Privacy Policy

Effective date: 18/08/2025

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use this online listening test.

Who we are

This listening test is part of a research project conducted by the Audio Experience Design Research group at Imperial College London. If you have any questions about this policy, you can contact us at:

Information we collect

When you use this website, we automatically collect the following information:

  • Technical information automatically collected by our hosting providers (e.g. IP address, browser type, error logs).

When you use the listening test, we may collect the following information, with your explicit consent:

  • Your Google account details (ID, username, and email) when you log in using Google OAuth.
  • Age and gender, if you choose to provide these.
  • Your responses during the listening test.

You will be explicitly asked for consent before this optional information is collected.

How we use your information

Data collected on this site is used only for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy, or as indicated on the relevant pages of our site. We will not use the data beyond what is disclosed in this Privacy Policy.

  • Allowing you to log in and use the listening test.
  • Conducting the research study.
  • Ensuring the security and performance of the website.

We do not use your data for marketing or advertising.

How we store and protect your information

  • Data is temporarily stored in a secure Google account and hosted on Heroku, a leading Platform as a Service (PaaS) provider.
  • After the study is completed (September 2028), data will be removed from the cloud and securely stored on a private drive within the Imperial College internal network. This data will be held for 10 years, in line with College policy and GDPR.
  • Access is restricted to the research team at all times.

While we take all reasonable precautions to protect user data, a risk of harm remains when processing data online. As such, we cannot guarantee the security of user data beyond what is reasonably practical.

Sharing your information

We may share your information with:

  • Other Imperial College London staff (research, support, audit, IT).
  • Approved third-party service providers (e.g. hosting, email, technical support) under strict agreements.
  • Research collaborators, including Sonova, who are supporting this research. Response data shared with Sonova will be strictly in pseudonymised format so you cannot be identified.

We do not sell or share your personal data for commercial purposes.

Cookie Policy

  • We use essential cookies to manage your login session. These do not contain personal data but store a session ID that links to information held securely on our servers.
  • Session information (including your responses) is required for the test to function. It is cleared when you log out, and server-side caches are periodically cleared.
  • We do not use any advertising or third-party tracking cookies.

Your rights

Under data protection law (GDPR/UK GDPR), you have the right to:

  • Be informed on the data we hold.
  • Access the data we hold about you.
  • Correct any inaccuracies.
  • Request deletion of your data (where possible).
  • Restrict or object to processing.
  • Withdraw consent at any time (without affecting prior processing).
  • Complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how your data is handled.

Accessing your data

To know if we have collected your personal data, how we have used the personal data, if your data has been shared with any of the outlined third parties, if you would like your data to be deleted or modified in any way, or if you would like to exercise any of your other rights under GDPR, please contact the Research Team (j.webb24@imperial.ac.uk), or the Data Protection Officer (dpo@imperial.ac.uk).

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Any updates will be posted on this page with a new effective date.

Queries and Complaints

If you have any queries or complaints about how we process your personal data, please contact the Research Team (j.webb24@imperial.ac.uk) so that we can, where possible, resolve the issue. If you feel we have not addressed your concern in a satisfactory manner, please then contact the Data Protection Officer (dpo@imperial.ac.uk). You also have the right to make a complaint to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office by following the instructions on the ICO webpage.