This GDPR policy sets out how Design Partners uses and protects any personal information shared with it as a result of any interaction with the organisation including participation in research activities such as focus groups, Voice Of Customer (VOC) interviews, Human Factors Studies etc.
Design Partners is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using the website or whilst partaking in an organised research activity, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this policy and associated regulations.
All data collected, recorded, stored, processed and destroyed will be treated in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679.
Design Partners may revise this policy from time to time. The approved policy will always be available on the Design Partners website. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from the 07th of December 2018.
We are Design Partners Limited, a product design & interaction design agency.
Our registered office and headquarters are located at IDA Business Park, Southern Cross Route, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
We collect the following personal information when you visit our website and complete a form, apply for a position or sign up to our mailing list;
If you should partake in a research activity organised by Design Partners, including but not limited to; a focus group or voice of customer interview, research will be conducted in accordance with the ethical and legal guidelines / relevant authority of the countries in scope and will be approved by each affiliate as necessary.
All data processing at Design Partners (acting as Data Controller and Data Processor) adheres to the following six data protection principles:
Participation in a research activity is entirely voluntary. It is the participants choice whether to participate or not.
Design Partners will obtain informed, written consent from each participant (or legal Guardian if participants are under the age of 18 years) prior to the commencement of any research activity.
Participants will be informed that their participation is completely voluntary and that they have the right to withdraw at any time without giving a reason or justification.
In the case of data processing whereby the basis of the lawful processing is consent alone, that consent shall be given:
The Data Subject (Person sharing personal data) has the ability to revoke their consent at any time. The process for revoking of consent is as uncomplicated as that of giving of consent. Design Partners will store evidence of the consent in order to meet its GDPR obligations.
In order to ensure full transparency with all Data Subjects, the Data Controller provides the following information to a Data Subject when seeking personal data;
The consent to process personal data for Research may be withdrawn at any time without giving any reasons and without any penalty or loss of any benefits to which participants are otherwise entitled; however, to the extent that consent is necessary for participation in the Research, Research activities may be terminated at the discretion of Design Partners.
Other than for specific research activities, we collect information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and for the following reasons;
Identity of participants in Research activities including but not limited to; a focus group or voice of customer interviews will be kept strictly confidential. Identities will not be disclosed outside of the core research party within Design Partners. Personal identifiable data of the participants will not be shared, and data will be reported in an aggregated form such as anonymisation* to protect anonymity and confidentiality of research participants.
Research activity-related personal data will be retained for a maximum of 24 months, from completion of the research. After this period, all personal data will be permanently erased via digital deletion and / or physical destruction. All data will be kept in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679.
We may contact you by email about services and updates that may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive any direct marketing communications from us, you can opt out at any time and we will not contact you again unless you choose to Opt-In again. See ‘Your rights’, below for further information.
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
All data will be kept in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679.
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages a visitor finds useful. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.
We collect Statistical and Performance Data for the purpose of improving our website and statistical and behavioural analysis. To collect this Non-Personal Data we are using Third Party Providers (listed below).
This is a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. which uses 1st party Cookies. The details of Google Analytics Privacy Policy and the Cookies used are available on Google’s website. Google has developed a web browser add-on for the most common browsers, the add-on allows you to opt-out of Google Analytics – the link for the opt-out add-on is: Google Opt-out Add-on .
CampaignMonitor is an email marketing platform provided by Campaign Monitor Pty Ltd. Design Partners uses CampaignMonitor to email whom have opted-in to the Design Partners newsletter services and products. Campaign Monitor terms and conditions can be found here: campaignmonitor.com/terms
Information sent through our contact forms is sent directly to the recipient and is not stored in our website database. Email sent to Design Partners is cover by standard email policy.
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:
whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes.
if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes and wish to change your mind, you may opt out at any time by unsubscribing from our mailing list or if you have any other concerns you can write or email us at [email protected]
We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.
You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Acts 1988 & 2003 and the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 and the Data Protection Act 2018 when it comes into effect. A small fee may be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to Data Protection, Design Partners, IDA Business Park, Southern Cross Route, Bray, Co. Wicklow or email [email protected]
If you believe that information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
Individuals who have shared personal information have the following rights;
This policy and all issues regarding our website are governed by Irish Law.
The processing of all data received by Design Partners is in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679.
Our trained data protection staff oversee how we collect, use, share and protect your information to ensure your rights are fulfilled.
You can contact our Data Protection staff at [email protected] or by writing to us at
Design Partners, IDA Business Park, Southern Cross Route, Bray, Co. Wicklow.
If you have a complaint about the use of your personal information, please contact Design Partners immediately by phone on +353 (0)1-2828913 or on email at [email protected] giving us the opportunity to rectify matters quickly.
If you wish to make a complaint you may do so in person, by telephone, in writing and by email. Please be assured that all complaints received will be fully investigated. You can register a complaint directly by email to [email protected]
You can also contact the Data Protection Commissioner at www.dataprotection.ie
We will make changes to this notice from time to time, particularly when we change how we use your information, and change our technology and products. You can always find an up-to-date version of this notice here on our website www.designpartners.com
*Anonymisation: of data means processing it with the aim of irreversibly preventing the identification of the individual to whom it relates. Data can be considered anonymised when it does not allow identification of the individuals to whom it relates, and it is not possible that any individual could be identified from the data by any further processing of that data or by processing it together with other information which is available or likely to be available.