FAQs
Who is Beaton?
Beaton is a specialised market research organisation we have partnered with for this survey.
How and why did Beaton get my name and email address from?
PwC New Zealand supplied Beaton with your details so it can impartially and independently collect your feedback on PwC’s performance and service.
Is the fact that my name and email address were supplied to Beaton a potential breach of any of the New Zealand Privacy Principles?
The New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 states that disclosure of personal information, e.g. client contact details, is permitted in instances where the purpose for which the information is disclosed directly relates to the purpose for which the information was originally obtained. Disclosure is also permitted if the information is used in a form in which the individual concerned is not identified, or the information is going to be used for statistical or research purposes and will not be published in a form that could reasonably be expected to identify the individual concerned. On this basis, there is no breach of the privacy principles by PwC New Zealand in providing client contact details to Beaton, for the express and sole purpose of running a client feedback survey. This is because: PwC is disclosing your contact details to Beaton for the purpose of collecting feedback on the firm’s performance and service provision to you. The disclosure is for research purposes. At the conclusion of the research, all identifying personal information will be removed from the survey data and Beaton will destroy your personal information. All results will only be reported to PwC New Zealand in aggregate and you will not be able to be identified in any way.
Is supplying my name and email address to you a potential breach of the Australian Privacy Principles?
The current Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) came into force in March 2014. APP 6 allows disclosure of personal information e.g. client contact details (your name and email address), for a purpose for which it was collected (a primary purpose) or for a secondary purpose where you would reasonably expect the disclosure and the disclosure is related to the primary purpose for which personal information was collected. On this basis, we believe there is no privacy issue that prevents PwC New Zealand from providing clients’ contact details to Beaton, as their research agency, for the express and sole purpose of running a client feedback survey. This is because PwC New Zealand is disclosing your contact details to Beaton for the (secondary) purpose of collecting feedback on the firm’s performance and service provision to you, which is related to the (primary) purpose of the firm providing services to you. At the conclusion of the research, all identifying personal information is removed from the survey data and Beaton will destroy your personal information.
Can I or my organisation be identified through my answers?
No. Individual responses are provided to Beaton only and not reported back to PwC New Zealand. Data is reported to PwC New Zealand in aggregate form only or completely de-identified and thus no findings of the research will be attributable to any individual or organisation.
How will my survey data be used?
Beaton is undertaking this research with the support of PwC New Zealand. Specifically the data provided will be used to provide a confidential report for PwC New Zealand on how PwC New Zealand is performing. The privacy of participants and the confidentiality of their responses is maintained at all times, and no individual client will be identified in any way to PwC New Zealand.
Is the email invitation spam?
The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 (or Spam Act) prohibits unsolicited commercial electronic messages from being sent to, from or within New Zealand. The Spam Act does not prevent email invitations to legitimate market research which are further consented to within the PwC Terms of Business (e.g. the ability for PwC to administer and manage its business and services). The email invitation sent to you is a legitimate request for you to participate in the PwC New Zealand client survey related to the work your organisation asked PwC New Zealand to complete. You have been sent the email invitation at the request of PwC New Zealand and therefore it does not constitute spam.
Why was I screened out of the survey?
Based on your answers to the initial questions you may have been screened out of the survey because we had reached the maximum number of potential responses required for the survey, while you were answering the screening questions.
Can I have a hard copy of the survey to read through first, or for my files?
No. All contents and intellectual property contained in the survey are the property of Beaton and may not be used for any purposes other than answering the online survey
Is the survey relevant to me as I don’t live in New Zealand?
The survey gathers feedback from clients of PwC New Zealand. It does not matter if you don’t live in New Zealand. Your responses are still valuable and useful to the aggregate feedback provided to PwC New Zealand.
Will the results be used for marketing purposes?
The PwC New Zealand client survey is an independent review of PwC New Zealand’s performance and service activity. Beaton prevents use of data from the survey for advertising or marketing purposes. PwC New Zealand will not use data from the survey for advertising or marketing purposes.
Who sees the results of the PwC New Zealand client survey?
PwC New Zealand Partners and the PwC New Zealand Markets team are provided with the detailed findings of the PwC New Zealand client survey. High-level findings are also provided to the PwC New Zealand firm overall. All findings are reported only in aggregate and individuals who have responded to the survey are not identifiable in any way.
