Privacy Policy
Last updated - Nov 14, 2024
Citizen Scientist is a smartphone app by King's College London in collaboration with Nomad Projects that enables research studies to collect real-time data about participants' experiences, environment, and wellbeing. This Privacy Policy explains the data we collect from you when using the Citizen Scientist app, how we process, store and use it, and how we may share it.
For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 ("The Act"), King's College London is the data controller. This means that King's College London is responsible for protecting the data you provide when you use the Citizen Scientist app. By using the word 'we', we refer to King's College London.
We have adopted this Privacy Policy to ensure that the data that we collect from you via the Citizen Scientist app is protected. By publishing this Privacy Policy, we aim to make it easy for you to understand what data we collect and store, how and why we collect it, and the rights you have as an individual to access your data. This policy applies to all forms of information, physical and digital, whether collected or stored electronically or in hardcopy.
The information we collect and how we collect it
When you install the Citizen Scientist app and enroll in a study, we collect data from you. You provide your consent for us to collect this data when you enroll in a study. Your consent to provide this data can be changed at any time using the 'Settings' menu in the app. You provide this data anonymously, so we don't know who you are, and we cannot identify you as an individual.
We collect the following data from you:
Basic Information: When you participate in a study, you may be asked to provide information about demographics, lifestyle, and wellbeing. You also may provide information about your current environment, feelings, thoughts, and behavior. You will not be asked to provide your name, contact details, or any other information which could identify you.
Geographic location: With your specific consent, we may acquire information about your geographic location using the GPS sensor on your mobile phone. Location data may be collected from sources such as GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell towers once you enroll in a study and consent to the app tracking your location. While providing location data may be essential for participation in some studies, you have the option to stop or adjust this collection at any time through the 'Settings' menu in the app.
Physical activity: With your specific consent, we may acquire information about your physical activity from your smartphone. This could include step count, distance traveled, and type of movement. You may choose to stop or adjust the collection of physical activity data at any time through the 'Settings' menu in the app.
Media content: Some studies may offer the option of taking photographs and/or audio recordings. You may choose to delete this data at any time using the 'Settings' menu in the app.
While we do not ask for your name, contact details, or any other information which could identify you, it is theoretically possible to identify you using information about your geographic location. We will not attempt to identify individuals from their location data. In addition, we will store the data securely to prevent third parties from attempting to identify individuals from their location data.
How we process and use your information
We process and use the information we collect about you in various ways. We upload your information from your smartphone over a secure connection to servers provided by an external cloud hosting provider in order to analyze the data. Some of this information is processed and sent back to your smartphone over a secure connection so that you can review and interact with it.
The information you provide will be used for academic research as specified in each study's individual privacy policy. The data may also be used for other research purposes in the future. The results may be published in scientific journals and presented on study-specific websites and social media.
If you post publicly about a study using social media, or communicate directly with us using study websites or social media, we may collect and process the data contained in such posts for the purpose of addressing any requests you may have and for public engagement connected with the research project.
How we store your information
The information you provide during participation is stored on your phone until you uninstall the app. When you connect to a Wi-Fi or cellular mobile phone network, your information is transferred to our servers over the internet in an encrypted format. We encrypt the data you provide using the app so that it remains private, confidential, and secure from unauthorized access.
Your data is stored securely on King's College London servers and with a secure external cloud service provider. The external cloud service provider is currently Amazon Web Services. We reserve the right to change the external data storage provider at any time in the future.
The data that we collect from you will be stored in the United Kingdom (UK). However, it may be transferred to and stored at a destination outside the UK in order to collaborate with other organizations for research purposes in the future. Data may also be processed by third parties and/or staff operating outside the UK who provide services to us in connection with the research purposes.
We will retain data to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy for an indefinite period of time.
How we may share your information
Your participation in studies through Citizen Scientist is anonymous, private, and confidential. The information you provide will remain with King's College London and may be shared securely with other organisations collaborating on specific studies for research purposes. The information you provide may also be shared securely with organizations who provide services to us in connection with the research purposes, for example, data storage, as stated in this Privacy Policy. We will not disclose your information to unrelated organisations or third parties under any circumstances.
How we keep your information safe and secure
We take your privacy, confidentiality, and the security of your information very seriously. We will take all reasonable precautions to protect your data from unauthorized access. This includes appropriately securing our electronic networks, servers, computers, and physical facilities.
We store information on King's College London servers and in the cloud. Our external cloud service provider is currently Amazon Web Services. Amazon Web Services secures the data using technology called '256-bit advanced encryption', which provides a very high level of security, and does not itself have access to the data. We reserve the right to use a different storage provider in future, and if we change provider we will update this Privacy Policy accordingly.
We will endeavor to ensure that our partners or any third parties to which we may transfer data according to the terms of this Privacy Policy have acceptable privacy and security policies. We will govern the sharing of information for research purposes or in relation to services provided to us in connection with the research purposes by data sharing agreements which will ensure that third parties keep the data safe and secure. However, the collection and use of an individual's information by such partners or third parties may be subject to separate privacy and security policies for which King's College London is not responsible.
Cookie Policy
Our app/ website may use cookies to distinguish you from other users. This helps us provide you with a good experience when you browse our app/ website and also allows us to improve our app/ website. Your consent will be obtained prior to our use of cookies on our app/website, and you are able to revoke that consent following the procedure below.
A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or your device's hard drive if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your device's hard drive. You block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our app/website for which we require the use of cookies.
Complaints and disputes
If you have a complaint about our handling of your data, you should address your complaint in writing to the Project Lead below.
You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you consider that the processing of your data infringes the General Data Protection Regulation.
If we have a dispute regarding your data, we both must first attempt to resolve the issue directly between us.
If we become aware of any unauthorized access to your data which is likely to result in a high risk for your rights and freedoms, we will inform you without undue delay, once we have established what was accessed and how it was accessed, by posting a notice on our website. We do not have contact details for you, as your participation is anonymous, so we are unable to contact you directly.
Additions to this Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If we decide to do this, we will post a notification on our website and we will post a new version of the Privacy Policy on our website and within the Citizen Scientist app. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon posting on our website.
Contacting us