Last updated: March 2021

Privacy Statement

The Value Engineers is a leading marketing consultancy and your privacy is very important to us.

We take great care in protecting your privacy and the information you provide whilst conducting research with us (whether hosted on our own website, other websites on our behalf or by any other means, including by telephone or face to face).

The purpose of this policy is to give you a clear explanation about how The Value Engineers collects and uses the personal data you provide to us and that we collect. We ensure that we use your information in accordance with all applicable laws concerning the protection of your personal data.

We conduct market research and we commit, in obtaining your co-operation, not to mislead you about the nature of the research or how the findings will be used. Your responses will be treated as confidential unless you consent to being identified.

Our data protection officer

If you have any queries concerning this policy, or would like to make a subject access request, please contact our Data Protection Officer:

The Value Engineers DPO Team

Email: DataProtection@thevalueengineers.com

Phone: +44 20 3954 3032

EU Representative

We have appointed IT Governance Europe Limited to act as our EU representative. If you wish to exercise your rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), or have any queries in relation to your rights or general privacy matters, please email our Representative at eurep@itgovernance.eu  Please ensure to include our company name, The Value Engineers, in any correspondence you send to our Representative.

Personal data we collect - Client

We will collect your contact information such as full name, company name, email address, postal address and telephone number when you email or call us with an enquiry.

In addition to the above, we collect information automatically about your visit to our website. Please see our Cookies policy for more details.

Personal data we collect - Consumer

We will collect personal data when you participate in a market research with us, the information we collect can contain your personal opinions as well as personal data such as;

  • Full name
  • Gender
  • Age & Date of Birth
  • Phone number
  • Address
  • Email address
  • Bank details (if paying by BACS only)
  • Photos, audio & video footage
  • Occupation

We may also occasionally collect sensitive personal data, but we will always obtain your explicit consent and tell you why and how the information will be used.

Where relevant to the research being undertaken, we may collect business contact information, such as, company name, job title, and department.

In addition, for online surveys we will record your IP address, which type of browser you are using, your screen size and other basic metrics.

We do not do any invisible processing of data from your computer. We will only collect and use personal data in accordance with this policy to the extent deemed reasonably necessary to serve our legitimate business purposes, and we will maintain appropriate safeguards to ensure the security, integrity, accuracy and privacy of the information you have provided.

The Value Engineers makes reasonable efforts to keep personal data in its possession or control, which is used on an ongoing basis, accurate, complete, current and relevant, based on the most recent information available to us. We rely on you to help us keep your personal data accurate, complete and current by answering our questions honestly.

Personal data we collect - Candidate

The information we collect when you apply for a position at The Value Engineers includes;

  • Your CV, covering letter and references
  • Correspondence with or about you

How we use your personal data - Client

The personal information we collect will be used for the following purpose;

  • Dealing with enquiries and requests about our services submitted to us via email or call
  • Sending you information about our company that is applicable to you and your request

Our legal basis for processing of your personal information is;

  • Where you have given consent for the processing of data for a specific purpose
  • Processing is necessary to meet contractual obligations entered into with you
  • Processing is necessary for purposes of legitimate interest pursued by our company in relation to goods and services that you use in your role

The legitimate interest pursued by us are as follows;

  • In response to an enquiry from you about our goods and services
  • Enquiring about your goods and services that are applicable to our company. We will always confirm how your personal information was obtained and always offer an opt-out of marketing communications

How we use your personal data - Consumer

When we contact you, we generally do so for one of the following purposes:

  • To invite you to participate in research
  • To confirm the details of research you have agreed to take part in
  • To conduct research with you
  • To validate answers/views you gave in a recent research we conducted (if you have consented to us doing so)
  • To update and to ensure that our records of your personal data are correct (applicable to those consenting to being part of an ongoing community or panel)
  • To notify you if you have won a prize draw that we administered or to provide you with an incentive for taking part.

The personal data we collect is:

  • Combined with the responses/views/opinions of others who participated in the same research and reported back anonymously to the client that commissioned the study
  • Used on an aggregated basis to determine which groups of people think certain things more than others
  • Used to administer and operate prize draws/incentives
  • Occasionally used to re-contact you to validate your responses (if you have consented to us doing so).

All of your survey responses are treated as confidential. We will never intentionally disclose your personal data or individual survey responses to the client that commissioned the study or any third parties unless you consent to sharing your identifying information and individual responses.

How we use your personal data - Candidate

Personal data which you supply to us shall be used to:

  • Personalise our communications with you
  • Make suitable interview arrangements with you, depending on your circumstances
  • Carry out financial checks on you to determine your fitness & propriety for the role
  • Carry out criminal background checks on you to determine your fitness & propriety for the role
  • Consider you for future positions at The Value Engineers

Your personal data will not be used for the purposes of any automated decision making or profiling.

Who we share your personal data with

We will never pass your personal data on to other organisations for them to use for their own marketing purposes.

However, we may disclose your personal information in the following circumstances:

  • To third parties to perform functions on our behalf. We require these third parties to comply strictly with our instructions and data protection laws and we make sure that appropriate controls are in place. We enter into contracts with all our third parties and regularly monitor their activities to ensure they are complying with our policies and procedures. They will only have access to the personal data needed to perform their functions, and will not use it for other purposes.
  • Where we are under duty to disclose your personal information in order to comply with law or the disclosure is ‘necessary’ for purposes of national security, taxation and criminal investigation or we have your written consent.

From time to time the personal data we collect from you may be transferred to and stored in countries outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”). Your personal data may also be processed by a service provider which operates outside of the EEA. Different countries have different data protection and security laws and some of these do not offer the same level of protection as you enjoy under UK data protection legislation. However, when we appoint our service providers, we take care to ensure that they have appropriate security measures in place. We shall endeavour to ensure that your personal data is kept confidential and secure.

How we protect your personal data

The Value Engineers maintains appropriate technical, administrative and physical safeguards to protect information, including, without limitation, personal data, received or collected by us. We review, monitor and evaluate our privacy practices and protection systems on a regular basis. Only certain employees have access to the personal data you provide us and are only granted access for data analysis and quality control purposes.

How long we will keep your personal data

Unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law, we will only hold your personal information on our systems for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy or until you request it is deleted.

Your rights as a data subject

At any point while we are in possession of or processing your personal data, you, the data subject, have the following rights:

  • Right of access
    you have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you.
  • Right of rectification
    you have a right to correct data that we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • Right to be forgotten
    in certain circumstances you can ask for the data we hold about you to be erased from our records.
  • Right to restriction of processing
    where certain conditions apply to have a right to restrict the processing.
  • Right of portability
    you have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to another organisation.
  • Right to object
    you have the right to object to certain types of processing such as direct marketing.
  • Right to judicial review
    in the event that The Value Engineers refuses your request under rights of access, we will provide you with a reason as to why. You have the right to complain as outlined below.

Queries

If you have any queries concerning this policy, or would like to make a subject access request, please contact our Data Protection Officer:

The Value Engineers DPO Team
Email: DataProtection@thevalueengineers.com
Phone: +44 20 3954 3032

In the event that you wish to make a complaint about how your personal data is being processed by The Value Engineers (or third parties as described above), or how your complaint has been handled, you have the right to lodge a complaint directly with the supervisory authority and The Value Engineers’s Data Protection Officer.

Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns
Telephone helpline: 0303 123 1113

We have appointed IT Governance Europe Limited to act as our EU representative. If you wish to exercise your rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), or have any queries in relation to your rights or general privacy matters, please email our Representative at eurep@itgovernance.eu Please ensure to include our company name, The Value Engineers, in any correspondence you send to our Representative.

Changes to our privacy policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we change the Policy, we will post the revised version here and change the “Effective Date” listed at the top of this Policy. We encourage you to check here periodically for the most up-to-date version of our Policy.

Cookie Policy

Please read our Cookie Policy carefully as it contains important information on who we are and how we use cookies on our website.