Due to the anonymous, accessible and wide-reaching nature of our research methodology, it’s not possible to ask a respondent to sign an NDA. Although respondents are encouraged to keep information confidential, they’re not subject to a standalone NDA or extensive confidentiality provisions.
We generally recommend that: (a) clients bear this in mind when they decide what information they’re comfortable sharing; and (b) that the Attest platform only be used for research that doesn't involve strictly confidential material. For example, some of our clients prefer to remove their branding from the packaging concepts tests they run with us, but will mention their name when testing prompted brand recall.For some additional context:
Given the nature of the service we provide, the majority of the information shared by our clients with respondents is, by its nature, not confidential and intended for public review and response via surveys.
Part of the success of the Attest service is that respondents are able to take part in surveys on the website or user interface that they’re visiting at that time. The interface through which they complete the survey is embedded in that website or platform which provides a better user experience for the survey respondents (and ultimately increases survey response rates), however does mean that neither Attest or our customers are able to put full Ts & Cs in front of those respondents.
Attest’s terms of service do stipulate that participants should keep information they receive confidential, however in reality it’s not a fully enforceable NDA and it would be incredibly difficult to detect and monitor sharing via a digital platform.
Survey respondents are asked to agree to general Ts & Cs when they sign-up to the research providers Attest works with, and those do often contain a confidentiality clause. That said, the respondents’ PII (i.e. name and/or contact details) is not accessible to or via the Attest platform, meaning neither Attest or our clients would be in a position to trace that agreement back to the respondent in order to enforce the provision(s).
Please do reach out to us via live chat, or directly to your Attest contact, if you have any questions or need any further information on this.