This privacy policy governs the collection, storage and use of personal information collected by Realworld Employee Surveys Ltd ("RES", "we" or "us"), both via our websites and through our provision of services to you and our clients ("Services") in the normal course of our business.
Specifically, this privacy policy provides you with details about the personal information we collect and hold about you, how we use your personal information, and your rights regarding the personal information we hold about you.
Please read this privacy policy carefully – in accessing or browsing our websites or requesting the provision of Services from us, the onus is upon you to ensure that you have read and understood this privacy policy in its entirety.
Overview
We respect your right to privacy. Our overall aim is to ensure that our collection and use of personal information is appropriate to the provision of services to you and our clients and is in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Who we are
Realworld Employee Surveys Ltd is the data controller of the personal information that we collect from you. It is a company registered in England and Wales (registration number 05355041), whose registered office is at 44, Bridgewater Road, Berkhamsted, Herts, HP4 1JB.
You can contact us in relation to this privacy policy by email at rachael.hounsell@rworld.co.uk
RES has not appointed a statutory Data Protection Officer because it is not currently required to do so. We have a nominated Director responsible for data protection and privacy queries, who can be contacted at rachael.hounsell@rworld.co.uk.
RES is established in the UK and does not have a separate UK or EU representative for the purposes of this policy.
The personal information we collect about you
If you are, or work for, a supplier to RES, then we will collect the minimum amount of business specific personal data, usually your name, business role and business contact details to enable us to manage the business relationship.
If you are, or work for, a business customer of RES, then we will collect the minimum amount of business specific personal data, usually your name, business role and business contact details to enable us to manage the business relationship.
If you are simply browsing our website we will not use any personal data collected in the process. The website may use cookies and store your IP addresses purely for the purposes of effectiveness monitoring and optimisation.
If you raise a communication via the “contact us” page on our websites, we will collect your name, contact number and e mail address, together with your consent to receive communications from us in order that we may answer your query. The consent provided can be removed at any time simply by replying to any e mail received and requesting that we stop sending further e mails.
Where RES provides services to a client, the personal data we process may include names, business contact details, employment-related details provided by the client, survey responses, 360 degree feedback responses, demographic information included in a survey or feedback process, and technical information generated when individuals access our survey platform or reporting dashboard. The exact categories of data depend on the service we are providing and the instructions given to us by the client organisation.
We do not normally collect special category personal data as a data controller. Where a client asks us to collect or process special category data as part of a survey or feedback exercise, we do so only on the client’s documented instructions and subject to appropriate safeguards.
How we store and use your personal information
Individuals who use the “contact us” facility
We collect, store and use your personal details as outlined above with your explicit consent so that we can contact you with answers to your queries and details of our services, offers and other marketing items which we believe will be of interest or potential benefit. You can remove your consent at any time simply by replying to any e mail received and requesting that we stop sending further e mails.
Business partners
We collect, store and use the business contact details of individuals working with our business partners for our legitimate business interests in maintaining and managing the commercial relationship between RES and its commercial suppliers and customers. We do not believe that this storage and use will unduly prejudice the rights or freedoms of these individuals.
Additionally, RES’s principal business offering is the provision of employee surveys to enable employers to ascertain the effectiveness of their employee engagement. These services (and RES’s other secondary activities) are provided under contract whereby RES operates as a data processor / sub-processor with the client organisation acting as data controller. In all such cases, RES will implement all necessary operational and technical risk reduction and security measures appropriate for the risk profile involved. Responsibility for determining the legal basis for processing this personal data lies with the data controller, with RES operating on the direct instructions of the data controller.
The legal basis for our own controller processing will depend on the activity. We rely on consent where you ask us to respond to an enquiry or where we send marketing that requires consent; legitimate interests where we manage business relationships, improve and secure our websites, services and systems, and administer our business; contract where processing is necessary to provide services to you or to an organisation you represent; and legal obligation where we are required to retain or disclose information by law.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests include managing our client and supplier relationships, operating and improving our services, maintaining security, preventing fraud, administering our business, and understanding the effectiveness of our communications and services. We balance those interests against the rights and freedoms of the individuals whose data we process.
Where we act as a processor or sub-processor for a client, the client is responsible for identifying the lawful basis for processing and for providing any privacy information that it is required to give to its employees, workers, leaders, raters or other participants. RES processes that data only under the client’s documented instructions and the relevant contract or data processing agreement.
All users of the websites and our Services
We collect, store and use your personal information for the following purposes for which we believe we have legitimate business interests supporting the activity:
- to make the websites available to you; and
- to provide any Services that you request via the website.
Sometimes, our use of your personal information is for purposes which are ancillary to the provision of the websites, or which are desirable in order to make them to operate more effectively. In those circumstances, we believe we have a legitimate interest in handling your personal information, and do not believe that this storage and use of your personal information will unduly prejudice your rights or freedoms.
The relevant circumstances are:
- detecting and preventing fraud;
- keeping our websites, apps, products and IT systems secure;
- ensuring that our own processes, procedures and systems are as efficient as possible;
- analysing and enhancing the information that we collect;
- determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and advertising; and
- where you have given us your consent, contacting you (including by SMS and e-mail) with products and services which we think may interest you.
In some, relatively limited, circumstances we need to handle your personal information in a certain way to be able to comply with our legal obligations – for example: if we are requested to disclose your personal information to authorised regulatory bodies or if we need to demonstrate our compliance with applicable law(s).
Anonymous data
We may collect anonymised details about visitors to our website for the purposes of aggregate statistics or reporting purposes. However, no single individual will be identifiable from the anonymised details we collect for these purposes.
How we share your personal information and who we share it with
We will only disclose information under the following circumstances:
- Service and Site usage information: When we share anonymous information generated by our Services with our customers.
- Third-party service providers: When we share information with third-party service companies for them to facilitate or to provide certain services on our behalf. This will include:
- IT support service providers;
- providers of consulting, evaluation, vetting and screening services (but only with your specific consent);
- third-party service providers who either track our customers' use of the website or provide Services for us.
These companies are contractually bound to use your personal information only as necessary to provide the relevant services to us.
- Compliance with laws and legal proceedings: When we respond to court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims. When we believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent or take actions against illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of our terms of use, or as otherwise required by law.
- Merger or acquisition: When we need to transfer information about you if we are acquired by or merged with another company. If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, you will be notified by email and/or a prominent notice on our Site of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your personal information.
International transfers
We do not currently transfer personal information that we collect from you to third parties located in countries that are outside of the UK or the European Economic Area.
If we transfer personal information to third parties which are outside of the UK or the European Economic Area, then we will update our Privacy Policy and put in place measures to ensure it is afforded appropriate protection.
If any transfer outside the UK or EEA becomes necessary, we will ensure that an appropriate safeguard is in place, such as an adequacy regulation/decision, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum, EU Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable, or another lawful transfer mechanism. You can contact us if you require further information about the safeguards used for a particular transfer.
Cookies
Technologies such as cookies, beacons, tags and scripts are used by us and our affiliates, or analytics or service providers. These technologies are used in analysing trends, administering the Site, tracking users’ movements around the Site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by these companies on an individual as well as aggregated basis.
We use cookies, for example, to remember users’ settings (e.g. language preference) and for authentication. Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. If you reject cookies, you may still use our Site, but your ability to use some features or areas of our Site may be limited.
Please read more about how we use cookies and what information is collected using cookies in our cookie policy here https://www.rworld.co.uk/cookienotice
Security
We employ comprehensive, reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the personal information we process. This includes organisational security (passwords and access controls), physical security ( data centre protection) and IT security (encryption). Please note that no transmission over the Internet can ever be guaranteed secure. Consequently, please note that we cannot guarantee the security of any personal information that you transfer over the Internet to us.
Data Retention
We retain information (including personal information) for the minimum reasonable time period to allow us to provide our services and will delete it after that time except where we need to keep any personal information to comply with our legal obligations, resolve ongoing disputes, or enforce our agreements.
The criteria we use to determine retention periods include the type and sensitivity of the personal data, the purpose for which it was collected, the duration of the relevant client or supplier relationship, contractual requirements, client instructions where we act as processor, legal limitation periods, accounting and tax requirements, and whether the information is needed to resolve disputes or enforce agreements.
As a guide, business contact and contract administration records are normally retained for the period of the relationship and then for as long as required for legal, accounting, audit or dispute-resolution purposes. Personal data processed for client survey or 360 feedback services is retained in line with the relevant client contract, data processing agreement and documented client instructions unless a longer period is required by law.
Should you require more detail about our retention timescales for a specific category of data or information please contact us at rachael.hounsell@rworld.co.uk
Your rights
You have certain rights in relation to your personal information. If you would like further information in relation to these or would like to exercise any of them, please contact us at rachael.hounsell@rworld.co.uk at any time. You have the right to request that we:
Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection matters. If you are located in the EEA, you may also have the right to complain to your local supervisory authority.
- provide access to any personal information we hold about you;
- update any of your personal information which is out of date or incorrect;
- delete any personal information which we are holding about you;
- restrict the way that we process your personal information;
- prevent the processing of your personal information for direct-marketing purposes;
- provide your personal information to a third-party provider of services;
- provide you with a copy of any personal information which we hold about you; or
- consider any valid objections which you have to our use of your personal information.
We will consider all such requests and provide our response within a reasonable period (and in any event within any time period required by applicable law). Please note, however, that certain personal information may be exempt from such requests in certain circumstances.
If an exception applies, we will tell you this when responding to your request. We may request you provide us with information necessary to confirm your identity before responding to any request you make.
Whether you have to provide personal data
Where we ask you to provide personal data directly to us, we will make clear whether providing that information is optional or necessary. In most cases, business contact details and enquiry information are needed so that we can respond to you, manage a commercial relationship or provide a requested service. If you do not provide information that is necessary for those purposes, we may be unable to respond to your enquiry, enter into or perform a contract, or provide the relevant service.
Automated decision-making and profiling
RES does not use personal data for automated decision-making, including profiling, that produces legal effects concerning an individual or similarly significantly affects them. If this changes, we will update this policy and provide meaningful information about the logic involved, the significance of the processing and the envisaged consequences for individuals.
Further processing for new purposes
We will not further process personal data for a new purpose that is incompatible with the purpose for which it was collected. If we intend to process personal data for a new purpose, we will provide further privacy information before doing so, unless the individual already has that information or an exemption applies.
Third party sites
Our websites may contain links to other websites operated by third parties. Please note that this privacy policy applies only to the personal information that we collect through the websites or the Services, and we cannot be responsible for personal information that third parties may collect, store and use through their website. You should always read the privacy policy of each website you visit carefully.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This privacy policy was last updated in April 2026.
Please check back regularly to keep informed of updates to this privacy policy. Where we make significant changes to this privacy policy, and we have your email address, we will send you a separate notification of the changes.
Complaints, questions and suggestions
We have a nominated Director to assist with all queries regarding our processing of personal information who can be contacted via rachael.hounsell@rworld.co.uk
If you have any complaints about our websites, communications or services, please contact us at rachael.hounsell@rworld.co.uk
You may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection matters, or seek a remedy through the courts if you believe your rights have been breached. If you are located in the EEA, you may also have the right to complain to your local supervisory authority.