Research Privacy Policy

Introduction

This Research privacy Policy (the “Policy”) is intended to provide you with information about what personal data Med Planet collects about you and how it is used.

This Policy describes how we may obtain personal data, the types of personal data we may obtain, how we use, share and protect the personal data, the rights of data subjects with respect to their personal data, and how to contact us about our privacy practices. This Policy does not apply to personal data other than the personal data relating to research. For the Privacy Policy for personnel or representatives of our clients, suppliers and other entities with whom we have entered, or may enter, business transactions, please see our Business Associate Privacy Policy.

We may revise this Privacy Policy at any time, without notice to you. You are responsible for reviewing it regularly. Your access of the Sites following the posting of changes means you agree to abide by those changes.

This Privacy Policy was last revised on March 26, 2024.

About Med Planet

Med Planet has over 25 years of experience providing qualitative market research services to the healthcare industry. Headquartered in Lyon, France, Med Planet specialise in a consultative approach, entrenched in local expertise, to ensure their clients benefit from high quality outputs and actionable data.

Med Planet operates a panel of members who take part in “Activities” (including market research, non-interventional studies, observational studies and other surveys) on behalf of our clients. This Privacy Policy relates to the products and services offered by Med Planet.

Med Planet is part of the M3 Group, including M3 Global Research, the leader in global healthcare data collection.

M3 Global Research operates an ISO 20252 certified market research panel with the highest quality data collection and project management capabilities that cover the spectrum of quantitative and qualitative research techniques utilised today. M3 Global Research is the trading name for the market research activities provided by M3 USA Corporation and its affiliates, including M3 (EU) Ltd, Qualitative and Quantitative Fieldwork Services AB (QQFS), Ekas Marketing Research Services (Ekas), M-Panels Research Services Private Limited (m360 Research), pharma-insight GmbH, Med Planet and Michael Allen Company.

About the M3 Group

The M3 Group, named to represent Medicine, Media, and Metamorphosis, was founded with the goal of changing the world of medicine through full use of the power of the Internet.

M3 Inc. is a publicly traded company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (jp:2413) with subsidiaries in major markets including USA, UK, Sweden, Japan, S. Korea, India, Australia and China. M3 Group provides services to healthcare and the life science industry. In addition to market research, these services include medical education, ethical drug promotion, clinical development, job recruitment, and clinic appointment services. M3 has offices in Tokyo, Fort Washington, PA, Oxford, London, Gothenburg, Chatswood, Bangalore and Seoul.

The types of personal data we may obtain and process

Med Planet collects personal data about its members and those that participate in our Activities. We use this personal data to provide you with services as described below. We do not sell personal data to anyone and only share it with third parties who are facilitating the delivery of our services or when you give us explicit additional permission.
Personal data you give us about yourself when you register
We collect the personal data you provided upon registering with us; your name, address, telephone number, email address, and if you are a healthcare professional information about your occupation so that we can target and tailor invitations to participate in Activities. (See “Personal data you give us within your membership profile” for more information about how we select Activity invitations for you)
Personal data you give us within your membership profile
Med Planet collects from you additional personal data before Activities. This is used to allow us to invite you to participate in Activities that you are more likely to be interested in and qualify for. For example, for physicians, this may include information about your medical experience and the types of patients you treat; and for patients, it may include information about your condition(s) which can include sensitive (special category) personal data.
Personal data you give us within and immediately before or after online activities
Activities should not contain requests for you to provide personal data. However, MedPlanet maintains systems that control access to and measure outcomes (for example; if you completed the Activity or failed to qualify) so we may need to collect personal data before and/or after the Activity. This data is not linked directly to the Activity data and is only passed to third parties with your explicit consent and/or as laid out in this policy. (See also “Personal Data we retain for an extended period”)

Online Activities offered to Med Planet members may be on a website provided by Med Planet or one provided by a third party. In the latter case, any personal data collected will be subject to the host’s privacy policy. If you take part in other forms of market research with Med Planet, for example, discussion groups or telephone interviews, then you will be asked to provide specific consent for any necessary processing of your personal data.
Personal data related to your previous participation in activities
We collect and store records of the Activities you have been invited to participate in, whether you responded to them, qualified for them, completed or partially completed them. We keep this data so that we make it available via the Sites and can respond to member enquiries. On occasions we may also send you invitations to new Activities based upon your participation in previous Activities.

We use this data in aggregate to understand how many individuals of any type may participate in any future Activity and to understand trends in and patterns of participation.

We also maintain records of any data quality issues that may have been identified in the data you provided within an Activity so we can manage the quality of the data we provide to clients – this may affect your invitation to future Activities.
Personal data created about you by your use of our systems

We use a variety of technical means to collect and/or store personal data about you. These include cookies, web beacons and device fingerprinting/watermarking. We use Google ReCAPTCHA to collect personal information to determine whether the user is human and not a bot. This involves placing a Google cookie on the computer being used. We use Imperium (https://www.imperium.com/) anti-fraud solution to prevent duplicates and fraudulent Activity responses.

For more information on our use of these technologies please refer to our Cookie Notice and Policy. Additionally, we keep records of your use of our systems. These are used to improve the security of our systems and to improve the experience we offer you.

Personal data we get from third parties
Clients sometimes send us lists of healthcare professionals who they would like us to include or exclude in specific Activities. We also subscribe to various lists of healthcare professionals that we use to validate registrations and to append a variety of unique identification numbers to assist with deduplicating registrations, matching client lists and with legal reporting obligations (in France).
Personal data we retain for an extended period
In order to manage its business, Med Planet needs to retain limited personal data about previous members for longer periods of time. We have carefully limited the personal data retained and the circumstances in which it is needed to the following:

  • Requests by individuals to not email them
  • Requests by individuals not to be contacted by Med Planet
  • Individuals who have objected to Med Planet processing their personal data (where there is not an overwhelming interest in us continuing to do so)
  • Individuals who have breached the Sites, including those suspected of fraudulent behaviour

This personal data is not shared with anyone and is only used to honour your requests or to prevent subsequent Activity participation.
Personal data we may collate about you
We use a variety of public sources to collate information about healthcare professionals we believe may be suitable to complete specific Activities or may wish to become members of Med Planet. The information would include your name, contact information (address, phone number(s) and email address) and your healthcare specialty.
Personal data created by your use of third-party platforms
Your use of third-party websites and services associated with Med Planet may expose your personal data. These sites are beyond our control and you should see their respective privacy policies: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook , Med Planet blog (WordPress)
Purpose and legal basis for processing your personal data
This data is used to manage our contact with you, so that, for example, multiple attempts to contact you regarding the same services are eliminated or you are not re-contacted after informing us you are not interested in our services.

The legal bases we rely upon to offer these services to you are:

  • Where we have a legitimate interest (i.e., we have a valid business reason) and we have carefully balanced your individual rights against this need:
  • To fulfil a contractual obligation that we have with you;
  • To fulfil a legal obligation; and/or
  • Your consent for direct marketing.

We will only process your personal data for the purpose it was first collected. If we process the personal data for a new purpose, we will ensure it is either compatible with your original purpose or gain your consent.
How we use the personal data we obtain

We may use the personal data we obtain to:

  • Manage our existing and prospective relationships;
  • Communicate with Market Research Participants for marketing, newsletters, and company update;
  • Processing compensation payments;
  • Reporting of compensation payments to French Authorities where required;
  • Safeguard and defend Med Planet interests; and
  • Comply with applicable legal requirements, industry standards and our policies.

How we may share personal data

Med Planet does not sell, rent, or trade member’s personal data. We may share your personal data only with:

  • Affiliates of Med Planet to whom it is reasonably necessary or desirable for Med Planet to disclose the personal data
  • Service providers that Med Planet has retained to perform services on its behalf, such as, but not limited to, IT service providers. Service providers are not permitted to use the personal data for their own purposes and are prohibited from onward transfer of the personal data without our written consent in each instance
  • Law enforcement and other government authorities if required by law or reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of others or ourselves. This includes lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements
  • Our clients or carefully selected partners, which will, where possible be anonymised data only. No identifiable personal data will be shared without your consent.

Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting other websites and these other websites are not governed by this privacy policy. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

International data transfers

Within Med Planet

Med Planet endeavours to apply suitable safeguards to protect the privacy and security of your personal data and to use it only in ways that are consistent with your relationship with Med Planet and the practices described in this Privacy Policy. Because of the global nature of our business, there may be times when we need to transfer your Personal Data to a country outside of the country you reside.

Med Planet uses cloud and physical servers in the UK, EU, USA, India, and Australia. UK and EU Personal Data will only be stored and processed in UK, EU or USA.

Standard contractual clauses

For transfers outside of the EEA and UK, Med Planet uses EU Standard Contractual Clauses to additionally safeguard data from the EEA to countries outside of these locations.

To clients and partners

As laid out in this Privacy Policy, we may from time to time share limited information with our clients or carefully selected partners. This may involve transferring your personal data to countries outside the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland and is done within the legal restrictions of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and with Med Planet remaining in contractual control of the data including standard contract clauses.
How we protect personal data
We maintain appropriate technical and organizational security safeguards designed to protect Representatives’ personal data against accidental, unlawful or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure, or use. We update and test our security technology on an ongoing basis. We limit access to your personal data to those employees who need access to provide benefits or services to you. In addition, we train our employees about the importance of confidentiality and maintaining the privacy and security of your personal data.

How long we retain personal data

We store personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which we collect the data (see “How we use the Personal Data we obtain”), except if required otherwise by law. Your personal data may be kept for 10 years after the working relationship has ceased.

Changes and updates to the privacy policy

As our organization, membership and benefits change from time to time, this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use is expected to change as well. We reserve the right to amend the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use at any time, for any reason, without notice to you, other than the posting of the amended Privacy Policy and Terms of Use at this Site. We may e-mail periodic reminders of our policy and terms and will e-mail members of material changes to it, but you should check our Site frequently to see the current Privacy Policy and Terms of Use that are in effect and any changes that may have been made to them.

Your rights

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, as well as other countries ‘privacy laws provide certain rights for EEA data subjects. Explanations of them (in English) are available at (i) the EU GDPR. If you wish to confirm that Med Planet is processing your personal data, or to have access to the personal data Med Planet may have about you, please contact our Data Protection Officer.

You can request information about:

  • the purpose of the processing;
  • the legal basis for that processing;
  • the categories of personal data and the data subject concerned;
  • information on the type or identity of third parties to which your data may be disclosed to and the protection provided;
  • the source of the personal information (if you didn’t provide it directly to us); and
  • how long it will be stored.

You have the right to:

  • access your personal data
  • have inaccurate personal data rectified
  • request erasure of personal data
  • restrict the processing of your personal data
  • object to the processing your personal data
  • data portability
  • opt out of data being transferred to a third party, unless there is a legal reason to do so (see “How we may share Personal Data”)
  • opt out of direct marketing
  • opt out of automated decision making

To exercise your rights, you can write the Data Protection Officer at privacy@medplanet.biz

Reasonable access to your personal data will be provided at no cost to you upon your request. Med Planet will provide the information to you within the legal time frame. If for some reason access is denied, Med Planet will provide an explanation as to why access has been denied.

Contact information

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please email Med Planet’s Data Protection Officer at privacy@medplanet.biz.

For all other questions regarding your account, preference changes, compensation for surveys or our services, please e-mail support@medplanet.biz