Survey Participant Privacy Policy

Last update on April 8, 2024

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This Privacy Policy describes how Semasio (“we,” “our,” or “us”), collects, uses, and discloses data that you provide to Semasio as a participant in surveys operated by our third party partner(s) (the “Survey”) in North America.  

When we say “you,” we are referring to individuals who consent to respond to the Survey. This Privacy Policy does not apply to any of Semasio’s other personal data practices.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to Semasio’s advertising technology platform or our corporate activities.  Please review the Semasio Platform Privacy Policy for details about how our advertising technology platform uses personal data, including the Survey Data (defined below), and our Business Services Privacy Policy to learn more about how we process personal data that we collect through our corporate website and from our business customers.

The term “personal data” as used in this Privacy Policy has the meaning ascribed to that phrase and equivalent terms under applicable laws.

Section 1

Notice at Collection of Personal Data

We collect the categories of personal data identified below. As further described in Section 1.B below, we do not “sell” or “share” (as those terms are defined under law in certain US states, including California) survey participants’ personal data.

A. Categories of Personal Data That We Collect

Personal Data Category

Do we “sell” or “share” this category of data?

Identifiers/biographical information, including first and last name, postal and email address, phone number, and online identifiers.

No

Characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law, such as your gender, age, ethnicity, and religion

No

Commercial information, such as your product preferences and purchase habits

No

Internet or other electronic network activity information, including websites you visit and which mobile apps you use

No

Geolocation data, such as your state of residence

No

Professional or employment-related information

No

Education information

No

Inferences, meaning inferences drawn from other categories of personal data.

No

Sensitive personal information, such as health-related reasons for using certain products or services

No

B. Purpose of Personal Data Collection and Use

We will collect and use your survey responses (“Survey Data”) to develop a statistical model of respondents’ preferences and purchasing behavior. During the modeling process, we seek to understand how your personal attributes, characteristics, and interest correlate with your purchase behavior. We’re not interested in your (or any other individual’s) behavior in particular. Instead, we’re interested in trends that we observe based on the Survey Data and the model we create from these observations. That composite model is what we’ll offer to advertisers who want to place advertisements on particular websites or reach particular audiences.

C. Retention

We will retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to create and refine models that we will use for advertising purposes. We may retain your personal data for a longer time if legally required (e.g., for a legal compliance, auditing, or accounting reason).

Section 2

Sources of Personal data

A. Information You Provide

We work with the Survey vendors identified in Section 10 of this Privacy Policy to collect Survey Data directly from you through your survey responses. Our Survey vendors may also share demographic or other information that you have provided directly to them about yourself (“Panel Data”). We combine Panel Data with the Survey Data to develop our models.

B. Information We Automatically Collect

We may use cookies, tags, SDKs and scripts, and similar technologies (collectively, “cookies”) to collect certain information about your internet activity to supplement your Survey Data. Cookie technologies vary in their details, but the basic idea is that they allow us to associate a unique identifier (a “Cookie ID”) with your activity on a website or app.

The specific types of personal data that we and our vendors automatically collect through cookies include:

  • Device and Browser Information. This includes your device’s IP address and/or other unique identifiers, browser type, device type, internet service provider, and operating system.
  • Location Information. When you participate in a survey, we may determine your device’s approximate location from your device’s IP address or other signals.
  • Usage Information. We collect information about your internet activity, including the sites that you visit, the apps that you use, and the time, date and duration of your activity.

To learn more about your choices regarding the automatic collection and use of your personal data, please see the Your Privacy Choices and Rights in Section 4 below.

C. Information We Receive from Third Parties

We may receive personal data from other sources, including companies such as data aggregators that supplement the Survey Data and Panel Data.

D. Combination of Information

We may combine your Survey Data and Panel Data with additional personal data that we receive from various sources. We use, disclose, and protect combined personal data as described in this Privacy Policy.

Section 3

How We Disclose Personal Data

We may disclose each category of personal data that we collect to the following categories of recipients:

  • Processors/Service Providers. We disclose your personal data to service providers that provide business, professional, marketing, analytics, or technical support services to us, help us develop models, or administer activities on our behalf. We prohibit our service providers from using your personal data except to provide services to Semasio.  
  • Competent Governmental, Regulatory, and Public Authorities. We may disclose personal data to governmental or law enforcement authorities to comply with valid legal or regulatory obligations or requests.
  • Relevant Third Parties as Part of a Corporate Transaction. In the event of a reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer, or other disposition of all or any portion of our business, assets, or stock (including in connection with a bankruptcy or similar proceeding), we may disclose or transfer your personal data to certain third parties, such as the acquiring entity and its advisers.
  • Other Third Parties. We will disclose your personal data to other third parties at your direction or with your consent. Additionally, we will disclose your personal data as we believe necessary or appropriate to: (a) comply with applicable law; (b) enforce our terms and conditions; (c) protect our operations; (d) protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or those of you or others; and (e) allow us to pursue available remedies or limit damages that we may sustain.

We may disclose your personal data for other reasons that we will describe at the time of information collection or prior to disclosing your information.

As described in Section 1.B above, we create models from your Survey Data and Panel Data. The output of our models are lists of identifiers, similar to Cookie IDs, constituting an audience that is likely to be interested in a product or service. Semasio’s creation and distribution of audiences is governed by our Platform Privacy Policy. Please see that policy to learn more about your choices relating to our audiences, including how to opt out of being included in them.

Section 4

Your Privacy Choices And Rights

A. Third-Party Opt Outs

You may opt out of online targeted ads in general by using the industry opt-outs described below. These opt-outs will not necessarily remove you from Semasio’s databases. Please visit our Privacy Choices page to opt-out of Semasio’s databases.

Some of these choices apply only to the specific browser or device from which you opt out, and you will need to opt out separately on each browsers or device you use. If you delete or reset your cookies or mobile identifiers, change browsers, or use a different device, any opt-out cookie or tool may no longer work and you will have to opt out again.

Even if you choose to opt out of receiving interest-based advertising, you may still receive advertising, but the advertisements may be less relevant.

B. Privacy Rights and Requests

Depending on where you reside, you may have certain rights regarding your personal data as summarized below, subject to certain restrictions and variations under applicable local laws. This section describes how to exercise those rights and our process for handling your requests. We may withhold these rights to the extent that applicable law does not recognize or no longer recognizes these rights. We may charge a reasonable fee to comply with your request, if allowed by applicable law.

  • Right to Limit the Use or Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information. You may have the right to request that we limit the use or disclosure of your “sensitive personal information,” as defined under applicable law, subject to certain exceptions.
  • Right to Delete. You may have the right to request that we delete personal data that we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.
  • Right to Know or Request Access to Your Personal Data. Depending on what law applies, you may request information about your personal data in our databases. Additionally, under certain state privacy laws in the United States, residents may request we disclose the categories of personal data we have collected about you; categories of sources from which the personal is collected; the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal data; and the categories of third parties to which we disclose personal data. Please note that we may not be required to respond to your requests “to know” or access specific pieces of personal data more than twice in any 12-month period.
  • Right to Data Portability. You may have the right to access your information in a portable format.
  • Right to Rectify/Correct. You may have the right to correct inaccurate personal data that we may maintain about you, subject to appropriate verification.

If you are interested in exercising one or more of the rights outlined above, please visit our Privacy Choices page , or you can contact us at privacy@semasio.com. You must put the statement “Your Privacy Rights” in the subject field of your email. We may take steps to verify your identity before responding to your request by asking you a series of questions about your previous interactions with us or about your Survey Data. Where permitted under applicable law, we may decline a request if we are unable to verify your identity (or an agent’s authority to make the request) and confirm the personal data we maintain relates to you.

Submitting a privacy rights request does not require you to create an account with us.

We will not discriminate against you if you decide to exercise your privacy rights.  

C. Agent Requests

Depending on your U.S. state of residence, you may authorize someone to make a privacy rights request on your behalf (an authorized agent). Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may submit a request related to your personal data. You may also submit a request on behalf of your minor child. Authorized agents will need to demonstrate that you’ve authorized them to act on your behalf. Semasio retains the right to request confirmation directly from you confirming that the agent is authorized to make such a request, or to request additional information to confirm the agent’s identity. If you are an agent, please review the instructions on our Privacy Choices page for submitting requests.

D. Opt-Out Requests

We do not “sell” or “share” personal data under this Privacy Policy.

E. Right to Withdraw Consent

You may withdraw your consent for us to use your Survey Data and Panel Data that may be in our possession at any time by visiting our Privacy Choices page to submit an opt-out request. You may also contact us toll-free at 833 367-8688. Please be aware that withdrawing your consent does not affect any models that we created before receiving and processing your request.

F. Right to Appeal

Depending on where you reside, you may have the right to appeal a decision we have made in connection with your privacy rights request. To appeal a decision, please contact us at privacy@semasio.com.  

Section 5

Minors’ Privacy

Our surveys are intended for individuals who are at least 18 years old. We do not knowingly solicit or collect any personal data from minors. If you are a parent or legal guardian and think that your child has given us data, you can contact us by email as provided below under Section 11. Please mark your inquiries “Minors’ Privacy Information Request.” If we learn that a minor has provided personal data to us, we will use reasonable efforts to delete it.

Section 6

Data Security

We have implemented appropriate security measures to protect the personal data in our databases against any unauthorized access, use or disclosure.  However, regardless of any technical and organizational measures Semasio has put in place to assure that data in its custody is secured, no such steps are foolproof, we therefore cannot guarantee that such data will not or cannot be subject to breach or to hackers.

Section 7

How Long We Retain Personal Data

We retain personal data in accordance with requirements of applicable laws as long as it is necessary for the purposes we pursue (set out in Section 1) or we have a legal or compliance reason to do so.  

Section 8

CCPA Metrics

For metrics on opt-out and other requests under the CCPA relating to personal data processed in the Semasio Platform, including the Survey Data, please visit: CCPA Metrics.

Section 9

Revisions To This Privacy Policy

Semasio may change or update this Privacy Policy at any time in accordance with any new applicable data protection regulations or new relevant information achieved. Any changes or updates we may make will be posted on this website.

Section 10

Survey vendors

We work with the following vendors in collecting the Survey Data:

Reklaim

Section 11

How To Contact Us

If you have questions related to this privacy policy, or regarding our products or services, please contact us at privacy@semasio.com or info@semasio.com.

Postal address:

Semasio Inc.

c/o Casters Holdings, Inc.

433 West Van Buren Street, Suite 200,

Chicago, IL 60607