What would pit the Vice Chair of the Prime Minister’s Digital Task Force 2015 and the Executive Director of the RSS against the CEOs of Ipsos MORI and YouGov? And no, it wasn’t just that one of them is an ex Lib Dem MP and is used to arguing against the big boys!

Jo Swinson and Hetan Shah provided the opposition to Ben Page and Stephan Shakespeare’s proposal that personal data is safer in the hands of market research than government at the recent debate we sponsored in the House of Commons. It won’t surprise you to know that in a room full of researchers, the motion was passed.

Maintaining trust through proper data management is the bread and butter of our sector, but with cyber-attacks even coming from teenagers in their bedrooms now, we mustn’t simply rely on our good record. We’ve developed an easy online checklist to help you become Fair Data accredited. Email fairdata@mrs.org.uk for more details.

Like research, the charity sector had thought itself untouchable, but recent issues have questioned their belief in their right to self-regulation. New oversight structures are likely to cost the sector dearly, so if a belief in ethical business practice isn’t enough to improve respect for, and handling of, personal data, then the bottom line should be a very marked incentive.

It’s not all bad news on the charity front though. The research sector’s own charity MRBA, of which I am proud to be a trustee, reached its target of over £10,000 in donations from their inaugural MRBA Week at the end of October. My thanks go to everyone who took part.

0 comments

Get the latest MRS news

Our newsletters cover the latest MRS events, policy updates and research news.