Privacy Policy

I. PRIVACY POLICY

This privacy policy is effective as of October 5, 2022. MFour Mobile Research, Inc. (“MFour,” “we,” “us,” “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. We also want to be upfront and clear about information we collect, how we use it, and rights you may have. MFour is a market research technology company providing services, including sharing data, to other market research companies, third parties operating in the ad tech sector, companies providing products and services to consumers, and other parties (collectively “Partners”) for the purposes of market research, including ad measurement, analytics and reporting, and other purposes. MFour does not share data with Partners that would use the data to directly advertise or market to you. 

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and share information when individuals (“you”) visit or interact with our websites including www.surveysonthego.com, www.surveysonthego.net, www.mfour.com, and www.mfour.net (the “Sites”), and the Surveys On The Go® mobile application (the “SOTG App”). The Sites and the SOTG App together are called the “Services” in this Privacy Policy.

The SOTG App is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you download the SOTG App, you will be able to create an account and receive and respond to surveys that we conduct for our use or on behalf of our Partners. We offer you incentives in exchange for your survey participation. As explained in more detail below, we share survey results and other information collected through the SOTG App with our Partners who typically use the information we provide to conduct and improve their products, services, and advertising. From time to time, we may permit selected third parties to provide you with additional survey opportunities in the SOTG App. If you decide to participate in those additional opportunities, your participation in those third-party surveys will be directly with those third parties and will not be governed by this Privacy Policy.

The SOTG App is not offered outside the United States. For US individuals who use the SOTG App, we may use the information that we collect (as described below) to avoid sending you surveys from us or a third party while traveling outside the United States.

1. Types of information collected and how we collect them

Personal information you provide to us
When you use the Services, we collect personal information that you provide to us. This information may include your name, address, telephone number, email address, and linked information such as zip code, demographic information (such as your age, gender, income, education level, etc.), and other information. We collect this information when you voluntarily provide it to us when creating an account after downloading the SOTG App, when you use the SOTG App to update your account information, and when you respond to surveys.  

We will use demographic and other information you provide to send you relevant surveys and for other internal purposes. If you participate in a survey, we will collect information and responses that you provide in the course of the survey. For some surveys, this may include photo, audio, and video information that you provide. If you use our Facebook log-in tool, we may collect the information you choose to make publicly available through your Facebook profile such as your name, date of birth, email address, and residence location. You can control what specific information is made public through your use of your Facebook privacy settings.

Personal information collected automatically
We collect certain personal information automatically through the SOTG App and when you visit the Sites.  Geographic Location Information and Digital Data (described below) will be collected automatically only if you give permission.  Personal information that is automatically collected includes the following:

Geographic Location Information. If permitted on your device and with your permission, the SOTG App may automatically collect and use your Geographic Location Information, which includes precise location information from your device.

You will receive prior notice and must give your consent before your Geographic Location Information is collected through the SOTG App (in the event that you share your device with another person, please be aware that this person could change these permissions on your behalf). If you do not want to provide your Geographic Location Information through the SOTG App, you may use the controls available in the SOTG App and/or available on your mobile device to limit this sharing.  Some incentives and features may not be available if you stop the collection of Geographic Location Information.

Usage and Device Data. We may automatically collect certain types of usage and device data when you visit our Sites or use the SOTG App. We use a variety of technologies to collect this data automatically, including cookies, pixels, and similar technology.  For example, we use such technologies, and the usage and device data they collect, to make it easier for you to navigate our Services, to provide a better experience for you when you participate in surveys, and for quality control and validation purposes. Cookies are small text files or other forms of data which are stored on a computer by a website and can store certain information about the internet browsing activity on that computer. You may be able to disable and/or delete cookies via your browser and/or plug-in settings; however, this may: (1) decrease the functionality of our Sites and other websites you visit; (2) limit your ability to use and view our Services; and (3) limit your participation in the Services, including incentivized surveys. Even if you disable cookies, we may collect and use other information that identifies your device over time to provide our Services.

The information we collect automatically when you visit the Sites or use the Services includes, for example, IP address, pages visited and other activities on the Services, information about your other online activities, streaming video services you use and the content you watch, general geographic location derived from IP address, and time and date of your activities. We also collect information about your device and its software, such as your mobile advertising identifier, device manufacturer, device type, device model, operating system and version, browser type, wireless carrier/provider information, Internet service provider, and a randomized unique ID (that allows us to uniquely identify your browser, mobile device, or SOTG account).

Digital Data. If permitted on your device and with your permission, the SOTG App may automatically collect Digital Data about your other online activities outside the SOTG App, including webpages you visit on the device, apps that you use on the device, information about how and for how long you use the apps, and apps that you install and uninstall.  The Digital Data collected also includes activities and purchases you make on e-commerce apps and websites.  

To provide Digital Data, you must enable accessibility permissions on Android devices and download a Virtual Private Network (VPN) tool on iOS devices.  If you want to stop providing Digital Data through the SOTG App, you can use the controls available in the SOTG App and/or available on your mobile device to disable the collection of Digital Data.  You may also stop providing Digital Data by disabling accessibility permissions on Android devices or disabling and/or uninstalling the VPN on iOS devices. Some incentives and features may not be available as a result of stopping the collection of Digital Data.

Personal information from third parties

We also obtain personal and other information about you from third parties, which we often combine with personal information we collect automatically or that you provide to us. For example, Partners and other parties may provide us with your mobile advertising identifier, demographic and address information, and other information. 

We may also use analytics services provided by third parties. These service providers may use cookies or other technologies to collect information about your online activities on the Sites, the SOTG App, and other sites and apps over time for analytics purposes. For example, we use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our Sites. For more information from Google about how Google Analytics collects and uses data, visit https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners. To opt out of Google Analytics, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

2. Payday Program

Payday is an optional program that allows you to receive a weekly incentive in addition to survey incentives.  If you choose to participate in Payday, you may also receive more surveys.  In order to be eligible for Payday, you must consent to and allow us to automatically collect Geographic Location Information and Digital Data as described above. We will use and share this information as described in this Privacy Policy.  You will automatically be eligible for a Payday incentive if you provide Geographic Location Information and Digital Data for at least 15 days during a month and log into the SOTG app at least once during a month.  Even if you do not participate in Payday, we may still collect, use, and share information through the Services as described in other sections of this Privacy Policy.

You can permanently disable or temporarily pause the collection of Geographic Location Information and/or Digital Data at any time, but stopping this data collection will affect your eligibility for a Payday incentive.  If you want to stop providing Geographic Location Information and/or Digital Data to us through the SOTG App, you can use the controls available in the SOTG App and/or available on your mobile device.  You may also stop providing Digital Data by disabling accessibility permissions on Android devices and disabling and/or uninstalling the VPN on iOS devices. Some incentives and features may not be available as a result of stopping the collection of Digital Data. Pausing or disabling our collection of Geographic Location Information and/or Digital Data will not pause or disable any other data collection through our Services, and you will continue to receive surveys through the SOTG App.  For California residents, please see below for our Notice of Financial Incentive for SOTG including the Payday program.

3. How we use and retain personal information

We use the information we collect for purposes described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise disclosed to you on our Sites and in the SOTG App, including market research.  We do not use the personal information that we collect through the SOTG App for direct marketing or advertising back to you.  For example, we use information we collect for:

  • Providing you with relevant survey opportunities. For example, demographic information may be used to match you to types of consumers a Partner may want to survey. Or, your location data may be used to offer you surveys while you are visiting a specific location such as a store or restaurant.
  • Market research, including sharing data with our Partners as further described in the next section. 
  • Conducting our research and analysis to improve our products and services, identify consumer trends, develop consumer segments and other market research purposes.
  • Our compliance with laws and legal obligations and maintaining the security of our Services and your information.
  • Detecting and preventing fraudulent users of the Services and survey responses and other fraudulent activities.
  • Paying incentives to you using your email address or other information.
  • Communicating with you such as responding to your comments or questions, authenticating your identity, and providing you with updates to our products and services.
  • Monitoring, administering, and enhancing our Services, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical, and survey purposes.

We retain your SOTG App account information over time in order to provide the Services to you, including to offer you additional survey opportunities for Partners or for our internal research.

4. Disclosures of personal information

We want you to understand when and with whom we share your personal information.  We may disclose your personal information in the ways described below.  When we sell or otherwise provide personal information to our Partners, we restrict them by contract from using personal information collected through the SOTG App for direct marketing or advertising of products or services back to you.

  • To our Partners, which handle the information according to their own privacy policies. We share information with our Partners to provide them with our services or for their own purposes. Typically, the information we share with Partners can include personal information, survey responses, Geographic Location Information, Digital Data, and/or demographic information associated with unique identifiers such as hashed email addresses, device identifiers, or other alphanumeric identifiers used for internal purposes. We may also provide Partners with aggregate reports that include combined demographic or other survey data.  We may also permit selected third parties to collect and use your Geographic Location Information through our SOTG App to provide you additional survey opportunities from those third parties.
  • Authorized third-party vendors and service providers.​ In some cases, we share information we collect with authorized contractors, subcontractors, vendors, and service providers who help us operate our business and provide the Services.  For example, we may share personal information with service providers that provide services such as web hosting, data analysis and reporting, auditing and compliance, network and data security, and identifying consumer demographics and geolocation.
  • Legal purposes.​ We disclose personal information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it, pursuant to a court order, subpoena, warrant, in response to a law enforcement request, or as otherwise required or requested by law, regulation, or government authority programs; when disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be violating the law or our rights or interfering with (either intentionally or unintentionally) use of Services or to protect our rights or the rights or safety of others; and for other legal related purposes.
  • Business event. We may disclose personal information in connection with an actual or potential sale of stock or assets, merger, or any other change of control transaction (including in bankruptcy), or in the case of a bulk or partial sale, or other transfer (including third party panelist administration) of information to another research organization or entity.
  • With your consent​. We share personal information for any other purpose disclosed to you with your consent.

We may also share and disclose information that is aggregated, de-identified, or otherwise does not specifically identify you or your device, in our discretion including to our Partners.

5. Third-party links & tools

Our Services may provide links to third-party websites or apps, including offers and links to additional survey opportunities on third-party platforms. We do not control the privacy practices of those websites or apps, and they are not covered by this Privacy Policy. You should review the privacy policies of other websites or apps to learn about their data practices.

Our Services may also include integrated social media tools, such as our Facebook log-in tool.  If you use these tools or otherwise interact with these features on the Services, those companies may collect information about you and may use and share such information in accordance with your account settings, including by sharing such information with us and the general public.  Your interactions with third-party companies and your use of their features are governed by the privacy notices of the companies that provide those features.  We encourage you to carefully read the privacy notices of any accounts you create and use.

6. Updating your personal information, deactivating your SOTG account, and stopping information collection

If you have a SOTG App account, you can review, change, or update some of your account information under the “Profile” tab in the SOTG App. 

You can also ask us to delete your personal information related to your SOTG App account from our active files by emailing us at support@surveysonthego.net. We may still retain some personal information as needed for legal and recordkeeping purposes, where permitted by law. A request to delete your personal information will not affect any information that we previously shared with Partners or other third parties as described above. In all other cases, we will retain information as long as required by law or as long as needed for our business purposes.

If you no longer want us to collect information from you via the SOTG App, you can stop responding to surveys and delete and uninstall the SOTG App from your device.  We will keep your account information in our records in case you want to reinstall the SOTG Application and reactivate your account. We may also continue to use and share the information that you previously provided, as described in this Privacy Policy.

7. Minors under 16

We do not knowingly collect or sell personal information about individuals under the age of 16. If we learn that a person under 16 has provided us with personal information, we will endeavor to delete that information from our database. If you are a parent or legal guardian and believe that your child who is under 16 may have given us personal information, please contact us.

8. Nevada privacy rights

Under Nevada law, Nevada residents may submit a request directing us not to make certain disclosures of personal information we maintain about them. To exercise this right, you may contact us as follows:

  • Using this link. https://surveysonthego.com/do-not-sell-my-info/
  • Toll-free telephone call. You may submit requests by calling our toll-free request line at 1-800-418-9018
  • In the SOTG App. If you have an account with us, you may submit requests using the Privacy Center in the SOTG App. The Privacy Center is in the Profiles section of the SOTG App.

9. California privacy rights

This section contains disclosures required by the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and applies only to “personal information” that is subject to the CCPA. 

Personal Information We Collect.
In the past 12 months, we collected the categories of personal information about California consumers listed below:

  • Personal and online identifiers such as first and last name, email address, postal address, or IP address;
  • Characteristics of legally protected classifications(such as race or gender);
  • Commercial or transactions information (such as records of personal property or products or services purchased, obtained, or considered);
  • Internet or other electronic network activity information (such as browsing history, search history, or interactions with a website, email, application, or advertisement);
  • Usage and device data;
  • Audiovisual information (such as photos, videos, and voice recordings);
  • Geolocation information;
  • Education information;
  • Inferences drawn from the above information about your predicted characteristics and preferences;
  • Other information about you that is linked to the personal information above.

Categories of Information Sources.
We collect this personal information from the following categories of sources:

  • Users of our Services, like you;
  • Partners (as defined in this Privacy Policy);
  • Social networks;
  • Service providers;
  • Consumer data resellers.

Our Purposes for Processing Personal Information.  We collect, use, and disclose (including selling) the personal information we collect for our commercial and business purposes, as further described in this Privacy Policy.

Recipients of California Personal Information.
During the past 12 months, we disclosed, shared, or sold each category of personal information we collected to the categories of third parties listed below.

  • Partners (as defined in this Privacy Policy);
  • Service providers.

Your Rights Regarding Personal Information.
California residents have certain rights with respect to the personal information collected by businesses.  If you are a California resident, you may exercise the following rights regarding your personal information, subject to certain exceptions and limitations:

  • The right to know the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell about you, the categories of sources from which we collected your personal information, our purposes for collecting or selling your personal information, the categories of your personal information that we have either sold or disclosed for a business purpose, and the categories of third parties with which we have shared personal information;
  • The right to request that we delete the personal information we have collected from you.
  • The right to opt out of our sale(s) of your personal information. Please note that if you opt out of certain types of sales, we will be unable to provide you with the services that rely on such sales, including survey opportunities.
  • The right not to receive discriminatory treatment for the exercise of the privacy rights conferred by the CCPA.

To exercise any of the above rights, please contact us using the following information and submit the required verifying information, as further described below:

  • Using this link. https://surveysonthego.com/do-not-sell-my-info/
  • Toll-free telephone call. You may submit requests by calling our toll-free request line at 1-800-418-9018
  • In the SOTG App. If you have an account with us, you may submit requests using the Privacy Center in the SOTG App. The Privacy Center is in the Profiles section of the SOTG App.

Verification Process and Required Information.
Note that we may need to request additional information from you to verify your identity or understand the scope of your request, although you will not be required to create an account with us to submit a request or have it fulfilled.  You may be required to provide the following for verification purposes:

  • Your first and last name
  • Your email address
  • Your telephone number

Authorized Agent.
You may designate an authorized agent to make a CCPA request on your behalf by providing us with a power of attorney or your written permission to allow the authorized agent to submit the request on your behalf and verification of your identity.

10. Notice of Financial Incentive for California Residents

Through the SOTG App, we provide you with opportunities to receive payments in exchange for providing data and/or responding to surveys.  Through our surveys and the SOTG App, we may collect and share your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.  This includes all categories of personal information listed in Section 8 of this Privacy Policy.

The terms associated with each survey, like the amount you will receive if you qualify for and complete the survey, are presented to you in the SOTG App.  Additional incentives may be available if you give permission for us to collect and share Geographic Location Information and Digital Data, including by participating in the Payday program described above.  Under California law, because we offer you payments related to the collection and sharing of personal information, our surveys are considered a “financial incentive.”  Payments can be redeemed in various ways, such as through Venmo, credits to your PayPal account, or virtual gift cards.

You opt into these financial incentives by participating in surveys and/or allowing us to collect Geographic Location Information and/or Digital Data.  California residents have the right to withdraw from the financial incentives we offer at any time.  You can pause or disable our collection of Digital Data and/or Geographic Location Information by using controls available in the SOTG App and/or your mobile device.  You may also stop providing Digital Data by disabling accessibility permissions on Android devices and disabling and/or uninstalling the VPN on iOS devices. Pausing or disabling our collection of Geographic Location Information and/or Digital Data will not pause or disable any other data collection through our Services, and you will continue to receive surveys through the SOTG App.  You can withdraw from survey participation by not responding to surveys or deleting the SOTG App from your mobile device.   

The amount of payment you receive for completing a survey and/or providing data is based on the reasonable determination of the value that we and our partners receive from processing personal information.  This estimated value takes into account a variety of factors as permitted by law, including (but not limited to) the expenses incurred in collecting and retaining the information, the expenses incurred in providing payments to you, and the estimated marginal revenue derived from information related to our surveys.

11. Changes to our privacy policy

We reserve the right to modify or revise this Privacy Policy at any time and in our sole discretion. We will post any changes to this Privacy Policy on our Services. We encourage you to revisit this policy regularly to stay informed about how we collect, use, and share your information.

12. Contacting us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or the use or disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy, please contact us through support in the SOTG App or at support@surveysonthego.net.