Terms of Use

These Terms of Use govern participation in surveys operated by the Research Shield™ system.

1. General Provisions

1.1. The Research Shield™ system is operated by TGM Research Pte. Ltd. with registered office at 6001 Beach Road, #22-01 Golden Mile Tower, Singapore 199589 ("Operator").

1.2. By clicking "Start" or proceeding after reviewing the notice displayed before survey participation, you acknowledge that you have read and accept these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.

1.3. If you do not accept these terms, please close this page and do not participate in the survey.

2. Eligibility and Age Requirements

2.1. Minimum age: To participate in surveys, you must be:

• 16 years or older in the European Union and United Kingdom
• 13 years or older in the United States (subject to COPPA)
• Of legal age to consent to data processing in your jurisdiction

2.2. By participating, you confirm that you meet the applicable age requirement.

3. Participation Requirements

3.1. Survey participants agree to:

• Provide truthful and thoughtful responses
• Complete the survey independently
• Complete the survey within a reasonable time

3.2. The following is prohibited:

• Using bots, scripts, or automation tools
• Providing random or nonsensical answers
• Providing false information to obtain compensation
• Completing the same survey multiple times
• Manipulating the fraud detection system
• Sharing the survey link with unauthorized persons

4. Consent to Behavioral Analysis

4.1. By participating in this survey, you acknowledge and accept that:

• Your behavioral data (typing patterns, mouse movements, interaction timing) will be analyzed
• Your device characteristics will be collected for fraud detection
• Automated systems will assess the authenticity of your responses

4.2. Legal basis:

• Fraud detection and behavioral analysis: Legitimate interest (GDPR Art. 6.1.f) - fraud prevention is explicitly recognized as a legitimate interest in GDPR Recital 47
• Survey delivery: Contract performance (GDPR Art. 6.1.b) - collecting and transmitting your survey responses to the research client

Note: These are distinct processing activities with separate legal bases as required by GDPR.

4.3. Detailed information about data processing is available in our Privacy Policy.

5. Fraud Detection

5.1. The Research Shield™ system automatically analyzes survey completion patterns to detect inauthentic responses.

5.2. Analysis includes:

• Response consistency and quality
• Completion time
• Form interaction patterns
• Device characteristics

5.3. Research Shield™ produces fraud risk scores and flags only. These are recommendations provided to the research client or panel provider.

5.4. Final decisions regarding survey disqualification, compensation denial, or exclusion from future surveys are made by the research client or panel provider, not by Research Shield™.

5.5. You may request human review of any fraud determination through the research client or via privacy@researchshield.com.

6. Compensation

6.1. Any compensation for survey participation is determined by the research client, not the Research Shield™ Operator.

6.2. Compensation terms are governed by the agreement between the participant and the client or panel provider.

6.3. The Operator is not responsible for compensation payments.

7. Intellectual Property

7.1. Responses provided in surveys become the property of the research client.

7.2. Participants do not retain copyright to their responses.

7.3. The Research Shield™ system, its software, and documentation are the property of the Operator.

8. Liability

8.1. The system is provided "as-is".

8.2. The Operator is not liable for:

• System interruptions
• Technical issues on the participant's side
• Decisions made by clients based on research results
• Loss of compensation due to disqualification

8.3. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Operator's liability is limited to the amount of any compensation for the specific survey.

9. Data Protection and Right to Object

9.1. Personal data processing is governed by the Privacy Policy.

9.2. Participants acknowledge that their behavioral data is analyzed for fraud detection purposes.

9.3. Right to object (Art. 21): You have a genuine right to object to processing based on legitimate interest. We assess each objection individually based on your specific situation.

• Real-time analysis: If you object to real-time fraud analysis during participation, we cannot disable it mid-session, but you retain full post-session rights
• Post-session retention: You can object to continued storage of your data after session scoring — this objection can be honored
• Cross-session profiling: You can object to device fingerprint retention for duplicate detection — this objection can be honored
• ML training: You can object to use of your data for model improvement — this objection can be honored

9.4. Practical consequences: If you object to all fraud detection processing before participation, participation may not be possible as fraud detection is integral to the service. This is stated as a consequence, not a pre-determined rejection of your objection.

9.5. To exercise your rights (objection, access, deletion, correction), contact privacy@researchshield.com. See Privacy Policy Section 7.4 for detailed objection procedures.

10. Changes to Terms

10.1. The Operator may change these Terms at any time.

10.2. Continued use of the service after Terms changes constitutes acceptance of the new terms.

11. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

11.1 Default Governing Law

Subject to the exceptions below, these Terms are governed by the laws of Singapore, and disputes shall be resolved by the courts of Singapore.

11.2 EU/EEA Consumer Protection Carve-Out

If you are a consumer habitually resident in the European Union or European Economic Area:

• Applicable law: Nothing in these Terms deprives you of the protection of mandatory provisions of the law of your country of habitual residence that cannot be derogated from by agreement, in accordance with Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) 593/2008 (Rome I).
• Jurisdiction: You may bring proceedings against us in the courts of your Member State of domicile, in accordance with Article 18(1) of Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 (Brussels I Recast). We may only bring proceedings against you in the courts of your Member State of domicile.
• Consumer protection: These Terms do not limit any rights you have under Directive 93/13/EEC (Unfair Contract Terms) as implemented in your country of residence. Any term found to be unfair under that Directive shall be non-binding.
• Data protection: GDPR and national implementing laws of your country of residence apply to all processing of your personal data, regardless of choice of law provisions in these Terms.

11.3 UK Consumer Protection Carve-Out

If you are a consumer habitually resident in the United Kingdom:

• You retain rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and UK GDPR.
• You may bring proceedings in the courts of England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.
• Any term found to be unfair under Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 shall be non-binding.

11.4 California Consumer Rights

If you are a resident of California:

• Your rights under CCPA/CPRA are not affected by this choice of law clause.
• You may bring CCPA/CPRA-related claims in California courts.

11.5 Precedence

In case of conflict between Singapore law and the mandatory consumer or data protection laws of your jurisdiction, the latter shall prevail to the extent required by applicable law.

12. Final Provisions

12.1. Invalidity of individual provisions does not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.

12.2. These Terms enter into force on January 1, 2026.

13. Contact

For questions regarding these Terms, please contact:

Email: privacy@researchshield.com
Address: TGM Research Pte. Ltd., 6001 Beach Road, #22-01 Golden Mile Tower, Singapore 199589

Last updated: January 1, 2026