Thank you for agreeing to join our select group of participants.
The Nielsen Company (US), LLC and its affiliated companies and subsidiaries ("Nielsen," "we," or "us") takes your privacy very seriously. We have created this Privacy Notice to help answer questions you may have about how we use, share, and protect the information that we collect from and about you in connection with your participation in any of our studies or surveys (our "Research"), which are available through the following websites: http://www.scarborough.com/, http://www.scarboroughsurveys.com, www.nielsenlocalsurveys.com, www.mycitysurvey.com, and http://www.mivaliosaopinion.com (collectively, the "Website").
Please note that this Privacy Notice applies only to information collected and handled by us in connection with your participation in our Research. This Privacy Notice does not apply to your participation in any other studies, surveys, or panels administered by Nielsen or your interaction with or use of any other websites, applications, or online services administered or provided by Nielsen. Other Nielsen studies, surveys, panels, websites, applications, and online services are governed by their own privacy notices, and we encourage you to review those privacy notices before disclosing any information.
To learn more about the Nielsen group of companies, please click here.
As a privacy-conscious organization, we protect the identities of all of our participants and handle their information in compliance with applicable privacy laws. We collect and use personal information — information that alone or in combination with other information identifies you as an individual or can be reasonably linked to your identity — only as described in this Privacy Notice.
We will NOT use your personal information to advertise, promote, market, or sell third-party goods or services directly to you; we do not allow our clients to do so either.
As a participant in our Research, we will collect or otherwise obtain information relating to you in a variety of ways. Details about the information that we may collect or obtain from or about you and the sources of such information can be found below
Information provided by you
In connection with your voluntary participation in our Research, we will ask that you provide certain information about you and your household, such as your name, home address, telephone number, email address, and demographic data (e.g., your gender, age, marital status, occupation, annual household income, etc.).
As our Research is designed to help us better understand consumer behavior and trends, we will also request and collect behavior data (i.e., data about when, why, or how you do certain activities, such as how frequently you typically go shopping) and preference data (i.e., data about the choices that you make, such as the types of products you typically purchase).
Some of the information that we request and collect from you may be considered "special" or "sensitive" personal information (i.e., information relating to your race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or other similar beliefs, philosophical beliefs, health or medical conditions, or sexual orientation). Where we collect such information, we will use it in the ways described in this Privacy Notice or as described in a separate notice provided at the point where such information is requested from you as well as in accordance with applicable law.
Information collected in connection with your use of the Website
As is true of most websites, when you visit and interact with the Website, we may automatically collect certain information, including log usage data (e.g., when you view or click on content) and information from your device and network, such as your device's Internet Protocol (IP) address, device identifier and features, browser operating system and version, access date and time, and referring website address.
For information about cookies and other similar technologies that may be used in connection with your use of and interaction with the Website, please review the "Cookies and Other Similar Technologies" section below.
"Do Not Track" ("DNT") is a preference that you can set in your web browser to let the websites that you visit know that you do not want them collecting information about you. Please be aware that we do not respond to DNT or similar signals on the Website at this time.
Information obtained from other sources
In connection with your participation in our Research, we may collect or obtain additional information about you from various sources. This may include information about what you buy and where or your exposure to advertising content. The sources of this information may include, for example:
We may combine information that we collect (as described above) with information from other sources. We will use the information only for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice. By participating in our Research, you acknowledge that we may obtain information about you from sources such as those listed above and combine it with other information that we hold about you.
Information we do NOT collect
We do not request or collect "private information," which for purposes of this Privacy Notice, refers to government-issued identification documents (e.g., your driver’s license), financial/bank account or credit card information, and account passwords.
We use the information that we collect or otherwise obtain in order to create a variety of research insights for our clients relating to consumer media consumption and purchasing trends locally and nationally. These insights, in turn, help our clients make informed decisions on various topics, such as where and how to advertise their products and services to consumers. Among other things, our insights have helped our clients:
When we prepare reports and share insights with our clients, we use tools and methods that are designed to ensure that there is no reasonable possibility of identifying any single participant. For example, if you participate in a survey, we will combine your responses with those of other survey respondents in order to produce reports with aggregated data from which you cannot be identified.
We also create reports based upon "modeled information" (data that we have developed based upon demographic information and details about consumer behavior, such as gender, age, and relevant habits, in order to predict what types of content or products/services would be of interest to people with similar or matching characteristics). This allows advertisers, for instance, to identify the likely audience for a marketing campaign.
We may also use the information that you provide in order to contact you. When we contact you — by telephone, email, or postal mail, depending on what contact information you have provided to us — we will usually do so in order to:
By providing us with your information and participating in our Research, you agree that we may contact you for the purposes described above. You also agree that we may call you, and for efficiency and accuracy, use an automatic telephone dialing system or prerecorded voice messages to do so.
In addition to using your information for the purposes described above, we may use your information in order to:
If we combine de-identified or anonymized (i.e., non-personal) information with identifying information, we will treat the combined information as personal information for as long as it is combined.
Participation in our Research is always voluntary.
We are also committed to providing you with reasonable access to your personal information and the ability to review and update such information. Depending on your U.S. state of residence, under applicable law you may have the right to:
If you are interested in exercising one or more of the rights described above, you should fill out the form here or send an email to privacy.department@nielsen.com. We will not discriminate against you if you choose to exercise any of the above-listed rights available to you under applicable law.
Because we want to avoid taking action regarding your personal information at the direction of someone other than you, only you or an "Authorized Agent" permitted to act on your behalf may submit a request. An "Authorized Agent" refers to a natural person or business entity that you have authorized to act on your behalf by providing your written permission. Please note that we may deny a request from an Authorized Agent if they do not submit proof that they have been authorized by you to act on your behalf.
Your request must:
We will not be able to respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or the submitter's authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you. To verify your identity, we will seek to match any personal information that you provide when you (or an Authorized Agent) submit your request to personal information that we already maintain. If we are unable to verify your identity based on the information that we maintain, we will let you know.
We understand the importance of protecting the privacy of children, especially in the online environment. Please note that the Website is not designed for or intentionally targeted at children under the age of 18, and all participants in our Research are required to be at least 18 years of age. We do not intend to collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 18, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.
This Privacy Notice does not address, and we are not responsible for, the privacy, information handling, or other practices of any third parties, including any third party operating any website to which the Website links. The inclusion of a link on the Website does not imply endorsement of the linked website by us or by our affiliates. We recommend that you review the privacy notice of each website that you visit.
We use reasonable organizational, technical, and administrative measures that are designed to protect your information while under our control, regardless of where it is kept. While we endeavor to take all reasonable steps to protect your information, please be aware that we cannot guarantee the security of any information disclosed or transmitted online or stored in our systems. If you feel that the security of any information that we hold about you has been compromised, please contact us immediately in accordance with the "Contact Us" section below.
Our use and disclosure of information as described in this Privacy Notice may result in the transfer of your information to other countries or regions, including those where we have facilities or in which we engage service providers. By providing us with your information and participating in our Research, you acknowledge and agree that your information may be transferred to countries outside of the United States.
We will retain your information in a form that permits identification only for as long as needed for the fulfillment of the purposes described in this Privacy Notice, unless applicable law or professional obligations require us to retain the information for a longer period of time.
We may make changes to this Privacy Notice from time to time in light of, for example, changing business and information-handling practices, technology, or legal requirements. Please take a look at the "Effective Date" at the beginning of this Privacy Notice to see when it was last revised.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this Privacy Notice or our information-handling practices, please send an email to privacy.department@nielsen.com or write us at:
Attn: Legal Dept.
The Nielsen Company
85 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004
If you have any general questions or concerns about our Research or your participation in our Research, please send an email to surveys@nielsenlocalsurveys.com
This Privacy Notice replaces any other statement, whether written or oral, made to you about our practices with respect to the collection and use of personal information as part of your participation in our Research.
Thank you — We appreciate and value your participation!