Principality Building Society Community Panel Privacy Notice
Here at Principality, we’re committed to protecting your privacy and making sure that we keep any personal information you provide secure. Please read it carefully.
(By personal information, we mean information which relates to you and can be used, either alone or with other information we hold, to identify you)
This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use our panel community website. It should be read alongside the website Cookies Policy, terms of use, any applicable specific terms and conditions, which provide further details about how your information is used.
Read our cookie notices and relevant T&Cs:
Further information about how Principality uses your data outside of the Online Community can be found on our website.
Who are we?
The website has been а customised by Principality Building Society (“we”, “our”, “us” or “Principality”) and we act as a Data Controller for the personal data you provide on the website. The site is owned and operated by STRAT7 Researchbods, a division of STRAT7 Limited, acting as a processor on behalf of Principality. The purpose of the site is the provision and hosting of a community management platform, recruitment of Community Members, data collection and research services. The community is only open to customers of Principality.
What is our Privacy Commitment to you?
We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy notice describes how we collect, use, share and protect personal data that you provide on www.memberpulse.principality.co.uk (the “site”) when you become a community member and participate in our surveys and/or research studies (“research activities”). It also explains your privacy rights and how laws that are applicable to you may protect you.
This Privacy Notice tells you about:
- What information do we collect about you and how do we use it?
- Who may we share your information with?
- What Cookies & Tracking technologies does the site use?
- What is our prize draw policy?
- What security measures do we have to protect your personal data?
- Does this privacy policy apply to other websites?
- How do you manage your profile?
- What are your rights?
- What are our legal bases for processing your information?
- What happens if this privacy notice changes?
- How can you contact us?
What information do we collect about you and how do we use it?
Community Members
When you agree to become one of our community members and complete the registration form on the site, you will be able to login to your Online Community platform and will be able to participate in our research activities. As part of your registration, you will provide us with your Identity data and Contact data and through your participation in the Research activities, we will obtain, use and share certain other data about you, such as; Demographic data, Profile data, and Technical data.
We use your Identity data and Contact data for:
- Validation – at registration, Researchbods will collect some personal details about you. This will include your full name, date of birth and postcode and this data (only) will be imported by Principality so that we can verify that you are an existing customer by matching those details against our customer database.
- Contacting you - for any reason connected with your Online Community membership.
- Incentive fulfilment - We will use your Identity data and Contact data to send you your rewards.
- Sending you invitations to participate in research activities – to invite you, by email, to take part in surveys, quick polls, online discussions, focus groups and other research activities. We may also notify you of relevant opportunities through your Online Community membership account, where activities may be recommended based on our knowledge of your personal data.
- Operating and maintaining the platform - Researchbods will collect your contact data during registration so they can send you invitations to participate in activities.
- Understanding more about you and the insights you provide us – We may append your responses with other demographic data we have previously collected about you. This would not include your financial data. We do this to help ensure that research activities you are invited to are relevant and to enrich our understanding of our members.
We may from time to time ask you to provide us with Special Categories of personal data about yourself for specific research activities. There is no obligation to provide this information, and if required by applicable law, we will ask you for your consent before processing such Special Categories of personal data. Where special category data is collected, there is no obligation to share.
We use the information you provide on your profile to match you to appropriate research activities and activities. This helps make sure our research activities are relevant to your life stage and location. We use the personal data collected about you via the site to match and link with data we previously collected about you.
If you cease to be a member of Principality but remain a member of the community, then we will not automatically delete you from the community. We will, however, only invite you to activities that are relevant for our former members.
Public forums and blogs
The site offers publicly accessible community forums, discussion rooms and social hubs. You should be aware that any information you provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them. Personal testimonials of satisfied customers are displayed on the site in addition to other endorsements. With your consent, we may post such testimonials along with your first name and city of residence. If you wish to update or delete your testimonial, you can contact us at hello@principalitypulse.co.uk.
You should be aware that any personal data you choose to make public on the site, in the Community area can be read, collected, stored and/or used by other users and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We strongly discourage you from disclosing any of your personal data in the community area that you may find on the site and in particular, we would never ask you to provide your Contact data or Identity data on a public community area as part of a survey. We cannot guarantee that third parties with whom you share your personal data via those community areas will keep them secure and confidential. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the personal data you choose to submit or make public. In addition, we are not responsible for the content you publicly post on the site that can be found via web-based search engines.
Categories of personal data we may process about you
- Identity data – name (includes first, last, maiden and married names), date of birth, marital status, gender, panellist id and username.
- Contact data – postal address, email address and telephone number.
- Special categories of personal data – Health data (if you choose to provide this information).
- Demographic/Profile data - interests, preferences, feedback and survey responses and including, but not limited to; age, marital status, gender, birthday, household size, income, education and employment status.
- Technical data - internet protocol (IP) addresses, login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
How long we will keep your information
We will generally hold your information for the whole time you remain a member of the Online Community and then for up to three years after your profile is closed.
We may keep information for a longer period if this is necessary in connection with your or our right to establish, start or defend legal claims, to investigate complaints, or to protect our business.
Who may we share your information with?
We have appointed Researchbods to act as our data processor in hosting the site on its online platforms for us. Researchbods help us to recruit Online Community members - like you and they build and manage the site and process all personal data we collect from you as part of your community membership. We require Researchbods to respect the security and confidentiality of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow Researchbods to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
In addition to Researchbods, we or Researchbods may utilise other suppliers to process information on our behalf or to provide our services to you (for example, fraud or quality checking, webhosting, or dealing with incentives and rewards). We only use reputable companies and always make sure that they meet our strict security requirements.
We may share your information for the purposes of preventing crime and meeting legal and regulatory requirements with other organisations that are entitled to receive it. This may include fraud prevention agencies, intelligence sharing forums, the police, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulatory Authority, HM Revenue & Customs, the Information Commissioner’s Office and other regulatory bodies.
Do we transfer your personal data to other countries?
Some of our services may be provided by suppliers who are either outside the European Economic Area (EEA) or may transfer your personal information outside the EEA (for example, fraud prevention agencies, email services, cloud hosting services, back up servers or disaster recovery services). Our contracts with these suppliers state that they must meet the same standards of protection as required in the EEA.
What Cookies & Tracking technologies does the site use?
What Cookies do Researchbods use on the site?
Cookies are used on the site to distinguish you from other users of the site, helping Researchbods to provide you with a good experience when you browse the site and allowing Researchbods to improve their site. For detailed information on the cookies used and the purposes for which they are used, see the Cookie Policy
What other Tracking Technologies do Researchbods use?
Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with the site, Researchbods will automatically collect Technical data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this Technical data by using cookies, server logs, digital finger printing technologies and other similar technologies. We may also receive Technical data about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies. Please see our Cookie Policy for further details.
Server log files: Researchbods may collect Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. This Technical data may be combined with other information collected about you for the purposes of improving our services, site functionality and collecting analytical data.
Fingerprint technologies: In general, digital Fingerprinting technologies assign a unique identifier or "Machine-ID" to a user's computer to identify and track your device (“Technology”). The Technology will analyse publicly available information and data obtained from your computer's web browser and from other publicly available data points, including the technical settings of your computer, the characteristics of your computer, and its IP Address, to create a unique identifier, which will be assigned to your device. Researchbods uses the Technology for quality control, validation, and fraud detection and prevention purposes, including assisting us in ensuring the integrity of survey results. Appropriate technical and operational processes and procedures will be put in place to ensure that the Technology is safe, secure and does not cause undue privacy or data security risks and the Technology will be used and distributed in a professional and ethical manner and in accordance with (a) this privacy notice, (b) any other statements and/or disclosures made to you as a member of the community and (c) applicable laws and market research codes of practice. In the event any unethical conduct is discovered in connection with the use of the Technology, or that the Technology is being used in a manner that is inconsistent with privacy notice, immediate action will be taken to prohibit such unethical conduct and to ensure the proper administration of the Technology.
What is our prize draw policy?
Community members may win prizes for participation in research activities. All winners are notified by email of their winnings. Data protection shall post the screenname of winners and optional testimonials on the Reward Page, which is accessible only by Community Members. For more information, please visit our Prize draw conditions page.
What security measures do we have to protect your personal data?
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data in accordance with our instruction and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator or supervisory authority of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
Does this privacy policy apply to other websites?
The website contains links to other websites. This privacy policy applies only to the site, and to how we collect and use your information. If you follow a link to any other websites, those websites have their own privacy policies and we do not accept any responsibility or liability for those policies. Please check the relevant privacy policies before you provide any personal information to other websites.
How do you manage your profile?
How do you access your information, use the member services area and/or update, correct or delete your information?
You may access, correct, or request deletion of your profile, or terminate your membership by logging into your Community Account. By following the appropriate directions, your information should be automatically updated in our database. If you are unable to correct your personal data yourself via your Community Account you may contact us by email at hello@principalitypulse.co.uk. We will respond to all requests within a reasonable timeframe.
How do you opt out from your Online Community membership?
To close your account or unsubscribe from emails, members can do so via logging into the community, clicking 'my profile' and amending their opt ins or the 'close your account' button. You may also send an email directly to contact@Researchbods.com requesting to be removed.
To delete and remove all data members need to email hello@principalitypulse.co.uk. In addition, you will forfeit any incentive balance that has not been requested as of the time you opt out. In most cases it will take 2 to 3 days to process this change, but please allow up to two full weeks for your status to be finalised. Please note that you may continue to receive communications during this short period after changing your preferences while our systems are fully updated.
Email links are provided on the site so that you may contact us directly with any questions or concerns you may have. Each email we receive is read and responded to individually.
What are your rights?
You have the right to ask to see the personal information we hold about you. This is sometimes known as a ‘subject access request’. If you think that any of the information we hold about you is wrong, you can ask us to correct it. You will also have the right to ask us to:
- Delete information about you (in certain situations);
- Stop using your personal information for certain purposes;
- Give you your information in a portable, transferable format; and
- Stop making decisions about you in an entirely automated way.
Many of your rights listed above are limited to certain circumstances and we may not always be able to meet your request. We will tell you if this is the case.
For more information, visit our Your Rights web page. If we are processing your personal information in line with permission you have given, you have the right to withdraw that permission by contacting us.
You also have the right to ask us not to process your personal information for direct marketing. If we intend to use your information for direct marketing, or to pass your information to any third party for this purpose, we will tell you beforehand.
If you make a request to exercise any of your rights set out above, we aim to respond to you within one month. We will not charge a fee for dealing with your request.
If you are unhappy with how we are using your personal information, or you want to complain about how we have handled a request, please contact panelmanager@principality.co.uk or DPO@principality.co.uk
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the regulator for data protection law. Details of how to complain to the ICO can be found on the website at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/.
What are our legal bases for processing your information?
Data-protection law sets out various lawful bases (or conditions) which allow us to process your personal information.
Consent – we will sometimes process your personal information based upon your permission. We will always tell you when this is the case, and will ask you to agree before we process your information under this condition.
Legitimate interest – sometimes we need to process your personal information for other reasons if we have a reasonable or legitimate purpose that is not mentioned above or in your contract. This may be when we need to process information to provide a product or service. For example, we might do this to improve a service, or if we think you may reasonably expect us to process your personal information.
We realise that some of these conditions will overlap and we may be able to rely on more than one condition to justify our lawful reason for processing your personal information. You can find more information on when we rely on legitimate interests here.
Contractual obligations – In some circumstances, we may need to process your personal data to comply with a contractual obligation e.g. when we use your personal data to send you your rewards.
Legal obligation – If the law requires us to, we may need to collect and process your personal data in response to lawful requests by public authorities or if e.g. we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, to protect your safety or the safety of others, to investigate fraud or breaches of the site terms, or to respond to a government request.
What happens if this privacy notice changes?
This version was last updated on 28 October 2026
Any changes we may make to this privacy policy will be posted on https://principality.ex-plor.com/. Please check frequently to see any updates or changes. We will also contact you to tell you about any significant changes we make to it.
How can you contact us?
You may contact us by writing to:
The Data Protection Officer
Principality Building Society PO Box 89,
Principality Buildings,
Queen Street,
Cardiff
CF10 1UA
Email: panelmanager@principality.co.uk or DPO@principality.co.uk