Franchisee Satisfaction Survey Privacy Policy

Preamble to Survey Privacy Policy

The Franchise Relationships Institute (FRI) is a research and education company that specialises in the design and delivery of franchisee and licensee satisfaction surveys. We are engaged by franchisors and licensors to collect, analyse and report on survey trends in a confidential, objective and impartial manner.

We strive to maintain the highest levels of scientific and ethical rigour, especially in how we manage the confidentiality and privacy of your data.

Initially, the FRI research team needs to know who you are so we can send you a unique link to the survey, ensuring that only authorised people can complete the survey from the encrypted FRI Survey Website. The unique survey link also enables us to track survey completion rates and follow up participants if there is a need.

Once enough participants have completed the survey, any personal data that could identify you is removed, and your responses are combined with those of other survey participants. We then analyse the data looking for significant group trends, and combine your de-identified data into a data base for benchmarking purposes. To ensure all comments made in the survey are accurately captured, we also provide these in a de-identified format in the final report.

All de-identified survey data is stored on a secure server in Brisbane, Australia, using sophisticated data protection systems that are certified to ISO standards.

In summary, no one from your franchisor or licensor will know who has, or has not, completed the survey, and will not be able to identify or how you or any other survey respondent has answered any of the questions. Also, any personal information identifying you will be removed prior to data analysis and reporting. The only time your personal information would be shared with anyone is if we were legally required to do so, or you give us specific approval to do so in advance.

We hope this allays any concerns you may have about how your personal data is managed, and we encourage you to complete the survey and have your say with confidence.

The technical and legal details of our Survey Privacy Policy are provided below.

Privacy Policy for FRI Survey

1. This is Franchise Relationships Pty Ltd’s FRI Survey Websites privacy policy dated 23^rd of November 2020 (“Privacy Policy”).
2. This Privacy Policy describes your privacy rights regarding our collection, use, storage, sharing, and protection of your information, including any Personal Information.  It applies to the FRI Survey Websites, and all related websites, applications, services, and tools regardless of how you access them.
3. This Privacy Policy is available for download here.

4. In this Privacy Policy, each of the following terms has the corresponding meaning:

(a)          “Domain(s)” means https://frisurveys.qualtrics.com, and any related webpage or resource.

(b)          “FRI Survey Websites” means the website(s) delivered through the Domain(s).

(c)           “Personal Information” means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:

(i)             whether the information or opinion is true or not; and

(ii)           whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.

(d)          “Services” means any services we provide to you through the FRI Survey Websites.

(e)          “Survey Project” means a project that we are undertaking with a franchisor, licensor, or employer to collect information from their franchisees, licensees, or employees as the case requires.

(f)            “User” means a user of the FRI Survey Websites.

(g)          “you” means a User of the FRI Survey Websites including without limitation any person that:

(i)             views the FRI Survey Websites in a browser;

(ii)           submits any information to the FRI Survey Websites, through use of an enquiry form, survey, or otherwise;

(iii)         conducts any other type of transaction on the FRI Survey Websites.

Parties bound

5. You accept this Privacy Policy when you access the FRI Survey Websites, or otherwise accept our Services.
6. We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time by posting a revised version on the FRI Survey Websites.  The revised version will be effective 7 days after it is posted on the FRI Survey Websites.  For the avoidance of doubt, the current version of the Privacy Policy will remain in effect until the revised version takes effect.
7. Franchise Relationships Pty Ltd is not currently bound to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles, and nothing in this Privacy Policy shall be read to impose any obligation on Franchise Relationships Pty Ltd beyond those explicitly set out in this Privacy Policy.

How we collect information

8. We collect information sent to us by your computer, mobile phone, or other access device when you:

(a)          navigate to the Domain(s), or any related pages with a web browser, or

(b)          otherwise use the FRI Survey Websites, including by submitting information to us.

Information that we collect

9. The information sent to us may include data on the pages you access, device identifiers, your location, standard web log data, transaction data, and other information as described in paragraphs 10 through 15.
10. Web log data includes the browser type you’re using and traffic to and from the FRI Survey Websites and your computer, mobile phone, or other access device.
11. We may collect the following types of information:

(a)          Contact information, such as your name, address, phone, email, and other similar information;

(b)          Demographic information, such as your business location, gender, ethnicity, age, tenure in the relevant business, business revenue, and other similar information;

(c)           Associations, such as professional memberships, or other similar information;

(d)          Satisfaction with, or opinions about, aspects of your business and the support you receive from your employer, franchisor or licensor as the case may be; and

(e)     Your responses to any survey that you engage in on the Domain(s).

12. We may also obtain any information about you from your franchisor, licensor, or employer as the case may be, to enable us to contact you about your information, or to enable us to complete confidential analyses of yours and other respondents’ information.
13. Where possible we will minimise the extent of the Personal Information that we collect about you, including employing methods to achieve your anonymity or pseudonymity. However, due to the types of Services we provide, it is often impossible for us to deliver our Services to you, or our clients without collecting some Personal Information, and particularly information required to identify you.
14. In order to help protect you from fraud and misuse of your Personal Information, we may collect information about your use and interaction with the FRI Survey Websites.  For example, we may evaluate your computer, mobile phone, or other access device to identify any malicious software or activity.
15. We collect information including responses and other analytical data when you respond to a survey or poll on the FRI Survey Websites, and from interactions with our support team and any other person involved in the Survey Project.

How we use Cookies

16. When you access the FRI Survey Websites, we may place small data files on your computer, mobile phone, or other access device. These data files may be cookies, pixel tags, or other local storage provided by your browser or associated applications (collectively “Cookies”).
17. We use Cookies to:

(a)          identify you as a User;

(b)          enable functionality on, and to customise the FRI Survey Websites and related content;

(c)           monitor response progress and response rates;

(d)          mitigate risk and prevent fraud; and

(e)          to promote trust and safety on the FRI Survey Websites.

18. We may use session or persistent Cookies.  Session Cookies expire and no longer have any effect when you close your browser.  Persistent Cookies remain on your browser until you erase them or they expire.
19. We may encode our Cookies so that we can interpret the information stored in them.  You are free to decline our Cookies if your browser or browser add-on permits, but doing so may interfere with your use of the FRI Survey Websites.

How we protect and store Personal Information

20. Throughout this Privacy Policy, we use the term “Personal Information” to describe information that can be associated with a specific person and can be used to identify that person.  We do not consider Personal Information to include information that has been made anonymous and does not identify a specific User.
21. We store and process your Personal Information on our computers in Australia and Overseas (including the USA and Europe). Please note that countries other than Australia may have laws relating to privacy that do not provide you with the same type or extent of protection as those in Australia. If you have any concerns in this regard, we recommend that you contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or visit the commissioner’s website for more information.
22. We protect your information using physical, technical, and administrative security measures to reduce the risks of loss, misuse and unauthorised access, disclosure, and alteration.
23. We may delete, destroy, erase, de-identify, or otherwise remove your information from our systems without notice to you.

How we use the Personal Information we collect

24. Our primary purpose in collecting Personal Information is to provide Users with a secure, smooth, efficient, and customised experience.  We may use your Personal Information to:

(a)          provide and improve the FRI Survey Websites;

(b)          send notices and information to you;

(c)           resolve disputes and troubleshoot problems;

(d)          prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities, and enforce our Privacy Policy;

(e)          customise, measure, and improve the FRI Survey Websites and their content and layout;

(f)            contact you at any telephone number by placing a voice call, or through text (SMS), or email messaging, as authorised by our Privacy Policy; or

(g)          compare information for accuracy, and verify it with third parties.

Marketing

25. We do not sell or rent your Personal Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.

System maintenance and development

26. Information generated by the FRI Survey Websites, which includes data relating to your use of the FRI Survey Websites, is used by us for our internal development purposes; such information does not contain any Personal Information of any User.

How we share Personal Information with other parties

27. We may share your Personal Information with the following persons, or classes of persons.

(a)          Our clients, for whom we have collected information from you;

(b)          Our clients’ delegates or nominees;

(c)           Service providers under contract who help with our business operations such as fraud prevention, bill collection, marketing, and technology services.

(d)          Companies that we plan to merge with, acquire, or be acquired by.  Should such a combination occur, we will require that the new combined entity follow this Privacy Policy with respect to your Personal Information. If your Personal Information could be used contrary to this policy, you will receive prior notice.

(e)          Law enforcement, government officials, or other third parties pursuant to subpoena, court order, or other legal process or requirements applicable to Franchise Relationships Pty Ltd or one of its affiliates.

(f)            To law enforcement agencies, or contracted investigators, when we believe, in our sole discretion, that the disclosure of Personal Information is necessary to prevent physical harm or financial loss, to report suspected illegal activity, or to investigate violations of our Privacy Policy.

(g)          Other third parties with your consent or direction to do so.

28. Please note that these third parties may be in other countries where the laws on processing Personal Information may be less stringent than in your country. However, we will take reasonable steps to ensure the third parties do not breach the Australian Privacy Principles in relation to the Personal Information.

How you can access or change your Personal Information

29. You can review and edit your Personal Information by contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@franchiserelationships.com.

How you can contact us about privacy questions

30. If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, you should contact us by email at privacy@franchiserelationships.com. If you have a privacy complaint, you should report it by emailing our Privacy Officer at privacy@franchiserelationships.com.

Handling your complaints

31. We aim to:

(a)          Acknowledge receipt of all complaints within 5 business days; and

(b)          Resolve all complaints within 60 days, however, this may not be possible in all circumstances.

32. Where we cannot resolve a complaint within 60 days, we will notify you of the reason for the delay as well as an indication of when we expect to resolve the complaint.