Privacy Policy

Forrester respects your privacy. The type of information and ways we collect and use the information you provide while on our website (“Website”), or Forrester mobile applications(“Apps”) (collectively with our Website and Apps, the “Site”) and during certain other interactions are listed below:

When does Forrester collect information?

Forrester collects certain information from an individual when the individual:

  • Registers for use of the Site or uses the Site.
  • Subscribes to receive e-mails from Forrester.
  • Registers for use of the Forrester online communities or posts information on a shared area of the Site.
  • Purchases certain products or services from us.
  • Registers for one of our events or webinars.
  • Seeks employment opportunities with Forrester.
  • Wishes to obtain more information about our products and services, participates in research interviews or surveys.

Forrester also collects certain information from public sources such as social media sites (for example, LinkedIn) and commercially available marketing lists.

To the press: Forrester obtains contact details and other personal information regarding media contacts and influencers from a variety of sources, including third party vendors. If you wish to know more about how such information is collected and used, please contact press@forrester.com for more information.

What information does Forrester collect?

  • Contact information you may choose to provide while visiting or registering on our Site, including registrations to attend Forrester events. This information may include your: name, address, company name, job title, telephone number, email address, and the name and email of third parties you may provide to us.
  • Contact and other information you make available on social media sites or that is available from public sources.  Forrester may also collect information included in communications between you and Forrester representatives through emails, social media sites or other virtual platforms regarding products and services that may be of interest to you or your organization.
  • Contact information you may choose to provide for the purpose of participating in our research, including participating as a customer reference in connection with the Forrester Wave.
  • If you register to participate in Forrester online communities or other shared areas of the Site, you may be asked to create a profile. Your profile may be made available to other members of the shared site(s) and may include the registration information you provide as well as other information you choose to add such as work history and education.
  • Behavioral information about how you use the Site, marketing e-mails you open, e-mail links you click on, that you have responded to an e-mail and your IP address.
  • If you are applying for a job at Forrester, we may also collect your resume, work history, and education if you choose to provide or upload your resume via the Site.

How does Forrester use the information?

To fulfill our obligations. Forrester uses personal contact information you share with us to fulfill contractual obligations that may include providing products or services that you or your employer purchased, answer your contract administration related inquiries or communicate with you about your account or transactions with us, and send you information about features on the Site, or changes to our policies or events for which you registered.

To perform research.  Forrester often receives briefings or information from third parties willing to participate in its research.  We use any contact information provided in such instances to schedule interviews or conduct surveys.

To improve research, the Site and measure effectiveness. Forrester regularly analyzes data pertaining to visitor trends, research consumption, and research grading to improve our research, plan site enhancements, measure overall site effectiveness and the effectiveness of e-mail campaigns.

To answer job search inquiries. We use your submitted information to respond to inquiries you make regarding job postings.

To maintain a secure Site. IP addresses are collected in order to maintain our Site security and ensure access to restricted portions of the Site is limited to authorized users.

To improve our performance by using third party vendors. We may also disclose certain data to third party contractors or vendors in connection with their performance of services to us. Contractual agreements between us and such third parties provide that your information will be kept confidential and secure.

To market our products and services.  Forrester may use business contact information obtained directly from you or from third party sources to send marketing emails and other communications in order to promote our products and services.

To conduct Forrester Events. Forrester may make available a third-party mobile application during certain events for engagement and networking purposes. When registering for those events you may choose to have your name, company and title be available to event attendees on the mobile application. Forrester also uses a third-party virtual event platform for virtual events and some live events. Your name, company and title will be displayed on Forrester’s third-party virtual event platform and will be available to other event attendees in the same way your name, company and title is displayed on your badge during a live event. Forrester transfers certain information of event registrants and attendees to its event sponsors. Use by sponsors of the information you choose to share with them is subject to each sponsor’s Privacy Policy. Please click the link found in the Registration Terms and Conditions of the specific Event for further information. For details on how Forrester shares your information with sponsors, please see below:

  • Pre-Event Lists.
    • Pre-Event List. Sponsors of a Forrester event are provided a “Pre-Event List” for event staffing purposes. The list contains job level, industry, country and company name of individuals that have registered for the event. The list may also include whether the individual registered to attend live or virtually.
    • Opt-In Pre-Event List. In addition to the job level, industry and company information stated above, prior to the start of the event you may opt-in to sharing your name, title, company and e-mail address with all sponsors of the event. Should you opt-in you may receive communications from sponsors related to the event. The list may also include whether the individual registered to attend live or virtually.
  • Event Sponsor Space Lists.
    • Live Events: Forum event attendees are provided with badges having bar codes that may be scanned at sponsored activities or sponsor booths. Attendee contact information (first name, last name, title, company, email, work phone, work address, work state, work zip code, country) is transferred to any sponsor that scans the badge for the sponsor’s use in marketing. The list may also include whether the individual registered to attend live or virtually.
    • Virtual Events: When visiting a sponsor’s virtual space in the Event’s Marketplace, the sponsor is able to see your name, title, and company in real-time. If you download information or view anything in the sponsor’s virtual space, then your contact information (first name, last name, title, company, email, work phone, work address, work state, work zip code, country) is transferred to the sponsor in real-time for the sponsor’s use in marketing. The list may also include whether the individual registered to attend live or virtually.
  • Sponsored Event Lists and RFID badge scanning.
    • Live Events: When attending an event session sponsored by a third party, your badge may be scanned. Attendee contact information (first name, last name, title, company, email, work phone, work address, work state, work zip code, country) is transferred to any sponsor that scans the badge for the sponsor’s use in marketing. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology may be used to scan a badge when attending certain sessions at events. Please note that signage outside such sponsored sessions will alert an attendee if the RFID functionality of a badge is being used at that session.If so, by walking into these sessions you agree to have your badge automatically scanned and your contact information shared with the session sponsor. Certain events may use a badge tracking consent feature which asks attendees registering or checking in for permission to track their badge location during the event, capturing consent for RFID. If you elect not to allow such tracking, then your badge will become anonymous for the purpose of tracking into sponsored sessions but can still be read by sponsors when scanning at their booths. Virtual Events: When attending a virtual session sponsored by a third party you agree to the transfer of your contact information (first name, last name, title, company, email, work phone, work address, work state, work zip code) by Forrester to the sponsor for the sponsor’s marketing purposes.

HOW TO OPT-OUT: If you want to attend a sponsored event or visit a sponsor’s booth without having your information shared, please contact OptOutEvent@forrester.com prior to the start of the Event.

Pursuant To What Legal Bases Do We Process Your Information?

We rely on a number of legal bases to use your information in the ways indicated above. These legal bases include where:

  • necessary to perform the contractual obligations in our agreement with you or your employer and provide services to you;
  • you have consented to the processing, which you can revoke at any time;
  • necessary to comply with a legal obligation, a court order, or to exercise or defend legal claims;
  • necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests; and
  • you have expressly made the information public.

Note that we principally rely on consent to send marketing messages.

Where we process your information based on legitimate interests, we do so as it is necessary to pursue our legitimate business interests of:

  • providing and improving Forrester services for our customers;
  • understanding how our services are being used, and determining the level of interest in services for customers by obtaining insights into usage patterns of the services;
  • improving our efficiency by customizing your on-site experience to help you discover relevant research and topics;
  • promoting and marketing our brand, products and services;
  • maintaining a secure Site;
  • making our services better even where processing entails sharing your information with service providers that may not be strictly necessary for us to provide the Services; and
  • conducting live and virtual immersive experiences during our events that provide attendees with high-caliber networking with peers and sponsors aimed to seamlessly facilitate connections in your industry.

Processing information based on legitimate business interest may include sharing your information with third party services providers for the above purposes.  For example, sharing certain information with event sponsors and other event attendees as more specifically set forth in the ‘How does Forrester use the information’ section above.

Forrester also engages third-party companies and individuals that may have access to your information pursuant to a legitimate business interest listed above (such as research companies, and analytics providers) to help us operate, provide, and market the services. Your information may also be shared with third party service providers to ensure the security of our services, including enhancing protection of our Site, intellectual property infringement and protecting against security incidents. These third parties have only limited access to your information, may use your information only to perform these tasks on our behalf, and are obligated not to disclose or use your information for other purposes. Forrester may also process contact information it obtains from third party sources, social media sites or third-party marketing vendors for some of the legitimate business interest purposes outlined above.

Forrester may also process and share your personal information with a third party in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet legitimate national security or law enforcement requirements; defend against legal claims, to comply with a subpoena, court order, legal process, or other legal requirement; or when we believe in good faith that such disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with the law.

Forrester has a legitimate business interest in using your contact information you when you choose to participate in interviews or surveys in order to carry out the research in which you elect to participate. At times your employer or vendor may recruit you to participate in the research. Any such contact information is used solely for purposes of conducting the applicable research as disclosed to the individual.

Cookies

  • What are cookies?
    A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another.
  • What types of cookies does Forrester use?
    • Necessary: cookies required for access to the Site and core functionality.
    • Behavior and analytics: cookies used to gather behavioral information through the Site; provide customized content and recommendations; and analytics.
    • Marketing: cookies that are used to deliver relevant advertising.
  • Behavioral information collected by our us and our web analytics vendor is used to analyze data pertaining to visitor trends, research consumption, and research grading in order to improve our research, plan Site enhancements, and measure overall Site effectiveness. We may also use cookies or web beacons to help us offer you products, programs, or services that may be of interest to you and to deliver relevant advertising. We may use third-party advertising companies to help tailor Site content to users or to serve ads on our behalf. These companies may also employ cookies and web beacons to measure advertising effectiveness.
  • Aggregated (non-personally identifiable) user behavior collected through cookies or web beacons may be shared with our other third-party service providers to either analyze or execute marketing programs.
  • Please note that Forrester or other Forrester vendors or third-party advertisers may also use cookies that are independent of those placed by our analytics contractor (for example, to remember your password or tailor Site content). Cookies and web beacons do not contain personally identifiable information; however, if you are a registered user, we may store this information with your registration information to enable us to better serve you. Use of cookies may also allow Forrester to automate your access to password-protected portions of the Site making it unnecessary for you to have to re-enter your password each time you visit our Site.
  • What can you do about cookies?
    You may choose to control and/or delete all cookies from your hard drive. If you delete a cookie, however, please be advised that some features of our Site may not be accessible to you. Another option available to you is to change the preferences or settings in your web browser to control cookies. In some cases, you can choose to accept cookies from a primary Site, block them from third parties, or clear out all cookies.

Transfer Of Data

We operate globally and may transfer your personal information to our affiliate companies or third parties in locations around the world for the purposes described in this privacy policy. Wherever your personal information is transferred, stored, or processed by us, we will take reasonable steps to safeguard the privacy of your personal information. Additionally, when using or disclosing personal information transferred from the European Union, we use standard contract clauses approved by the European Commission, adopt other means under European Union law for ensuring adequate safeguards, or obtain your consent.

Call Recordings

With your consent we may record sales or customer service calls for training purposes only. Forrester may also record certain calls when conducting research, but only with consent for the purpose of validating its research and sources of information. You may choose not to participate in a recorded call and may opt out of having a call recorded at any time during the call.

What You Can Do And Your Rights

  • You can unsubscribe from promotional emails you receive at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of the email and may disable notifications on your mobile device. You may not be able to opt-out of important service announcements and administrative messages.
  • You can choose to control and/or delete cookies from your hard drive. See the Cookie section above for more details.
  • You can choose to not let anyone scan a bar code at a live Forrester event unless you want that sponsor to have your contact information.
  • When attending a sponsored session at live event you can inform a Forrester representative that you do not want your information shared with the event sponsor.
  • When visiting virtual sponsor booths or virtual sponsored events you can choose to inform Forrester that you do not want your contact information transferred to the sponsor by contacting OptOutEvent@forrester.com prior to the end of the Event.
  • There may be public areas of the Site that allow you to post or upload information. Any information you choose to upload or post can be viewed by all users. We discourage you from uploading any personal information in these areas of the Site.
  • In some cases, you may have the following rights. Please note Forrester may have lawful reasons to deny requests related to the rights below:
    • The right to be informed: You have the right to be informed of Forrester’s purposes for processing your personal data, Forrester’s retention periods for that personal data, and who it will be shared with.
    • The right of access: You have the right to access your personal data and supplementary information to allow you to be aware of and verify the lawfulness of the processing.
    • The right to rectification: You have the right to have inaccurate personal data rectified or completed if it is incomplete.
    • The right to erasure: You have the right to have your personal data erased from our systems.
    • The right to restrict processing: You have the right to request the restriction or suppression of your personal data.
    • The right to data portability: You have the right to obtain and reuse your personal data for your own purposes across different services.
    • The right to object: You have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or the performance of a task in the public interest/exercise of official authority (including profiling); direct marketing (including profiling); and processing for purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics.
    • Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling: You have rights related to automated decision making any profiling. Please note that Forrester does not make any such automated decision making or profiling.
    • The right to submit a complaint with a supervisory authority located in your place of residence, place of work or place the alleged infringement took place.

Additional Information for California Residents

  • California law requires that we provide you with the following additional notice:
    • Forrester does not “sell” personal information as defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act.  We do share certain information with event sponsor and service providers as set forth above.
    • You have the right to know what personal information Forrester collects, uses and discloses about you, the sources from whom Forrester collects such personal information and the third parties with whom we share such information.
    • You have the right to request that Forrester delete certain personal information we maintain about you.
    • You have the right not to be discriminated against as a result of exercising your rights to know and/or delete your personal information.
    • You have the right to receive information about financial incentives we may offer that are related to collection of your personal information.
    • You can designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf. Forrester will require proof of your identity and the agent’s authority to submit a request on your behalf.

Exercising your Rights

  • Forrester has the right, under applicable laws, to deny requests in certain circumstances. For example, where we need the information to provide you a service or to comply with applicable laws.
  • If you want to exercise any of your rights or need to contact Forrester’s Data Protection Officer, please email privacy@forrester.com. You can always contact Forrester at +1 617-613-5730 or +1 866-367-7378 (toll-free in the US and Canada) should you have any questions or concerns.
  • You can go to Forrester’s subscription center and select or change your contact preferences at any time.

Additional Information That May Be Of Interest

  • Forrester account managers, analysts, and other members of the research staff can place research documents into a client’s Research Bookmarks. To prevent duplicate placement of research, research and account management employees can review the contents in this area.
  • We have implemented technical, administrative, and physical security measures that are designed to protect your information from unauthorized access, disclosure, use, and modification. Please be aware though that, despite our best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.
  • Forrester does not knowingly collect any personal information from children and does not market or offer services to children. You must be at least 13 years of age to access the Site.

Changes

Changes to this policy may be posted from time to time. All versions will reflect a posting date. We encourage you to visit this page periodically for changes.

Last updated July 12, 2023