Participant Privacy & Consent Notice

Last Updated: 1st May 2025

Thank you for your interest in participating in this market research study, which is being conducted on behalf of a client of Dig Insights Inc. (“Dig Insights”). This study may also be sponsored by another company whose name may be disclosed at the end of the study to avoid any potential unconscious influence on you.

If this applies to your employment, you must obtain the required third-party authorizations and comply with any limitations these third parties impose on your participation. Dig Insights will not obtain such prior authorization on your behalf. It is your sole responsibility to understand any potential conflicts of interest that may arise from your participation.

As a market research company, Dig Insights is bound by the professional ethics and codes of national and international market research associations, as well as the applicable privacy laws and regulations at the state, national, and global levels. In this context, your participation in this market research is voluntary. Before participating, you must formally acknowledge and agree to the content within this document. When participants are under 18, the parent or the adult custodian must consent on behalf of the child.

If you have any questions regarding this agreement, please get in touch with us using the following:

Dig Insights Inc.

Attn: Privacy Team

2901-390 Bay Street

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2Y2

privacy@diginsights.com

What are the sources of the personal information Dig Insights collects?

Dig Insights receives personal information in one of two ways:

1. With an individual’s consent, we receive the information directly from the participant.
2. We receive information from authorized third parties, such as our clients or recruiting partners with whom participants have given their consent.

Dig Insights will never collect or process information indirectly received from external sources.

What type of personal information will we process about you?

For market research studies and according to the subject of the study, Dig Insights may collect and use

the following information:

• Identification information: first name, last name, initials, contact details, online identifier, etc.
• Characteristics: date of birth, gender, geographic location, marital status, family structure, ownership or use of goods and services, socio-professional category, housing occupancy status, etc.

• Professional information: education, job titles, specialty, work history, certifications, company or institution name, etc.

• Opinions and experiences: interests, likes or dislikes, etc.

• Personal likeness: taking of photos, recording of video and audio, etc.

Special categories: any personal information that is linkable to a consumer and that identifies the consumer’s beliefs or thoughts, migration background, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.

Why does Dig Insights have your personal information?

Dig Insights will use the personal information you have provided for market research purposes, including study management, research activities, quality controls, and incentive payment.

What authorizes Dig Insights to process your personal data?

Dig Insights processes the personal information we collect following your consent. You can remove your consent at any time. You can do this by submitting a request to the contact email address above. Other categories of personal information may be processed per legal obligations or legitimate interests (for example, for quality control purposes).

Who will access your personal information?

Any international data transfer would be carried out based on your consent and subject to appropriate legal safeguards to ensure that your personal data is duly protected. Dig Insights may share your personal information with the following recipients:

• Authorized subcontractors who implement technical and organizational security measures may receive your necessary personal information to provide adequate support for study purposes. They can be located worldwide.
• Client’s subcontractors, to whom Dig Insights is required to transmit your data for study purposes and per the client’s instructions. These subcontractors may be located worldwide.
• The client will receive an anonymous report with aggregated data about all the participants once the study is completed. During the study, clients will also receive information about other participants in a pseudonymized form or, if they have a compelling reason, in a form that identifies them. They may be located worldwide.
• The study sponsor may also receive anonymous or pseudonymized information to help achieve the study’s objectives. They may be located worldwide.
• The client and/or the study sponsor may receive or observe images featuring your likeness, as well as audio or video interviews conducted using authorized tools and applications. They are provided with this data to help achieve the study’s objectives and fulfill contractual obligations. They may share this content with their partners and affiliates, understanding that they cannot sell or use this data for purposes you have not agreed to without your explicit consent. They may be located worldwide.
• The client and/or the study sponsor may attend by observing the discussion live or later by streaming exclusively to achieve the study’s objectives. Dig Insights or the Client may record the interviews with authorized tools and infrastructure.

How does Dig Insights store your personal information?

Dig Insights will securely store your personal information at our authorized data hosts in Canada: Microsoft (link to Microsoft privacy notice) and Amazon Web Services (link to Amazon privacy notice).

Dig Insights clients who would receive personal information about you are legally obligated to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risks, in particular from accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, and unauthorized disclosure.

By default, unless otherwise instructed by the study client, Dig Insights will keep the project research data for 12 months for quality control and your consent for at least 24 months for traceability. Dig Insights will then delete this data.

What are your rights regarding your personal data?

Under data protection law, you have defined rights, including:

• Your right to access – You have the right to request copies of your personal information from us.
• Your right to rectification – You have the right to request that we rectify any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete any information you believe is incomplete.
• Your right to erasure – You have the right to request that we erase your personal information under certain circumstances.
• Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Your right to data portability – You have the right to request that we transfer the information you provided to another organization or you.

Please note that a request may be refused if it is manifestly unfounded or excessive. You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond. Please submit a request to the contact email address above if you wish to exercise one of your rights. If you are unhappy with how Dig Insights has processed your data, you can complain to the supervisory data protection authority that is appropriate to the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work, or the place where an alleged infringement of the data privacy regulation occurred.

We will respond to your request as required under applicable privacy law(s). When you submit a request, we will verify your identity and the request by matching the information you provided with the information we have on file. In some cases, we may request additional information to verify your identity or, where necessary, to process your request. If we cannot verify your identity after a good-faith attempt, we may deny the request and, if so, will explain the basis for the denial.

Cookies, Web Data, and Regional Requirements

For more information about how Dig Insights handles your privacy when you visit our website and use our services, including detailed legal verbiage, please review our detailed Privacy Policy.

Non-disclosure agreement

During this study, you may be presented with new products, concepts, or materials that are not yet publicly available. These materials are protected by business confidentiality and are being disclosed solely for the purpose of obtaining your feedback.

As such, you are required to maintain the strict confidentiality of all information disclosed to you during the study. Specifically, you are not permitted to:

• Record any part of the discussion or study session;
• Discuss, share, or comment on the content of the study with anyone, including on social media;
• Retain, sell, or distribute any products or materials provided to you after the study concludes;
• Collect, copy, or reproduce any products, concepts, or materials presented during the study in any form.

Any unauthorized disclosure of confidential information may result in legal action. Our client may pursue civil liability, claim damages, and take all necessary steps to protect its rights.

Additionally, all concepts, inventions, products, statements, and any other results arising from your participation in the study will be the sole and exclusive property of the client sponsoring the study. You will not be entitled to any compensation beyond the payment specifically agreed upon for your participation.

Your Consent and Agreement

Thank you for participating in this research project conducted by Dig Insights Inc. (“Dig”). Before taking part, we require you to review the following and provide your agreement: 

I voluntarily agree to participate in Dig’s research activities. I have been informed and understand that I can withdraw from participation at any time without penalty, but any such withdrawal will not revoke the terms and conditions outlined below. 

I understand that I will be asked to review and discuss topics and concepts and provide my impressions and opinions. I also understand and acknowledge that I may be shown confidential and proprietary information that is the property of another company or entity, hereinafter referred to as the Research Sponsor. This information may include, but is not limited to, experimental or planned concepts, marketing, advertising, creative strategies and plans, research techniques, product names or attributes, or other non-public information.

In exchange for participating in these research activities, and in light of the confidential information disclosed to me, I agree that I will not use or disclose to any other person or entity any of the information provided to me in connection with this research. I acknowledge and agree that this information will remain the sole property of the Research Sponsor. I also agree that my responses to the research questions, including, without limitation, any comments, notes, drawings, concepts, recipes, ideas or suggestions, or other information that may be contained within my responses, will be deemed and will remain the sole property of the Research Sponsor. 

I understand that my participation in these research activities may include being recorded in audio, video, or photographic formats (collectively “Recordings”). By providing my signature in the section below, I understand and agree that I have provided my informed consent to be recorded. I also agree and understand that the Research Sponsor shall have no obligation to use the Recordings or my likeness. 

I authorize the Research Sponsor to use these Recordings and materials, in whole or in part, for commercial purposes, including but not limited to marketing, advertising, training, promotional content, and other public-facing communications. I also agree that my likeness, voice, or other identifiable features may be shared publicly as part of the Recordings. 

I understand that all Recordings and materials created during this research are the sole property of the Research Sponsor and may be edited, modified, or combined with other content at the Research Sponsor’s sole discretion. I agree that the Research Sponsor will be entitled to unrestricted use of my responses and Recordings for market research and marketing purposes, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to me. I waive any rights, including moral rights, to the Recordings and materials created during this research and agree not to claim ownership or compensation related to their use. 

I further agree that I personally assume all risks of any kind for any and all direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages, losses or injuries (collectively “Liabilities”) to myself, my property, others, or the property of others, which may in any way – whether foreseeable or not – arise out of or in connection with my participation in the research, or from the actions or omissions (including negligent acts) of any person involved either directly or indirectly in the research. I hereby release the Research Sponsor from any such Liabilities.

I also release Dig Insights Inc. and the Research Sponsor from any and all claims or demands that I may have now or in the future arising out of this consent form, or from the use of any Recordings or materials gathered through these research activities. 

By signing a consent form or agreeing to participate through a click-through link, I confirm that I have read and understood this form and voluntarily grant my informed consent. I further acknowledge and confirm that this agreement may be relied upon and is for the benefit of both Dig Insights Inc. and the Research Sponsor.