Terms & conditions for the usage of all data, systems and websites owned or provided by Oscar Research Ltd.
Version 2.6 Last Updated 21/07/2022
‘Oscar’ - Oscar Research Limited
‘Terms’ - This document which details terms and conditions governing all data usage.
‘Data' - any organisational, statistical, demographic, structural, post holder or contact information derived from a database owned or supplied by Oscar Research
'User' - the person and their organisation that is using a website or service run by Oscar or has registered or purchased a licence to access, view or use data supplied by Oscar
'Post Holder' - All data identifying a living person viewable online or in data supplied by Oscar Research. Limited to the post holder's name and corporate and/or official email address connected with the post recorded.
This document is available on all our websites and is explicitly linked to with any data supplied by Oscar, whether through an online portal or by email. We reserve the right to update this document at any point. Users will be advised, but must ensure they are in compliance with the latest version of this document at the time of any data interaction or usage.
All recipients, users or viewers of data belonging to, or supplied by, Oscar must accept and abide by the following terms. This document is considered binding based on any one of the following conditions:
1. Confirmation of an order to Oscar for any data.
2. Receipt of a data file by any means or any format from Oscar Research
3. The browsing or use of data from any websites or electronic services run or owned by Oscar Research.
The data is the intellectual property of Oscar and covers Public Sector and Service organisations, their structures, demographics and senior and significant posts and publicly elected representatives.
Oscar is registered under the Data Protection Act and adheres to all the necessary best practice guidelines laid out by the UK Information Commissioner's Office and Direct Marketing Association.
The data is legally collated, regularly updated and accuracy is being continuously monitored
The data held is used within the following websites and services:
Public Sector Network (PSN) - www.public-sector.co.uk
Oscar Platform - www.publicsector.co.uk
Surf Your Turf (SYT) - www.surfyourturf.co.uk
Oscar - www.oscar-research.co.uk
Please view our Data Transparency Statement here for details of data collection, permissions and our commitments to Post Holders - https://www.oscar-research.co.uk/info/datatransparency.php
(https://www.public-sector.co.uk/publicsectordirectory)
1.1 No form of copying, reproduction or external storage of any data is permitted without written permission. Data provided includes fake information to detect any external usage and any organisation holding or using the data without permission will be subject to costs for breach of copyright.
1.2 Only employees of organisations listed within the directory are able and permitted to access post holder data.
1.3 Users with password access must not use the postholder contact information for commercial, promotional or marketing purposes. The data is supplied for professional networking, liaison and reference only.
1.4 Each password supplied by Oscar is for one user only, providing any other organisation or user access to this service without written permission is not permitted.
1.5 Usage of each password is monitored and any misuse, copyright infringement or inappropriate usage of the data is the responsibility of that user.
(https://www.surfyourturf.co.uk and www.publicsector.co.uk)
1.1 No form of copying, reproduction or external storage of any data is permitted without written permission. Data provided includes fake information to detect any external usage and any organisation holding or using the data without permission will be subject to costs for breach of copyright.
1.2 The organisational and elected representatives post holder data based on location are provided for Public reference only and the data must not be used for commercial, promotional or marketing purposes.
Users with a password access:
1.3 Each password supplied by Oscar is for one users organisation only, providing any other organisation or access to this service without written permission is not permitted and the users organisation will be charged a further licence cost for each organisation that has been given access to the platform.
1.4 Any communication with postholders listed on the platform is subject to the same terms and restrictions as those detailed below in section 3 below, including ensuring any data usage is in compliance with the latest data protection rules.
1.1 All data supplied by Oscar is subject to all conditions within this document unless there is written agreement between the User and a senior manager within Oscar to the contrary
1.2 Data cannot be returned or exchanged.
1.3 The fulfillment of an order is considered complete on the day the access is provided or data is delivered to the user.
1.4 Data received must be identifiable within a users systems and held securely with reasonable steps taken to protect against misuse and theft. The user is responsible for ensuring security for all elements of the data and will be considered liable for any breaches and resulting damages or liabilities.
1.5 Data or access details to a portal containing the data, or providing a means to access the data cannot be transferred to, or used by, any individual or organisation other than the licensed User or Nominated User agreed to by Oscar at the point of order.
1.6 We reserve the right to cancel a data licence or access at any time and provide the user with a pro-rata refund for the remaining term of the order. With the exception of discovering data misuse or a contravention of these terms, whereupon access or licence to the data will cease immediately with no refund given.
1.7 Where data is licensed for a third party/nominated user, the user must advise Oscar of the name and contact details of the third party/nominated user, and also provide a copy of these terms to the third party/nominated user prior to data supply. In all instances, these terms take precedence over any other agreement or terms issued between the user and third party/nominated user.
1.8 Full payment for any access to, or licence for, data from Oscar is due within 30 days of order (or invoice date if different). If payment isn’t received within 30 days, the access and data licence will be revoked, unless an agreement to the contrary has been agreed between Oscar and user. The user must then remove all data from their systems but will still be liable for the full order amount.
1.9 All and any costs associated with recovery of payment for an agreed data licence or access will be passed to the user. In the case of third party data licences, we reserve the right to pursue the nominated user directly for payment and in the event of any contravention of these terms.
1.10 Data cannot be held or used beyond the licence period agreed upon at the point of order and detailed in users account areas, welcome messages and billing. The licence issued for data selections runs for 364 days after the date of order confirmation, unless another date is specified explicitly. Thereafter the data licence must be renewed or all data must be removed from the user or nominated users systems. As per Section 3.10, users are required to download fresh copies of their selections every 30 days as a minimum and the new downloads should be used to completely update or replace any copies of the data held by the client.
1.11 We accept no responsibility or liability for any form of communication between the user and the post holders and organisations within data supplied by Oscar. It is the users responsibility to ensure compliance in regard to their activities with both these terms and any prevailing legislation pertinent to and connected with usage or processing of the data supplied.
1.12 Oscar takes all possible steps to ensure data accuracy and engages considerable resources, time and expenditure in the maintenance of the data. We cannot, however, guarantee the accuracy or usability of the data provided to the user and no discounts or refunds will be made available to the user for claimed inaccuracies. The deliverability of email addresses is specifically not guaranteed due to multiple factors beyond the control of Oscar, included, but not limited to Server Blacklisting, Full Mailboxes, File Size Limits, Anti-Spam Software and Firewalls . All data that is found to be inaccurate can be returned to Oscar and will be validated, updated and returned to the user or in some other way made available within a reasonable time.
1.13 A purchase of a data licence is based on the selections and consequent volume of records agreed at the point and date of order. Due to ongoing updating, industry changes, re-organisations and preference changes, the volume of records available may vary during a licence period.
2.1 A number of fake (sleeper) names, organisations, phone numbers and email addresses as well as other false data items are included in all data supplied to users as a means of monitoring usage, protecting post holders and safeguarding against misuse and use of data outside of the agreed data licence period.
2.2 If we detect any data is held or used outside of an agreed licence period this will trigger an automatic licence renewal that will run from the original expiry date for 364 days. The charge for this renewal will be based on the prevailing cost for all previously licensed data plus a 200 pound administrative charge. Users will be required to delete all data held immediately and replace with the latest copy of licensed data if future usage is required. Costs may be added if the automatic renewal needs to be enforced.
2.3 If any data is used without authorisation from Oscar, where the purpose is to transfer the data to a third party, or in some other way used to benefit a third party, not approved by Oscar, then the user will be liable for a charge equal to the prevailing cost for the licensed selections as well as damages calculated on the value and costs to Oscar of the data usage and/or transfer. Each transfer to a different third party, or use for the benefit thereof, will be treated as a separate breach of these terms and charged accordingly. Where data has been transferred to a third party, users will be required to ensure deletion of all data by the third party and provide confirmation to Oscar. Additional costs may be added if these processes and charges need to be enforced.
3.1 All communication made to post holders and organisations held in the data should be as relevant and targeted as possible and where post holder data is used, should only be made where the communication is relevant to the position held by the post holder and in connection with their influence and responsibilities connected with that position. No communication should be made or sent pertaining to the post holder's personal life, personal requirements, finances, preferences or interests. Although we provide detailed data categorisation, consult on relevance at the time of order and offer further guidance during a licence or access period, it is the users responsibility to ensure all communications are relevant to post holders and organisations.
3.2 When using any means of communication facilitated by the data, the volume and type of communication should be proportionate, reasonable and not excessive. Use of the data by users is monitored by Oscar and we reserve the right to revoke access to, and the licence for, data where we believe the communications conducted by a user are excessive, involve undue pressure or in some other way disadvantage post holders.
3.3 If a request is made by a post holder or organisation to opt-out from future communication by a user, this should be respected and the user shall maintain a list of post holders or organisations that no longer wish to receive communication from them. It is the users responsibility for updating and using this list to suppress against any future communication activities.
3.4 All communication or marketing material sent to post holders or organisations within the data must pertain to the user (organisation) or nominated user (organisation) and not any other third party/organisation/external service without consent from Oscar.
3.5 No data supplied is screened against the MPS, TPS, CTPS or any other preference service. The information is as supplied to us by the post holder or their organisation. Appropriate screening of data must be done prior to any form of communication being made with contacts on the database.
3.6 If a post holder, either verbally or in writing, requests a user to disclose the source and/or owner of the data that is under licence, users must direct them to the Oscar Data Transparency Statement, available at - https://www.oscar-research.co.uk/info/datatransparency.php
3.7 Use of Postal Data - All postal communication should be targeted, relevant and not excessive. An opportunity should be given for recipients (post holders and organisations held in the data) to object to future postal correspondence (either on or within the correspondence, or through a phone number, address or email address provided as part of the correspondence). The user is responsible in ensuring reasonable steps are taken to prevent future postal correspondence to these recipients. We also recommend that users screen the data against the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) prior to any form of postal communication or marketing.
3.8 Use of Telephone Numbers - as part of The Privacy and Electronic (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) maintains a list of telephone numbers of subscribers who don't wish to receive unsolicited marketing calls. From 2004 corporate registration on the TPS allows all businesses (including the Public Sector) to join the Corporate TPS (CTPS) register to block sales calls. The CTPS was released for commercial screening purposes in July 2004. The legislation requires that CTPS screening must be undertaken by anyone making promotional and/or fundraising calls to any Business or Government number to ensure that they are not calling a number which is registered. After the initial screening of data, further monthly screening is necessary. Consequently, prior to any telephone marketing or fundraising activities all users must screen the data against the TPS and CTPS registers and not contact any listed numbers. Furthermore, users must provide their company name and either a phone number or valid postal or email address to any post holder or organisation requesting a means of opting-out from further calls. Users should maintain their own telephone 'opt-out' list, consisting of post holders and organisations who are either registered on the TPS/CTPS or have directly requested exclusion from any further telephone communication by the user. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure lists are TPS/CTPS compliant. Express consent for a call overrides the TPS/CTPS legislation. No automated calling to data supplied by Oscar is permitted without the direct consent of the data subject(s).
3.9 Use of Electronic mail (E-Mail) addresses - All email addresses in the data are either organisational or corporate subscriber emails and/or relate to the post holder’s position and are owned by the employing organisation and/or are those published or officially connected with an elected position or position within public life; including, but not limited to, members of parliament, councillors and those representing parish councils. Where email addresses are used for communication by users, the following conditions apply:
3.10 Updates - No element of Oscar data held by a user should be any older than 30 days from the date of download/receipt. Users with a licence to Oscar data are provided with access to a customer area and through which can download updated versions of their selections, or historical changes made to their selections from our live database at any time for no cost. Clients are required to download fresh copies of their selections every 30 days as a minimum and the new downloads should be used to completely replace or update any copies of the data held by the client. This is to ensure data is as accurate as possible, fit for purpose and reflects all preference changes made by post holders within a reasonable time frame.
Oscar offers some mechanisms for users to maintain a list of post holder and organisational email addresses that have been ‘opted out’ from further emails, but accepts no responsibility for maintaining this list or removing e-mail addresses on behalf of any user.
Further Definitions
"eLobby Platform" - Includes all aspects of the eLobby software and service, including the setup, configuration and post holder selection tool. The website plugin, geographic and postholder data.
“User” - licensed organisation with current access to the eLobby Platform.
“User Data” - All content submitted by the user into the eLobby Platform, including campaign descriptions, weblinks, thank you letters and imagery
“Submitter Data” - All data submitted through the eLobby Platform website plugin by user members, supporters or visitors.
Access to and usage of the eLobby Platform is subject to the following conditions:
General
It should be noted that Oscar is providing the eLobby Platform utilising its own software, geographical and political postholder data to enable a User to set up, host, promote and encourage their members and website visitors to engage in the UK democratic process through eLobbies. All User Data and Submitter Data generated through this process is owned by, and is entirely the responsibility of, the User. The responsibility of and liability to Oscar is limited to the functionality of the eLobby Platform.
We reserve the right to cancel any active campaigns running through the eLobby Platform without prior notice in the event that we feel any aspect of the campaign contravenes any current legislation, is deemed by us to be inappropriate or may cause distress to political post holders, users or the general public.
Security
Users must ensure that their access details to the eLobby Platform are secure and are never shared with any external party without permission.
No element of the eLobby Platform can be shared with any third party and the website plugin must be hosted on a website owned and controlled by the user, unless explicitly agreed by Oscar.
Content
The User Data submitted through the eLobby Platform should not contain any offensive material and campaigns should not be intended for the support or promotion of any form of discrimination, including but not limited to race, gender or human rights.
Letters created by the User that are to be sent to Postholders should be clear, concise, factual and contain nothing offensive. The content should only be in the context of informing or requesting support from political representatives in the context of their role within Government and not them personally.
Postholder Selection
It is the users responsibility through their own due diligence to ensure that the post holders selected to receive the campaign letters are the correct and suitable representatives for each campaign.
User websites hosting the eLobby Platform
eLobbies should not be hosted on any websites that might be considered offensive or discriminatory.
Users must deter the copying and storage of public sector postholder names and positions that are identified through the postcode search through their own copyright statements.
Users must include their own privacy policy which should detail all requirements under current data legislations, including but not limited to; the methods of data storage and security as well as the rights of data subjects to access any stored information about them following the submitting of their data on the platform.
Submitter Data
Oscar will securely hold the submitter data on our IP secure UK server for an agreed period of time. Secure access to which will be available to the user for an agreed period of time.
No access to the Submitter Data will be given to any other party and no data points will be otherwise extracted or shared by Oscar.
The user is the owner and controller of all submitter data and are responsible for all aspects of data security and compliance in keeping with the latest data and privacy legislation.
5.1 These terms are governed by English Law and Users agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of English Courts in the event of any dispute.