Research – Terms of Use

If you have elected to participate in the Assent Research Panel or an individual Assent Research Project, you agree to the following Research Terms of Participation (“Terms of Participation” or “Terms”):

General Requirements

You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age to be a member of the Assent Research Panel or to participate in any individual Assent Research Project.

How Our Research Panel and Research Projects Work

The Assent Research Panel

The Assent Research Panel operates on an ongoing basis and is designed to solicit general feedback about Assent’s products and services through certain activities including but not limited to surveys and telephone and/or video interviews. If you are a member of the Assent Research Panel, then we may reach out to you from time to time, using the email address you provided when you registered for the panel, to invite you to participate in individual studies (each a “Study’ and together the “Studies’). We will notify you in advance if your participation in an individual Study requires you to use a telephone, computer or other device. Participation in each individual Study is voluntary and you may accept or decline to participate as you wish. Declining to participate in an individual Study does not automatically terminate your participation in the Assent Research Panel. If you would like to terminate your participation so that you are no longer notified about upcoming Studies, please follow the instructions under “Cancellation/Termination” below.

Individual Assent Research Projects

Individual Assent Research Projects are occasionally created to examine specific aspects of our product offerings in more detail.These are “one time’ research projects and participants are not necessarily part of the ongoing Assent Research Panel. We will notify you in advance if your participation in an Assent Research Project requires you to: (1) use a telephone, computer or other device; and/or (2) attend in person and, if so, the location of such in-person event.

Pilot Programs

You may access an unreleased version of Assent’s software (“Pilot Version”) to evaluate potential enhancements, improvements, or updates. Without our express written permission, you may not publish or disclose information about the Pilot Version. You also may not copy, modify, disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer, or attempt unauthorized access to the Pilot Version.

Pilot Versions are experimental and provided “as is” without warranties of any kind. They are for evaluation and testing purposes only, not for production use, and are not supported. Assent may discontinue or modify Pilot Versions at any time and has no obligation to release them publicly. Access may be withdrawn at Assent’s sole discretion.

Assent is not liable for any harm or damage arising from Pilot Versions.

Information We Collect and How We Use It

Registration Information

When you register for or participate in the Assent Research Panel or an individual Research Project, you will be asked to provide certain information, including but not limited to your name, email address, and certain demographic information (“Registration Information’). Assent will use and handle any Registration Information you provide to us in accordance with Assent’s Privacy Policy at https://www.assent.com/privacy/.

Recordings and Other Research Content

By signing up for the Assent Research Panel or an individual Research Project, you consent to the collection and use of your personal data solely for the purpose of conducting research activities as described in the relevant study materials or communications. This may include your name, contact information, demographic information, and any audio or video recordings made during your participation.

You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting user.research@assent.com. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.

Personal data and research materials will be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined above or as legally required. Audio/video recordings and any identifying information will be deleted or anonymized within 12 months of collection, unless a longer period is justified for legal, contractual, or research integrity purposes.

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data at any time by contacting privacy@assent.com. These rights are subject to applicable legal exceptions and will be fulfilled in accordance with Assent’s Privacy Statement and applicable data protection laws.

If the activity you are involved in as part of the Assent Research Panel or an Assent Research Project involves an oral interview (either in person or via a computer or telephone system) that interview will be recorded. By participating in the Assent Research Panel, an Assent Research Project, or Pilot Program, you consent to Assent using any Research Materials for research purposes, with or without compensation, subject to these Terms of Participation. “Research Materials” includes any audio and video recordings of the interviews and your responses to any question asked in connection with your participation, including your answers to any multiple choice question and quotes from any oral or written response. The Research Materials will be Confidential Information of Assent. To the extent possible under applicable law, you grant to Assent any and all right, title and interest that you may have in and to the Research Material, including the right to sublicense. In addition, Assent may use information derived from the Assent Research Panel and Assent Research Projects in external publications and presentations, provided that such information will be presented only in the aggregate and will not identify nor be identifiable to you or any other participating individual.

Use of Automated Tools

To support research analysis, Assent may use automated tools to transcribe and analyze participant input (e.g., voice recordings or survey responses). These tools assist in identifying themes and trends but do not make automated decisions or profile individuals. All outputs are subject to human review and treated as confidential.

Research workspaces and login information

You may be asked to utilize a special workspace, either in Slack, Assent or another tool, in order to participate in the research project. You agree not to provide your password or login information to the workspace to anyone else and you further understand and agree that the workspace is confidential to Assent, contains the confidential information of Assent, and is only to be used for the purposes of the Assent Research project in which you are participating.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, you grant to Assent a perpetual, worldwide, nonexclusive, irrevocable, sublicensable, transferable, and royalty-free, license to incorporate and use, commercialize, and distribute with the Assent services platform any suggestions, recommendations or other feedback relating to Assent as you may elect to provide and to create derivative works of the same.

Use of Subprocessors and International Data Transfers

Assent may use third-party service providers to support research activities. These providers may store and process data outside your country of residence, including in Canada and the United States.

Where required by law, Assent ensures appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent protections) are in place to protect transferred data.

No Publication of Your Name Or Image

We promise not to use your name or image in connection with the publication of any research results unless we have received your explicit written consent to do so.

Confidentiality

You acknowledge that as part of the Assent Research Panel or an Assent Research Project, you may receive, have access to, and/or participate in interviews, issues, features, concepts, and products which are considered proprietary and confidential to Assent (collectively, the “Confidential Information’), which may include without limitation: surveys, questionnaires, content, documentation, or materials provided to you in connection with the research; passwords or login information; workspaces and any information contained in such workspaces; Pilot Versions and any related documentation or materials; and any information that is identified as being or should reasonably be understood to be confidential. You agree to maintain the confidentiality of all Confidential Information and to hold the Confidential Information in strict confidence. You further agree to refrain from disclosing, transmitting, sharing, or otherwise disseminating Confidential Information to any third party and to refrain from using Confidential Information for any purpose other than for the Assent Research Panel or Assent Research Project in which you are participating. This confidentiality obligation shall survive the expiration or cancellation of your participation and continue for so long as the Confidential Information remains confidential.

Cancellation/Termination

You may cancel your participation in the Assent Research Panel, any Assent Research Project, or Pilot Program at any time by emailing us at user.research@assent.com. Assent reserves the right, without notice, to terminate your participation in the Assent Research Panel or any Assent Research Project at any time, at its sole discretion. In the event of a cancellation or termination, Assent reserves the right to provide or withhold any compensation, if applicable.

Assent may update these Terms of Participation from time to time, so please read these Terms of Participation each time you elect to participate in an Assent Research Project. If these Terms of Participation change, we will notify participants in the Assent Research Panel of such changes. Continued participation in the Assent Research Panel constitutes your acceptance to such changes.

Disclaimer and Liability

Assent disclaims all warranties related to the Assent Research Panel or any Assent Research Project, including implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, timeliness, and merchantability. Except matters for which liability cannot be excluded under applicable law, Assent shall not be liable to you in any respect, including without limitation, for any damages (including without limitation any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential costs, damages, or losses) arising directly or indirectly from these Terms of Participation or from your participation in the Assent Research Panel or Assent Research Project.

You understand and agree that your participation in any particular Assent Research Panel or Assent Research Project is solely for providing Assent with feedback on the Assent Product and that your participation or findings may not be used for any other purpose, including but not limited to claims arising from your participation in such Assent Research Panel or Assent Research Project.

General Relationship of the Parties.

You and Assent are independent contractors and these Terms do not create a partnership, franchise, joint venture, agency, fiduciary, or employment relationship between the parties. You shall not have any authority to assume or create any obligation for or on behalf of Assent, express or implied, and you shall not attempt to bind Assent to any contract without its express consent. There are no third-party beneficiaries to these Terms.

Force Majeure

Under no circumstances shall Assent or its licensors or suppliers be held liable for any delay or failure in performance resulting directly or indirectly from an event beyond its reasonable control.

Notices

Unless stated otherwise in these Terms, we may deliver notice to you by e-mail, posting a notice on the Service, the Developer Portal, or any other method we choose and such notice will be effective on dispatch. If you give notice to us, it will be effective when received and you must use the following physical or email address: (1) Assent, Inc., 525 Coventry Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1K 2C5; or (2) legal@assent.com.

Assignment

Neither party may assign or delegate any of its rights or obligations hereunder, whether by operation of law or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the other party (not to be unreasonably withheld). Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may assign these Terms in their entirety, without consent of the other party, to a corporate affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, corporate reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of its assets. Any purported assignment in violation of this section is void. A party’s sole remedy for any purported assignment by the other party in breach of this section will be, at the non-assigning party’s election, termination of the agreement upon written notice to the assigning party. Subject to the foregoing, the Agreement will bind and insure to the benefit of the parties, their respective successors and permitted assigns.

Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision and that the other provisions not deemed to be invalid shall remain in full force and effect.

Governing Law; Waiver of Jury Trial.

These Terms and the relationship between you and Assent shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict of law principles. You and Assent agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in the Province of Ontario. Each party hereby waives any right to a trial by jury in connection with any action or proceeding arising out of or related to these Terms.

Assent Associates.

We may leverage our employees, those of our corporate affiliates and third-party contractors (each, an “Assent Associate”) in exercising our rights and performing our obligations under this Agreement. We will be responsible for the Assent Associates’ compliance with our obligations under this Agreement.

No Subcontractors

Assent has selected to have you participate in the Assent Research Panel and/or an Assent Research Project, and you may not substitute, sublicense, or otherwise delegate someone else to participate in your place without Assent’s express prior written consent. In the event a substitution is approved by Assent, you will remain responsible for the full performance of your obligations under this Agreement. You additionally acknowledge and agree that you (a) will ensure that your agents and subcontractors comply in all respects with this Agreement, and (b) may be held responsible for all acts, omissions, negligence and misconduct of such agents and subcontractors.

No Waiver

Assent’s failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

Survival

Any provisions herein that by their nature should survive indefinitely, will survive any termination or expiration of this Agreement.

Entire Agreement

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Assent about the Assent Research Panel and/or any Assent Research Project and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements, proposals or representations, written or oral, about the Assent Research Panel and/or any Assent Research Project.