1.  Our mission

Alaska Survey Research (formerly Ivan Moore Research) was established in 1996 to provide market research services in Alaska.  In the years we have been in business, we have a 100% positive record of

1)      respecting the confidentiality of our clients, both in terms of their identities and the proprietary nature of their research reports and data

2)      always respecting the privacy and confidentiality of the data we collect from respondents to our surveys and other projects

3)      maintaining security technologies and protocols that protect information while it is in our custody

Alaska Survey Research is committed to keeping personal data secure and will take all reasonable precautions to protect personal information from loss or misuse. Data stored on our internal network servers are protected by firewalls, password access and other appropriate security mechanisms.  We have never once had a loss of confidentiality, either willful, accidental, or as a result of a security breach.  We take this aspect of our work very seriously.

2.  What kind of data do we collect?

Generally, ASR conducts surveys of the Alaska population and measures their attitudes, opinions, experiences, knowledge and behaviors.  This data is always combined together with information from other survey participants and is only reported in aggregate form.

3.  How is data kept secure once it’s collected?

• • • Almost all our work now is conducted online.  We use Qualtrics, which is commonly regarded as a top-of-the-line, secure, professional software platform.  While data is housed within ASR’s account on Qualtrics, it is protected by a high level of data security:  www.qualtrics.com/platform/security
    • Only a limited number of individuals at ASR have access to our survey data
    • Access to the ASR account on the Qualtrics platform is password-protected
    • When data is downloaded, it is anonymized immediately by removing personal identifying information (email address, IP address, passcode) from the dataset and storing it separately
    • When on the ASR network, data is stored behind firewalls and password-protected
    • Data is only ever transmitted encrypted and password-protected

4. HIPAA considerations

Often, our work involves asking respondents questions that fall under the auspices of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), that governs the protection of sensitive health information.

Maintaining HIPAA compliance in web-enabled market research isn’t complicated.  It involves working with HIPAA-compliant partners, vendors and clients, ensuring that data is anonymized as early in the research process as possible, storing the data securely, and transmitting it only in anonymized, encrypted and protected form.