Privacy

SecondOpinionSurveys, Inc. ("SecondOpinionSurveys," “the company”), is privately-owned and incorporated in the US state of Maryland. SecondOpinionSurveys respects the privacy of visitors to its website, secondopinionsurveys.com, as well as respondents who take a survey or are considering taking a survey conducted by SecondOpinionSurveys. To that end, SecondOpinionSurveys has the following privacy policy, which it may refine in the future without notice:

For both visitors to the secondopinionsurveys.com website, and current and potential respondents in a survey conducted by SecondOpinionSurveys, the company considers participation voluntary, thanks participants for their interest and any input that they care to give SecondOpinionSurveys, and wants it known that the company works diligently to protect Personally Identifiable Information (PII). In the course of conducting business, if contact information has been provided, for example a name, phone number, and/or address, we will promptly delete PII information if so requested. (Such requests should either be emailed to privacyofficer@secondopinionsurveys.com, with “opt-out” in the subject line, or mail as an “opt out” request to the following address:

SecondOpinionSurveys Privacy Officer, 27338 Cat Creek Rd., Mechanicsville, MD 20659.

Survey takers and potential takers should know that SecondOpinionSurveys favors conducting surveys anonymously; with such studies the company actively avoids the collection of PII. Sometimes, though, clients may feel the need to gather PII; they may, for example, wish to request respondents’ permission to recontact them to conduct follow-up research (not to ever sell anything), and if permission is given, ask for a name and contact information. The company considers such information PII, will protect it, and will delete it upon request; survey respondents should use the same (above) notification process to opt-out and have their PII erased; they should also mention the approximate date and try to describe the survey to facilitate finding and erasing that information.

SecondOpinionSurveys is a consulting service, and the company conducts surveys; it does not use surveys to market or sell anything. Most surveys are conducted online, but they may also be conducted in person, by telephone, or through the mail. When conducted online, the studies are typically recruited by respected and certified third-party firms that have developed panels of willing survey participants. In-person interviewing may be conducted in a research facility, or participants may be approached in everyday locations such as coffee shops. Telephone interviewing is also conducted on occasion. All of that is done by trained and experienced researchers employed or directly contracted by SecondOpinionSurveys, or by trained and experienced researchers who work for respected sub‑contractors (“partners”) approved by SecondOpinionSurveys. Before being hired, partners must agree to abide by the privacy policies established by SecondOpinionSurveys.

In compliance with America’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), before interviewing children or teenagers under the age of 18, SecondOpinionSurveys secures the permission to do so from their parents or legal guardians; when interviewing children, parents and guardians who have given permission are actually encouraged to participate in the process to supervise and help with the interview of their child. SecondOpinionSurveys does not ask children for their PII, and does not give them online tools that could allow them to post such information. Any parents or guardians who do not want their child or teenager to be contacted for future research are instructed and encouraged to use the opt-out email address or mailing address provided near the top of this policy. If SecondOpinionSurveys feels the need to caution parents, or sees activity that suggests it needs to protect its website, the company reserves the right to contact parents directly or through its partners. The company also abides by orders of law enforcement.

The company usually provides respondents with incentives to complete surveys, and those incentives are typically fulfilled by the partners recruiting respondents. Some clients may provide SecondOpinionSurveys with contact information or lists of potential respondents, and ask SecondOpinionSurveys to administer a sweepstakes. In such case, SecondOpinionSurveys will post rules for the sweepstakes, inform respondents that participation is voluntary, and only request contact information if permission is granted and PII is provided. Note, some states may exclude respondents from participating in a sweepstakes, steps would be taken to abide by those laws, and notice would be posted in the rules. Following sweepstakes rules, once winners are selected, they will be contacted by SecondOpinionSurveys or a partner or the client initially providing the list. The names of winners will only be posted if permission has been provided by the winners and the sponsor(s) of the sweepstakes.

SecondOpinionSurveys does not utilize cookies or tracking technology, though that may be done by its partners. Cookies, small files that may be temporarily stored on computers, may be blocked and/or deleted by using browser settings and controls. While the secondopinionsurveys.com site is visited, or an online survey conducted by SecondOpinionSurveys is taken, background information such as visitor/respondent IP (Internet Protocol) and OS (Operating System) may be captured; that information is not considered PII.

SecondOpinionSurveys respects and welcomes its visitors and respondents, follows its privacy policy, and adheres to government and industry guidelines.

Thank you.

Management of SecondOpinionSurveys