Acceptable Use Policy

About this document

Acceptable Use Policy for Citizen Centric

Effective Date: 15 August 2026 | Version: 1.0

Politis Ltd (company number 13661766) ("we", "our" or the "Operator") operates the Citizen Centric platform (the "Platform"), which includes the participant mobile application, related websites and APIs, and researcher/organisation administration tools. This Acceptable Use Policy ("Policy") sets out the standards of behaviour expected from all users of the Platform, including Participants, Researchers, organisation administrators, support staff and public website visitors.

Registered office: The Old Courthouse, Orsett Road, Grays, Essex, England, RM17 5DD. Politis Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under reference ZB738312.

By accessing or using the Platform, you must comply with this Policy. Where appropriate, breaches may result in restricted access, suspension, termination, removal of content, or referral to relevant authorities. Any enforcement action will be proportionate to the circumstances and subject to reasonable investigation, except where immediate protective action is necessary to prevent harm or secure the Platform.

1.1 Who this Policy applies to

Participants using Citizen Centric to take part in a research study.

Researchers and research teams creating or managing studies.

Organisation administrators and other authorised users managing research operations.

Support, technical and operational personnel with authorised Platform access.

Visitors using public-facing parts of the Platform.

1.2 Purpose

Protect participant welfare, privacy and personal data.

Protect the security, availability and integrity of the Platform.

Support lawful, ethical and reliable research activity.

Protect intellectual property and confidential information.

Set clear expectations for use of AI-assisted and automated Platform functions.

2. General User Obligations

All users must:

Use the Platform only for lawful and authorised purposes and in accordance with applicable law, contractual obligations, study approvals and research ethics requirements.

Use only accounts, invitations, credentials and permissions that they are authorised to use, and keep credentials and session information secure.

Provide accurate information about identity, organisation affiliation, study authority and ethical approvals where the Platform requires it.

Respect the rights, dignity, privacy and safety of participants and other users.

Follow study-specific instructions, consent conditions and data-access restrictions that apply to the relevant research activity.

Use reasonable care when uploading, exporting, downloading or sharing information obtained through the Platform.

Promptly report suspected security incidents, misuse, unauthorised access, data loss or breaches of this Policy to info@politisconsulting.co.uk.

3.1 Security, Access and Platform Integrity

Gaining or attempting to gain unauthorised access to accounts, systems, studies, organisations, participant records or data.

Sharing, selling, transferring or misusing credentials, invitation codes, session tokens, access links or authentication material.

Circumventing or attempting to bypass authentication, authorisation, rate limits, validation, malware scanning, upload restrictions, audit controls, idempotency protections or other safeguards.

Introducing malware, malicious code, destructive payloads or files intended to compromise systems or users.

Probing, scanning, stress-testing, reverse engineering or exploiting the Platform without Politis Ltd's prior written authorisation, except to the extent a right cannot lawfully be excluded.

Interfering with, overloading, disrupting or degrading the Platform or another user's access.

3.2 Data Protection, Confidentiality and Research Misuse

Accessing, using, exporting, combining or disclosing participant or research data beyond the user's authorised role or approved research purpose.

Attempting to identify or re-identify individuals from anonymised, pseudonymised or aggregated data without a lawful and authorised basis.

Using participant information for unrelated marketing, profiling, employment, insurance, credit, surveillance or other purposes not covered by the relevant study, agreement or law.

Uploading personal data or special-category data that is unnecessary for the study or that the user is not authorised to collect or process.

Removing, obscuring or falsifying consent, provenance, audit, integrity or retention information associated with research records.

Using another participant's invitation, account or study access.

3.3 Misuse of Research and Participant Features

Creating or operating studies without the approvals, authority or permissions required by the user's organisation or applicable research governance.

Misrepresenting a study's purpose, sponsor, ethics approval, eligibility, incentives or intended use of participant information.

Coercing, misleading or improperly pressuring a person to participate, remain in a study, provide particular answers, or refrain from withdrawing.

Misusing study invitations, messaging, uploads, exports or participant contact information for purposes unrelated to legitimate approved research activity.

Attempting to bypass participant withdrawal, deletion-request, consent or communication-preference controls.

3.4 Harassment, Discrimination and Harmful Content

Harassing, threatening, bullying, discriminating against or abusing any person through the Platform.

Uploading or sharing content that is unlawful, defamatory, threatening, malicious, exploitative or intended to cause harm.

Using the Platform to facilitate fraud, deception, unlawful discrimination or other illegal activity.

Using Platform features in a way that creates an unreasonable risk to participant welfare or safeguarding.

3.5 AI-Assisted Functionality

Where AI-assisted or automated functions are available, users must not:

Attempt to circumvent AI, privacy, security, moderation or research-governance safeguards.

Treat AI-generated research assistance as automatically correct, complete or a substitute for appropriate researcher judgement, verification and accountability.

Use AI-assisted outputs to make unlawful, discriminatory, deceptive or harmful decisions about participants.

Expose participant-facing users to internal AI outputs, researcher notes, working themes, suggested coding, confidence indicators or other internal analysis unless the Platform expressly makes that information participant-facing.

Submit Platform data to external public or shared AI services in breach of study terms, data-protection requirements, confidentiality obligations or Politis Ltd security rules.

Use participant material obtained through Citizen Centric to train public or shared foundation models unless there is a separate lawful, authorised and transparently communicated basis.

AI-assisted functions may support research workflows, transcription, document processing, security or other authorised tasks. Responsibility for the lawful and ethical use of Platform outputs remains with the relevant user and organisation.

3.6 Intellectual Property and Content Rights

Uploading, publishing or sharing material where the user does not have the necessary rights, permissions or lawful basis.

Removing intellectual-property notices, ownership information or technical protections without authorisation.

Using Citizen Centric branding, software, documentation or content in a misleading way or in a manner that suggests unauthorised endorsement.

3.7 Automation, Scraping and Bulk Access

Using bots, scraping tools, automated agents or bulk-download mechanisms against the Platform without written authorisation or an approved API integration.

Using automation to evade usage limits, create duplicate submissions, enumerate accounts or invitations, or extract information outside an authorised research workflow.

Making automated requests at a rate or volume that could adversely affect service availability or security.

Authorised integrations, accessibility technologies and approved automation are not prohibited where they operate within documented permissions and safeguards.

4. Participant-Specific Expectations

Participants are expected to use only invitations and study access issued to them and to submit material relevant to the study they have chosen to join. Participants should not knowingly upload unlawful, malicious or rights-infringing content. Nothing in this Policy limits a participant's right to decline a task, withdraw from a study, exercise data-protection rights, raise a complaint, or seek support.

A participant will not be penalised merely for expressing criticism, disagreement, distress, negative experiences or other good-faith research responses, even where that material is uncomfortable or adverse to a researcher or organisation.

5. Researcher and Organisation Responsibilities

Researchers and organisation users have additional responsibilities because they may have access to participant information and research-management functions. They must:

Use participant information only within the permissions, study scope, contracts and governance arrangements applicable to them.

Maintain appropriate ethical approval, lawful basis and participant information for their studies.

Ensure invitations, study descriptions and participant communications are accurate and not misleading.

Restrict exports and local copies to what is necessary and protect them appropriately once outside the Platform.

Not attempt to circumvent Platform access controls or use organisation-level privileges to access unrelated studies or participants.

Review AI-assisted outputs appropriately before relying on them in research interpretation or decision-making.

6. Reporting Security and Policy Concerns

Suspected misuse, security incidents or Policy breaches should be reported as soon as reasonably practicable using:

Email: info@politisconsulting.co.uk.

In-app reporting tools, where enabled.

Any dedicated incident route notified to the relevant organisation or research team.

Do not include unnecessary participant-sensitive information in a report. Where possible, provide enough factual information to allow the issue to be assessed safely.

7.1 Immediate Protective Action

Where reasonably necessary to protect participants, data, users or the Platform, Politis Ltd may temporarily restrict access, revoke sessions, isolate content, disable an integration or take other proportionate protective action before an investigation is complete.

7.2 Investigation

Where appropriate, Politis Ltd may review relevant logs, account activity, content, study configuration and other evidence necessary to investigate a suspected breach. Investigations will be limited to what is reasonably necessary and conducted in accordance with applicable data-protection and confidentiality obligations.

7.3 Possible Outcomes

No further action.

Warning, guidance or requirement to correct conduct.

Restriction or removal of content or functionality.

Temporary suspension of an account or study.

Termination of access where justified by the seriousness or persistence of the breach.

Notification to the relevant organisation, study sponsor, controller or other responsible party where appropriate.

Referral to regulators, law-enforcement or other authorities where required or justified by law.

7.4 Fair and Proportionate Enforcement

Except where this would compromise security, safeguarding, legal obligations or an investigation, affected users will normally be given sufficient information to understand the reason for material enforcement action and any available route to raise a concern or seek review.

8. Suspension, Withdrawal and Data Rights

Enforcement under this Policy is separate from participant withdrawal and data-protection rights. Politis Ltd and relevant research organisations must not use this Policy to prevent a participant from exercising rights available under the study terms or applicable data-protection law. Account or study restrictions will be handled consistently with applicable retention, deletion, legal-hold and research-integrity obligations.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy to reflect changes in law, security requirements, Platform functionality or operating practices. Material changes will be notified through an appropriate channel and with reasonable notice where practicable. Where a change requires renewed acceptance or consent under applicable law or contract, continued use alone will not be treated as a substitute for that requirement.

10. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This Policy is governed by the laws of England and Wales. Subject to any mandatory rights or jurisdiction that cannot lawfully be excluded, disputes arising from this Policy are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

11. Contact Information

Operator: Politis Ltd

Company number: 13661766

Registered office: The Old Courthouse, Orsett Road, Grays, Essex, England, RM17 5DD

ICO registration reference: ZB738312

Support / policy enquiries: info@politisconsulting.co.uk

Security incident reporting: info@politisconsulting.co.uk

Last Updated: 15 August 2026