How to protect users’ data. 

This is a non-exhaustive guide on how to protect users’ data when you are conducting surveys or interviews. It falls under your responsibility to ensure that users’ data is appropriately collected and stored. For more thorough information, please visit https://warwick.ac.uk/services/legalandcomplianceservices/dataprotection/ or contact Research and Impact Services. 

Ask for consent before sending out a survey or conducting an interview. 

You cannot force a participant in a study and the individual reserves the right to opt-out at any time throughout the process. It falls under your responsibility to inform the respondents of the reasons why you collect their personal data, where you store it, for how long you process it, and in which ways you will use it in the future. 

Explain how and where you will store personal data. 

You cannot store personal data you collect using surveys indefinitely. Remember to define and notify data subjects for how long you will retain personal information before you send out survey invitations. Also, explain where that data will be stored. 

Explain the individual’s right to the data. 

Implement processes that enable you to comply with the individual’s right to request access to the personal data you collect. You or your organisation should be ready to facilitate requests to not only access but, also, delete personal information upon request. 

Ensure that any third-party services you use are GDPR compliant. 

When integrating personal survey data into third-party applications, you should verify beforehand that those third parties also comply with GDPR regulations. You can achieve this by updating your vendor agreements to comply with GDPR. 

Provide participants with details on how to contact you with further questions. 

Make sure that if anyone has any questions, they can contact you to discuss further. 

 

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