Last updated 27 May 2026
This notice explains your rights when you take part in a survey run by Rare: Training & Consultancy ("Rare", "we", "us"). It covers what data we collect from you, how we use it, how long we keep it, and the choices you have under UK data protection law.
Rare is a UK-based research consultancy. We run surveys on behalf of our clients across a range of sectors. As members of the Market Research Society (MRS), we work to the standards set out in the MRS Code of Conduct, which governs how we treat survey respondents and the data they share with us.
We process personal data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
You do not have to take part in any Rare survey. You can:
Decline an invitation without giving a reason.
Skip any question you do not want to answer.
Stop the survey at any point before you submit it.
Withdraw after submitting by contacting us (see below), provided your responses are still individually identifiable.
Choosing not to take part will not affect any relationship you have with the organisation that invited you, nor with Rare.
The information we collect depends on the survey, but typically falls into three categories.
Your professional context. Job role, specialty, employer type, region, and similar details. This lets us segment results and confirm you sit within the audience the research is designed for.
Your responses. Your answers to the survey questions. These are the substantive data we analyse.
Technical information. Standard web data such as device type and timestamps, used to keep the survey platform running and to detect fraudulent submissions.
We will tell you at the start of each survey what information that specific study collects, why, and roughly how long it will take.
Rare analyses survey responses in aggregate. Findings are reported in anonymised, combined form so that no individual respondent can be identified.
Our legal basis for processing your survey responses is your consent, which you give by completing and submitting the survey. Where the survey relates to your professional role, we also rely on legitimate interests for processing limited professional context data.
You can withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdrew.
We use technical and organisational measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the data, including:
Encryption of personal data in transit and at rest.
Access controls limiting who can see identifiable responses.
Pseudonymisation, so analyst-facing datasets do not contain direct identifiers wherever practical.
Regular review of our security measures and supplier arrangements.
We retain personal data only for as long as we need it to deliver the research and to meet our legal, accounting, and contractual obligations.
In practice:
Identifiable response data is held for the duration of the project and for a defined period afterwards, then deleted or fully anonymised.
Anonymised, aggregated data may be retained indefinitely for benchmarking and longitudinal analysis, because it can no longer be linked back to you.
We do not sell personal data. We share personal data only with:
Sub-processors who help us run surveys (survey platform providers, secure hosting, incentive fulfilment). These suppliers are bound by contract to protect your data and to use it only on our instructions.
The client commissioning the research, but only in aggregated, anonymised form. The only exception is where you have separately consented to share identifiable responses (for example, to take part in a follow-up interview).
Regulators or other parties, where we are legally required to do so.
Where data is transferred outside the UK or European Economic Area, we put appropriate safeguards in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
Under UK data protection law you have the following rights in relation to personal data we hold about you.
The right to be informed. You can expect to be told how we collect and use your personal data. This notice, together with the privacy notice we link to inside each survey, is intended to meet that obligation.
The right of access. You can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, along with supporting information about how it is processed.
The right to rectification. You can ask us to correct personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
The right to erasure. You can ask us to delete personal data where there is no compelling reason for us to keep processing it. This is often called the right to be forgotten.
The right to restrict processing. You can ask us to limit how we use your personal data while a query about it is resolved.
The right to data portability. You can ask for a copy of the personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used format.
The right to object. You can object to certain types of processing, including any direct marketing.
Rights related to automated decision-making and profiling. You can ask not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing where it produces legal or similarly significant effects for you.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. We will respond within one month and will not charge a fee, unless your request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.
Please note that once a survey response has been fully anonymised and merged into an aggregate dataset, we may no longer be able to isolate your individual data to act on a request. Where this is the case we will explain it to you.
If you have a question about this notice, want to exercise one of the rights above, or want to withdraw from a study you have taken part in, contact:
Rare: Training & Consultancy
45 Holmes Rd, London, NW5 3AN
+44 (0) 20 7859 4627
If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent supervisory authority for data protection.
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
0303 123 1113
You also have the option to raise a concern through the Market Research Society at mrs.org.uk, which oversees professional standards for MRS members.
We may update this notice from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. The "last updated" date at the top of the page shows when the current version came into effect. Material changes will be flagged at the start of any survey that follows them.
