Gray Insight is a qualitative and quantitative research company and we collect attitudes and opinions from people like you on behalf of our clients. The types of studies we conduct include focus groups (in person or online), one-on-one interviews (in person, at home or by telephone), online bulletin boards, online surveys and home-use-tests (HUTs).
Market research is an essential component to the success of many companies. It allows companies to explore the viability of concepts for products and services, creative strategies, advertising and consumer opinion and culture. By participating in our studies, you play an important role in the success of many brands, companies, and services.
At Gray Insight, we want you to understand how we use information that we collect about you. By participating in a research study conducted by Gray Insight, you are agreeing to and accepting this privacy policy that governs our services. It is in the best interest of Gray Insight, our clients, and you, the consumer, for us to maintain the strictest controls on the privacy and confidentiality of all data that we collect.
All Gray Insight employees, full-time and contract, are required to sign a confidentiality agreement and undergo information security and data protection training. Access to our database of information is secured and granted only to Gray Insight management and our database team. In addition, all of our clients are made aware of our privacy policy and high standards of confidentiality.
California Residents, click for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Section of the Privacy Policy
Because each of our clients have different research needs, we use different methods for collecting attitude and opinion information for them. "Qualitative research" refers to having in-depth conversations with small numbers of qualified consumers or professional people, whether as part of focus groups or a one-on-one interviews, while "quantitative research" is the practice of surveying larger groups of participants in order to develop a more accurate picture of their attitudes and opinions.
For our qualitative research studies, we use professional recruiting companies to identify and contact consumers or professional people who meet the definition of our client's target audience. In these cases, Gray Insight may be seeking participants for in-person focus groups or one-on-one interviews, online focus groups. bulletin boards or one-on-one interviews, telephone one-on-one interviews or a mix of these methodologies.
On our behalf, these companies might ask you about what you do, places you go and purchasing decisions you have made (either on behalf of your own household or for work), and they use this and other personal or work data to provide us with possible participants who meet the qualifications of the study being conducted. Providing this information is completely voluntary, as is participation in any Gray Insight research study.
In most cases, you will be contacted by a recruiting company because you have agreed to be a participant in these types of market research studies. All recruiting companies employed by Gray Insight adhere to the practices endorsed by such organizations as the Insights Association, the Council for Marketing and Opinion Research and, if applicable, The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and The General Data Protection Act (GDPR).
For certain qualitative studies, we will not use a professional recruiter but will contact consumers or professional people directly - whether by email or telephone - from lists provided to us by our clients. We have written agreements with our clients that we will only contact people who have agreed to receive this type of contact. If you agree to provide information based on our initial contact with you, we will usually contact you at a phone number you have provided to our client. We do not cold call anyone from purchased lists or by random dialing.
When we call, we inform you about the study we are conducting and gather information to determine your fit for the study. In most cases, we will also collect the relevant contact information that is required to provide payment (known as an "incentive") to you for your participation, whether to be paid in cash, by check or through some form of electronic money exchange service.
Whether you are contacted by a professional recruiter on behalf of Gray Insight or by Gray Insight personnel directly for a Gray Insight qualitative study, this contact will include collecting Personally Identifiable Information (information that can be used to identify or contact you, also called PII) and Non-Personally Identifiable Information (information that is sensitive but cannot be used to identify or contact you, also called Non-PII).
The type of PII collected most typically include: Your first and last name, your home address, your telephone number (work, cell, home), your email address and either your age or your date of birth. Non-Personally Identifiable Information (Non-PII) can include, but is not restricted to, information such as your gender, your education level, your household income, your housing type/home ownership, your occupation and your history of participation in these types of qualitative research studies.
Neither Gray Insight nor any of our recruiters will either ask about, collect or store information on your citizenship status, your social security number, any biometric data related to you or any actual or alleged criminal activity.
When conducting quantitative research studies, Gray Insight contracts with professional sampling and survey companies, also known as "panel companies," in order to get qualified consumers and/or professionals to complete market research surveys designed by Gray Insight. These companies have pre-recruited large numbers of voluntary research participants who are then invited by the panel company to see if they qualify for the applicable Gray Insight survey. In these cases, the panel companies are responsible for collecting, managing and securing the PII of their panel members, following similar guidelines in the handling of this data as Gray Insight.
For most Gray Insight surveys, the panel company retains all PII and no such information is ever communicated to Gray Insight nor, in turn, to our clients. The only exception is for certain types of home-use-tests (HUTs), where the panel company provides the names and addresses of survey participants to Gray Insight (after receiving explicit approval from each participant) so that products can be sent to them for use and evaluation. In these specific cases, this limited PII provided by the panel company is used solely for the purpose of delivering the products being tested by these participants.
For in-person focus groups or one-on-one interviewers conducted at focus group facilities, the recruiters and/or the facility company will identify participants to the Gray Insight moderator (who is responsible for leading the group or interview) by their first names and last initials only. A summary of the PII and non-PII information relevant to the particular study will also be shared with the Gray Insight moderator in a hardcopy form typically called a "participant roster" or a "recruiting grid" but, again, only your first name and last initial will be associated with this information. This information is also typically shared with the Gray Insight client as background to the research and confirmation that the participants qualify according to the recruiting specifications agreed to.
For focus groups, bulletin boards or one-on-one interviews that are conducted using online platforms, the recruiting company (which is also the company hosting the research) regularly shares the participant roster electronically with the Gray Insight moderator (and, by extension, with our client) during the recruiting period to ensure that progress is being made and to assess the qualifications of the people being recruited. While the research is being conducted, those representing Gray Insight's client are also able to view the roster online in their role as research observers and to see that the recruiting criteria have been met. They do not get a file or other copy of it outside of that role. As with other participant rosters, we strictly limit the disclosure of PII, such as names, workplace (on the occasions where that is collected), etc., by using the same protocols as for face-to-face groups.
Following this same principle, you will be identified during the in-person focus group or one-on-one interview either by your first name or by your first name and last initial only. For online focus groups, you will be identified to the moderator by either name or email address and to other participants by your first name, or if you prefer, a screen name or a nickname of your choice.
The key purpose of any qualitative research is to collect consumer attitudes, opinions, reports of behavior and responses to various kinds of stimulus material (such as preliminary ad copy, ideas for new products, potential package designs, etc.) among participants as a whole. This means that the analysis and write-up of the research findings never requires us to share the PII of any individual research participant. This information is communicated to our clients in summary form only.
Most in-person and online video chat qualitative research sessions are recorded both as digital audio and video files, while interviews conducted by telephone are audio recorded. These recordings are for the use of Gray Insight and its clients only and these recordings are never used for commercial or public purposes. As with the sessions themselves, participants are identified in recordings (if at all) by their first name or their first name and initial only.
Qualitative research findings are usually summarized in a narrative report format and, although illustrative quotes or video clips may be used to highlight specific findings, such highlights never identify participants by name and are never linked any participant's PII. Similarly, when Gray Insight provides quantitative survey results to our clients, we include aggregate data or anonymized summaries of overall survey information only, with absolutely no individual's PII revealed or shared.
If a Gray Insight client requests PII for a specific project, you, the participant, must give unambiguous consent to be contacted by that client for that specific market research project. You have the option to opt out of this contact. The client agrees in writing that your PII disclosure shall be kept confidential and used only for research purposes in the study in which you are participating, whether for follow-up research, validation purposes or any other clearly defined purpose. The client shall not contact you except for those express purposes for that specific project without prior written consent of both you and Gray Insight.
If a client receives an individual's PII from Gray Insight, they are considered liable for the protection and security of that data and are expected to adhere to the same protection standards as Gray Insight.
Other than for the purposes described above, Gray Insight does not sell, trade, rent, or otherwise share for marketing purposes with third parties or service providers any PII collected as part of any Gray Insight study, whether it is a qualitative or quantitative study.
During the course of a Gray Insight research project, it may be necessary for us to share your information with a limited number of third parties relevant to the legitimate collection of research data.
For example, we may share some of your personal data, such as your name and email address, in order to provide you access to an online service or an online form that is being used as part of the research study. In other cases, we do not share your personal data but we use a third-party service to record, process and store video/audio from study sessions. Such third parties can include, but are not limited to, the client for the research project, transcription companies (audio/video recordings of sessions only), Web streaming companies (audio/video recordings of sessions only), offsite location management teams that may host the research at their location and secure data transfer websites.
When you are recruited or arrive at a market research facility for an in-person session or access a platform remotely to participate in an online focus group, bulletin board or one-on-one interview, you will provide signed consent to the use of your personal data for the purposes of that research project. All third parties involved in any Gray Insight research projects are prohibited from using your data for any purpose other than the research project for which you were contacted.
As noted above, Gray Insight does not distribute or otherwise release any personal information related to any market research project to any third party outside of the scope of the research project into which individuals have chosen to participate.
As a market research supplier to a number of clients who typically engage us for numerous studies over many years, Gray Insight has an obligation to retain the research information and related reports and supporting documentation indefinitely, unless requested to do otherwise by an individual client.
In addition to the reports, this supporting documentation can include, but is not limited to, emails pertaining to the individual projects, homework assignments, audio and video files of market research sessions, survey datafiles (including both data and comments), cross-tabulations, evaluation forms and scoresheets, readings from dial-type reaction measurements, pile sorts of words/photos, drawings and collages created during research activities, and photos taken by research participants as part of the research tasks.
Gray Insight maintains substantial and elaborate security measures to protect the research Information that we collect and store. Our internal Intranet site is hosted in a secure server environment that uses firewalls and other technology to prevent unauthorized access. All Gray Insight survey data is hosted in multiple highly rated data centers which are Tier 3 certified and have been audited to meet SSAE 16 and SOC 2 compliances.
As a potential or actual participant in a Gray Insight market research study, it is your right to choose not to provide information that you deem sensitive. Your responses and opinions in any of our research studies will remain confidential.
You will never be asked to buy anything or contribute to an organization and, in the course of conducting a research project, neither Gray Insight nor any recruiters or panel companies working on our behalf will in any way misrepresent ourselves or what we are doing.
During qualitative research studies and without regard to the specific methodology used, you provide your opinion on various subjects and your opinions are often recorded on video and/or audio for research purposes. You will be made aware of this practice prior to each project. For quantitative research projects, you will be asked to respond to pre-formatted questions, often using scaled response choices as a means of capturing your thoughts and opinions, in addition to being given certain opportunities to elaborate on your answers or provide comments in response to "open ended" text questions.
As a research participant, you have the right to non-discrimination and the right to courtesy as we pledge to maintain the highest standards of professional conduct in the collection and reporting of the information you provide.
For any Gray Insight project, you have the right to request full disclosure on the types of information Gray Insight is collecting for the research project in which you participate, how the information is being processed and the general purpose for collecting this information.
You have the right to request which third parties your information is shared with, although for purposes of confidentiality or the integrity of the research, such information may be shared only after the research is complete and you have the right to opt-out of communication with Gray Insight at any time.
We reserve the right to change this policy and our terms of service at any time, in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations.
If you have any questions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at privacy@grayinsight.com.
FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS: Your Rights Under the California Consumer Protection Act of 2018 ("CCPA") Pursuant to the California Consumer Protection Act of 2018 ("CCPA"), and subject to certain exceptions and limitations, Californians can contact Gray Insight to exercise the rights described below with respect to certain personal information that we hold about them. To the extent those rights apply to you, they are described below. Gray Insight also handles certain personal information on behalf of its clients. You should contact those clients to exercise any rights you may have with respect to that personal information. Right to Know About Personal Information Collected, Disclosed, or Sold As noted above, Gray Insight typically does not collect nor store personal information about the participants in Gray Insight research studies. Nevertheless, as a participant in such a study, you have the right to request that we provide you with details about what personal information, if any, we have collected, used or disclosed about you.
You can submit a verifiable consumer request by calling our toll-free number 877-230-4527 or by emailing us at privacy@grayinsight.com. Gray Insight reserves the right to verify your identity to our satisfaction in the course of responding to your request.
You are entitled to receive the following:
Right to Request Deletion of Personal Information
You have the right to request deletion of any personal information we have collected about you (subject to some exceptions). You can submit your request as described above and we reserve the right to conduct the verification described above.
Right to Non-Discrimination for the Exercise of a Consumer's Privacy Rights
You have the right not to receive unlawful discriminatory treatment by Gray Insight for the exercise of your privacy rights under the CCPA.
List of Categories of Personal Information to be Collected and May Have Been Disclosed or Sold
Gray Insight collects personal information from research participants during recruiting and conduct of market research activities such as focus groups, one-on-one interviews, bulletin boards and surveys and in connection with the receipt and redemption of incentives for participation in these market research studies. A "sale" of personal information under the CCPA is defined broadly to include the "selling, renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring, or otherwise communicating orally, in writing, or by electronic or other means" the personal information of a consumer to another business or third party "for monetary or other valuable consideration."
While most Gray Insight research collects only minimal personal information, depending on the research being conducted, the categories of personal information we may collect include such identifiers as:
Any such information as listed above is collected only for the purposes described as market research activities in this document. Gray Insight does not directly sell any of these categories of personal information and has not done so in the past.
In the past 12 months, Gray Insight has disclosed only the following categories of personal information to clients or sub-contractors, as relevant to specific market research studies:
If you wish to:
Or if you have any questions regarding Gray Insight's privacy practices and/or this policy, please contact us via our toll-free number 877-230-4527 or by emailing us at privacy@grayinsight.com.