Privacy First for Australian MR Association

Australian professional MR association AMSRO has become the first body to have its privacy code registered by the Australian Privacy Commissioner under new legislation.

AMSRO (the Association of Market & Social Research Organisations) completed the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2014 in March of this year. The body pioneered its own privacy code for members in 2003, and has now gone ten years without a finding of a privacy breach among members.

The Australian Privacy Principles (APP) were developed after the Australian Privacy Commissioner found in 2013 that 74% of Australians reported increased concern about giving information over the Internet, versus 2011. Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said of the registration: 'I'm very pleased to have worked with AMSRO in the development of the Code. It is the first industry-led APP Code to be registered under new Australian privacy laws. This is a significant step that highlights the value of co-regulatory schemes under the Privacy Act and it demonstrates the importance of privacy for the marketing and social research industry.'

AMSRO President Nicola Hepenstall says the Code 'sets a clear benchmark of good practice' and the registration is 'the final step in our quest to have the highest ethical and privacy standards in our industry'. She adds: 'Our Code is a roadmap for members and critical in terms of consumer trust and voluntary cooperation in research, plus industry self-regulation.'

AMSRO also has a Privacy Compliance Committee (PCC), chaired by privacy advocate and Tasmanian Senator Terry Aulich, and a Trust Mark under which more than 80 of its member companies now operate. The latter requires adherence to the Privacy (Market & Social Research) Code and to the AMSRS Code of Professional Behaviour, as well as certification to the International Standard for Market, Opinion and Social Research (ISO 20252).

The organisation was founded in 1989 and has 90 members with a combined annual turnover of $800m in 2013.

Details of the new code are at www.amsro.com.au/is themember-services/privacy .