Privacy and Cookie Policy

Thank you for visiting www.tribevillage.com (the “Site”) – a site owned and managed by Tribes Research Limited. Tribes Research Limited (“We”, “us” or “our”) is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 08385662, whose registered address is The White House, 2 Meadrow, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 3HN. We are an online data collection company that focuses on building and managing consumer panels and communities to provide high quality research data to our clients.

We understand that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your personal data is used and shared online. It is important to us as well and we respect and value the privacy of everyone who visits the Site and will only collect and use personal data in ways that are described here, and in a manner that is consistent with Our obligations and in line with the latest data protection and privacy laws. We also want to be transparent about what information we collect about you, how we use it, and how you can control what we do with this information. This privacy notice covers the collection of personal information from users of the Site and use of that information by us and parties that we authorise, such as our suppliers and subcontractors including what information we collect about you and how we use that information.

Please read this Privacy Policy and our Cookie Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it. You will be required to confirm that you have read, understood and accept this Privacy & Cookie Policy when signing up to become a member (a “Panel Member”) of the Tribe Village panel which is managed on the Site (the “Panel”). By accessing and using the Site and by participating in the research tasks, you are agreeing to the terms of this Privacy Notice and to our use of cookies as set out in the Cookie Policy. We may update this privacy policy from time to time and we’ll post any changes on the Site.

This privacy policy was last updated on 14 March 2023.

Privacy Policy

1. What Does This Policy Cover?

This Privacy Policy applies only to your use of the Site, your engagement in related research tasks and activities and your account. The Site may contain links to other websites, services or applications that we don’t control. Please note that We have no control over how your data is collected, stored, or used by other websites and services We advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites or services carefully before providing any data to them.

2. When and how do we collect information?

We (or our authorised third parties) may collect information about you:

  • when you first register for an account on the Site;
  • when you update your details via the Site or otherwise;
  • when you voluntarily complete any of the research tasks (e.g. surveys, polls or forum discussions) we invite you to participate in;
  • when you contact us or provide us with information through the Site or otherwise at any other point (e.g. when you contact us with an enquiry, request or feedback);
  • in monitoring your use of the Site and engagement including without limitation any research tasks and communications sent by you via the Site;
  • when we are checking compliance with the Terms and Conditions and/or otherwise as required by law; through the use of “cookies” and/or other devices (for details, see our Cookie Policy); and
  • from third party suppliers who have confirmed to us that they are authorised to pass your information to us in accordance with your legal rights.

3. What Information Do We Collect?

Depending upon your use of the Site, engagement with research tasks and your account status, We may collect some or all of the following information:

  • name;
  • email address;
  • date of birth;
  • phone number;
  • postcode;
  • gender;
  • household composition;
  • age of children in your household;
  • occupation;
  • household income;
  • information you submit when completing any of the research tasks (e.g. surveys, polls or forum discussions) we invite you to participate in, or feedback, comments or other information that you provide to us through the Site or otherwise, including any information, photos and/or videos which you may upload;
  • information about your use of the Site, including details of your internet protocol (IP) address, operating system, browser type and version, how long you stayed and on which pages, and your navigation into, out of and around the Site including any referring site and the site you exit to. For more information, please see our Cookie Policy;
  • other data to ensure and check compliance with the Terms and Conditions and/or otherwise as required by law.

Certain research tasks may also involve the collection of sensitive personal information such as your ethnicity and sexuality, which helps us to ensure that our survey participants are representative of the UK population, and to conduct research more effectively. Providing sensitive personal information is always voluntary, and you may withdraw your consent at any time by emailing us at support@tribevillage.com.

You must be aged 18 or over to join Tribe Village. We do not knowingly collect names and email addresses of anyone under eighteen to set up an account.

You may access certain areas of the Site without providing any data at all. However, to use all features and functions available on the Site you may be required to submit or allow for the collection of certain data.

4. How Do We Use Your Data?

We may use your data for the following purposes:

  • Providing and managing your account;
  • Providing and managing your access to the Site including related communications about research tasks;
  • Personalising and tailoring your experience on the Site;
  • Processing and dealing with any complaints or enquiries made by you;
  • Supplying you with service emails connected with the Site and the Panel including without limitation emails informing you about research surveys and community activities such as discussions and polls; providing general news and updates about changes to the Site and new content; and informing prize draw winners that they have won a prize. You can decide to stop receiving these emails at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the email or by going to Unsubscribe from Tribe Village on the Site. We will not send you any unsolicited marketing or spam.
  • Carrying out market research;
  • Creating anonymous, statistical profiles of participant responses to research tasks based on the information provided;
  • Analysing your use of the Site and services gathering feedback to enable Us to continually improve the Site and your user experience.
  • Management and administration of your account credits, rewards and prize draws for participating in Panel Member activities.
  • Monitoring compliance with and investigating any suspected breach of the Terms and Conditions or other applicable terms including without limitation by way of (a) checking postings or submissions in connection with your use of the Site, and/or (b) using keyword triggers to investigate usage that may be inappropriate.

We’ll only process your personal information where we have legal grounds to do so. Generally, we’ll only process your personal information on the following grounds:

  • you have given your consent for the processing. When we rely on consent to process your personal information including when we collect sensitive personal data such as relating to ethnicity or sexuality, you always have the right to withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent to us processing sensitive personal data, we will stop sending you any research tasks which require this information but may continue to send you other research tasks and we may still use the anonymised, aggregated data which we have created using your information;
  • the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party (including our Terms and Conditions);
  • the processing is necessary in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract (including our Terms and Conditions);
  • the processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation placed on us;
  • the processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us, or by a third party. For example, we are a market research provider so have a legitimate interest in carrying out research which may involve processing of your personal information. In certain limited circumstances you may have the right to object to processing based on such legitimate interests.

In particular, when you use the Site we may process your data in the following ways:

Purpose of processingData involvedLegal grounds for processing
Undertaking market researchRegistration data and other information you provide to us (other than sensitive personal information), which may include photos and/or videos you upload on the Site.Necessary for the performance of a contract: when you agree to participate in each of our research tasks in exchange for a benefit whether that is entry into a prize draw or other benefit, then there is a contract between us for you to complete those research tasks and for us to be able to use the resulting data and for us to provide you with that benefit and we will process your data in connection with that contract. Legitimate interest: We undertake market research on behalf of clients to gain insight into their business.  
Undertaking market researchSensitive Personal InformationConsent:  when you submit sensitive personal information when you complete research tasks, you consent to our use of the information for the purposes as described in this privacy notice.  
Service AnalyticsRegistration Data, log-in history, history of engagement with our services, browser details, device internet protocol (IP) address and device type and data collected via cookies (see Cookie Policy)Legitimate interest: We have a legitimate interest in understanding how people are using our Site and are engaging with the Panel services, both so that we can improve and so that we can undertake research more effectively. Therefore we may use your personal data to understand and analyse use of the Site and the Panel services.
Administer survey incentives, including account credits and prize draws and publish the name and county/region of the winners on our Site or in the Panel newsletter.Registration Data and for prize draw winners, their name and region/countyNecessary for the performance of a contract: when you agree to participate in our research services in exchange for account credits or entry into a prize draw orother benefits,then there is a contract between us for you to complete those research tasks and for us to administer that reward and we will process your data in connection with that contract.
Queries and complaints handlingRegistration Data, log-in history, marketing consents, browsing data, device internet protocol (IP) address and device type and any other data you provide to usLegitimate interest: We have a legitimate interest in our users engaging with the Site and services and improving the Site and services.  Therefore, we may use your personal information to manage any queries or complaints you may have.

5. How Long Will We Keep Your Data?

We do not keep your personal data for any longer than is necessary. Generally, we will retain data for the following periods (or its retention will be determined on the following bases):

  • A subscribed and active Panel Member – data will be kept for the duration of your membership period;
  • An unsubscribed Panel Member – no more than 12 months from the date of unsubscribing;
  • A subscribed and inactive Panel Member – no more than 12 months from the date of being deemed inactive;
  • A blacklisted Panel Member – no more than 12 months from the date of blacklisting;
  • An incomplete registration survey – no more than 12 months from starting the registration process;
  • An unqualified registrant for membership – no more than 12 months from starting the registration process.

We may occasionally have reason to keep data for longer (for example so that we can deal with any complaints you might make about the Site or our services or for the defence of legal claims, to keep limited data to manage your request to unsubscribe to ensure we stop including you in any communications and if we have a legal or regulatory duty to retain particular personal information for a certain minimum period (for example, under HMRC tax rules)).

6. Where Do We Store Your Data?

Data security is very important to Us, and to protect your data.

We have taken suitable measures to safeguard and secure data collected through the Site.

Generally, your data will only be stored within the UK and European Economic Area (“the EEA”) (The EEA consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.

If we do engage a new supplier located, or with servers that are located, outside the EEA in the future then we will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure your information is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy notice. We‘ll only transfer your personal information to a territory outside of the European Economic Area under the following circumstances:

  • the European Commission has determined that an adequate level of protection for personal information is in place in the country to which we transfer your data;
  • standard data protection clauses as adopted by the European Commission are in place governing the transfer (you can view the standard clauses on the European Union’s legal website at eur-lex.europa.eu); or
  • for transfers to the USA, the recipient organisation is a participant in the EU-US Privacy Shield programme.

7. Do We Share Your Data?

We may pass information about you to other parties as follows:

  • to our technology partner, Syno International, a private limited civil liability company, incorporated and operating pursuant to the legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, under legal entity code 302748928 (Syno). Syno provide the panel management and survey technology to Us. Syno is only allowed access to your information as needed to perform functions connected with the Site and Panel Members or to provide services to us. They’re not allowed to use it for any other purpose. You can see more about Syno here https://www.synoint.com/privacy-policy/;
  • to third parties authorised by us and acting on our behalf such as our employees, contractors, suppliers and/or agents including without limitation our customer care teams to administer and manage the Site and Panel now or in the future. These third parties are only allowed access to your information as needed to perform functions connected with the Site and Panel Members or to provide services to us. They’re not allowed to use it for any other purpose;
  • as part of general statistical information about the Site’s membership base and the Panel, traffic volumes and related matters. These details will not include information from which you could personally be identified;
  • to the police, regulatory bodies or legal advisers in connection with any alleged criminal offence, unlawful activity or suspected breach of the Terms and Conditions and/or the breach of any other applicable terms or where required by law or where we suspect harm or potential harm to others. We will cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity or location of or any other information about anyone breaching any relevant terms and conditions or otherwise for the prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders;
  • the Site contains public forums and pages which are displayed to other Panel Members. When you engage with these areas of the Site, your user name and some profile information you voluntarily provide and your submissions will be publicly available. Please always think carefully about creating your user name (which will be the identity by which you are known on those areas) and before disclosing information to other users or otherwise making your information publicly available;
  • if there are changes to our business (see section below on “Business Changes”).

8. Your Rights

Any personal information you supply will be treated in accordance with applicable data protection laws including the General Data Protection Regulation and any other applicable or superseding legislation. We are committed to delivering the rights that individuals are entitled to under data protection laws in the UK. These include:

  • the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. To do this, please contact us at support@tribevillage.com making clear that you are requesting a copy of your personal information and including full details of what you require. You may also be required to submit proof of your identity.
  • the right to object to your personal information being processed where the legal basis for the processing is our legitimate interests as a business (see the “How Do We Use Your Information?” section above). We will comply with such a request unless there is a lawful reason for not doing so, such as when we need to continue to process your information to defend a legal claim or if this information is necessary for the ongoing provision of our services.
  • the right to rectification. You may request that we correct any inaccurate and/or complete any incomplete personal information by contacting us at support@tribevillage.com or via the details in the “Contact us” section below.
  • the right to withdraw consent. Where we are processing your personal information on the basis that you have given us your consent to do so, you may withdraw your consent at any time.
  • the right of erasure. We only hold your data for a limited time as explained in the “How Long Will We Keep Your Data?” section above, but you may contact us to request that we erase your personal information and we will comply, unless there is a lawful reason for not doing so. For example, there may be an overriding legitimate ground for retaining your personal information, such as keeping your payment information for several years to comply with HMRC rules.
  • the right to data portability. In certain circumstances, you may request that we provide your personal information to you in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have it transferred to another provider of the same or similar services to us. Where this right is applicable, we will comply with such transfer as far as it is technically feasible.
  • the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority. We suggest that you contact us about any questions or if you have a complaint in relation to how we process your personal information and we will do our best to help you. However, the Information Commissioner’s Office in the United Kingdom (“ICO”) regulates our processing of your personal data and you do have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO. Details of how to contact the ICO can be found on the ICO website at ico.org.uk.

9. Access, correction and updates to your information

You have the right to access your personal information and to correct it. Please make sure that you update your details as soon as possible with all relevant changes.

When you register as a member of the Panel and open a user account on the Site, you can access your membership information on your ‘My Profile’ page by logging into the Site.  If you need to update or correct any of your membership information, you can do this within the ‘My Profile’ page.  

Alternatively, you can write to us at Tribes Research, The White House, 2 Meadrow, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 3HN or email us at support@tribevillage.com in order to access and/or update your data at any time.

10. Suspending and Closing your account

If you unsubscribe from our emails or click on the Unsubscribe page, we will treat this as a request to suspend your account. We will keep the account active for a period of time as explained in the “How Long Will We Keep Your Data?” section above in case you change your mind but will then delete your account entirely. You will no longer be able to access the Site and you will no longer receive emails from us. You can reactivate your account at any time in this period by contacting us by going to Contact us on the Site, or emailing support@tribevillage.com. If you have not reactivated your account within this period then we will delete your account entirely.

You can also request we delete your account entirely by emailing us at support@tribevillage.com.  We will delete your account as soon as reasonably practicable following receipt of the deletion request, and in any event within 5 business days.

When we delete an account entirely, we will anonymise your data as far as possible although we may continue to process your data for contractual reasons e.g. if we need to provide you with a prize won before closing your account. Please note if you have not earned a reward or incentive at the time you delete your account, you will forfeit any rights to try and earn or receive those incentives or rewards.

We also reserve the right to suspend or terminate your Panel membership, or your ability to access the Site immediately and without notice at any time, at our sole and absolute discretion. This may be because, for example, we consider that you have breached the Terms and Conditions or any other applicable terms or if you have been inactive for a period of time.

We may close the Panel and your account when the research programme ends or is cancelled. In these circumstances, we will inform all Panel members by email of the Panel being closed, at which point your access to it will cease.

11. Business Changes

If we become involved in a merger, acquisition, restructuring, reorganisation or other transaction involving the sale of some or all of our assets, then your information may be included in the assets that are transferred to the new owner and may be provided to the entities and advisors involved. Such a transaction may involve us: (i) retaining the right to continue to use transferred personal information in addition to the right of the new owner to use such information; and (ii) engaging in additional transfers of personal information (including new personal information) with the new owner from time to time following such a transaction. We, or a new owner, will provide notice to you before any of your personal information becomes subject to a different privacy notice.

12. How Can You Access Your Data?

You have the right to ask for a copy of any of your personal data held by Us (where such data is held). We will fulfil your request as far as we can free of charge. Please contact Us for more details at support@tribevillage.com, or using the contact details below.

13. Data Controller

Tribes Research Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 08385662, whose registered address is The White House, 2 Meadrow, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 3HN.

14. Contacting Us

If you have any questions about the Site or this Privacy Policy, please contact Us by going to Contact us on the Site, or email us at support@tribevillage.com, or by post at Tribes Research, The White House, 2 Meadrow, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 3HN. Please ensure that your query is clear, particularly if it is a request for information about the data We hold about you (as under section 12, above).

15. Data Protection Officer

Our officer responsible for data protection can be contacted by email at dataprotection@tribesresearch.co.uk, or by post at Tribes Research, The White House, 2 Meadrow, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 3HN.

Cookies Policy

16. Introduction

16.1 This website uses cookies.

16.2 We will ask you to consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy when you first visit our website. By using our website and agreeing to this policy, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy.

17. About cookies

17.1 A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

17.2 Cookies can be used by web servers to identity and track users as they navigate different pages on a website and identify users returning to a website.

17.3 Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies.

17.4 A persistent cookie consists of a text file sent by a web server to a web browser, which will be stored by the browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date (unless deleted by the user before the expiry date).

17.5 A session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

18. Third party and analytics cookies

18.1 When you use our website, you may also be sent third party cookies.

18.2 Our service providers may send you cookies. They may use the information they obtain from your use of their cookies: (a) to track your browser across multiple websites; (b) to build a profile of your web surfing; and (c) to target advertisements which may be of particular interest to you.

18.3 In addition, we use Google Analytics to analyse the use of this website. Google Analytics generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies, which are stored on users’ computers. The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of the website. Google will store this information. Google’s privacy policy is available at: http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html.

19. Our cookies

19.1 We use both session cookies and persistent cookies on this website.

19.2 The following session cookies are used for session management or to understand panellist or survey takers activities, choices and preferences as they interact with the system via their browser.
(a) cp_session: This is the portal session
(b) IRIS_SESSION — valid for 30 days. Used to combat abuse and security (preventing the same user from re-entering the same survey in the time period) as well as allow some users to continue where they left off.
(c) BEACON_LOGIN — random value duration of 30 days. Set when the user logs into the application, so considered an authentication cookie. Must match a server side session to be valid; the session is destroyed on logout or session timeout
(d) HERMES_FKEY — secondary user authentication cookie, prevents certain types of security attacks.
(e) __distillery — set by the third party Wistia media player used for walkthrough videos. No officially declared purpose.
(f)__cfduid — more information here: https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200170156-What-does-the-Cloudflare-cfduid-cookie-do

For Google Analytics purposes we will send to you the following cookies:
(a) _utma – Default expiration time: 2 years from set/update. Description: Used to distinguish users and sessions.
(b) _utmb – Default expiration time: 30 minutes from set/update. Description: Used to determine new sessions/visits.
(c) _utmz – Default expiration time: 6 months from set/update. Description: Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached your site.
(d) _utmv – Default expiration time: 2 years from set/update. Description: Used to store visitor-level custom variable data.

19.3 Our technology partner, Syno, uses cookies to provide you with a more personalised and organisesd experience when you log into Tribe Village. Please read Syno’s Cookie Policy here: https://www.synoint.com/cookies-policy/

20. Cookies and personal information

20.1 Cookies do not contain any information that personally identifies you, but personal information that we store about you may be linked, by us, to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.

21. Blocking cookies

21.1 Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies. For example:
(a) in Internet Explorer (version 9) you can block cookies using the cookie handling override settings available by clicking “Tools”, “Internet Options”, “Privacy” and then “Advanced”;
(b) in Firefox (version 16) you can block all cookies by clicking “Tools”, “Options”, “Privacy”, selecting “Use custom settings for history” from the drop-down menu, and unticking “Accept cookies from sites”; and
(c) in Chrome (version 23), you can block all cookies by accessing the “Customise and control” menu, and clicking “Settings”, “Show advanced settings” and “Content settings”, and then selecting “Block sites from setting any data” under the “Cookies” heading. 16.2 Blocking all cookies will, however, have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.

22. Deleting cookies

22.1 You can also delete cookies already stored on your computer. For example:
(a) in Internet Explorer (version 9), you must manually delete cookie files (you can find instructions for doing so at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835);
(b) in Firefox (version 16), you can delete cookies by clicking “Tools”, “Options”, “Privacy” and then “Show Cookies”, and then clicking “Remove All Cookies”; and
(c) in Chrome (version 23), you can delete all cookies by accessing the “Customise and control” menu, and clicking “Settings”, “Show advanced settings” and “Clear browsing data”, and then selecting “Delete cookies and other site and plug-in data” before clicking “Clear browsing data”.

22.2 Again, doing this may have a negative impact on the usability of many websites.

23. Contact

23.1 If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our treatment of your personal information, please write to us by email to support@tribevillage.com.

24. Data controller

24.1 The data controller responsible in respect of the information collected on this website Tribes Research Limited.