Social Research ¦ Market Research ¦ Behavioural Insight ¦ Evaluation ¦ SROI
Social Research ¦ Market Research ¦ Behavioural Insight ¦ Evaluation ¦ SROI
For research on behalf of the Enforcement Conduct Board relating to the observation and analysis of body worn video.
Who we are
M·E·L Research Limited (M·E·L Research) is an independent social and market research company. Our office address is Somerset House, 37 Temple St, Birmingham, B2 5DP.
We are a Market Research Society (MRS) Company Partner and abide by the MRS Code of Conduct. We are also a fully accredited MRS Fair Data Partner, thereby recognised as undertaking research fully in line with ‘Privacy by Design’ principles.
M·E·L Research is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) as a Data Controller, registration number Z7114827. We adhere to the principles of the 2018 Data Protection Act and the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) on data privacy.
Information we collect and process for research purposes
We may collect and use (process) Personal Data (personal information) about you when you participate in research, surveys, public consultations, attend public events, meetings, focus groups, etc. Some research and consultation activities may include the use of video and/or audio recording. In most cases, prior consent will be obtained from you before any such recording takes place or privacy notices will be prominently displayed where observational research is undertaken. We may also process Personal Data that has been shared with us by clients to evaluate their services. This can include data from Body Worn Video equipment, CCTV or other image, audio or video capture devices.
How we use personal data for research purposes
We collect and process data to support research and evaluation projects commissioned by clients. This may include using Personal Data for analysis purposes, and may comprise your gender, age, postcode, email address or other characteristics, including sensitive personal data (such as ethnicity, political opinions, trade union membership, etc) and/or criminal offence data (e.g. criminal activity, allegations, investigations, proceedings, etc). Data is aggregated for reporting purposes and personally identifiable data is never passed back to clients or given to any third party, unless you expressly give your prior permission to do so. You will never receive a sales or any marketing contact as a result of participating in our surveys or research projects.
Client supplied information
Where the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) and/or an Enforcement Company supplies or provides access to any of your Personal Data to allow us to undertake a research project on their behalf, all Parties are jointly determining the purposes and means of Processing of the Personal Data. M·E·L Research will therefore be acting as a Data Controller in the context of our work on behalf of the ECB. The terms of processing are provided in a formal written Data Sharing Agreement between the ECB, Enforcement Companies and M·E·L Research. This provides the limitations of the purpose(s) for using your data to conduct research.
What we use your information for
We may use your information to undertake research and complete a project, initiative or service for which purpose you/a client originally provided it to us. In some instances, such as observational research (where consent may not be possible), then Contractual, Legitimate Interests and/or Public Task are likely to be the legal bases for processing. A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) will be undertaken for any processing that includes special category data and/or criminal offence data that is likely to result in a high risk to individuals. As part of our assessment, we will take into account the reasonable expectations of individuals whose personal data are processed and the potential impact on their rights and freedoms.
Legal basis for processing your information for research purposes
For our work with the ECB Legitimate interest Article 6(1(f) of the UK GDPR and Research and statistics condition (Para 4, Part 1 Schedule 1 of the DPA 2018) as the basis for processing.
With whom we may share your information
Personal Data reviewed by M·E·L Research as part of the ECB research project will be used for analysis purposes and anonymised and/or aggregated for reporting purposes – no Personal Data will be shared with the ECB or any other research third party. We may disclose your information where we have a legal duty to do so. This includes to enforcement authorities (for example the police or tax authorities) if asked to do so, or to another third party in the context of legal proceedings. M·E·L Research strictly respects the privacy of its users and of research participants.
Personal Data will be stored securely on encrypted servers and on secure and encrypted offsite backups within the UK. We keep information secure by taking appropriate technical and organisational measures against its unauthorised or unlawful processing and against its accidental loss, destruction or damage.
Personal Data will only be kept for as long as it is required to provide a service or to administer a client project up to 3 months from the end of the client project. As soon as data is no longer needed it will be securely disposed of, deleted or destroyed.
We will not store or transfer any information we collect from you outside the European Economic Area (the EU member states, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) without prior permission or as permitted by law.
Your right to withdraw consent
If you wish to be removed from our database, you can do so by emailing M·E·L Research on the following email dpo@melresearch.co.uk or writing to our office at Somerset House, 37 Temple St, Birmingham, B2 5DP.
What are my rights?
All of your information will be maintained by M·E·L Research Limited in accordance with English law. We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate and up to date. If you have any queries about the information we hold on you or you feel any of your information is incorrect or out of date, please contact M·E·L Research on Freephone 0800 073 0348 or email us on dpo@melresearch.co.uk. If you have a complaint or an issue to raise, please contact M·E·L Research’s office, using the contact details at the bottom of this page.
You have the following privacy rights:
You also have a right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Information on your rights can be found on the ICO’s website.
Use of www.melresearch.co.uk
If you visit our website then we may collect and process your personal data if you decide to actively communicate with us and if you subscribe to our newsletters or other services. For statistical analysis and website operational requirements, we may also collect and process technical data when you visit and navigate our website. This may include log files, IP address details, Internet browser and operating system, web tracking data (such as referral URLs), time and date stamps and data for Google Analytics.
M·E·L Research are not responsible for the content or privacy policy on any website accessed via external website links and once a user clicks on a link to an external site they will be subject to that organisation’s privacy policy.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files stored on the user’s internet connected device, such as a computer, mobile phone, tablet, web-enabled TV, etc. Our website uses cookies for security purposes and to help us understand how our website is being used, which pages are being visited, etc. In addition we also use cookies as part of the Google Analytics service. This service allows us to track aggregated statistics about numbers of visitors to our website. The information is anonymous and does not identify who our site users are. Information on Google Analytics can be found here:
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage?csw=1
Changes to our privacy policy
We keep our privacy policy under regular review and we will place any updates on our website www.melresearch.co.uk.
Contact us
You may request details of personal information that we hold about you. Please email dpo@melresearch.co.uk or call 0121 604 4664. If you believe that any information we are holding about you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to us or email us as soon as possible, and we will immediately correct any information found to be incorrect.
Glossary
Personal Data
Any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier.
Special Category Data (Sensitive Personal Data)
Data on racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.
Criminal Offence Data
Date relating to criminal activity, allegations, investigations and proceedings. This may also include personal data about unproven allegations and information relating to the absence of convictions, personal data about penalties, conditions or restrictions placed on an individual as part of the criminal justice process or civil measures which may lead to a criminal penalty if not adhered to.
Data Controller
A Data Controller determines the purposes and means of processing Personal Data.
Data Processor
A Data Processor is responsible for processing personal data on behalf of a Data Controller.
Purpose
Personal Data will be collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes.
Processing
Personal Data will be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to individuals. Further processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes shall not be considered to be incompatible with the initial purposes.
