Terms & Conditions

SBridge Research Panel — Terms & Conditions

Last updated: 16 May 2025 · Operated by: SBridge KZ (ТОО «SBridge»)

Plain-language summary: Be honest. One account per person. Complete studies you start. Researchers must protect participant data and pay fairly. Fraud of any kind leads to permanent suspension. These Terms are governed by Kazakhstani law.

For Participants

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to register as a participant.
You must be a real person residing in Kazakhstan or Central Asia. We do not accept registrations from bots, fictitious identities, or persons acting on behalf of another individual.
You may only hold one (1) account. Creating multiple accounts to receive extra rewards is fraud and will result in permanent suspension of all accounts and forfeiture of any unpaid rewards.
By registering, you confirm all information you provide is accurate, truthful, and up-to-date. Providing false demographic data (age, education, employment, city) is a violation of these Terms and will result in account suspension.

2. How Studies Work

You will be matched with research studies based on your demographic profile. You are never required to join a study — participation is always voluntary.
Before starting a study, you will see the estimated time, reward amount, and a brief description. Only accept studies you intend to complete honestly.
You must complete studies within the time window provided by the researcher. If you start a study and cannot complete it, return your submission rather than submitting incomplete or random answers.
Do not discuss the content of an active study with other participants, on social media, or in online forums. This contaminates research data and may harm scientific validity.
Studies may include attention checks, comprehension questions, or consistency measures. Failing these deliberately is considered low-quality submission.

3. Your Obligations as a Participant

Provide genuine, thoughtful responses. Do not use AI tools, bots, scripts, or automated software to complete surveys or tasks.
Do not use a VPN or proxy to falsify your location or demographics.
Do not share study links or access codes with other people.
Do not register with a phone number, email, or identity that belongs to another person.
Respond only based on your own experience and knowledge — not based on what you think researchers want to hear.
If a study involves an external survey link (e.g. Google Forms, Qualtrics), you must only complete it once using the link provided to you.

4. Payments & Rewards

Rewards are paid in Kazakhstani Tenge (KZT) via Kaspi transfer, bank transfer, or another agreed method. The amount is stated before you begin each study.
Payment is released after the researcher reviews and approves your submission. Typical approval time is 1–5 business days. We target a maximum of 21 days.
If your submission is rejected, you will be given a clear reason. You have the right to dispute a rejection by contacting us within 7 days.
Rewards are earned income. You are solely responsible for any applicable tax obligations under the laws of Kazakhstan.
We reserve the right to withhold payment for submissions found to be fraudulent, low-quality, or in violation of these Terms.
Minimum payout threshold may apply depending on your chosen payment method. Any balance below the threshold carries over to your next completed study.

5. Prohibited Conduct & Account Suspension

The following actions will result in immediate account suspension and forfeiture of pending rewards:
→ Creating or operating more than one participant account.
→ Submitting false, random, or AI-generated responses.
→ Using bots, scripts, or automation tools to complete studies.
→ Providing false demographic information at registration or in surveys.
→ Sharing study links, access codes, or content with third parties.
→ Attempting to identify researchers or other participants.
→ Engaging in any form of harassment, discrimination, or abuse through the platform.
Suspended accounts will not be reinstated. If you believe a suspension was made in error, contact us within 14 days of notification.

For Researchers

6. Researcher Eligibility & Responsibilities

Researchers may be individuals, academic institutions, companies, or organisations. You must provide accurate information about yourself and your organisation.
You are responsible for ensuring your study complies with all applicable ethical and legal requirements, including obtaining IRB/ethics committee approval where required.
By submitting a study request, you confirm your research does not involve deception that could cause harm, coercion, collection of data from minors, or any illegal activity.
Studies involving sensitive topics (health, psychology, political opinions, personal finances) require ethics approval documentation before activation.

7. Participant Data & Confidentiality

You will receive only the data collected within the study (survey responses, task outputs). You will not receive participants' names, phone numbers, email addresses, or any other directly identifying information unless a participant explicitly consents to a direct-contact study.
You must not attempt to re-identify participants using any combination of demographic or response data.
You must store and process participant data in accordance with applicable data protection law (Kazakhstan Law No. 94-V; GDPR principles where applicable).
You must not share, sell, or transfer participant data to any third party without explicit participant consent.
You must delete participant data when it is no longer needed for the stated research purpose, and no later than the period stated in your ethics approval.
By submitting a study request, you agree to sign our Data Processing Agreement (DPA). Studies will not be activated until the DPA is in place.

8. Payments, Fees & Refunds

SBridge charges a platform fee of 10% on the total participant reward budget. This fee covers recruitment, screening, quality checks, and payment processing.
Payment must be made in full before a study is activated. Studies will not be shown to participants until payment is confirmed.
If a study is cancelled before any participants have been recruited, a full refund of the participant budget (minus processing fees) will be issued within 10 business days.
If a study is cancelled after recruitment begins, refunds will be issued only for the unused portion of the participant budget.
Participant rewards that are approved by you are non-refundable.
If you reject a submission, you must provide a clear and honest reason. Rejections made in bad faith to avoid paying participants are a violation of these Terms.

9. Prohibited Studies

The following types of studies are strictly prohibited on the SBridge Research Panel:
→ Studies designed to deceive participants in ways that could cause psychological or physical harm.
→ Studies targeting minors (under 18), even indirectly through adult proxies.
→ Studies collecting biometric data without explicit, separate informed consent.
→ Studies with a commercial purpose disguised as academic research.
→ Studies promoting political parties, religious movements, or ideological agendas.
→ Studies that violate any law of the Republic of Kazakhstan or the country of the researcher.
SBridge reserves the right to reject or remove any study at its sole discretion without refund if these prohibitions are violated.

General Terms

10. Intellectual Property

Research data collected through the platform belongs to the Researcher who commissioned the study, subject to participant rights under applicable privacy law.
The SBridge platform, its design, software, and branding are the intellectual property of SBridge KZ. You may not reproduce or distribute any part of the platform without written permission.
Participants grant SBridge a non-exclusive licence to use anonymised, aggregated response data to improve platform matching and quality algorithms.

11. Limitation of Liability

SBridge acts as an intermediary connecting Researchers and Participants. We are not responsible for the content, quality, or outcomes of individual research studies.
We are not liable for any indirect, consequential, or incidental damages arising from your use of the platform.
Our total liability to any user in connection with any claim shall not exceed the total amount paid by or to that user in the 30 days preceding the claim.
We do not guarantee continuous, uninterrupted access to the platform and accept no liability for technical downtime.

12. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms at any time. We will notify active users by email or platform notification at least 14 days before material changes take effect.
Continued use of the platform after the effective date of any update constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.
If you do not accept the updated Terms, you must stop using the platform and may request account deletion.

13. Governing Law & Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Any dispute arising from or related to these Terms shall first be attempted to be resolved through direct negotiation. If unresolved within 30 days, disputes shall be submitted to the competent courts of Almaty, Kazakhstan.
If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

Contact Us

For questions about these Terms, to report a violation, or to dispute a decision:

Company: SBridge KZ (ТОО «SBridge»)

Phone / WhatsApp: +77787098685

Jurisdiction: Republic of Kazakhstan

By using the SBridge Research Panel you agree to these Terms

These Terms form a binding agreement between you and SBridge KZ (ТОО «SBridge»). If you do not agree, please do not register or use the platform.

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