Digital Research, Inc. Privacy Pledge

Digital Research, Inc. conducts a variety of online research surveys and studies through its Web site. Sweepstakes incentives in the form of cash or merchandise are frequently offered to those who participate in our studies. DRI also recruits and maintains a Consumer Technology Panel™ that is designed to support various attitude and behavior studies. Membership in our Panel is free.

Protecting your privacy is essential to our research. We report our survey results in aggregate, and never provide individual information to anyone without your prior consent. At DRI, we believe the Internet is the future of research. Our goal is to make our users' experience secure, informative, and fun.

DRI is a member of the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO) and subscribes to the CASRO Code of Standards and Ethics for Survey Research. CASRO is a professional organization whose members' common goal is to promote professional standards in research and to enhance the quality of survey research.

About The Information We Gather

Personal Information and Demographic Information
As part of our Consumer Technology Panel™ recruitment process, we ask you to provide personal information such as your name, address, and the names and ages of members of your household ("Personal Information").  In addition, DRI frequently asks Panel Members for characteristics (such as consumer habits), attributes, and Demographic Information (such as age, income, gender).

You are in control of the Personal Information and Demographic Information that you provide to us.  We rely on you to provide accurate information and to update your Personal and Demographic Information when requested.  You can:

• Ask for a copy (verification) of your Personal Information and/or Demographic Information; 
• Ask for your Personal Information and/or Demographic Information to be corrected or updated; and
• Ask us to remove your Personal Information and Demographic Information from our database.

To do this, please see the "Access to Your Information and Filing Complaints" section provided later in this statement.  Digital Research, Inc. will use all reasonable efforts to comply with your request.

Operating Information
Digital Research, Inc. may, in the course of interacting with Panel Members, gather other types of information from its Panel Members ("Operating Information").  For example, as a Consumer Technology Panel™ member, you will receive surveys from us on a regular basis.  These surveys will ask questions about your interests, needs and attitudes.  We receive your responses to these surveys with your full knowledge and participation.  Similarly, if we offer other features, services or programs in which you explicitly agree to participate (such as the DRI Tell-a-Friend program), then DRI will also receive Personal Information, Demographic Information and/or Operating Information from these features, services or programs with your full knowledge and consent.

We may also record anonymous site statistics, such as your Internet Provider address, to help diagnose problems with our server and maintain our database. We may place a "cookie" on your computer, which saves your Panel ID and allows for a more user-friendly interface on some of our survey forms. Cookies may also occasionally be used in our online surveys to prevent duplicate responses. A "cookie", by itself, cannot be used to find out the identity of any user. If you do not wish to accept "cookies", you can turn this feature off in the options menu of your browser.  If you choose to turn off this feature, we may not be able to include you in some of our research projects. 

How We Use Your Information

Personal Information and Demographic Information
Any Personal and Demographic Information collected by Digital Research, Inc.  is used exclusively to support our research efforts.  The Personal Information you provide is used to communicate with you and your household members, and to assist you with questions you may have about your participation in the DRI Consumer Technology Panel™.  It may also be used for sweepstakes entry processing and delivery of incentives to Panel Members.  Personal Information concerning location or address is also used by us to ensure that our Panel accurately represents the US/International population as a whole.  

A panel members' Demographic Information is used to pre-qualify or identify prospective respondents for research, based on specific member characteristics (such as men/women of a certain age range or occupation). This Demographic Information may also be combined with your survey responses ("Operating Information") and reported in aggregate to our clients.  At no time will any Personal Information be transmitted to anyone outside of Digital Research, Inc. without your express permission. 

Operating Information
Digital Research, Inc. uses the Operating Information collected from you solely in the conduct of its research business.  The Operating Information you provide while completing our online surveys is maintained in independent internal databases and is not Personal Information or Demographic Information.  Operating Information may be combined with select Demographic Information and reported in aggregate to our clients.  At no time will any Personal Information be transmitted to anyone outside of Digital Research, Inc. without your express permission. 

Data Sharing and Transfer

Personal Information about panel members will never be shared with any third parties without your express permission, except that we may disclose your Personal Information or Demographic Information if we believe we are required to do so by law or subpoena, if we must do so to protect someone's safety or our rights or property, or in order to comply with this policy or other policies that may be applicable.  If at any time DRI is required to share Personal Information and/or Demographic Information (for the purpose of fulfilling sweepstakes awards or for other research-related services), the entity with which this Personal Information or Demographic Information is shared will be required to sign a Data Transfer Agreement that protects this Personal Information and/or Demographic Information. These partners agree not to sell or otherwise share this data and they are contractually obligated not to use any Personal Information except for the purpose of providing the services for which DRI has contracted, unless you enter into a relationship with them that would directly allow them to do so.

DRI collects and shares Demographic Information and Operating Information with its research clients in anonymous form.  Our research clients will never receive Personal Information about panel members without your express permission, nor will our clients be able to identify panel members from the Demographic Information or Operating Information we provide.

DRI is an expanding business, and like other companies, we sometimes acquire or divest business units.  As part of such transfers, we may convey the business assets of the particular business unit, including Personal Information, Demographic Information or Operating Information of panel members. 

Children's Guidelines

Occasionally, our work focuses on the attitudes, opinions and preferences of young people. Respondents under the age of 18 may participate in our surveys only with the consent of an adult member of the household in which they live.  Digital Research, Inc. complies with all applicable national and international children's privacy regulations.

We comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998.  We do not permit children who are under 18 years of age to become Consumer Technology Panel™ members.  As part of our panel registration process, we request the names of each individual in the panel members' household, which may include the names of children under the age of 18.  Occasionally, we may send a survey invitation to the parent or guardian to request permission for their child under the age of 18 to answer our survey.  We take reasonable steps to ensure parental consent by sending our invitation to the parent or guardian's password-protected e-mail address (if available).  The Operating Information collected in response to such surveys is not combined with Personal Information about the child.  In every case such survey does not collect Personal Information about the child.  

If an applicant to the Panel indicates that he/she is under the age of 18, we do not process the application. Instead, we will respond to the applicant and offer two means by which they can participate in our studies: Option 1 - we will supply an online permission form that can be printed out, signed by an adult member of the household, and returned to DRI via US mail (or equivalent). Option 2 - the applicant can ask an adult member of the household to join our Panel and thereby participate in our studies with that adult's consent.

If you would like to contact us about you or your child's Personal Information, or to find out how you can have your child's Personal Information removed from our database, please see the "Access to Your Information and Complaints" section later in this document.

These policies are consistent with those recommended by the Children's Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc., the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO).

Security

DRI is committed to keeping the data you provide us secure and will take reasonable precautions to protect your Personal Information from loss, misuse or alteration.  Vendors, contractors, or partners of DRI who may have access to your Personal Information in connection with providing services to DRI are contractually required to keep the Personal Information confidential and are not permitted to use this data for any other purpose than to carry out the services they are performing for DRI.

DRI also safeguards Personal Information, Demographic Information and Operating Information from unauthorized access.  Only authorized DRI employees or agents carrying out permitted business functions are allowed access.  In addition, each employee of DRI is required to sign a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement requiring him or her to keep confidential all Personal Information of panel members.  Employees who violate this agreement are subject to disciplinary actions, including termination of employment.  DRI does not maintain any Personal Information online. All data is stored at our offices, on our internal office computing network. At no time is your Personal Information available to anyone else, or used for anything other than market research purposes. You will never be asked to purchase any products or services as a result of your membership in our Consumer Technology Panel™ or participation in any studies.

Access To Your Information and Filing Complaints 

If you have submitted Personal Information or Demographic information to DRI through our DRI Consumer Technology Panel™ or otherwise, or if someone else has submitted your Personal Information or Demographic Information to DRI, you can:

1) Access, Correct or Update your Personal Information or Demographic Information  -- by visiting the Members Only area of our web site, by e-mailing your request to privacy@digitalresearch.com, or by sending a letter to the address listed below. DRI will use reasonable efforts to comply with your request for access or to correct any inaccuracies in your Personal Information or Demographic Information.

2) Prevent Further Use of Your Personal Information or Demographic Information -- by visiting the Members Only area of our web site, by e-mailing your request to privacy@digitalresearch.com, or by sending us a letter to the address listed below. DRI will use reasonable efforts to prevent further use of the Personal Information or Demographic Information in our files.

3) Notify Us of Comments or Complaints 
DRI is committed to working with our panel members and web site visitors to obtain a fair and rapid resolution of any complaints or disputes about privacy.  Please send us your questions or comments regarding our privacy practices by e-mailing us at privacy@digitalresearch.com or send a letter to:

Privacy Compliance Coordinator
Digital Research, Inc.
201 Lafayette Center
Kennebunk, ME  04043

DRI is happy to respond to all questions and comments.

Opting-Out - Removal from our Panel

At any time, you may discontinue your participation in the DRI Consumer Technology Panel™ by visiting the Members Only area of our web site and clicking on the appropriate icon.  You may also make your request by sending us an e-mail at privacy@digitalresearch.com or by sending a letter to the address listed above.  Parents or legal guardians of any panel member who is under the age of 18 may discontinue the participation of such child in the same manner.  Please note that opting-out of the DRI Consumer Technology Panel will not result in our deleting Operating Information (survey responses) previously collected from your household.

Research Participation Incentive Policy

Our studies may offer incentives to participants in the form of cash or merchandise sweepstakes prizes. Each study will have the rules and regulations for the sweepstakes attached to the invitation to participate in that study. All prize winners will be notified via e-mail and will be required to complete a prize winner Affidavit of Eligibility, to be returned to DRI by US mail (or equivalent).

Other Sites

DRI is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other web sites.  We recommend that you carefully read the privacy policies of each site you visit.

Contacting Us

If you have questions about DRI's Privacy Pledge or the practices of this Web site, e-mail us at privacy@digitalresearch.com or contact:

Robert M. Domine, President
Digital Research, Inc.
201 Lafayette Center
Kennebunk, Maine 04043
Bob.Domine@digitalresearch.com

Your Acceptance of our Privacy Practices

By agreeing to become a member of the DRI Consumer Technology Panel™ (signified by supplying Personal Information and/or Demographic Information) or participating in a DRI survey, service or program, you signify your acceptance of the terms and conditions of this Privacy Pledge.  DRI will make changes to this privacy statement from time to time, and will post these changes to our web site.  We encourage you to periodically review our Privacy Pledge.  A notice of any significant changes will be provided to panel members via written, electronic, or other notice from DRI.