Privacy Policy

This SurveyTown web site (the “Site”) is operated by SurveyTown LLC (“SurveyTown”, “we”, “our” or “us”).  As software-as-a-service provider, SurveyTown LLC provides you, our customer, survey creation, survey hosting, and response analysis tools.  

The information we collect belongs to you and your survey respondents, not us. We’ve created this privacy policy to explain how SurveyTown handles your data and your personal information.

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected on our site surveytown.com (our “Site”), as well as to all of our software services platforms, products, and other services and websites, except where otherwise noted. We refer to all of our products, software platforms, services, and sites collectively as our “services.” This Privacy Policy sets out how we use your information in the provision of our Site and services.

This Privacy Policy does not speak to the practices of any third parties, including those of our partners who may display SurveyTown branding on their sites. The use of information collected through our service platform shall be limited to the purpose of providing the service for which the Customer has engaged SurveyTown.

If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at (919) 345-9873 or email us at [email protected].

You own your data and we don’t sell it.

IF YOU CREATE SURVEYS:

  • Your survey data is owned by you. Your surveys are private, and your data is yours. You control your data; how you release it or use it is up to you. We don’t sell your information to anyone and we don’t use the survey responses you collect for any purpose other than to provide service to you. But we do comply with the law, so under limited circumstances we could be asked to release your information (e.g., if we are compelled by an order or subpoena).
  • We don’t use your respondents’ email addresses. You may has questions that include asking for users email addresses. We don’t sell your email lists, and we use them only as directed by you and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
  • We’re serious about data security. Take a look at the data security section of our privacy policy.
  • Your data is stored in United States.

IF YOU ANSWER SURVEYS:

  • Survey creators administer + control surveys. We are only a service provider for surveys. Survey creators administer and have control over their surveys, while we host their platform and software service for them. If you have questions about a particular survey you’re taking, please contact your survey creator.
  • Are your survey responses sold to a third party? SurveyTown LLC does not sell or share your survey responses with third party advertisers or marketers (but your survey creator might – so check with them). The survey creator controls your response data, and we merely act as a custodian and a host on behalf of the survey creator.
  • Think a survey violates our Terms of Service or is engaging in illegal activity? Report it by emailing us at [email protected]

What kind of information SurveyTown LLC collects

In order to operate our services, SurveyTown collects information about both you, our customers (“Customers” or “you”) and the individuals who participate in, or are invited to participate in and/or respond to, any of your surveys (“Survey Respondents”). Collectively, the information collected about you (“Customer Information”) and Survey Respondents (“Respondent Information”) are referred to as “Information”.

Customer Information you provide to us:

  • Registration information (e.g., your username, password, and email address).
  • Billing information (e.g., billing details and financial information associated with your selected payment method like credit card number and expiration date or a bank account number). We don’t store any credit card information, and use a third party service as credit card processor.
  • Account settings (e.g., your account settings page, account preferences, and personal details like your default language, timezone, etc.).
  • Email lists (e.g., email lists you upload to invite people to take your surveys via email). We don’t use your email lists or any email addresses you collect through your surveys, except to assist you at your direction (e.g., if your email list isn’t sending correctly).

Respondent Information provided to us:

  • Survey responses (e.g., what respondents answer on surveys)
  • File uploads (e.g., respondents can upload resumes or pictures via the file upload question type)

Customer collected from tracking technologies:

  • Usage info (e.g., visitor logs including IP address, cookies, etc.)
  • Device info (e.g., which browser used, which OS, etc.)
  • Referral source (e.g., which source or link referred respondent to survey)
  • Page tag data (e.g., clear gifs, web beacons, web bugs)

Respondent Information collected from tracking technologies:

  • Usage info (e.g., visitor logs including IP address, etc.)
  • Additional Data on Survey URLs – You can opt to add additional information to the Survey URLs you send to customers and we will store that data, attaching it to a particular response.

Customer Information: When you register on our Site, we ask for your name and contact information, including: organization name, name of contact, company address, telephone number, email address, user name and password, and billing information which may include credit card numbers. We don’t store any credit card information, instead we use a third party service as a credit card processor. Customers also provide us with information regarding the ordered Services (e.g., the type of account plan Customers pay for, account preferences, use of survey options or preferences, etc.). In addition to the information you actively provide to us, we also collect information from other sources regarding when and how often you log on to our Site. (See “Tracking Technologies” below.)

We will not — under any circumstances — sell or rent Customer or Respondent Information to any third party.

Respondent Information: We receive Respondent Information from survey respondents.

Survey Respondents provide us with the information requested by you (for example, if your survey question asks about the respondent’s gender or zip code) as well as all answers to the survey questions. Customers are solely responsible for the content of the surveys and response data as well as complying with all applicable laws and regulations that might apply to the content that is solicited by Customers, as we state in our Terms of Service. As one of our software features for our Customers, we can record if and when a Survey Respondent has responded to a survey. In addition, we receive any information contained in any communications a Survey Respondent makes directly with SurveyTown LLC. (See “Tracking Technologies” below.)

We will not – under any circumstances – use Respondent Information for any purpose other than to provide services to our Customers.

We log Customer and Survey Respondent Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to confirm the accuracy of survey data.  For our software system administration purposes, we also log a user’s session so that we know when, how often and what pages of the Site a user visits. To avoid the need to re-insert your username and password every time you and your Survey Respondents move from one page of our Site to the next, we use a cookie. (See “Tracking Technologies” below.) We also collect information from our Customers and Respondents regarding the devices and applications used to access our services (like browser type and operating system) and referral sources (if you arrived from another website or email).

We use Sessions and Session Cookies

  • To help customer resume incomplete surveys
  • To keep customers logged into and personalize the application
  • Survey respondents to allow them to go through multipage surveys without losing data

Customers collect information using our software services platform. As a service provider for our Customers, SurveyTown LLC acts as a custodian for that information, with no direct relationship with the individuals or end users whose personal data our software processes. SurveyTown LLC provides features and services for Customers to provide notice to their end users or customers concerning the purpose for which personal information is collected. To protect the privacy of our Customers, we cannot disclose private information to end users regarding our Customers’ accounts.

Tracking Technologies We Use on Our Site and Services Platforms

Cookie Policy

Please read this Cookie Policy before you use our Site or provide information on or through this Site. Your use of this Site signifies that you agree with this Cookie Policy. If you disagree with any part of this Cookie Policy, please don’t use the Site.

SurveyTown LLC uses “cookies” to collect aggregate data about visitors. Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers stored on your computer’s hard drive through your Web browser for the purpose of identifying you when you visit a site or page. These cookies are used to tell us how many people are coming to the website and what are most popular content is and what types of browsers and devices are most used.  We do not tie general browsing behavior on our site to specific personally identifiable information.

Cookies can be either temporary session cookies that expire at the end of a user session when the browser is closed or persistent cookies that remain on your hard drive for an extended period of time. We use persistent cookies. A persistent cookie can remain on your hard drive for an extended period of time.

We set cookies when you visit our web site, use our application, and take a survey. Cookies are used to:

  • Identify whether a user is logged in, for security purposes, and to allow the use of software features
  • Allow us to see how visitors use our site (these may be third party cookies like Google Analytics)
  • Identify a unique survey response when you are a Respondent taking a survey

 

Cookie Name Purpose & Data Contained Type & Duration 3rd Party Cookie & Who Set it
_utm various Provides information on session behavior End of Session to 2 years depending on the specific cookie Google Analytics
_PHPSESSID Allows application to work and insures integrity in survey responses 20 minutes or end of session whichever happens first SurveyTown

 

You can change the settings on your browser to prevent new cookies from being set, or to notify you when a new cookie is set. Each browser is different, but the Help section for the browser will be able to show you how to change cookie preferences or clear your cookies from time to time. If you do block cookies it may impact your experience and you may not be able to take advantage of all features of our software.

Clear Gifs (Web Beacons/Web Bugs)

SurveyTown LLC uses clear gifs in our HTML-based emails to you our customers and users to let us know which emails have been opened by recipients. This allows us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. If you would like to opt-out of promotional emails, please follow the unsubscribe instructions included in each promotional email.

Data Collection Technology Available to Our Customers

For more information on technology available to our customers in collecting data and information on survey respondents, please visit the following pages:

Our Software Features: Data Collection Technologies

  • How to tell who took your survey
  • How to use URL Variables to pass data into surveys
  • Pre-populate choices for respondents

Comment Section on Our Blog

If you submit comments to our blog associated with our site, keep in mind that any personally identifiable information you submit there can be read, collected, or used by other users, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you choose to submit in the comments section of our site.

How we use the information we collect

We use Customer Information in our normal course of business, including to contact you regarding technical support, discuss billing issues, or to bring to your attention any aspect of our mutual business. We may also use your contact information to provide you with policy or product updates or to introduce new products and services provided you have indicated that you do not object to being contacted for these purposes.

If you do not wish to receive promotional emails from us, you can tell us not to either at the point such information is collected (by checking or unchecking (as directed) the relevant box) or by following the unsubscribe instructions included in each promotional email. We send service-related announcements when necessary to do so, and generally, you may not opt-out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature.

All Respondent Information is stored in our databases for our Customers’ benefit.  We also use Respondent Information to troubleshoot technical problems, resolve disputes and address complaints, and address compliance issues with our Terms of Service.

As part of our Terms of Service our Customers maintain and warranty sole responsibility over their behavior, use of our software platform, and whatever content is inserted into or solicited by our software. We make no representations or warranty over our Customers’ use of our services, nor do we control our Customers’ behaviors. If you think there may be any violations of our Terms, please report it to us at [email protected].

We collect information on behalf of our Customers. If you are an end user or customer of one of our Customers and would no longer like to be contacted by one of our Customers that use our service, please contact that Customer directly.

Our Staff’s Access to Information

Our staff will only access your data at a minimum necessary standard, in order to provide technical or administrative support. For instance, if you open a support ticket, call our telephone support, or your account is flagged for a security reason, then our staff may log into your account for the purpose of troubleshooting and correcting the reported issue or performing their contracted task. We will not for any reason disseminate your data other than as you have directed (e.g. email actions, sending reports, etc.). All your data is subject to the confidentiality clause of our Terms of Service.

Data Retention + Deletion / Destruction

SurveyTown LLC retains data that we process on behalf of our Customers and data we collect from our Customers directly for as long as it is needed to provide services to our Customers. SurveyTown LLC will retain and use this data as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Sometimes users have specific needs under institutional or state requirement. For instance, occasionally data needs to be completely destroyed after its intended use. In many cases (e.g. when a customer stops paying for an account, downgrades to a different account plan, etc.), data is retired and locked away rather than actually destroyed. In most cases this makes the loss retrievable in the event of a mistake. We can, however, comply with a request for total data destruction; you just need to let us know. See our section below (Section 4) for more information on data destruction.

Links to Other Sites

Our site contains links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by SurveyTown LLC. Please be aware that we, SurveyTown, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information.

Who we share or disclose information to

We do not share information with any third parties except under the following limited circumstances:

  1. Respondent Information with Customer: Our business is providing tools that allow you, our Customer, to conduct two-way communications with others. Accordingly, we provide you with access to the Respondent Information given in answer to the surveys you have conducted. You may use the Respondent Information consistent with our Terms of Service, your own privacy policy, and applicable law.
  2. As Customers and Respondents Choose: We may share or otherwise use your Customer Information as you choose, and we may share Respondent Information as both you and the Survey Respondent choose. For example, if you choose to have an email action send a copy of the survey response to the survey creator, survey respondent, and/or a third party.
  3. Agents Acting on Our Behalf: We may share some of your Information with other companies who provide us with technical and other type of services such as a credit card processor or data hosting center. They are granted access to only Information that is necessary for their jobs, and are prohibited from using Information for any other purpose (including marketing or sharing the Information with any other party).
  4. For Legal Reasons: We are required by law to respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims. We may also share your Information to investigate, prevent or take action regarding 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.
  5. Affiliates and Acquisition: We may share Information with our affiliated companies, products, and services or during any real or potential acquisition or merger of our company by or with another. We will notify you if your Information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Can the information be changed? Data deletion and data archive.

To request deletion of data from our site, please contact us in writing at [email protected] and we can help you with what is needed from you to delete the data (e.g., depending on the type of deletion: specification of what data requires deletion, signature on company letterhead, etc.). If requested in writing for confirmation, SurveyTown will reply with written confirmation that all requested files, database records, and backups of this data have been destroyed. Data cannot be recovered after this is performed.

Ceasing to pay for your account will archive your data. You can re-access your data to be deleted by yourself or your users by paying for a monthly subscription that will allow you access the data for use (e.g. local storage on your computer, etc.) before deletion. Alternatively, if you do not require access before deletion, you can contact us directly in writing as stated above.

Once a Survey Respondent has submitted a survey, the Survey Respondent may not be able to access his Information through the Site. We do have software features available to allow Survey Respondents to re-access survey responses, but that must be enabled by the Survey Creator. Survey Respondents may contact you and you, in turn, will be able to view the Survey Respondent’s collected Information and, where appropriate, work with us in modifying such Information. If contacted directly by a Survey Respondent for modification of survey responses, we will contact you, our Customer, and direct the Survey Respondent to contact you.

Data security

We have extensive security measures in place to protect your Information, and we are committed to the protection of your data. Unique user names and passwords must be entered each time a person logs on. We work with a third party Amazon Web Services to host our Site, Services, and Software in a secure production environment that uses a firewall and other technology to reasonably prevent access from outside intruders. When transmitting sensitive Information, we also have encryption technology available for your use. Please see our security page for more information on how we store respondent data.

All of our technology and processes are not, however, guarantees of security (see our Terms of Service for more information). You should also bear in mind that submission of information over the internet is never entirely secure. We cannot guarantee the security of information you submit via the Site whilst it is in transit over the internet and any such submission is at your own risk.

For more information on our security measures, get in touch with us at [email protected] and at (919)345-9873, and you can read our Security Statement.

Account Ownership Transfer

If you transfer your account billing information and point of contact information (e.g. the individual who registers for the account or the user designated within our application as the main account administrator) to another individual or organization, ownership over all of your account’s data is therefore transferred to that individual or organization. This data may include confidential information, account preferences, surveys, survey response data, and/or custom reports, customized surveys or software code that you may have purchased with our professional services team. Data and account ownership transfer responsibilities lie solely with the customer. SurveyTown LLC cannot and does not monitor how or why a customer or user may transfer data or account ownership.

Changes in the Privacy Policy

As we are constantly improving our services and expanding our business, we reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time. In the event we make such changes, we will post the new policy on this Site with an update date. We encourage you to frequently review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.

Additional Information

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or the Site, or to request a full security packet for your team, you can contact us at [email protected] or give us a call at (919) 345-9873.

Effective: April 3, 2018