Security

In an online world, security can be a major issue for everyone.  In the organizational survey world, it generally means system security – the steps we take to maintain the integrity of your data.  But at Questar, we take security to a whole new level by making it an integral part of our Core Value of “Integrity.”

We Prevent Identity Theft (of Your Survey)

Questar has undergone independent audits of all aspects of our Internet systems. We passed with flying colors; in fact, our systems generally exceed high standards for levels of security.  Among the things we do:

Identifiers:  To protect your data from mixing with another client’s data, we assign unique client identifiers that are tied to your employee passcodes.  All data extracted for your report must contain your unique identifier to be included.

Hosting:  The survey is hosted on our website. Data are harvested (transferred from the Internet site to our internal system) in real time.  The system is not accessible from the Internet, so no respondent data can be accessed by anyone outside of Questar. 

Environment:  Our portal operates in a secure server environment, using the same data encryption employed for the credit card portion of most e-commerce transactions.  We have a state-of-the-art firewall system supplemented by human monitoring to ensure the highest possible levels of system and data security.  

Access:  Access to the portal for taking the survey, downloading reports, or using any of our tools is passcode protected. 

We Provide Peace of Mind

Security and confidentiality of our clients’ information is an essential part of Questar’s culture.  We adhere to the ethical standards outlined by the American Psychological Association's publication The Ethical Practice of Psychology in Organizations.  Our formal confidentiality policy is published in our Employee Handbook and discussed during new employee orientation.  All employees are required to sign a confidentiality statement.  To further emphasize the importance of confidentiality, one of our Core Values, Integrity, is defined as: “We will not compromise the confidentiality of our clients’ information.”

Plus, Questar is an active member of the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO).  As a condition of membership, CASRO members subscribe to the Code of Standards for Survey Research.  

For global clients, Questar conforms to the EU/U.S. Safe Harbor Principles as defined in the subject Directive set forth by the European parliament and the Council of the European Union.    

Finally, you own your data, not Questar.  And we won’t use your data in any research or presentation without your prior consent.  Your data would be added to our existing normative database, but would not be linked directly to your organization.  No other organization would have access to your scores as a normative reference. 

Learn more