Version: 1.2

Effective date: 4 November 2026

At a glance

Please give your own honest answers, follow the study instructions and keep non-public study materials confidential. Do not copy or share prototypes, screenshots or study content, including by uploading them to external AI tools, unless the researcher expressly permits this.

The study information will explain what information is collected, whether recording or AI is involved, who receives your responses and your choices. Agreeing to these Terms is not blanket consent to every use of your personal data. You can choose not to take part or stop participating.

The Study Sponsor receives the transferable intellectual property rights you hold in your original study-specific contributions, including recorded answers, as explained in section 6. Ballpark has zero tolerance for fraud, deliberate material misrepresentation and prohibited use of AI to answer questions. Your privacy rights remain separate from intellectual property ownership.

1. Who these Terms apply to

These Terms are an agreement between you and Ballpark Labs Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 08625398, with its registered office at Third Floor, 20 Old Bailey, London, EC4M 7AN, United Kingdom (“Ballpark”, “we” or “us”).

They apply when you take part in research using Ballpark, including surveys, screeners, interviews, prototype tests, website or app tests and other research tasks (each a “Study”). They apply whether you arrive through a recruitment panel, a direct invitation, an organisation’s participant list or a public link.

The “Study Sponsor” is the legal entity commissioning the particular Study and designated before participation as the recipient of the Research Contributions and associated intellectual property rights. It may be a Ballpark customer, a client designated by that customer, or Ballpark Labs Ltd where it conducts research for its own purposes. The study information must describe the rights recipient unambiguously and separately explain who is responsible for your personal data. Where a legally approved blind-study arrangement permits staged disclosure, the customer’s name may be withheld at the relevant stage to protect research integrity. Information required by law must still be supplied at the required time. A rights-recipient designation does not, by itself, determine a data-protection role or permit an undisclosed organisation to rely on your consent.

You accept and electronically sign these Terms by clicking “Agree and start”, or another button clearly identified as accepting and signing this agreement, with the intention of authenticating these Terms, including the assignment in section 6. A separate agreement checkbox is not required by these Terms. In return for your commitments, Ballpark makes the study participation service available to you, subject to these Terms. A reward applies only where the study information promises one. This action confirms your agreement to participate but is not, by itself, consent to every use of your personal data.

Your recruitment provider’s terms and any separately accepted study-specific agreement may also apply. They do not remove your statutory rights. A study-specific agreement must identify any change it makes to these Terms; a study instruction alone cannot authorise an undisclosed use of personal data or override a recruitment provider’s restrictions. Contact us before proceeding where requirements conflict.

2. Eligibility and voluntary participation

You must be at least 18 and legally able to enter this agreement where you live. These Terms do not authorise research involving children or a person who cannot give the required consent. A separate, approved process is needed for that research.

Provide accurate information, to the best of your knowledge, about your eligibility, relevant experience and any other details the Study legitimately requests. Do not impersonate someone, lend your participant identity to another person, or deliberately conceal a conflict of interest relevant to disclosed eligibility requirements.

You do not need to reveal your name or other direct identifiers unless the collection is permitted, necessary and explained in advance. A participant reference supplied by a recruitment provider may be used instead.

Taking part is voluntary. You can decline a Study, decline an optional question or stop. Where an unanswered required question means the Study cannot continue, the researcher must explain this. You do not have to provide positive feedback, agree with the researcher, guess an answer or disclose information you are not entitled to share.

3. Honest participation and reasonable effort

Answer in your own words, based on your genuine opinions, experience and observations. Make a reasonable effort to understand and follow lawful, clearly explained instructions, attempt the required tasks and provide the level of engagement explained before you begin. Say when you do not know an answer, cannot complete a task or encounter a technical problem. Difficulty using the product being tested may itself be useful research; you are not required to complete every usability task successfully.

Do not fabricate experiences, deliberately misrepresent your identity or material eligibility information, submit another person’s work as your own, or submit duplicate responses contrary to the Study’s instructions. Do not share screener answers, eligibility tricks or other information intended to help people bypass recruitment or quality controls.

Do not use generative AI, bots, scripts, another person or a paid service to create, substantially rewrite or supply your answers, simulate your participation or complete tasks in your place. This includes AI-produced text, synthetic speech, avatars, prerecorded substitute responses and real-time answer suggestions. A specific AI task is permitted only where the Study expressly instructs you to use that tool for that task; this does not permit using it to fabricate your own opinions or to answer other questions.

Accessibility aids and reasonable assistance that enable you to communicate your own answers, without replacing their substance, are permitted. Where assistance would expose confidential study materials to another person or external service, obtain authorisation first so an appropriate accessible arrangement can be made. Ballpark’s disclosed AI interviewing or analysis does not authorise participants to use AI to generate answers.

Do not deliberately rush through without engaging, repeatedly submit irrelevant, copied or meaningless answers, leave required response sections empty while claiming completion, or intentionally ignore essential task instructions. Any minimum response requirements must be reasonable, relevant and explained in advance; brevity or disagreement alone does not establish poor effort.

Ballpark has zero tolerance for fraud, impersonation, deliberate material misrepresentation, fraudulent duplicate participation and prohibited AI-generated or substituted answers. Confirmed conduct of this kind is a material breach and may result in immediate termination of a session, exclusion of the affected submission and temporary or permanent exclusion from Ballpark research without a prior warning, as described in section 12. Incentive decisions remain separately governed by section 10.

Honest mistakes, criticism, an accent, disability, difficulty using a product, misunderstanding despite reasonable effort or genuine technical failure are not, by themselves, evidence of dishonest participation. An automated flag or an AI-detection score alone does not establish a breach.

4. Equipment, environment and safety

Use a device, browser and connection that meet the requirements disclosed before the Study, and make reasonable efforts to check any required microphone, camera or screen-sharing capability. Do not falsely claim to have equipment or access that you do not have.

Where the Study expressly requires camera video, microphone audio, spoken answers, thinking aloud or screen capture, enable and use those functions for the relevant tasks after giving the necessary permissions. Where your face must be visible, keep it reasonably visible; where spoken responses are required, speak audibly and engage with the questions. Do not intentionally cover the lens, mute required speech, substitute a blank or unrelated screen, or claim completion while deliberately withholding essential recorded participation.

You may decline a recording or stop participating. This is not misconduct, although a Study that genuinely depends on that recording may be unable to continue. Report technical problems and request an accessible alternative where needed; do not assume that a recording failure is proof of misconduct or a reason to lose an earned reward.

For ordinary research sessions, remain appropriately clothed. Do not deliberately expose intimate body areas, perform sexual acts, display unsolicited pornography or submit sexually harassing material. Any legitimate research requiring a specific non-sexual body area or sensitive material to be shown must be separately approved by Ballpark and clearly disclosed in advance. Clothing, appearance or disability-related needs must not be judged by irrelevant or discriminatory standards.

Choose a reasonably suitable setting. Where practicable, reduce background noise and interruptions, close unrelated applications, disable private notifications and keep other people out of recordings. Do not participate while driving or carrying out an activity that makes participation unsafe.

Do not disclose passwords, authentication codes, payment-card security details, private messages, confidential workplace material or another person’s personal information. Use supplied test accounts or sample data where available. A researcher cannot authorise you to disclose someone else’s confidential information merely by asking for it.

If a task appears unsafe, unlawful, unexpectedly intrusive or technically impossible, stop and contact the researcher or Ballpark. You are not required to damage your device, bypass security protections, make an undisclosed purchase or install software you do not trust.

5. Confidentiality and study materials

Study materials may include products, prototypes, designs, software, concepts, questions, research plans, documents, pricing, marketing ideas and other material provided by Ballpark, the Study Sponsor or their licensors.

“Confidential Materials” means non-public study materials, non-public information about the Study Sponsor’s plans, and the association between a sponsor and a Study where that association is not public. Information must either be identified as confidential or reasonably be understood to be confidential in the circumstances.

Use Confidential Materials only to take part in the Study. Unless the rights holder expressly authorises it for that Study, you must not:

• Photograph, screenshot, record, download, copy or retain them outside the authorised study workflow.

• Publish, disclose, sell, distribute or show them to anyone else, including on social media, messaging services, participant forums or portfolio sites.

• Upload or transmit them to external AI assistants, transcription services, translation services, note-taking bots, cloud tools or other third parties.

• Scrape, extract or reverse engineer them, or attempt to access source code, hidden content or systems beyond the authorised task, except where a restriction is prohibited by law.

• Use them for competitive intelligence, commercial exploitation, training an AI system or another purpose unrelated to the Study.

An authorised Ballpark recording or an upload expressly requested within the Study is not prohibited by this section. Do not make additional personal copies.

Take reasonable steps to prevent accidental disclosure. Promptly report a suspected leak to help@ballparkhq.com and, where reasonably requested, delete unauthorised copies in your control, unless retention is required by law or necessary to exercise a legal right.

These obligations continue after the Study for as long as the information remains confidential. They do not cover information you can show was already lawfully known to you without restriction, became public without a breach, was independently developed without using the Confidential Materials, or was lawfully received from someone entitled to disclose it.

Nothing prevents disclosures required by law, protected whistleblowing, reporting suspected wrongdoing, obtaining confidential legal advice, or raising a complaint with a regulator, recruitment provider or Ballpark. Disclose no more confidential material than reasonably necessary. You remain free to discuss your general skills and experiences without revealing Confidential Materials.

6. Ownership and use of research contributions

6.1 The Study Sponsor

The Study Sponsor is the legal entity designated for the particular Study as the intended owner of the relevant Research Contributions. The study reference and approved study information identify that entity by name or an unambiguous description where legally permitted. Where an agency conducts research for a client, it must be clear which entity receives the rights. A legally required identity disclosure cannot be omitted merely to preserve confidentiality. Ballpark does not become the Study Sponsor merely because it provides the platform, recruitment, moderation, recording, analysis or other services for another organisation.

Participation does not transfer ownership of the Study Sponsor’s, Ballpark’s or any third party’s existing materials to you. You may access study materials only as reasonably needed to complete the authorised Study.

6.2 What your contributions include

“Research Contributions” (also called “Contributions”) means the original answers, feedback, suggestions, written responses, task outputs, uploaded files and other materials you create specifically for the Study, including your contributions captured in audio recordings, video recordings, screen recordings, photographs and other authorised recordings.

Research Contributions do not include ownership of your pre-existing materials, third-party materials, personal identity, general skills or knowledge, or data-protection rights. The assignment below transfers only intellectual property rights that exist and that you are entitled to transfer; it does not create property rights in facts or ideas where the law recognises none.

6.3 Assignment of intellectual property

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you hereby assign to the Study Sponsor all transferable intellectual property rights that you own or acquire in the Research Contributions, including copyright and any transferable rights you hold in authorised recordings of your participation.

This assignment covers existing and future rights in Research Contributions created specifically for the Study, takes effect as those rights arise, and applies worldwide for the full duration of those rights, including any extensions and renewals. It is subject to the permitted purposes and restrictions in this section.

The Study Sponsor may use those rights for the permitted purposes described below without further approval or royalties, except where applicable law or a separate agreement requires otherwise. Any promised participation incentive remains payable in accordance with section 10.

Where an assignment cannot legally take effect, you grant the Study Sponsor a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence for the duration of the relevant rights to use the Research Contributions for the same permitted purposes. That licence may be sublicensed to authorised recipients and transferred with the relevant business or research project, subject to the same restrictions. It is irrevocable except where applicable law requires otherwise. Any transfer of assigned rights must also preserve the restrictions in this section.

6.4 Permitted use of the research material

Subject to the study information, applicable privacy requirements and these Terms, the Study Sponsor and its authorised researchers and service providers may access, store, copy, download, review, transcribe, translate, annotate, edit, excerpt, analyse and combine Research Contributions.

They may use the material to conduct and evaluate the research, prepare clips, presentations, summaries and reports, communicate findings to authorised stakeholders, make business decisions, and develop, improve and commercialise products and services informed by the research. Access by personnel, relevant affiliates, clients and professional service providers must be limited to those who need it for the disclosed purposes and are subject to appropriate confidentiality and data-protection obligations. Recipients of identifiable data must be covered by the study privacy information.

These permissions include only the AI processing specifically disclosed and authorised for the Study. They do not authorise AI uses prohibited by these Terms or Ballpark’s AI Policy. To the extent you hold performers’ or similar consent rights, you authorise the recording and uses described here only within the separate recording and privacy permissions given for the Study. No non-waivable right is waived.

Editing or excerpting must not materially misrepresent your responses or falsely suggest that you endorse a product or organisation.

6.5 Ballpark’s permission to provide the service

You authorise Ballpark and its authorised service providers to collect, record, host, transmit, reproduce, transcribe, translate, analyse and otherwise process your Research Contributions to provide the disclosed Study and related contracted services, subject to the applicable permissions and privacy information.

Where another organisation is the Study Sponsor, this permission does not give Ballpark ownership of your Research Contributions or an unrestricted right to reuse them for its own purposes. Where Ballpark is the identified Study Sponsor, it receives the sponsor rights described in this section, subject to the same restrictions.

6.6 Pre-existing and third-party material

You retain ownership of materials you created independently of the Study. Where you intentionally include your own pre-existing material in a Research Contribution, you grant the Study Sponsor and Ballpark the permissions reasonably necessary to use it as part of that contribution for the permitted purposes, for the duration of the relevant rights and subject to the same privacy restrictions.

You must not submit third-party confidential information or protected material unless you are authorised to do so. These Terms transfer or license only rights you are entitled to grant.

6.7 Privacy and limits on use

Ownership of intellectual property does not transfer ownership of your personal identity or remove your rights under data-protection law. The Study Sponsor and Ballpark must continue to comply with the study privacy information, applicable retention periods, valid consent requirements and your applicable rights.

These Terms do not, by themselves, authorise identifiable advertising or endorsements, public distribution of identifiable recordings, sale of Research Contributions as a standalone dataset, or training, fine-tuning, retraining, evaluating or performance-testing AI models using Study Data. Public research reporting must be described in the study information and must not identify you without a separate, specific permission where required.

Stopping participation does not automatically reverse an intellectual property assignment or require product developments already informed by the research to be undone. However, withdrawal of data-protection consent must be respected for future processing that relies on that consent. Ownership or a fallback licence is not a basis for disregarding an applicable deletion, objection or other privacy obligation, or for keeping identifiable data indefinitely.

7. Data collection and recording

The study information explains which data is collected. Depending on the Study, it can include screening responses, written answers, uploaded files, interaction events, audio, webcam video, screen recordings, transcripts and relevant technical data.

Recording may reveal your voice, face, surroundings, notifications and on-screen content. Do not assume participation is anonymous because a name is not requested. The selected recording modes must be explained before they begin, and required permissions or consents must be obtained first.

For screen-recorded tasks, the selected screen, window or device display may include activity outside Ballpark. On mobile devices, recording may continue while you switch applications. Follow the recording instructions and use the available recording controls to stop capture; simply leaving the Ballpark screen may not stop an active recording.

The Study Sponsor and its authorised research team may review the data collected, including recordings where enabled. External websites and applications used during tasks may separately collect data under their own notices. Those notices do not replace the disclosures required for recording through Ballpark.

8. AI-supported research

Depending on the Study and the information provided before the relevant processing, Ballpark and its authorised service providers may use AI to conduct interviews and generate follow-up questions, transcribe or translate responses, organise feedback, identify themes, produce summaries and research reports, or support disclosed response-quality checks. The input may include written responses, transcripts, audio, video, screen recordings or other submitted material, but only the data types explained for the relevant activity may be processed.

The relevant controller must identify an appropriate lawful basis for each processing purpose. Disclosed study-related AI processing may take place without a separate AI opt-in where another valid lawful basis applies, such as legitimate interests following the required assessment. Accepting these Terms does not itself establish that assessment or make every AI activity necessary to perform a contract.

Where consent is the applicable lawful basis, or is required by law, an applicable agreement or a binding commitment to participants, it must be obtained through a specific, informed affirmative choice before the relevant processing. That choice may use a clearly explained button or another valid method; it is not inferred from general acceptance of these Terms. Where another lawful basis applies, the study privacy information explains that basis and the rights available to you.

You will be told when you interact with an AI interviewer. A general statement that AI may be used does not authorise undisclosed purposes, materially different input data, recipients or uses. New processing must be assessed and explained before it begins, with fresh consent where required. The relevant recording disclosures and permissions remain applicable separately.

Ballpark does not use Study Data to train, fine-tune, retrain, evaluate or performance-test AI models and requires its AI service providers not to use that data for their own model training or improvement. Processing existing data to produce research outputs is different from training a model. Ownership or acceptance of these Terms does not override that restriction.

AI can make mistakes. An AI interviewer is not a human researcher and does not provide medical, legal, financial or emergency advice. You may decline a question, correct an answer or stop. These Terms do not authorise biometric identification, biometric-based emotion recognition or consequential employment, credit, insurance or healthcare decisions about you.

9. Privacy and your choices

The study privacy information explains who is responsible for your personal data, the purposes and legal grounds for processing, recipients, relevant international transfers, retention and your rights. Ballpark’s Privacy Policy explains its own processing and its role as a service provider.

A Study Sponsor generally controls research data and Ballpark processes it on its instructions. Ballpark may separately be responsible for limited platform administration, security, support and legal-compliance records as described in its Privacy Policy. A panel provider’s responsibilities are governed by its own processing activities and notices.

Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it through the method described in the study information or by contacting privacy@ballparkhq.com. Withdrawal does not make earlier lawful processing unlawful. Where processing relies on legitimate interests, you may object on grounds relating to your particular situation; the relevant controller will assess the objection under applicable law and restrict processing where required while it is assessed. Stopping a session, withdrawing consent, objecting to processing and requesting deletion are different actions; the study information explains how to do each.

Withdrawal must be applied to future processing that depends on the withdrawn consent. Limited records may still be retained where another valid legal obligation or basis requires or permits it, as explained to you. Information that has already been irreversibly anonymised may no longer be attributable to you. Removing a name or replacing it with a code does not, by itself, make data anonymous.

You may exercise the rights available under applicable law and complain to the relevant supervisory authority. Contact the controller identified in the study information, or ask Ballpark to route your request. You do not need to consent to optional marketing or public use of your identity to participate in an ordinary research study.

10. Rewards and recruitment providers

Before participating, you should be told whether a reward is offered, its amount or form, who pays it, applicable completion or eligibility requirements, and what happens if you withdraw, are screened out or experience technical failure. Essential camera, audio, spoken-response and other task requirements, and any relevant quality standards, must be disclosed before participation, not added retrospectively.

Recruitment providers such as Prolific or Respondent may administer invitations, eligibility, payments and disputes under their own terms. These Terms supplement those arrangements; they do not authorise Ballpark or a Study Sponsor to disregard them.

A submission may be reviewed and, only where the disclosed conditions, applicable provider rules and law permit, rejected or treated as ineligible for an incentive for the following reasons:

• Fraud, impersonation, deliberate material misrepresentation of eligibility or fraudulent duplicate participation.

• Prohibited AI-generated answers, answer substitution, bots, fabricated recordings or other conduct contrary to section 3.

• Deliberately not enabling required camera or screen capture, deliberately withholding required audible spoken answers, or otherwise intentionally preventing essential recording after agreeing to the disclosed requirements.

• Objective and substantial failure to engage with required tasks, such as repeated meaningless or irrelevant responses, deliberate non-participation, or material failure to follow clearly disclosed essential instructions.

• Prohibited nudity, sexual conduct, harassment, dangerous behaviour or other serious conduct under sections 4 or 11 that materially disrupts the Study or makes the relevant submission unusable.

• Failure to complete an essential activity where the applicable, pre-disclosed completion or withdrawal rules permit non-payment or proportionate payment. This is not automatically misconduct.

These are review grounds, not automatic forfeiture rules. A decision must consider the actual evidence, the reason for a missing or unusable response, any reasonable adjustment, and the recruitment provider’s applicable criteria. A participant may be excluded from analysis or future recruitment even where provider rules still require payment for the current submission.

A reward must not depend on favourable opinions or successfully using the product being tested. Honest mistakes, genuine technical failures, reasonable misunderstandings, accent, disability, brevity alone or researchers disliking an answer are not, by themselves, misconduct. Declining an optional data use, stopping participation or exercising a privacy right is not, by itself, a reason to forfeit an earned reward.

An automated quality flag or AI-detection score alone does not establish misconduct. Ballpark or the Study Sponsor will arrange human review of a disputed adverse decision and explain the relevant grounds where lawful. You may request review through the disclosed study contact or help@ballparkhq.com; your recruitment provider may offer an additional appeal route. Any investigation-related payment hold must be permitted by the applicable rules and must not exceed their payment or dispute deadlines.

Participation does not guarantee invitations to future studies. Nothing here removes rights associated with any relationship that applicable law recognises between you and another party.

11. Other prohibited conduct

Do not harass, threaten or abuse anyone involved in a Study; submit unlawful material; introduce malicious code; attempt unauthorised access; interfere with systems or other participants; manipulate rewards; or evade a legitimate participation restriction by using another identity.

Do not expose or collect another person’s private information without appropriate authority. Protect any study login or access credentials and report suspected unauthorised use. Genuine criticism of a product, researcher or research experience is not prohibited.

12. Concerns, suspension and remedies

Ballpark may take reasonable and proportionate action where it has grounds to believe a material breach, safety issue or unlawful activity has occurred. This may include pausing a session, restricting access, investigating the issue and sharing necessary information with the Study Sponsor or recruitment provider where lawful.

Confirmed fraud, impersonation, deliberate material misrepresentation, fraudulent duplication or prohibited AI/substitute answers are material breaches of the zero-tolerance policy. Ballpark may invalidate the affected submission, end participation and impose temporary or permanent participation restrictions without a prior warning. It may also act immediately to protect people or confidential information while a serious concern is investigated. An initial restriction is not, by itself, a final finding of misconduct.

Where appropriate, we will explain the concern and provide an opportunity to respond, including after an urgent protective action. A disputed final finding will receive human review. Information may be withheld where disclosure would compromise safety, security or a lawful investigation. We will correct restrictions or records found to be unjustified. Necessary information may be shared with the relevant Study Sponsor or recruitment provider only where lawful and appropriately limited; this is not permission to create an unrestricted cross-platform blacklist. Data handling and incentive decisions remain subject to sections 9 and 10.

Ballpark and an affected Study Sponsor may seek remedies available under applicable law for a proven breach, including court orders to prevent misuse of confidential information. These Terms impose no automatic financial penalty or blanket participant indemnity.

The Study Sponsor for whose Study you participate may enforce sections 5 and 6, and this section to the extent needed to enforce those sections, under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. Its rights are subject to the same limitations and participant protections. Other third parties have no enforcement rights under that Act through these Terms. No amendment may retrospectively remove accrued rights without the consent required by law.

Nothing excludes liability for fraud, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any liability or statutory right that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted. A participant is not responsible for losses caused by Ballpark’s or a Study Sponsor’s own breach merely because the participant accepted these Terms.

13. Versions, governing law and contact

The version you accept governs that participation. New versions apply to future acceptances. A material change affecting an ongoing Study must be explained and accepted where required; we will not treat a policy update as retrospective consent to new data uses.

If one provision cannot lawfully be enforced, the remaining provisions continue to apply to the extent permitted by law. Failure to enforce a provision immediately does not waive it.

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, without removing mandatory protections available where you habitually reside. The courts of England and Wales have non-exclusive jurisdiction, subject to your right to use any other competent court available under mandatory law.

For participation, confidentiality or technical concerns, contact help@ballparkhq.com. For privacy requests, contact privacy@ballparkhq.com. You may also write to Ballpark Labs Ltd at the registered office above.