Our Privacy Policy 

In simple terms:

Your data privacy: We follow the European Union's GDPR, the strongest code we know of for protecting personal data. In simple language: your personal information will never be sold; your data will be used at the aggregate level for the purposes of the Happiness Alliance only; all of your responses will be anonymous; data is only kept for as long as it is useful. ​

The legalese:

We value your privacy very highly. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully before using the happycounts.org or taking the Happiness Alliance’s Happiness Index operated by Happiness Alliance, a Not For Profit formed in Washington, United States as this Privacy Policy contains important information regarding your privacy and how we may use the information we collect about you.
Your access to and use of the website and the Happiness Index is conditional upon your acceptance of and compliance with this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies to everyone, including, but not limited to: visitors, users, and others, who wish to access or use the website or our Happiness Index.
By accessing or using the Website, you agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy. If you disagree with any part of the Privacy Policy, then you do not have our permission to access or use the website or the Happiness Index. ​

What information we collect, how we use it, what happens if we don't have it, and the legal basis for processing this information

We collect any and all information that you enter on this website or use the Happiness Index. We collect the following information about you.

Identifying Information- IP Address

Legal basis for processing this information

• Processing is necessary for the purpose of a legitimate interest pursued by us or by a third party;
• We only share de-personalized data with Researchers who sign an agreement that they will only use the data for research purposes, will protect the data and will dispose of the data once they have used it for the purposes for which they declared..

How we use this information

• Analytics.

What happens if we don't have this information

• Our use of your data for analytics will not be possible.

Identifying information - Happiness Index Questions

Specific pieces of information​: Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays? Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile? Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday? Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday? I lead a purposeful and meaningful life I am engaged and interested in my daily activities I am optimistic about my future Most days I feel a sense of accomplishment from what I do In general, I feel very positive about myself In general, I would say my health is..poor…good How often do you have a lot of energy How satisfied were you with your ability to perform your daily living activities? How satisfied were you with the quality of your exercise? In a typical week, how much of your time are you able to spend doing the kinds of things that you enjoy? Do you agree? My life has been too rushed Do you agree? I have had plenty of spare time How would you describe your feeling of belonging to your local community? Do you trust your neighbors? Do you trust businesses in your community? Iif you lost your wallet with 200 dollars, would it be returned with all the money? How satisfied are you with your personal safety in your city or town? Frequency you have: Volunteered your time to an organization Frequency you have: Donated money to a charity How satisfied are you with your personal relationships? Do you agree? People in my life care about me. Do you feel loved? So you feel lonely? Are you satisfied with your access to sports and recreational activities? Are you satisfied with your access to artistic and cultural activities? Are you satisfied with your = access to activities to develop skills through informal education? Do you feel uncomfortable or out of place in your neighborhood because of your ethnicity, culture, race, skin color, language, accent, gender, sexual orientation, or religion? How healthy is your physical environment? How satisfied are you with the efforts being made to preserve the natural environment in your neighborhood? How satisfied are you with the opportunities that you have to enjoy nature? How satisfied are you with the air quality in your environment? Corruption is widespread throughout the government in my city or town. The public officials in my city or town pay attention to what people think. Do you feel confident in your national government? Do you feel confident in your local government? In general, how much stress do you feel about your personal finances? How frequently do you find yourself just getting by financially and living paycheck to paycheck? How often do you eat less because there wasn’t enough food or money for food? Do you agree that you have enough money to buy things you want? All things considered, how satisfied are you with your current work life? How satisfied are you with your work life balance? How much of the time do you find your current work life interesting? Do you agree? Considering all my efforts and achievements in my job I feel I get paid appropriately Do you agree?The conditions of my job allow me to be about as productive as I could be. Do you agree?I am allowed to decide how to go about getting my job done
Legal basis for processing this information

• Processing is necessary for the purpose of a legitimate interest pursued by us or by a third party aligned with our mission and who has agreed to comply with our personal data privacy and protection agreement or with whom we must comply due to the law.
• We only share de-personalized and anonymized data with Researchers who sign an agreement that they will only use the data for research purposes, will protect the data per our personal data privacy and protection agreement and will dispose of the data once they have used it for the purposes for which they declared.

How we use this information

• Analytics.

What happens if we don't have this information

• Our use of your data for analytics will not be possible.

Characteristics of protected classifications - Age

Specific piece of information​: Age
Legal basis for processing this information

• Processing is necessary for the purpose of a legitimate interest pursued by us or by a third party aligned with our mission and who has agreed to comply with our personal data privacy and protection agreement or with whom we must comply due to the law.
• We only share de-personalized and anonymized data with Researchers who sign an agreement that they will only use the data for research purposes, will protect the data per our personal data privacy and protection agreement and will dispose of the data once they have used it for the purposes for which they declared.

How we use this information

• Analytics.

What happens if we don't have this information

• Our use of your data for analytics will not be possible.

Characteristics of protected classifications - Race

Specific piece of information
Race
Legal basis for processing this information

• Processing is necessary for the purpose of a legitimate interest pursued by us or by a third party aligned with our mission and who has agreed to comply with our personal data privacy and protection agreement or with whom we must comply due to the law.
• We only share de-personalized and anonymized data with Researchers who sign an agreement that they will only use the data for research purposes, will protect the data per our personal data privacy and protection agreement and will dispose of the data once they have used it for the purposes for which they declared.

How we use this information

• Analytics.

What happens if we don't have this information

• Our use of your data for analytics will not be possible.

Characteristics of protected classifications - Gender identity

Specific piece of information
Gender identity
Legal basis for processing this information

• Processing is necessary for the purpose of a legitimate interest pursued by us or by a third party aligned with our mission and who has agreed to comply with our personal data privacy and protection agreement or with whom we must comply due to the law.
• We only share de-personalized and anonymized data with Researchers who sign an agreement that they will only use the data for research purposes, will protect the data per our personal data privacy and protection agreement and will dispose of the data once they have used it for the purposes for which they declared.

How we use this information

• Analytics.

What happens if we don't have this information

• Our use of your data for analytics will not be possible.

Characteristics of protected classifications - Marital status

Specific piece of information
Marital status
Legal basis for processing this information

• Processing is necessary for the purpose of a legitimate interest pursued by us or by a third party aligned with our mission and who has agreed to comply with our personal data privacy and protection agreement or with whom we must comply due to the law.
• We only share de-personalized and anonymized data with Researchers who sign an agreement that they will only use the data for research purposes, will protect the data per our personal data privacy and protection agreement and will dispose of the data once they have used it for the purposes for which they declared.

How we use this information

• Analytics.

What happens if we don't have this information

• Our use of your data for analytics will not be possible

With whom we share your information

We share your personal information with happiness researchers or third parties aligned with our mission and who agreed to comply with our personal data privacy and protection agreement and or with whom we must comply due to the law.

Cookies

A cookie is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored on your computer by your web browser. The file is added once you agree to store cookies on your computer or device, and the cookie helps analyze web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow sites to respond to you as an individual. The website and the Happiness Index can also tailor its operations to your needs, likes, and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
​This website and the Happiness Index does not collect cookies. The website platform, Weebly, may collect cookies.

Children's privacy

This website and Happiness Index are intended for use by a general audience and does not offer services to children. Should a child whom we know to be under 18 send personal information to us, we will use that information only to respond to that child to inform they are below the legal age limit for complying with our privacy policy and thus for using the website or Happiness Index. 

Information retention

We retain all of the information that we collect. We store the information for research purposes, including longitudinal studies. Thus, we store the information for the duration of our nonprofit's existence.

Your rights

Depending upon where you reside, you may have the following rights with regard to your personal information:

The right to access your information.

Applies To
Everyone.
You can see your own assessment of your wellbeing when you take the Happiness Index on the Results page. You can take a screenshot to keep a copy of your results. 

The right to request that we delete all or some of the personal information that we have collected on you.

Applies To
Everyone. At the end of the Happiness Index, on the results page, you have the option to delete all of your data. ​

The right to ask us to transmit your personal information that we have collected on you to another provider (where technically feasible).

Applies To
Everyone. ​

Rectification of information: the right to request that we amend any of the information that we have collected about you.

Applies To
Everyone

The right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your data.

Applies To
Everyone

The right to request that we restrict the processing of your data.

Applies To
Everyone

The right to lodge a complaint regarding our collection, sharing and processing of data with competent authorities in the proper jurisdiction.

Applies To
Everyone

The right to lodge a complaint regarding our collection, sharing and processing of data with the Information Commissioner's Office or any other competent authority.

Applies To
Residents of the United Kingdom only

The right to stop receiving unwarranted direct marketing.

Applies To
Everyone

Location of data processing

All data processing activities undertaken by us take place in Washington, USA.

Questions

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected].