1. Who we are
KALO Ltd. (“KALO Ltd.”, “we”, “us”) is a company established in the Republic of Korea. We operate an expert panel database and invite eligible panel members to participate in online surveys, research interviews, user research, market research, and similar research activities.
| Role | Details |
|---|---|
| Controller | KALO Ltd., BAN: 878-87-02232, Address: #220, 11-41, Simin-daero 327beon-gil, Dongan-gu, Anyang-si, Republic of Korea |
| Privacy contact | support@kaloidea.com |
| EU representative | Michael Spencer, Berlin (Germany), support@kaloidea.com |
| Data Protection Officer | Won Min Cho, support@kaloidea.com |
| Primary hosting provider | NAVER Cloud Platform / Naver Cloud Corporation, Republic of Korea |
2. Scope of this notice
This Privacy Notice applies when an individual located in the European Union or European Economic Area applies to join, joins, or participates in KALO Ltd.’s expert panel, including when KALO Ltd. invites the individual to research opportunities. This signup flow is intended for adult applicants only. You must be at least 18 years old to join the panel.
If a project-specific notice or consent form states different or additional terms, that project-specific document will apply to that project.
3. Personal data we collect
| Category | Examples | Required / optional | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity and eligibility data | Full name, age confirmation or date of birth, country of residence, EU citizenship or eligibility confirmation, preferred language, time zone | Some required | You |
| Contact data | Email address, telephone number, messaging handle, communication preferences | Email required; phone and messaging optional | You |
| Professional profile data | Occupation, job title, employer type, industry, seniority, years of experience, areas of expertise, qualifications, languages, availability | Required or optional depending on field | You |
| Demographic and socioeconomic data | Gender, income band, education level, household or business profile, other segmentation fields | Optional unless a project-specific notice says otherwise | You |
| Panel activity data | Invitations sent, acceptances, declines, participation history, screening answers, opt-out records, quality-control flags | Generated by KALO Ltd. | KALO Ltd. systems |
| Research data | Survey answers, interview responses, notes, recordings, transcripts, chat logs, documents or materials you choose to provide | Project-specific | You and research sessions |
| Payment and tax data | Honorarium amount, payment method, payment status, tax or accounting information where required | Required only if payment is made | You and payment providers |
| Technical, security, and consent records | IP address, device/browser data, login logs, e-signature metadata, consent version, timestamp, audit trail ID, security logs | Generated automatically | KALO Ltd. systems and service providers |
We do not ask for special categories of personal data as part of general panel registration. Special categories include data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data used for identification, health data, or data about sex life or sexual orientation. If a specific study requires such information, we will provide a separate project notice and request your explicit consent before collecting it.
4. Purposes and legal bases
| Purpose | Legal basis under GDPR |
|---|---|
| Panel registration and account administration | Article 6(1)(b) contract or steps prior to contract; Article 6(1)(a) consent for optional fields |
| Expert matching and invitation selection | Article 6(1)(a) consent; Article 6(1)(f) legitimate interests where permitted |
| Sending research invitations and panel communications | Article 6(1)(a) consent and ePrivacy rules; Article 6(1)(b) for necessary membership communications |
| Telephone, SMS, or instant-message contact | Article 6(1)(a) consent and applicable national ePrivacy/telemarketing rules |
| Conducting surveys and interviews | Article 6(1)(b) contract for participation; Article 6(1)(a) consent where consent is requested |
| Recording, transcription, translation, AI-assisted processing | Article 6(1)(a) consent or Article 6(1)(b) contract; Article 9(2)(a) explicit consent if special-category data is involved |
| Honorarium and payments | Article 6(1)(b) contract; Article 6(1)(c) legal obligation; Article 6(1)(f) legitimate interests |
| Security, fraud prevention, and compliance | Article 6(1)(f) legitimate interests; Article 6(1)(c) legal obligation where applicable |
| Aggregated or anonymised research output | Not personal data once truly anonymised; otherwise Article 6 basis above |
5. Expert matching and profiling
KALO Ltd. may use your profile information, preferences, expertise tags, country, industry, past participation, and screening responses to match you with research opportunities. Matching may involve rules, filters, search, or automated ranking. Unless a project-specific notice says otherwise, KALO Ltd. does not make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal effects or similarly significant effects for you. You may object to certain matching activities or withdraw from the panel at any time.
6. Recipients and sharing
KALO Ltd. may share personal data with hosting providers, cloud providers, survey and interview platforms, email/SMS providers, scheduling tools, payment providers, professional advisers, regulators, and research clients where necessary and lawful. KALO Ltd. does not sell the expert panel database. KALO Ltd. does not permit clients to contact panel members directly, recruit them for unrelated purposes, re-identify anonymised research outputs, or use panel data for sales or marketing unless this is expressly permitted in a project-specific notice and by applicable law.
7. International transfers
KALO Ltd. is established in the Republic of Korea and will transfer, store, and process your personal data in Korea. The European Commission has adopted an adequacy decision for the Republic of Korea under GDPR Article 45. If the adequacy decision ceases to apply or if personal data is transferred to a country without an adequacy decision, KALO Ltd. will use an appropriate transfer mechanism, such as the European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses, supplementary measures where required, or another lawful mechanism.
If a research client or vendor outside Korea, the EU/EEA, or another adequate jurisdiction receives personal data, KALO Ltd. will assess the transfer mechanism before disclosure. Identifiable participant data will be disclosed to clients only where the project documents permit it and the participant has been informed and, where required, has consented.
8. Retention
| Data type | Indicative retention period |
|---|---|
| Panel profile | For as long as your panel membership remains active, then deleted or anonymised within 3 years after closure unless retention is required for legal, accounting, security, or dispute purposes |
| Consent and e-signature records | For the duration of membership and 3 years after closure for compliance evidence |
| Research invitations and screening records | 3 years after the project or as needed for quality control, compliance, and dispute handling |
| Interview recordings and transcripts | Project-specific period stated in the project consent; normally no longer than necessary for analysis and reporting |
| Payment and tax records | As required by applicable accounting, tax, anti-fraud, and legal obligations |
| Suppression and unsubscribe records | For as long as needed to honour opt-outs and prevent unwanted contact |
9. Your rights
Subject to applicable conditions and exceptions, you have the right to request access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection to processing. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal. You may also unsubscribe from invitations or close your panel membership.
To exercise your rights, contact support@kaloidea.com. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. You may lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority in your EU/EEA Member State of residence, place of work, or place of alleged infringement.
10. Security
KALO Ltd. uses technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data, including access controls, role-based permissions, logging, encryption in transit, encryption at rest where available, backup controls, vendor due diligence, confidentiality obligations, and incident response procedures. No system is completely secure, and KALO Ltd. continuously reviews security measures according to risk.
11. Changes to this notice
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. If we make material changes, we will provide notice through the panel platform, email, or another appropriate method. The version and date at the top of this notice show when it was last updated.