The Data Protection Act regulates how personal information is used and protects against misuse of personal details.
This Act of Parliament also restricts access to much information held specifically on databases and on files and renders much information routinely available in other jurisdictions illegal.
It is imperative that professional investigators are well versed in the DPA and act within its confines.
International Research Limited trading as Research Associates (and associated trading names) is registered under the Data Protection Act with The Ministry of Justice’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
International Research Limited’s registration with the ICO is Z536312X.
International Research Limited trading as Research Associates (and associated trading names) protects the identifiable information of all online visitors and customer as follows:
International Research Limited trading as Research Associates (and associated trading names) will not sell, trade, or disclose to third parties any client identifiable information derived from a visit, enquiry, or any legal use of this website; this non-disclosure is including client name(s) and address(es) and any other personally identifiable information, without the consent of the client (except as required by a court subpoena, a search warrant, or another legal process, or in an extreme case of imminent physical harm to the client or others being reasonably perceived).
International Research Limited trading as Research Associates (and associated trading names) will not discuss, or communicate with any individual or individuals, existing client or third parties, details of any enquiries, discussions, negotiations, agreements or contracts made between any existing or potential clients and International Research Limited trading as Research Associates (or associated trading names) without prior written permission of the client/customer (except as required by a court subpoena, a search warrant, or other legal process, or in an extreme case of imminent physical harm to the client or others being reasonably perceived).
The directors, employees and officers of International Research Limited trading as Research Associates (and associated trading names), believe that clients have a reasonable right to privacy, and will do all in their power to protect that privacy, to the extent of the law.
This is a statement of Data Protection Compliance adopted by International Research Ltd.
International Research Ltd needs to collect and use certain types of information about people with whom it deals in order to operate.
These include current, past and prospective employees, suppliers, clients/customers, and others with whom it communicates.
In addition, it may occasionally be required by law to collect and use certain types of information of this kind to comply with the requirements of government departments for business data, for example.
This personal information must be dealt with properly, however, it is collected, recorded and used, whether on paper, on a computer, or recorded on other material. There are specific safeguards to ensure this within the Data Protection Act 1998.
We regard the lawful and correct treatment of personal information by International Research Ltd as very important to successful operations, and to maintaining confidence between those with whom we deal and ourselves.
We ensure that our organisation treats personal information lawfully and correctly.
To this end, we fully endorse and adhere to the Principles of Data Protection, as enumerated in the Data Protection Act 1998.
Specifically, the Principles require that personal information:
Shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless specific conditions are met;
Shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes;
Shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed;
Shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date;
Shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes;
Shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under the Act;
Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
Shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.
Therefore, International Research Ltd will, through appropriate management, strict application of criteria and controls: Observe fully conditions regarding the fair collection and use of information; Meet its legal obligations to specify the purposes for which information is used;
Collect and process appropriate information, and only to the extent that it is needed to fulfil operational needs or to comply with any legal requirements; Ensure the quality of information used;
Apply strict checks to determine the length of time information is held; Ensure that the rights of people about whom information is held are able to be fully exercised under the Act.
(These include: the right to be informed that processing is being undertaken, the right of access to one’s personal information, the right to prevent processing in certain circumstances and the right to correct, rectify, block or erase information that is regarded as wrong information.);
Take appropriate technical and organisational security measures to safeguard personal information;
Ensure that personal information is not transferred abroad without suitable safeguards. In addition, International Research Ltd will ensure that:
There is someone with specific responsibility for data protection in the organisation. (Currently, the nominated person is Martin Tomlins Young);
Everyone managing and handling personal information understands that they are contractually responsible for following good data protection practice;
Everyone managing and handling personal information is appropriately trained to do so; Everyone managing and handling personal information is appropriately supervised;
Anybody wanting to make enquiries about handling personal information knows what to do; Queries about handling personal information are promptly and courteously dealt with;
Methods of handling personal information are clearly described; A regular review and audit is made of the way personal information is managed; Methods of handling personal information are regularly assessed and evaluated;
Performance with handling personal information is regularly assessed and evaluated.