As a market research company, quantitative data collection is a huge part of what we do. We have always had a strong commitment to data quality and eliminating fraud, but as fraudsters get more innovative, we have to adapt as well. We want to take you through some of the ways that Ag Access has always protected your data, as well as some new tools we are utilizing to take it one step further.
We have always had a thorough set of data quality checks that allow us to remove participants that appear fraudulent or to just not be taking our research seriously. These checks include looking for:
Whenever a respondent is flagged for one of these, our team conducts a thorough investigation to determine if the respondent is truly fraudulent and warrants removal.
While we have always been committed to data quality and reducing fraud, there is always more we can be doing, and that’s why we made some changes. We decided to obtain ISO 27000 Certification of our parent brand, Qlarity Access.
Ag Access is a subsidiary of Qlarity Access. Qlarity Access has strong business practices, personal accountability, and technical security. Qlarity Access has obtained ISO 27000:2022 Certification, which is a global certification related to information security when collecting personal information, to formally validate our commitment. Every member of the Qlarity Access team has participating in extensive training over the course of two years, and will continue to do so moving forward. The company also participated in an external review and audit of our systems prior to final approval and registration. Following the completion of the certification, Qlarity Access will continue to be audited each year to maintain compliance and prove our continued diligence.
Our efforts are already helping. Community members go through a profiler survey to join, and our data quality practices are helping weed out fraudsters before they even get into the community, meaning that they never even touch live surveys. Because we, and our sister company Vet Access, stop these people from getting into our community in the first place, we have a lower rate of fraud on individual surveys - only about 1% of respondents on average.
We are a small business built on the relationships we have with our clients and customers, but by utilizing our internal resources and technological advancements, we can still protect data like the big companies. When we discussed our system with one client, they said "That sounds like a pretty sophisticated system - I like it. The scammers are getting too smart and are using technology, and we’re having to scramble to keep up with them. So, I appreciate a good system like this!"
When you know you're talking only to real people with good intentions, you can be sure you're getting real results. But talking to the right people get you the right results to enable you to make the right decisions. Check out our case study Access to the Right People Can Shift Your Decisions for Good to learn just how impactful this can be.