Consent Notice

About this document

Citizen Centric Consent Notice

How research participation consent is obtained, recorded and withdrawn.

Publication details

Operator — Politis Ltd (company number 13661766)

Version — 1.1

Effective date — 18 August 2026

Important information

This platform notice explains the general consent process used by Citizen Centric. It does not enrol anyone in a study and does not replace the participant information, privacy notice and consent statements approved for the particular study.

Scope

This notice applies to people invited to take part in research through Citizen Centric, the research participation and study-management platform operated by Politis Ltd. The research organisation running each study is responsible for the study design, participant information, consent wording and ethics or governance approvals.

Before deciding whether to take part, you should receive study-specific information explaining:

• who is running and funding the study and how to contact the research team;
• the study's purpose, duration and what participation involves;
• any reasonably foreseeable risks, burdens, benefits or payments;
• what information will be collected, including any photographs, audio, documents or other media;
• how personal information will be used, shared, protected and retained;
• whether approved AI-assisted processing will be used; and
• how to withdraw, what withdrawal changes, and what may happen to information already provided.

Voluntary participation

Taking part is voluntary. You may decline an invitation, ask questions before deciding, or withdraw later without giving a reason. Declining or withdrawing should not affect any service or benefit to which you are otherwise entitled. Any study-specific effect on a payment or incentive must be explained before you consent.

You may choose not to provide optional material. A study may identify information that is needed to complete a particular activity; if you do not provide it, that activity may not be capable of submission. The study information should make this clear.

What your consent confirms

When you give study-participation consent through Citizen Centric, you confirm that:

Consent must be an affirmative choice. Optional consent choices will not be pre-selected or bundled with unrelated matters. If you do not understand the information, contact the research team before agreeing to participate.

• you have been given the current participant information and study privacy notice;
• you have had a reasonable opportunity to read or receive that information and ask questions;
• you understand what the study asks you to do and any material risks or burdens explained to you;
• you understand that participation is voluntary and how to withdraw;
• you understand what will happen to information already submitted if you withdraw; and
• you agree to take part and affirm any additional study-specific consent statements shown to you.

Important information

Consent to participate in research is not automatically the same as consent used as a lawful basis for processing personal information under the UK GDPR.

The research organisation acting as controller must identify and explain the applicable UK GDPR Article 6 lawful basis and, where special-category information is processed, the applicable Article 9 condition. These may be consent or another lawful basis or condition. Where data-protection consent is relied upon, the study documentation must explain how it can be withdrawn and the effect of withdrawal on processing already carried out lawfully.

How consent is recorded

Citizen Centric records consent through the study's server-authorised consent process. The record links the affirmative response to the relevant participant, study, consent wording or version, and date and time. The research organisation controls the approved wording and determines how long the record must be retained for research governance and accountability.

An invitation code provides access to an invited participant journey; it is not, by itself, a record of informed consent. Device permissions for the camera, microphone or photo library are also separate from consent to participate and from any data-protection consent.

Optional activities and material changes

A study may ask separately for agreement to genuinely optional activities, such as providing audio, photographs or other additional material. Refusing an optional activity should not be treated as refusing the whole study unless the activity is an essential part of the approved study design and this was made clear.

If the study's purpose, procedures, risks, data collection or other material terms change, the research organisation must provide updated information and obtain renewed consent where required before further participation under the changed arrangements. Continued app use will not be treated as renewed consent where an affirmative confirmation is required.

Withdrawing from a study

You may ask to withdraw using the option provided in the app or by contacting the research team named in the participant information. The consequences must be shown before an in-app request is sent, and the service will confirm when the request has been processed.

Withdrawal from participation, deletion of identifiable Study Data and deletion of a Citizen Centric account are different actions. Withdrawal does not retrospectively make earlier participation or processing unlawful and does not always require deletion of information already collected. The controller must apply the study information, applicable law and any valid research safeguards or exemptions.

• Identifiable information remains personal information and must continue to be protected.
• Pseudonymised information remains personal information even when direct identifiers are held separately.
• Information that has been irreversibly anonymised so that it can no longer be linked to you is no longer personal information and cannot ordinarily be retrieved as your data.
• A withdrawal or deletion request will not be described as complete until the server-authorised process confirms the relevant action.

Children, capacity and supported participation

A study involving children, young people or adults who may need support must establish appropriate age, capacity, parental-responsibility, safeguarding and ethics arrangements before launch. There is no single platform-wide age at which parental permission is always required; the correct arrangement depends on the study, the participant's understanding, applicable law and the study's approvals.

Information should be provided in a form the intended participant can understand. A supporter may help a person read information or operate the app where the approved study arrangements permit this, but must not answer, submit material or give consent on the participant's behalf unless they have lawful authority and that arrangement is permitted and documented for the study.

AI-assisted processing

Where approved AI-assisted functions are active for a study, their purpose and relevant safeguards must be explained in the study-specific participant information and privacy notice. Functions may support tasks such as transcription, translation, thematic organisation or summarisation. Outputs are research-assistance tools subject to human review. Participant material is not used to train public or shared foundation models.

Accessibility and questions

You may ask for participant information or consent material in a reasonably accessible format. If you need help understanding the study, an adjustment, or more time to decide, contact the research team before consenting. You do not have to disclose a diagnosis when describing an accessibility barrier.

Questions about the study, its consent statements or the consequences of withdrawal should be directed first to the research team named in the participant information. Questions about the Citizen Centric platform may also be sent to Politis Ltd using the contact details below.

Contact and updates

Politis Ltd The Old Courthouse, Orsett Road, Grays, Essex, England, RM17 5DD Email: info@politisconsulting.co.uk ICO registration reference: ZB738312

Material changes to this platform notice will be versioned and published with an updated effective date. Study-specific participant information and consent wording are separately controlled and versioned by the research organisation.