Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

SurveyMethods ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our survey platform and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By accessing or using our Service, you agree to this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not access the Service.

2. Legal Entity and Data Controller Information

Data Controller and Data Storage

It is important to understand how your data is controlled and where it is stored:

• C-9 Tech Ltd acts as the data controller for all UK and EU customers
• All customer data and survey data is stored and processed within the United Kingdom
• No personal data is transferred to or shared with SurveyMethods LLC
• Your data remains under UK jurisdiction and protection at all times

Contact details for C-9 Tech Ltd are provided in Section 16 (Contact Us).

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Information You Provide

We collect information that you provide directly to us, including:

• Account Information: Name, email address, password, company name, and other registration details
• Survey Data: Survey questions, responses, and related content you create or collect through our Service
• Contact Information: Information you provide when contacting our support team
• Payment Information: Billing address and payment details (processed securely through third-party payment processors)

3.2 Information We Collect Automatically

When you use our Service, we automatically collect:

• Usage Data: Information about how you interact with our Service, including pages viewed, features used, and time spent
• Device Information: IP address, browser type, operating system, device identifiers, and mobile network information
• Log Data: Server logs including access times, error messages, and system activity
• Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies to collect information about your browsing activities

3.3 Survey Respondent Data

When individuals respond to surveys created using our Service, we collect the responses and any additional information provided. This data is collected on behalf of our customers (survey creators) and is subject to their privacy practices.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve our Service
• Process transactions and send related information
• Send administrative information, updates, and security alerts
• Respond to your comments, questions, and customer service requests
• Analyse usage patterns and trends to improve user experience
• Develop new features and functionality
• Detect, prevent, and address technical issues, fraud, and security concerns
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms of service
• Send marketing communications (with your consent where required)

5. Use of Artificial Intelligence

SurveyMethods uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance our Service and provide intelligent features. This section explains how we use AI and what data may be processed by AI services.

5.1 AI Features

We offer the following AI-powered features:

• AI Survey Creation: Generate professional surveys from natural language descriptions
• Executive Summaries: Automatically generate insights and key findings from survey results
• Ask AI Analysis: Ask natural language questions about your survey data and receive AI-generated insights
• Sentiment Analysis: Analyse the emotional tone of open-ended text responses
• Survey Review and Question Suggestions: Check a survey's design for common problems (such as leading or unclear questions) and suggest improvements to individual questions

We also use AI behind the scenes to keep the Service safe and to answer support requests:

• Anti-phishing Review: A second check of surveys our automated anti-phishing checks have flagged, to help decide whether they are misuse of the Service
• Support Triage: Sorting and prioritising messages sent to our support team

5.2 Third-Party AI Providers

We use the following third-party AI services to deliver these features:

• OpenAI: For survey generation, executive summaries, and natural language analysis. OpenAI processes data in accordance with their Privacy Policy and does not use API data to train their models.
• Microsoft Azure AI: For sentiment analysis of open-ended responses. Data is processed in accordance with Microsoft's Privacy Statement.
• Anthropic (Claude): For survey review and question suggestions, anti-phishing review and support triage. Anthropic processes data in accordance with its Privacy Policy and does not use data sent through its API to train its models.

5.3 Data Processed by AI

The following data may be sent to AI services:

5.4 AI Data Retention and Security

• AI interactions are logged for quality assurance and to provide conversation history
• None of our AI providers uses data we send them to train their models. OpenAI and Anthropic may keep API inputs and outputs for a limited period (typically up to 30 days) to detect abuse before deleting them; Azure AI does not keep sentiment analysis content after processing
• Sentiment analysis results are cached for up to 30 days to improve performance
• All AI interactions are subject to the same security measures described in Section 7

5.5 Your Control Over AI Features

AI features are optional. Survey creators can choose whether to:

• Use AI to generate or refine surveys, or create surveys manually
• Generate AI-powered executive summaries or rely on standard analytics
• Enable or disable sentiment analysis for individual questions
• Use the Ask AI feature or analyse data using traditional reporting tools

If you do not wish for your data to be processed by AI services, simply do not use these features. Standard survey creation, collection, and analysis tools do not involve AI processing. Account administrators can also turn AI features off for their account in Account settings.

5.6 Connecting SurveyMethods to AI Assistants

You can connect your SurveyMethods account to third-party AI assistants, such as Claude (by Anthropic) and ChatGPT (by OpenAI), using our connector. Once connected, you can ask the assistant to create surveys, give you share links and read your results.

• Connecting: You sign in with your SurveyMethods login, and the assistant is given access to act on your account as you, with the same permissions you have. It can only see your surveys and those shared with you. If you don't have a SurveyMethods account, one is created using the name and email address from your sign-in, and we record which assistant you signed up through.
• What the assistant receives: Only what you ask it for: your survey titles, questions and answer choices, results summaries, individual responses and share links. Responses can include personal data your respondents entered, such as names or email addresses.
• What we receive: The requests the assistant makes on your behalf (for example, which survey to summarise, or the questions for a survey to create). We do not receive your conversations with the assistant. Surveys the assistant creates are stored in your account like any other.
• The assistant provider's responsibility: Data the assistant receives is processed by its provider (for example, Anthropic for Claude or OpenAI for ChatGPT) under that provider's own terms and privacy policy, not this one. Before you ask an assistant to read your responses, make sure you are entitled to share your respondents' data with it.
• Limits: The connector cannot send email invitations, delete anything or edit existing surveys. Surveys created through it go through the same anti-phishing checks as any other, and requests are rate limited.
• Disconnecting: Disconnect SurveyMethods in the assistant's settings at any time. Its access then ends when its current access token expires (within 24 hours). To end access immediately, contact us using the details in Section 15.

We keep records of connector requests for security and troubleshooting, for the same period as our other service logs (see Section 8).

6. How We Share Your Information

We may share your information in the following circumstances:

6.1 Service Providers

We share information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as hosting, sign-in and authentication, payment processing, email delivery, analytics, AI processing (see Section 5) and customer support. These providers are contractually obligated to protect your information and use it only for the purposes we specify.

6.2 Business Transfers

If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or bankruptcy, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information.

6.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or governmental request, or when we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

6.4 With Your Consent

We may share your information for any other purpose with your consent.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your information against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit and at rest
• Regular security assessments and penetration testing
• Access controls and authentication mechanisms
• Employee training on data protection and security
• Monitoring and logging of system activities

However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as necessary to provide our Service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. When you delete your account, we will delete or anonymise your personal information within a reasonable timeframe, unless we are required to retain it for legal or regulatory purposes.

Survey response data is retained according to the settings chosen by the survey creator (our customer) and may be retained for different periods.

9. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: Request access to the personal information we hold about you
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information
• Portability: Request a copy of your information in a structured, machine-readable format
• Objection: Object to our processing of your information for certain purposes
• Restriction: Request restriction of processing of your information
• Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent for processing where we rely on consent

To exercise these rights, please contact us at support@surveymethods.co.uk. We will respond to your request within the timeframe required by applicable law.

You can also opt out of marketing communications by following the unsubscribe instructions in those messages or by contacting us directly.

10. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to collect information about your browsing activities. You can control cookies through your browser settings and other tools. However, disabling cookies may limit your ability to use certain features of our Service.

For more information about our use of cookies, please see our Cookie Policy.

11. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence. These countries may have data protection laws that differ from those in your country.

When we transfer information internationally, we implement appropriate safeguards to protect your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.

12. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe we have collected information from a child under 16, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to delete such information.

13. GDPR Compliance (European Users)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the following additional information applies:

• Legal Basis: We process your personal data based on consent, contract performance, legal obligations, or legitimate interests
• Data Controller: SurveyMethods acts as a data controller for account holder data and as a data processor for survey response data
• Data Protection Officer: You may contact our data protection team at support@surveymethods.co.uk
• Supervisory Authority: You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated policy on our website and updating the "Last updated" date.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:

This Privacy Policy is effective as of the date stated at the top of this page. Your use of our Service is also governed by our Terms of Service.