Terms and conditions for participation in the eiAsks® Panel (“Terms and Conditions”)
Balch Consulting LLC, DBA Elevated Insights, commonly known as EI (“EI”, “We” or “Us”), is a company registered in the State of Colorado.
Address:
525 North Tejon Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
To become a member of the eiasks® panel (the “panel”), you need to be a resident of the United States and be 18 years old or over.
- Rules for participants in the surveys of eiAsks®
Eiasks® surveys use this panel which is made up of respondents who answer questionnaires on the internet by accessing the links that elevated insights sends to the members of the panel (the “panelist”/”you”) via e-mail or via phone.
- Joining the panel
Everybody is free to apply for membership in the panel. Nevertheless, we reserve the sole right to deny membership, without any requirement to justify such a rejection. Membership is not open to employees of elevated insights or members of their immediate family.
- Use of your personal information
The information you give us will be treated in the strictest confidence. Elevated insights is committed to maintaining your privacy and security of personal information.
As part of this undertaking, we promise that:
- Other than in relation to this panel, we will not try to sell you anything or pass your personal information to any third parties for marketing or sales purposes.
- Your individual responses to surveys will remain confidential, and will only be used grouped with other confidential responses, unless you explicitly consent to your responses to a specific survey, together with your personal information being passed to a client
- Refusal to answer a particular question will have no consequences with regard to your membership.
- You can ask to be removed from the panel at any time.
- You are entitled to request correction or deletion of your personal information and the information you provide about your household at any time.
- You have the right to request a copy of your personal information that we hold at any time.
In some instances, concerning our research, we may ask you to provide certain sensitive personal data, for example revealing your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership or data concerning health or sex life. You do not have to answer these questions and such questions will always include a “prefer not to answer” option. Responses to these questions will remain confidential unless you explicitly and freely consent to your responses to these questions, together with your personal information, being passed to research clients for further in-depth research analysis.
For further information about how we may use your personal information, please see our privacy policy that can be found here: https://www.i-say.com/tabid/36/footerlinks/privacypolicy/tabid/282/default.aspx
- Email policy
As you have voluntarily registered in the panel, and confirmed your e-mail address, phone number and postal address upon registration, you should not mark emails or other communication received from eiAsks® as spam or unsolicited communication.
Due to your mail-box security settings, the survey invitations you receive from us might be directed to your bulk / junk mail or similar folder. To avoid this, please add the [email protected] address to your address book.
- Registration of background information
With respect to the statistical analyses that elevated insights delivers to its clients, elevated insights needs certain demographic and personal information about you, including confidential information, for instance, your income.
Providing elevated insights with this personal information is a condition for participation in the panel as it would otherwise not be possible for us to determine whether your participation in any survey would meet such surveys criteria. You hereby consent to elevated insights registering your data in the panel database. We may also ask for certain information concerning other members in your household. Please ensure, and you are responsible, that you have any relevant consent of such household members.
The personal data provided about yourself or other members in your household, when taking part in a survey, is transformed into anonymous data, which will be used for statistical purposes only by elevated insights or its clients, unless, you explicitly consent for us to act otherwise.
During the registration process and during your participation in our research surveys, you agree to provide only true, accurate and complete information.
- How does the panel work?
Panelists will receive survey invitations by e-mail or by phone from elevated insights with links leading to surveys. There is no obligation for panelists to answer surveys. Each survey is only to be answered once. Please do not mark e-mails from elevated insights as spam, as per the previous section. Elevated insights is not bound to send surveys to all panelists for each new survey; nor can elevated insights guarantee a minimum or a maximum number of surveys per year.
Elevated insights has taken high data safety measures. Still, should any viruses appear in the e-mails sent to you, elevated insights is not liable for the consequences that such cases may entail and thus no compensation may be claimed from elevated insights for such reasons.
When the necessary number of panelists has answered a survey, elevated insights or its clients have the right to end the survey and not collect further answers.
- Acceptable use and participation
Elevated insights is dedicated to creating an environment where members can participate safely and respectfully, keeping in mind the views and opinions of other panelists. While participating in the panel, you understand that any messages, opinions, information, pictures or any other materials posted by panelists are the sole responsibility of the person who posted the material. You agree that you will not post or upload any material that:
- Is illegal. This includes content or any messages that promote or discuss illegal activities or encourages others to commit them.
- Is abusive, obscene or hateful. This includes language, information or images. Masked swearing (e.g. “f__k”) is considered the equivalent of the actual swear word.
- Is threatening, harassing, libellous or defamatory either between panelists or directed towards an elevated insights moderator or other elevated insights employee.
- Is inciting hate or violence.
- Is bigoted, racially, ethnically, sexually or otherwise offensive.
- Is an inappropriate political or religious message.
- Is aimed at advertising or marketing any goods or services.
- Contains viruses, corrupted files, “Trojan Horses” or any other malicious code.
- Contains your personal information or the personal details of other people.
- Is owned by or under the copyright of someone else.
It is important to note that Elevated Insights does not pre-screen any information posted by Panelists. However, Elevated Insights reserves the right to remove any content that is posted via the polls tool or other interactive features we may make available to Panelists.
- Retention of answers in surveys
Apart from your contact information, Elevated Insights will also gather other personal data such as number of household members, number of cars in the household, etc…
You hereby agree to Elevated Insights registering – with a view to later using the data registered in the database in order to draw up statistical analyses – the answers you have given to Elevated Insights in relation to the surveys. You have the right to abandon answering any survey, or to request to be unsubscribed from the panel.
You are also entitled to require information about the data registered by Elevated Insights about you. In addition, you are entitled to require the correction of the data.
The answers provided by you will be rendered anonymous and will be used for statistical purposes only by Elevated Insights or its clients.
- Children’s privacy
For any surveys aimed at children, we will always require prior consent from our Panelists that are either a parent or legal guardian, who are legally responsible for the child, before inviting such child to take part in the research.
- Rewarding you for answering online surveys
Completing a survey does not necessarily mean you will be compensated. Upon completing a survey, an El representative will review your responses and contact you should you qualify to participate in a research activity. Once you qualify and complete a research activity (focus group interview, etc.), you will receive a check, gift card, or other reward. The type and size of the reward or of the prize draw may vary per the research difficulty, length or other similar elements.
- Forwarding of registered data
In certain very specific cases, such as after you agree to take part in a product test or when you place a gift order or to process the delivery of rewards, Elevated Insights will forward your personal information or survey answers to another market research institute, end client or a supplier, as applicable.
Further, in certain cases, and with your explicit consent, Elevated Insights may forward your personal information and individual survey answers to another market research institute which is Elevated Insights’ business partner, for the following scope: sending you survey invitation by e-mail or by phone with links leading to surveys or using your personal information for prize/gift delivery or prize draws (if the case) related to participation to these market research institutes’ surveys. Nevertheless, such third party will be required to observe the condition that the data can be used only for statistical, research and/or prize/gift delivery/prize draw organization purposes and bound not to forward or further disclose data such as name, postal address or other personal information that could serve to identify you.
With your explicit consent, when asked in a survey, we may pass your individual survey responses together with your personal information to the client who commissioned the survey. The client will use this information only for the purposes as explained when asking for your explicit consent.
We may also send your information to our sub-contractors who may carry out some of the work we do on our behalf and under our control and responsibility.
- Use of Cookies, Digital Fingerprinting and other information on your computer
For statistical purposes, quality control, validation we automatically capture information about your IP Address, operating system, screen display settings, browser type, use of Flash and Java and to detect whether your computer has a webcam. We use this information to:
- Ensure that the survey is delivered in a form suited to your device use.
- Assist in providing support to you should you have difficulty accessing or completing a survey.
- Anonymized information is also used for research purposes. For example, to determine the percentage of Panelists that use a certain type of browser in a specific country.
By agreeing with these Terms and Conditions and willing to become a member of eiAsks®, you explicitly authorize Elevated Insights to capture and store information about your IP Address, operating system, screen display settings, browser type, and use of Flash and Java and to detect whether your computer has a webcam attached, so that we can send you invitations to take part in research that requires use of a webcam.
- Confidentiality notice and limitation of liability
As a research participant, you may be asked to review new concepts, products and packaging that are still in the early stages of development. You may come in contact with, be allowed to see or use or otherwise have access to certain non-public, confidential, proprietary, or trade secret information or material that are the sole and exclusive property of our relevant client, including, without limitation, information with respect to the client products (collectively, “Confidential Information”). You must not copy, print, store, forward or disclose to anyone by any means, the Confidential Information you will have access to, and must not use the Confidential Information for other purpose than the purpose it was disclosed to you.
Elevated Insights shall own and retain exclusive ownership of its trademarks, logos, copyrights, any content of its website and other intellectual property rights (“EI IP”). You may not use or reproduce any of the EI IP without Elevated Insights’ prior written consent. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall be construed as granting you any license, right, title or interest in any EI IP, or any patent, trademark, copyright, know-how, or similar right now or hereafter owned or controlled by Elevated Insights.
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Elevated Insights and each of its respective officers, partners, clients, managers, employees, agents and attorneys, from and against any and all liabilities, claims, actions, suits, proceedings, judgments, fines, damages, costs, losses and expenses (including reasonable legal fees, court costs and/or settlement costs) arising from or related to: (i) your membership within the Panel, (ii) your participation within research surveys conducted by Elevated Insights, (iii) any third party claims, or (iv) any breach by you of these Terms and Conditions.
Any unlawful or disparaging action caused by you during your membership within the Panel and to your participation within research surveys conducted by Elevated Insights, that may be considered a violation of criminal and/or civil law shall entitle Elevated Insights to seek all remedies in this regard to the full extent permitted by law and in equity. Elevated Insights disclaims any warranties, express and implied, related to your membership within the Panel and to your participation within research surveys conducted by Elevated Insights and Elevated Insights shall have no liability whatsoever (including without limitation liability for any indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages), to you or any third party, for your membership within the Panel and to your participation within research surveys conducted by Elevated Insights.
You will release and forever discharge Elevated Insights, Elevated Insights’ client, each of their affiliated companies, and each of their respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, and agents from and against all claims, lawsuits, causes of action, demands, losses, liabilities, obligations, judgments, damages, costs and expenses of any kind (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) (“Losses”) arising directly or indirectly out of any injury, death, property damage or other damage sustained or allegedly sustained by you resulting from the distribution, sale, consumption or use of or contact with a product in connection with any product test and evaluation research. This does not apply to any Losses which may be caused by Elevated Insights’ clients or Elevated Insights’ gross negligence or any liability by the them under applicable product liability or consumer protection legislation.
- Participation conditions
Elevated Insights reserves the right, at any time, to change the present “Terms and Conditions”. We will inform you of any updates via email.
From time to time, we may contact you by e-mail or phone for account administration purposes, as well as e-mail newsletters or special announcements containing key information related to your Panel membership activity and key Panel updates (“Membership Updates”).
We may also send you email communication about (i) Panel activities, rewards that you may be eligible for through your participation in our surveys, (ii) new Panel engagement campaigns that we have regarding (new) Panel rewards and/or redemption (collectively named “Engagement Updates”).
- Withdrawal from the Panel
These Terms and Conditions are valid for the present, with a period of notice of ten (10) working days applicable to both parties. You may at any point ask to leave the Panel and stop receiving e-mails or phone messages from Elevated Insights and the notice to leave the Panel shall be sent by e-mail to [email protected]. Your account will become inactive in the Panel database.
Elevated Insights reserves the right to delete inactive Panelists from the Panel. This means withdrawing a Panelist from the Panel and erasing all corresponding data, if the Panelist does not respond to any survey for more than twelve ( 12) months.
Elevated Insights also reserves the right to terminate membership in the Panel for any bad behavior, fraudulent use or behavior, or any member that does not abide by the terms and conditions, policies, or survey rules. Any use of the account by individuals other than the panelist is considered unauthorized use and may be grounds for termination and forfeiture of points.
- Jurisdiction
These Terms and Conditions are governed by, and interpreted and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Colorado without regard to conflicts of law principles that would require the application of any other law. In the event of any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms and Conditions, exclusive jurisdiction and venue shall be in state and federal courts in the State of Colorado, El Paso County, for the purpose of any legal proceeding relating to or arising under these Terms and Conditions.