Privacy Policy
Sift Research’s Privacy Policy
Last updated: June 13, 2023
This Privacy Policy (this “Policy”) is posted by Sift Research, Inc. (“Sift,” “us,” “we,” “our”) and governs our collection, use, sharing, and storage of the personal information of our clients, prospective clients, and research participants (“you” or “your”).
Please read this Policy to understand how your personal information will be treated as you use our website, communicate with us, or otherwise give us personal information as necessary to utilize or participate in our research services (the “Services”).
By using our website or using or participating in our Services, you consent to the terms of this Policy.
Your Privacy Choices
As used in this Policy, the term “personal information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular individual or household.
Even in the absence of a full name, certain pieces of information, such as demographic information, a mailing address or other location information, or even device ID’s or IP addresses, may be deemed personal information.
Please note that some of the personal information we collect may constitute "sensitive personal information" under applicable laws. We will never use your 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.
Depending on your location, you may have certain special rights under the law of your home jurisdiction with respect to your personal information.
To access, correct, or request deletion of your personal information, or to request a copy of your personal information or opt out of the processing of your personal information, please contact us as provided in the “Contact Us” section below. Depending on your location, you may also have the right to appeal any decision we make regarding your personal information by contacting us as provided below.
The rights of individuals located in California are further described in the "Information for California Residents" section below.
If you do not wish to receive communications from Sift you can opt out here.
Collection, Use, and Sharing of Personal Information
Information Collected from Third Parties
We may collect your personal information from third parties to whom you’ve previously given that information, provided you have given your consent for that information to be shared.
For example, we may receive information from third party sample providers, recruiting databases, local recruiters, or auto manufacturers. Such information varies, but may include, without limitation, first name, last name, phone number, email address, mailing address, and certain demographic information, such as your age, ethnicity, and location.
We use this information to contact you about potential survey opportunities. In connection with this process, we may share this information with third party service providers, who may in turn match this information with other information they have about you. For example, we may share your name with a service provider who will then match that name with your email address.
Information Collected During Research
We administer research surveys online, in person, and over the phone. In connection with those surveys, we may collect personal information from individual respondents.
Such information may include, without limitation, first name, last name, phone number, mailing address, email address, information about past purchases or your preferences about various products and services, and demographic data, such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, parental status, marital status, ZIP code, income and education levels.
Where surveys are administered online, we may also collect your IP address, which may constitute personal information in some cases. We use your IP address to validate data collected in connection with a survey. We do not share your IP address with anyone.
Online surveys are administered through Forsta’s survey software. Accordingly, information collected via Decipher will also be stored by FocusVision. We are not responsible for Forsta’s privacy and data security practices. For more information, please review Forsta’s privacy statement.
We may also collect personal information from you in connection with other research studies, such as focus groups or in-person or telephone interviews. This information may include the information described above collected in connection with online surveys, in addition to audio or video data.
If you are a respondent, we may share personal information associated with research results with our clients. Such personal information may include information about past purchases or your preferences about various products and services, and demographic data, such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, parental status, marital status, ZIP code, income and education levels.
As a general matter, research results are delivered to clients on an aggregate and anonymized basis, unless we have your express consent. If we collect your first name, we will only share that information with clients (for example, in connection with focus group studies) with your consent. If we also collect your last name, phone number, mailing address, or email address, we will not share that information with clients. That information is only used to validate your identity at research events, and to contact you about future research opportunities.
In connection with the surveys and studies described above you know what information we collect because you provide it to us directly. If you participate as a respondent you acknowledge and agree that your participation is completely voluntary, and that our use of your personal information is carried out with your consent.
Please note that any personal information you provide in connection with other surveys or other studies administered by third parties is not subject to this Policy, but rather the privacy polices of such third parties, which you are strongly encouraged to review and understand.
Client and Prospective Client Information
If you are a client or prospective client, we will also connect basic information about you, such as your name, company name, email and mailing address, payment information, and other information necessary to manage our business relationship with you.
Anyone who uses our website may also have the opportunity to enter their name, email address, or other contact information.
Other Uses of Personal Information
In addition to the uses described above, Sift may use your personal information (1) to communicate with you, (2) to invite you to research opportunities, (3) to administer incentives, (4) to tailor and advertise our Services to you, (5) to help our clients analyze trends and develop insights, (6) to comply with our legal obligations, (7) to comply with any data suppression obligations or requirements, (8) for fraud detection and/or prevention purposes, (9) for quality assurance purposes, (10) to validate information you provide to us, and (11) as otherwise permitted pursuant to this Policy or as otherwise authorized by you.
Other Sharing of Personal Information
In addition to the sharing described above, we may also share your personal information with various third-party service provider who help us provide services to our clients and administer surveys, subject to appropriate confidentiality and security agreements between Sift and such service providers.
Otherwise, Sift will not disclose personal information collected by or provided to Sift without your express consent except in the following circumstances: (1) when we are required or permitted by law or court orders to disclose such personal information; (2) where disclosure 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 the rights or property of another; or (3) in the event of a sale, merger, liquidation, dissolution, financing, or reorganization of Sift.
Personal Information Security
Sift is committed to keeping personal information secure and will take reasonable precautions to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure or alteration.
No method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee, warrant or otherwise covenant to its absolute security.
Personal Information 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 required or permitted by applicable law. To determine the retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the personal information, the purposes for which we process the personal information, and the legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, reporting or other such requirements applicable to the personal information.
Third-Party Websites
Our website or other Services may contain hyperlinks to websites outside of Sift. Data collection and privacy policies may be different on such hyperlinked sites. We strongly recommend that you read the privacy policies for each site visited.
Cookies
Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser (if you allow) that enables the site’s or service provider’s systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information.
We use cookies to help us remember you when you visit our website and to improve our website’s performance. We also use cookies to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.
You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser settings. Please be advised that if you turn cookies off, you may not have access to some features that make your site experience more efficient.
Do Not Track
Sift does not respond to “do not track” (DNT) signals in browsers, because no universal DNT standard has been adopted.
Notice Regarding Phone Use
Sift or our third-party service providers may contact you by telephone, including SMS message. By providing us or our service providers with your phone number, you consent to being contacted with an autodialer.
Notice Regarding Children
Sift does not knowingly make direct contact with children under 16 years of age. If we unknowingly receive personal information from a child under 16 years of age, we will promptly delete such personal information.
Information for California Residents
If you are a California resident, you have certain special rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), in addition to your other rights outlined in this Policy.
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 with whom we share personal information.
You also have the right to request deletion of personal information we’ve collected or maintain, subject to certain exceptions. Please note, however, that our deletion of your personal information may negatively affect our ability to provide you with services or your ability to participate in research.
You also have the right to correct any inaccurate personal information that we maintain about you.
To exercise these rights please contact us as provided below. We may ask you to provide additional information, such as your name, 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 and Limit Processing of Sensitive Personal Information
We will never disclose personal information such as your name or address to third parties in exchange for monetary consideration without your consent.
However, under CCPA’s broad definition, “personal information” may also include (in addition to names, addresses, and the like) unique identifiers, IP addresses, 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 these broad definitions, certain transfers of information we make in connection with providing our services could arguably be deemed a “sale” of “personal information” under CCPA. You have the right to opt out of this “sale.” You also have the right to limit our processing of your sensitive personal information. For more information on how to opt out, or how to limit the processing of your sensitive personal information, click here.
Please be advised that your decision to opt out may prevent us from providing services to you or prevent you from participating in research.
Please note also that we will not “share” your personal information for purposes of cross-context behavioral advertising, as that term is defined under CCPA.
Personal Information “Sold” or Disclosed
You have the right to know what categories of personal information we’ve “sold,” as that term is broadly defined under CCPA, or disclosed for a business purpose, and the third parties to whom that information was “sold” or disclosed.
As discussed above, we will never disclose personal information such as your name or address to third parties for consideration without your consent. However, in the last 12 months, in circumstances where you have agreed to participate in one of our research studies, we may have “sold,” depending on the nature of the study and the consent given by respondents, the following categories of information to our clients, as that word is broadly defined under CCPA, in connection with delivery of our research results: first names; demographic and ethnographic data (such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, parental status, marital status, address/ZIP code, income and education levels); purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies; and respondent photos, video, and audio collected during qualitative research.
In the last 12 months we have in certain circumstances disclosed the following categories of information to the following parties for a business purpose: (1) the categories of information described in the preceding paragraph to our service providers (e.g., third-party recruiters); (2) full names, email addresses, mailing addresses, and/or phone numbers to our service providers for use in sending survey invites and fielding surveys; and (3) names, phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses to our service providers for use in data matching.
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.
Changes to this Policy
This Policy may be changed at any time. When we do so, we will post the new Policy on this page, change the date at the top of the Policy, and otherwise notify you as appropriate.
Contact Us
If you wish to access or request changes to any of your personal information, or if have any questions or concerns about this Policy, you may contact us through any of the following means. Please be sure to specify the reason for your communication.
Email: info@sift-research.com
Phone: (855) 498-0264