Privacy and Data Protection

Most of the personal data that we hold will be collected during a survey and comes directly from you (e.g., full contact details, survey responses, journey data). We will be collecting the following:

1. Information that directly identifies you such as your name, contact details for you (including email address and telephone number) and other personal information (e.g., sex, date of birth).
2. Sensitive or ‘special category personal data’ about you (e.g., details about your ethnicity, disability, and relationship status).

The information you give us will be held securely and will be treated in strict confidence in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation. This information will be used solely for research purposes.

The results of this research will be anonymous, statistical information only, and you will not be identifiable in any published datasets and reports. We can assure you that any information you provide during this research will NOT be used for marketing, nor will we sell or pass on your information to any third party.

Ipsos UK will be using certain supplier organisations to assist us in running the research project and we will need to disclose your personal data to these supplier organisations for that purpose. These supplier organisations include:
• Ipsos OOH, an Ipsos entity that will help process the GPS data
• BT (telecoms for text messages) – only your phone number and no other data.
• Google Cloud, for the storage and processing of the data using Ipsos purposefully developed machine learning and generative AI models.

Ipsos UK will share Individual survey responses with key identifiers and sensitive data removed (pseudonymised) and GPS Travel data collected using the GeoQuest app with Route Research Ltd. The data will only be used for research and analysis purposes by Route Research Ltd.

Ipsos UK takes its information security responsibilities seriously and applies various precautions to ensure your information is protected from loss, theft or misuse. Security precautions include appropriate physical security of offices and controlled and limited access to computer systems.

Ipsos UK has regular internal and external audits of its information security controls and working practices and is accredited to the International Standard for Information Security, ISO 27001.

Ipsos UK will keep your personal data and responses in strict confidence in accordance with this privacy notice. Pseudonymised individual responses and GPS data will be shared with the Client, however you will NOT be identifiable in any published results. Ipsos UK and the Client will only use your personal data and survey responses solely for research and analysis purposes. To enable text message communication with participants during the survey period, Ipsos will share the mobile number with British Telecom (BT). Acceptance of this is optional and requires participant consent. BT will retain this data for a maximum of 90 days.

You have the right to access your personal data within the limited period that Ipsos holds it. If you would like a copy of the information you provided, please email this request to geoquest_help@ipsos.com.

Yes. The GeoQuest travel survey is a voluntary research study. You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide us with your personal data. You can decide whether to take part, or continue to take part, or not, and you can change your mind at any time. You will always be provided with full information about what taking part involves at each stage of the study and how your data will be used. You can contact us here to withdraw from the study at any time if you wish to or to exercise your individual information rights.

If you withdraw from the study, any data already collected will continue to be used unless you explicitly request that we delete it, using our contact details here.

If you request that we delete any personal identifiable information (such as name and contact details), we will delete this and stop collecting and linking data you provided us. If you also wish to have your anonymised survey data (your answers to the survey questions) deleted and not deposited, please make this request within 6 months of taking part in the survey. After that date it will not be possible to remove your anonymised data from the study.

Ipsos is the data controller and data processor for this study. The legal basis for processing your data is consent, which you may withdraw at any time.

The data we collect may only be used for the purposes of this research study.

We will keep our privacy and data protection information under regular review and it will be updated at least annually. 

A printable copy of the full privacy policy is available here:

GeoQuest Privacy Policy (PDF)

If you wish to make a complaint, you can contact us in the following ways:

• Email: geoquest_help@ipsos.com with “GeoQuest Travel Project” in the email subject line
• Post to: GeoQuest survey, Route team, Ipsos UK Ltd, Kings House, Kymberley Road, Harrow HA1 1PT

If you are concerned about the handling of your personal data, you can contact the Data Protection Officer by emailing compliance@ipsos.com, or posting a letter to Data Protection Officer, Compliance Department, Ipsos, 3 Thomas More Square, London, E1W 1YW, United Kingdom.

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), if you have concerns on how we have processed your personal data. You can find details about how to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ or by sending an email to: casework@ico.org.uk.

When you contact us to exercise your right, we will:

• Acknowledge that your request has been received.
• Write to tell you if your request is not applicable and give the reasons.
• Act on your request within the time period required by the current data protection law.
• Write to inform you if we need to extend the period of time required to respond due to the complexity of your request.