Data Privacy and Consent Management¶

Running research on real people carries real obligations - not just to design a good survey, but to be clear with respondents about what's being collected and why, and to give them a genuine way to consent to it. Opionate builds consent handling into the respondent-facing survey experience itself, rather than leaving it as something you have to bolt on separately.

Consent at the Point of Response¶

Respondents are presented with consent information as part of taking a survey, giving them the opportunity to understand what they're agreeing to before their responses are recorded. This is handled consistently across surveys, rather than depending on each survey owner to build their own consent flow from scratch.

Your Responsibility as a Survey Owner¶

Consent handling in the platform supports your compliance obligations - it doesn't replace the judgment you need to bring to your own research design. You're still responsible for writing accurate, honest descriptions of what you're collecting and why, for any question wording that touches on sensitive personal data, and for how you use responses once they're in your hands. Consent tooling makes it possible to run compliant research; it doesn't make every possible survey design compliant automatically.

Respondent Data and Panel Recruitment¶

When you recruit respondents through Panel Recruitment rather than your own distribution list, the same consent principles apply - respondents are informed participants in a research study, not passive data sources. See Introduction to Panel Recruitment for more on how that recruitment flow works.

Data Retention and Deletion¶

If you need to remove data associated with a survey, a respondent, or your account, reach out through Opionate's support channel - requests like this are handled directly by the team rather than requiring you to navigate a separate self-service system, since they often need to be verified and applied carefully across a respondent's full data footprint.

FAQ¶

Does Opionate provide legal advice on whether my specific survey is compliant?
No - consent tooling in the platform supports compliant research practice, but whether a specific survey design meets your obligations under applicable law is a judgment call for you (and, where appropriate, your own legal counsel), not something the platform certifies on your behalf.

Can respondents decline to participate after seeing the consent information?
Yes - consent is a genuine choice presented before responses are recorded, not a formality respondents are forced past.

Does this apply to surveys distributed through my own list, not just Panel Recruitment?
Yes - the same respondent-facing consent handling applies regardless of how respondents reach your survey.

Who do I contact about a data subject request (access, deletion, correction)?
Reach out via Opionate's in-app messaging - these requests are handled directly by the team.

For more on general platform security practices, see Security Overview.