Privacy Policy

Summary

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)’s Online Consultation Portal is a free service provided to enable participation in public consultations. The portal publishes consultations to which you can make submissions, receive messages about consultations, read and interact with published submissions. 

ASA is committed to protecting your privacy and personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. Any personal data which you submit via ASA’s consultation portal will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This privacy statement sets out how ASA (Data Controller) and CiviQ (the Data Processor and the company that runs the online consultation portal service) processes your personal data, secures this personal data, and the various policies that adheres to General Data Protection Regulation.

ASA reserves the right to amend the scope of the privacy statement at any time which may include or exclude other sites or platforms.

Identity and the contact details of the controller:
Data Controller: Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), 7 Herbert Street,
Dublin 2, D02 K838, Ireland

email: data.protection@adstandards.ie

Identity and the contact details of the processor: 
Data Processor: CiviQ, Digital Office Centre, Maynooth Business Campus, Straffan Road, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, W23 W5X7, Ireland

email: info@civiq.eu

How we collect your information

We collect personal data from you through the Online Consultation Platform (the "Platform") to facilitate your participation in public consultations and engagement with other respondents. Your data is collected in the following ways:

  • Directly from your written input to the platform via the registration form, submission forms, survey forms and comment boxes; and
  • Automatically through the platform’s technologies including tracking online, such as by web cookies (which are small text files created by websites that are stored on your computer).
The information you provide

We collect the following information about you from your use of the platform: 

Information you provide directly to us:

  • Contact details, including your name, email address, postal address, website and telephone number;
  • Organisational affiliation if you are registering an organisation or a company;
  • Gender and age (optional);
  • Usernames and passwords;
  • Website security roles to allow you to securely perform some limited functions within the CiviQ platform;
  • Data that you submit in your consultation submissions, survey responses, application form submissions, comments, emails, feedback about the platform, indicators of support to other users, and other content you provide via the platform;
  • Consent to receive emails from subscriptions, notifications and messages including date and time of consent;
  • Logging acceptance of the Privacy Policy and other Terms and Conditions;
  • Audit of moderation tasks on your submission 

Certain communications from the Platform require your explicit consent.  These include promotional messages and notifications. You may provide or withdraw consent to receive notifications about consultations and system messages at any time through your account settings.

Information that is Automatically Collected:

We may automatically collect certain information about the computer or devices (including mobile devices or tablets) you use to access the Services. Such information includes:

  • Account creation and last log-in date and time;
  • Tracking codes, such as cookies. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your computer when you visit a website, that enables us to: (a) recognize your computer; (b) store your preferences and settings; (c) understand the web pages of the Services you have visited and the referral sites that have led you to our Services; (d) perform searches and analytics; and (e) assist with security administrative functions.
  • Device information such as:
    • Anonymised Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used to connect your computer to the Internet;
    • Location information (by country and city)
    • Unique device identifiers
    • IMEI and TCP/IP address
    • browser types,
    • browser language
    • screen resolution
    • operating system,
    • mobile device carrier information, and
  • Information related to the ways in which you interact with the Services such as:
    • referring and exit web pages and URLs
    • platform type
    • the number of clicks
    • domain names
    • landing pages
    • pages and content viewed and the order of those pages
    • statistical information about the use of the Services
    • the amount of time spent on particular pages
    • the date and time you used the Services
    • the frequency of your use of the Services
    • error logs, and other similar information.
    • third-party analytics providers and technologies, including cookies and similar tools, to assist in collecting this information.

This Platform uses MTCaptcha to ensure security and protect against spam and abuse. MTCaptcha does not track individuals and does not collect or store personally identifiable information. Data collected is used solely for security purposes and to prevent fraudulent activities. See MTCaptcha's Captcha Plugin Privacy Policy

What we need and why we need it

We may use information we hold about you in the following ways:

  • Information you give us. We will use this information:
    1. to carry out our obligations to process your responses to public consultations;
    2. to provide you with information;
    3. to notify you of confirmation that we have received your response to a consultation;
    4. to notify you about changes to any of our services;
    5. to ensure that content from the platform is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;
    6. use your input to formulate future iterations of the Code of Standards for Advertising
      and Marketing Communications in Ireland.
  • Information collected about you by the platform. This information is used:
    1. to administer the platform and for internal operations, including troubleshooting and testing.
    2. to improve the platform to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer or mobile device;
    3. to keep the platform safe and secure; and
    4. to help improve the reach and inclusiveness of public consultations using third party services such as Matomo Analytics.

Our legal basis for using your information

The legal basis for processing your personal data is the legitimate interests pursued by ASA or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interests include facilitating public consultations, maintaining records of consultation submissions future policy development and code review processes, and ensuring integrity and security of the consultation process. Where we rely on other legal bases, such as compliance with legal obligations (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR) performance of a task carried out in the public interest (Article 6(1)(e) GDPR), this will be specified. We will ask for your consent with regard to certain types of communications and notifications.

Where we rely on your consent as the legal basis for processing, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

How long we hold your data

We will retain your personal data, including consultation submissions, for a period of two (2) years from the date of submission. Where consent is the legal basis for processing communications and notifications, we will retain such data until you withdraw your consent, unless we have another legal basis for retention.  After the applicable retention period expires, your personal data will be securely deleted or anonymized in accordance with our data retention and deletion procedures. You can manage your consent settings for communications, notifications and messages via the Manage Consent page on the platform at https://consult.adstandards.ie/en/user/consent.

You may exercise any of your rights outlined in the Privacy Policy by emailing us at data.protection@adstandards.ie

Storage of your information, international data transfers and security

Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our platform, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

The transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of data whilst in transit to our platform. Any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to prevent unauthorised access.

Personal data that you provide to us via this Platform is stored within the European Economic Area (EEA). Certain services required for ensuring the security of the Platform may require transfer of limited personal data (such as IP addresses) to our service providers outside the EEA. For any transfers of personal data outside the EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with Chapter V of the GDPR, including EU Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission or other legally recognized transfer mechanisms.

Disclosure of Your Information

Third-party service providers may have access to areas of the Platform where your personal data is stored solely for the purposes of providing, developing, testing, and maintaining the Platform service. All such third parties are bound by data processing agreements that comply with Article 28 of the GDPR and are contractually obligated to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data.

We do not sell, rent, or otherwise disclose your personal data to third parties for their marketing purposes. We may disclose your personal data where required by law, court order, or other legal process, or where necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of ASA, our users, or others.

Automated decision-making

We do not use your personal data for any automated decision-making, including profiling, as defined in Article 22 of the GDPR.

Cookies

Please note that you can change your settings to notify you when a cookie is being set or updated, or to block cookies altogether. Please consult the “Help” section of your browser for more information (e.g., Internet Explorer; Google Chrome; Mozilla Firefox; or Apple Safari). Please note that by blocking any or all cookies, you may not have access to certain features or offerings of the Services. Information on how to change your cookie preferences is available in the Cookie Policy.

Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data. These rights are subject to certain limitations and exceptions as provided by law:

  • the right to access personal data held by us about you;
  • the right to require us to rectify any inaccurate personal data held by us about you;
  • in certain circumstances, the right to require us to erase personal data held by us about you;
  • in certain circumstances, the right to restrict our processing of personal data held by us about you;
  • in certain circumstances, a right to receive personal data which you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format. You may also have the right to require us to transfer this personal data to another organisation, at your request;
  • the right to object to our processing of personal data held by us about you (including for the purposes of sending marketing materials to you); and
  • the right to withdraw your consent, where we are relying on it to use your personal data


To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at data.protection@adstandards.ie. We will respond to your request within one month of receipt, in accordance with Article 12(3) GDPR. This period may be extended by two further months where necessary, taking into account the complexity and number of requests For further information please see the Data Protection notice on ASA’s website: https://adstandards.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Privacy-Statement-1.2-1.pdf

Certain rights may be exercised directly on the Platform via your Personal Account page, My Submissions page, and Manage Consent page. These features enable you to keep your personal data up to date, manage your consent preferences, and control certain types of processing.

You may review or change your communication preferences at any time using the ‘opt-out’ or 'unsubscribe' mechanism provided in communications you receive from us. Please note that you may continue to receive transactional communications necessary for the administration of your account and submissions, as these are not based on consent but on our legitimate interests or legal obligations.

To exercise rights that cannot be actioned directly through the Platform, please contact the Data Controller at data.protection@adstandards.ie. CiviQ, as Data Processor, will action instructions from the Data Controller in respect of your request in accordance with our data processing agreement.

Obligation to provide personal data

In order to provide certain services to you, ASA may require your personal data. Where provision of personal data is a requirement necessary to enter into a contract, this will be clearly indicated at the point of collection. Failure to provide such required personal data may result in our inability to provide the relevant services to you.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal, operational, or regulatory reasons. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. Where changes are material, we will provide more prominent notice or, where required by law, seek your consent. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we process your personal data.

Last updated: 15 Dec 2025

Concerns or complaints

If you have any concerns or complaints about the processing of your personal data or our responses regarding your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission (Ireland's supervisory authority for data protection). Contact details: Data Protection Commission,  6 Pembroke Row, Dublin 2, D02 X963, Ireland. Telephone: +353 (0)761 104 800 or +353 57 868 4757. Email: info@dataprotection.ie. Website: www.dataprotection.ie. For further information please visit the Data Protection notice on ASA’s website: https://adstandards.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Privacy-Statement-1.2-1.pdf


For further assistance on Data Protection contact ASA:

By email at data.protection@adstandards.ie

or write to:

Deputy Chief Executive, Advertising Standards Authority,
7 Herbert Street,
Dublin 2,
D02 K838, Ireland

Email: data.protection@adstandards.ie