We know that confidentiality is of critical importance to organisations taking part in the Neurodiversity Employers Index (NDEI®). As a research charity, we ensure the highest standards of data integrity, confidentiality, data governance and compliance. We follow rigorous processes to ensure that data captured by the NDEI® are stored and processed ethically, securely and with consent from participating organisations.

Your participation in the NDEI® is strictly confidential unless you decide to disclose your participation publicly. We will never disclose or share your organisation's involvement, award status, or NDEI® score externally without your written permission.

By taking part in the NDEI® Autistica will collect data from your organisation and employees based on the answers provided in the NDEI® Employer Survey and the Employee Inclusion Survey.

Read the NDEI®: what you need to know to learn about the data we capture.

NDEI® participating organisation’s data is collected following the ethical principles set out in the Declaration of Helsinki and the British Psychological Society guidelines for ethical practice. We comply with the UK Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulations. All employee responses are provided anonymously and are analysed and reported on an aggregated basis.

By taking part in the NDEI®, your organisation is consenting to Autistica collecting, processing and using your organisation’s data provided in the NDEI® Employer Survey and the Employee Inclusion Survey.

We will use the information you provide in your NDEI® survey responses to:

• Calculate your NDEI® score.
• Create a personalised roadmap for change for your organisation to develop your neuroinclusive practices.
• Use anonymised aggregated data to create an annual market report, informing best practice.

In the market report, we will report on anonymised aggregated data, and market trends, such as neuroinclusion policies and practices for recruitment and career progression and employee wellbeing. We will also review the overall market landscape by company size, geography and proportion of neurodivergent employees.

The market report will identify gaps and opportunities to inform policy recommendations and future directions for research and campaigning, to create sustainable change for a supported neurodivergent workforce.

Your data will only be used for the intended purposes outlined above.

Your organisation’s data will only be accessed and managed by the Autistica team and our data process partners who support the NDEI® management, data warehousing, and reporting.

We will not share publicly or with any third-party organisation that you have registered for the NDEI® or any details from your NDEI® report.

If you qualify for a gold, silver or bronze award, we will invite you to be included in our annual market report as a named neurodiversity champion.

We will not publicly share anything about your organisation's involvement in the NDEI® without your prior written consent.

We will retain the data from your NDEI® Employer Survey and the Employee Inclusion Survey for 10 years.

If your organisation does not complete the NDEI®, we will retain partially completed survey data for one year.

As an organisation taking part in the NDEI®, you can:

• Access your organisation’s data and anonymised employees’ results.
• Request to delete your organisations’ data within one month of submission, and prior to inclusion in the aggregate annual report, or future years' reports.
• Raise any concerns with our data protection practices to Autistica’s Data Protection Officer. Please use the contact form at the end of this page to do this.

All employee participation is voluntary and anonymous. We do not collect any personal data relating to individual employees. We are unable to locate to edit or delete an individual’s response once it is submitted.

This data protection statement may be updated to reflect changes in practices and regulatory requirements. We encourage you to regularly revisit our data protection statement.

The Data Protection Officer for Autistica is Jennie Chambers.

Use the contact form below to get in touch with the Autistica team for data protection queries about the NDEI®.