for us to do so).
If you think the personal data we hold about you is incorrect or out of date you can:
We will generally not charge you to access or correct your personal data, and we will get back to your request within 24 hours.
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, people in the UK have certain rights regarding their personal data held by Askable, including:
If you are in the UK and have queries about the above, please write to us at privacy@askable.com
We will update this document from time to time to ensure that our personal data handling practices are correctly reflected. This may occur without notice, however we will always post a ‘last revised’ date for your information.
If updates could potentially impact you, we will generally make these changes known to you by providing a notice on our website at your next login.
If you have a question about our Privacy Policy or a concern or complaint about our personal data handling practices, please get in touch with us! You can submit a Privacy Complaints Form (available on request) or contact us at:
Email: privacy@askable.com
Phone: +61 7 3040 4719
Mail:
The Privacy Officer
Askable Pty Ltd
Level 1 South, Heritage Building
61 Petrie Terrace
Brisbane QLD 4000
We will confirm receipt of your questions or complaint within 24 hours. In most cases, we will be able to assist you immediately, however there are some circumstances where we may need additional time to respond to you (such as where additional details are needed to understand your concern or investigate the matter).
If you have made a privacy complaint and are not happy with our response to your concerns, you are able to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner via their website – www.oaic.gov.au.
Last revised: 15 November 2022