Privacy Policy

Last updated: February 17, 2023

(versión en español)

OVERVIEW

Corona Research, Inc., d/b/a Corona Insights (“Corona Insights”) respects the privacy of our research participants and clients. Since our founding in 1999, the goal of Corona Insights has been to maintain impeccable standards of research ethics.

Please read the following policy (“Privacy Policy”) to understand how your personal information will be treated as you use our website and/or participate in qualitative research (such as focus groups), quantitative research (such as telephone surveys, mail surveys, street intercepts, online panel or programming and hosting), or other services that Corona Insights offers (collectively, the “Services”).

Our privacy practices are compliant with applicable data protection and privacy laws, including the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). We also strive to make our website, including this Privacy Policy, accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you are having trouble accessing the website or this Privacy Policy, please contact us as provided in the “Contact Us” section below.

The information provided by you is kept strictly confidential and is used by Corona Insights only as described in this Privacy Policy. By participating in research conducted by Corona Insights or by using our website, you consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and forms a part of the Corona Insights Terms and Conditions.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

As used in this Privacy Policy, “personal information” or “personal data” means any information linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable individual, either on its own or in combination with other readily available data.

Corona Insights collects personal information for the purpose of conducting market research with your consent and/or as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy.

Certain special categories of sensitive data, including without limitation data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, citizenship status, religious or philosophical beliefs, or biometric data that may be processed for the purpose of uniquely identifying an individual, will be treated with additional care, and will not be collected or used without your explicit consent to the specific purpose for which such information is being used.

PARTICIPATION IN RESEARCH

Participating in a market research study by Corona Insights is voluntary. Corona Insights respects the respondent’s right to withdraw or to refuse to cooperate at any stage of the study and will not use any procedure or technique to coerce or imply that cooperation is obligatory. A respondent may refuse to participate in the research for any reason or for no reason at all.

Please note that the financial incentives ordinarily given to encourage respondents to participate can only be provided by Corona Insights if the applicable survey, research project or study is fully and properly completed by the respondent, in the sole discretion of Corona Insights.

Corona Insights will inform participants at the outset if the interview/discussion is being audio or video recorded. When legally required, we will obtain the necessary written consents. In the unlikely event these recordings will be used for marketing or promotional purposes, we will obtain separate written consents and rights of publicity assignments.

Corona Insights will attempt to contact potential participants at reasonable and convenient times.  If, for any reason, the time is inconvenient, the potential participant may be asked to provide other times that would be more convenient and/or we may attempt to contact them again at another time.

Corona Insights will never attempt to sell research participants anything, under the guise of research or otherwise.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH PARTICIPATION

Qualitative research includes, but is not limited to, focus groups and interviews.

Participants’ personal information will only be used to verify that they qualify for a particular research study; to provide them with a reminder and other relevant information; and so that we can send them other related research requests, including but not limited to invites for pre-questionnaires or incentive fulfillment and other post research follow-up.

Direct quotes from respondents may be included in reports to clients. Names of participants may also be included in reports to clients, though they will not be specifically attributed to any direct quotes or other feedback without advance notice to the respondent. It is the intent of Corona Insights that participants are not explicitly identified; however, there is a possibility that a participant may be identifiable (e.g., because of the content of his or her direct quote, etc.). Statements by participants in focus groups may be heard by other research participants and/or observed by clients or agents of Corona Insights. To the extent any personal information is shared with a client it will be for a legitimate research purpose, verifying facts, or another purpose of analytic importance.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH PARTICIPATION

Quantitative research includes, but is not limited to, surveys (e.g., mail surveys, telephone, online, and in-person intercepts).

Personal information provided to Corona Insights is confidential and is combined with information gathered from other survey participants, and typically reported to our clients in aggregate or anonymized form. In some cases, survey responses may be tied to other customer information that is provided by the client sponsoring the survey, and used for segmentation or analytical model building, but unless respondents are given advance notice prior to the survey no responses will be used for individual marketing efforts, and no action will be taken toward an individual respondent simply because of his or her participation in the survey.

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Information we collect from research participants includes the following:

  • Real names, email addresses, mailing addresses, IP addresses, unique personal identifiers, and phone numbers
  • Demographic data, such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, parental status, marital status, address/ZIP code, income and education levels, employment history and political affiliations
  • Log files, browser type, and operating system (collected automatically from online research participants)
  • Photos, video, and audio (collected in connection with focus groups and interviews, with research participant’s consent)
  • Transcripts of audio or video recordings, or other information voluntarily provided by respondent typing (e.g., on an online message board)

To respond to an inquiry from you, we may request a name, postal address, phone number, email address or other contact information.

Corona Insights may automatically gather and store certain information in log files, including without limitation, data available from your web browser, such as IP address, browser type, internet service provider, operating system, date/time stamp and click stream data.

Corona Insights may also utilize, either directly or through a third party vendor, “digital fingerprinting” and “watermarking” features. Corona Insights uses these features for quality control and validation purposes and fraud detection and/or prevention, including without limitation, the identification of duplicate or fraudulent respondents. “Digital fingerprinting” refers to those circumstances in which a unique identifier is assigned to your device or computer based on the device’s or computer’s settings, including technical settings, characteristics, and IP address. Generally, watermarking involves placing a technology or file on your device or computer to identify that it has previously been used to register or access Corona Insights.

We may also collect names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers from clients, business partners, and website visitors who voluntarily provide that information to us.

If you interact with us on social media, we will have access to personal information publicly available about you on the applicable social media platform.

SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION

Please note that some of the personal information described above, like your race/ethnicity or political affiliations, may constitute sensitive personal Information under applicable laws. In addition, depending on the type of research, we may also collect information related to your health (e.g., blood sugar or BMI), your medical history and diagnoses, or financial information. We will never use any such sensitive personal information except for research purposes, or otherwise to verify your identity or prevent fraud. For more information on how to opt out of the processing of your sensitive personal information, please click here.

USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Corona Insights may use your personal information and/or other research data:

  • To communicate research results to our clients (where such research results include your personal information);
  • To communicate with you;
  • To tailor and advertise survey opportunities to you, and to send you notifications of survey opportunities;
  • To comply with our legal obligations;
  • To administer and manage reward and incentive programs;
  • To update our records;
  • To append client or third-party data to one of our data files;
  • To comply with any data suppression obligations or requirements;
  • For fraud detection and/or prevention purposes;
  • To validate information you provide to us; and
  • As otherwise permitted pursuant to this Privacy Policy or as otherwise authorized by you.

In connection with your participation in research and our delivery of research results, Corona Insights will disclose your personal information as follows:

  • To our clients, if your personal information is included in research results; and
  • To our third-party service providers, subject to confidentiality restrictions, as necessary to deliver our Services.

Otherwise, Corona Insights will not disclose personal information and/or research data either collected by, or provided to, Corona Insights, other than for its intended purpose, without the permission of the research participant. The following are exceptions:

  • Under certain circumstances, Corona Insights may be required or permitted by law or court orders to disclose personal information and/or research data.
  • Personal information may be disclosed when the survey instrument clearly states that the information will be disclosed.
  • Personal information may also be disclosed when a participant makes a request during the survey that can only be fulfilled by disclosing information from the survey.
  • Unique respondent identifiers may be disclosed in connection with data matching with third parties or the merging of data files.
  • We may use or disclose personal information where it is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be violating their agreement with us or may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) Corona Insights’ rights or property, other research participants, or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities.
  • In the event of a sale, merger, liquidation, dissolution, financing, or reorganization of Corona Insights, either in whole or in part, Corona Insights may disclose, transfer or assign personal information (or other research data) to those involved in the negotiation or transfer.

If Corona Insights shares your data and/or allows it to be collected and/or maintained by any company other than Corona Insights, the use of your data and personal information will be governed by appropriate confidentiality and security agreements between Corona Insights and such third parties.

YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS

Depending on where you live, you may have certain special rights regarding your personal information, including without limitation the right to access, correct, and/or delete your personal information. You may also have the right to appeal any of our decisions concerning your privacy rights. To exercise any rights you may have under applicable law contact us at 303-894-8246 or fill out the form at the following link.

NOTICE TO COLORADO RESIDENTS

If you are a Colorado resident, you have certain special rights under the CPA, including the right to access, correct, and delete your personal data. You have the right, no more than two times per year, to obtain your data in a portable and, to the extent technically feasible, readily usable format that allows you to transmit the data to another entity. You also have the right to appeal any of our decisions concerning your privacy rights. To exercise these rights contact us at 303-894-8246 or fill out the form at the following link.

You also have the right to opt out of the “sale” of your personal data, which may in some cases apply to our delivery of research results to our clients. For more information on how to opt out, please click here.

NOTICE TO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS

Under CCPA’s broad definition, “personal information” may include (in addition to names, addresses, and the like) unique identifiers, IP addresses, biometric information, internet or other network activity (such as browsing history, search history, etc.), geolocation data, audio/visual data, and even inferences which may be drawn from any of the above.

CCPA also defines the term “sell” broadly. Its meaning includes “renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, [and] transferring…for monetary or other valuable consideration.” Under this definition, and the CCPA’s broad definition of “personal information,” we may “sell personal information” about you to our clients or other partners.

If you are a California resident, you have certain special rights under CCPA:

Your Right to “Know”, to Request Deletion, and to Correct

You have the right to know the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you. You have the right to know the categories of sources from which the personal information has been collected, the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information, and the categories of third parties to whom we disclose personal information for a business purpose.

You have the right to request deletion of personal information we’ve collected or maintain, subject to certain exceptions.

You also have the right to correct any inaccurate personal information that we maintain about you.

To exercise these rights contact us at 303-894-8246 (or at 1-888-377-1574) or fill out the form at the following link. We may ask you to provide additional information, such as your full name, birth date, phone number, email address, or other basic personal information about you that we already have on file, in order to verify who is making the request.

Please note that any requested disclosures may only apply to the 12-month period preceding the request, depending on how difficult it is for us to retrieve the necessary information, and you are entitled to request disclosure regarding your personal information twice in any 12-month period.

Your Right to Opt Out

You have the right to opt out of the “sale” of your personal information. For more information on how to opt out, please click here. Note we do not “share” your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes, as defined in CCPA.

Personal Information “Sold” or Disclosed

You also have the right to know what categories of personal information we’ve “sold” or disclosed for a business purpose, and the third parties to whom that information was sold or disclosed.

In the last 12 months we’ve “sold” the following categories of information to our clients: respondent names, email addresses, IP addresses; unique identifiers; demographic data (such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, parental status, marital status, address/ZIP code, income and education levels); and respondent photos, video, and audio collected during qualitative research.

In the last 12 months we’ve otherwise disclosed the following categories of personal information to the following parties for a business purpose: (1) respondent names, email addresses, IP addresses; unique identifiers; demographic data (such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, parental status, marital status, address/ZIP code, income and education levels) to recruiters (e.g., for focus groups); (2) respondent names, email addresses, IP addresses, unique identifiers to service providers for incentive fulfillment; (3) demographic data to phone rooms and mail houses for distributing surveys; (4) log files, browser type, and operating system to third-party survey platforms such as SurveyGizmo; and (5) respondent photos, video, and audio to third party service providers and contractors who help us execute focus groups (e.g., moderators, videographers).

Your Right to Non-Discrimination

You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment for the exercise of the privacy rights conferred by the CCPA, including but not limited to by denying you services, charging different prices or rates, or providing you with a different level or quality of services.

Your Right to Use an Authorized Agent

You have the right to designate an authorized agent to make a request under the CCPA on your behalf. To designate an authorized agent, please contact us as provided below. In order to verify you have authorized an agent we will require a signed, written authorization from you.

VERIFICATION PROCESS

If you make a request to access or delete your information, or to opt out of the sale of your personal information under CCPA, we may ask you for additional information to verify your identity. This information may include: your full name, birth date, phone number, email address, or other basic personal information about you that we already have on file. In certain cases, deleting or limiting the use and disclosure of your personal information may impact the functionality or prevent the use of our website or the Services.

Please be advised that our ability to answer your request is contingent on our ability to identify what information belongs to you. In any case, we will always use best efforts to identify and delete or disclose all personal information related to you.

FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

In addition to providing you with the valuable opportunity to share your views and opinions, we may also provide you with financial incentives as consideration for your participation. By being given the opportunity to participate and by receiving the incentive, you agree that this consideration represents fair value for your participation. Such financial incentives may be rewarded only if the applicable survey, research project or study is fully and properly completed by the respondent, in the sole discretion of Corona Insights.

DATA SECURITY

Corona Insights is committed to keeping personal data secure and will take all reasonable precautions to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure or alteration.

No method of transmission over the Internet, nor method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee, warrant or otherwise covenant to its absolute security.

DATA RETENTION

We will retain your information, including personal information, for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it and as permissible by applicable law. To determine the appropriate retention period for information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your information, the purposes for which we process your information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

Our surveys and website may contain hyperlinks to, or display content from, websites outside of Corona Insights. Data collection and privacy policies may be different on such hyperlinked sites. We recommend that you read the privacy policies for each site visited.

COOKIES

A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive. As part of offering and providing customizable and personalized services, Corona Insights may use cookies to store and sometimes track information about you. Some areas on Corona Insights where you are prompted to log-in or that are customizable may require that you accept cookies. This avoids you having to enter your login information multiple times.

Cookies which may be utilized by Corona Insights are within the following four primary categories or uses: (1) business cookies which operate as a quality control and verification mechanism in connection with the survey process; (2) performance cookies so that traffic patterns and uses on the website may be measured and optimized; (3) user cookies so that user information may be recorded so as to enhance performance and user experience on the website; and (4) targeting cookies which are utilized to measure webviewing for market research purposes.

You can prevent the setting of any tracking or similar cookies by changing your settings within your browser. Furthermore you can adjust your browser so that the browser asks you for permission before each cookie is dropped on your device. Also you can delete all your cookies on your device within your browser. If you have further questions with regards to cookies please contact us at the information provided in the “Contact Us” section below.

CALIFORNIA’S “DO NOT TRACK” DISCLOSURES

While Corona Insights honors (and will not interfere with) all browser settings set to “do not track”, Corona Insights has no control over third party websites that may have different policies or procedures. You are urged to consult, as applicable, with the privacy policies of such third party websites. We will treat any “do not sell” signals as opt out requests under CCPA.

EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS

Corona Insights may have personal email addresses in its email system or data files that are acquired from its clients or third party vendors who have provided email addresses for research purposes.

The CAN SPAM Act of 2003 applies specifically to commercial emails sent for the purpose of sales or direct marketing. When email is used to invite respondents to participate in surveys or recruitment for participation in qualitative research such as focus groups, the following processes are used to ensure we do not send SPAM and comply with best research practices:

  • We clearly identify ourselves and/or the client when sending an invitation;
  • We provide contact information should there be any questions, concerns or an expressed desire to opt-out of future research/correspondence;
  • We provide the option to be removed from future email research invitations for that particular research project; or
  • We reuse email addresses only as a legitimate follow up to research.

RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN

Corona Insights does not knowingly make direct contact with children under 18 years of age to participate in research activities without parental consent. If we require survey information from a child under 18 years of age, we contact the legal guardian to obtain permission prior to such child’s participation in the survey, to arrange the survey activities, and to inform them of the subject matter and use of the survey.

In some jurisdictions, participation in Corona Insights’ surveys and other offerings is subject to age restrictions and other limitations. Please consult your local requirements but if you have a specific question or query, please contact us at the info in the “Contact Us” section below.

If you are a parent or guardian who has discovered that your child has submitted his or her personal information without your permission or consent, Corona Insights will take reasonable steps to remove that information from its database at your request. To request removal of your child’s information, please contact us as provided in the “Contact Us” section below, and be sure to include in your message the name or nature of the applicable study and any pertinent information we could use to identify your child in the dataset, such as name or email.

INFORMATION FOR USERS IN EUROPE

The Services may be accessed abroad. Personal information collected by Corona Insights may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Corona Insights or its affiliates, contractors or agents maintain facilities. By using the Services, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country.

Users in Europe have the right to request access to and rectification or erasure of personal information, to restrict of processing of their personal information, and to object to processing. Users in Europe also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. If you would like to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact us using the “Contact Us” below.

We will not process your personal data unless you have given your consent to our processing for a specific purpose, processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or to comply with a legal obligation, or processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by Corona Insights or a third-party controller.

In cases where the purpose of our processing is the “legitimate interest” purpose, we will also carefully balance those interests against your fundamental rights and freedoms related to your Information. Where processing is based on your consent, we will identify the processing purposes and provide you with relevant information to make the processing fair and transparent.

CHANGES IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy may be changed at any time, without prior notice to any visitor/user/research participant/customer. When we do so, we will post the new Privacy Policy on this page and change the date at the top of this Privacy Policy. Please view this Privacy Policy on a regular basis for any updates or changes.

CLASS ACTION WAIVER

ANY ARBITRATION OR COURT TRIAL, WHETHER BEFORE A JUDGE OR JURY OR PURSUANT TO JUDICIAL REFERENCE, RELATED TO ANY CLAIM UNDER THIS PRIVACY POLICY WILL TAKE PLACE ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION (“CLASS ACTION WAIVER”). THIS CLASS ACTION WAIVER PRECLUDES ANY PARTY FROM PARTICIPATING IN OR BEING REPRESENTED IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION REGARDING A CLAIM UNDER THIS POLICY. REGARDLESS OF ANYTHING ELSE HEREIN, THE VALIDITY AND EFFECT OF THE CLASS ACTION WAIVER MAY BE DETERMINED ONLY BY A COURT AND NOT BY AN ARBITRATOR. THIS CLASS ACTION WAIVER IS VOID WHERE LIMITED OR PROHIBITED BY LAW.

CONTACT US

If you wish to opt-out of any specific survey or research project with Corona Insights, if you wish to exercise any of your rights with respect to your personal information, or if have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, you may contact us through any of the following means. Please be sure to specify the reason for your communication.

E-mail: InfoCorona (at) CoronaInsights.com

U.S. Postal Mail: Corona Insights, 1401 Lawrence Street, Suite 1600, Denver, Colorado 80202

Telephone: (303) 894-8246 (or at 1-888-377-1574)