Effective 29 September 2026.
This policy explains how Hope Research Group (HRG) handles personal information through hoperesearchgroup.com, related website services, and the HRG Contributor Panel. A particular research project may have an additional notice and consent form. Where that notice describes a different use of project material, we will ask you to review it before you decide whether to take part. Questions and privacy requests can be sent to admin@hoperesearchgroup.com.
1. Who is responsible
HOPE Caribbean Company Ltd, based in Kingston, Jamaica, is the Caribbean data controller and HRG's headquarters jurisdiction. It controls Contributor Panel signups from the Caribbean and Latin America, including signups selecting "Other LATAM." HOPE Enterprises USA LLC, based in Florida, United States, is the US data controller and controls US Contributor Panel signups. The controller for other website interactions or a particular project depends on the entity operating it and will be identified in the relevant project notice or agreement. Hope Research Trinidad supports Trinidad and Tobago operations, and Kumar Research Pvt Ltd in Bangalore, India supports regional operations. These teams may handle information when their work requires it. If you are unsure which entity is responsible for your information, contact us at the address above.
2. Information we collect
When you contact HRG, request a proposal, subscribe to a newsletter, download a resource, buy a report, or use a client service, we may collect the details you provide, such as your name, business contact details, organisation, inquiry, interests, order details, and correspondence. Account services may use login and session information. We also receive basic technical information associated with visits and submissions, including page and referral information, device and browser data, cookies or similar identifiers, and campaign parameters.
For the Contributor Panel, the signup form collects your name, email address, WhatsApp number, country, age range, gender selection, languages, device access, project interests, source campaign where present, and a record of your separate project-contact agreement and policy acknowledgement. The gender form includes a "Prefer not to say" option. We do not collect face videos, voice recordings, photos, or PayPal credentials when you join the panel.
If you later accept a project, its brief and consent form will explain the specific recordings or other material requested, who will receive them, the permitted uses, and how long they will be retained. Joining the panel alone is not consent to capture, license, or use your face, voice, or photos for AI training. We may also keep project administration, quality review, approval, and payment records.
3. Why we use it
We use website and business contact information to answer inquiries, provide requested resources and services, administer accounts and purchases, maintain security, and keep required business records. We use panel profile information to assess fit for paid projects, send invitations that match your profile, communicate about an accepted project, and arrange payment when work is approved. Agreeing to project invitations does not sign you up for unrelated marketing.
Depending on the activity and applicable law, our basis for processing may be your consent, steps needed to provide a service or perform an agreement, a legal obligation, or a legitimate business interest that does not override your rights. Acknowledging that you have read this policy and the Terms of Service is recorded separately from agreeing to receive project invitations; acknowledgement is not blanket permission for future media use. Where consent is the basis, you may withdraw it by contacting us. Withdrawal does not undo processing already lawfully carried out or remove material from a trained model as explained below.
4. Research material and AI training
For a project involving face, voice, or photo submissions, HRG will seek project-specific consent when you accept that project, not when you join the panel. The project brief will identify the specific client or provide a means to identify them before acceptance, the material requested, the permitted training or research purpose, compensation and approval criteria, and any project-specific retention terms. HRG will license submissions to the specific client for the specific project only. We do not sell personal data.
You may request deletion of a submission by writing to us. We will explain what can be deleted from HRG's systems and what we can ask the project client to delete, subject to the project consent and applicable law. There is an important technical limit: if a client's AI model has already been trained using a submission, the contribution to that model's weights cannot be reversed, even if the original file is later deleted. We will state that limit again before you accept an affected project.
5. Providers, clients, and transfers
As of the effective date of this policy, the website runs on Replit and stores operational records in a PostgreSQL database. We use Resend for certain transactional email and Microsoft 365 for operational mail. Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity provide website usage and interaction analytics. Stripe processes certain website purchases; PayPal is the stated payment channel for panel projects. These providers receive only the information needed for their respective functions. PayPal and Stripe also apply their own privacy terms when you use their services.
Some existing website contact, chatbot, and internal workflow features use an OpenAI-compatible AI service to process submitted questions or business correspondence. Panel registration is not itself a submission of face, voice, or photo material to that service. We may use relevant regional HRG operations and vetted suppliers to deliver a project. AI training clients are identified through the applicable project brief rather than listed on this general website policy. We do not disclose identifiable project material to a client for a new purpose without the project-specific permission or other lawful basis required for that use.
Information may be handled in Jamaica, the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, India, or the countries where a relevant provider or authorised project team operates. We will assess applicable transfer requirements and use appropriate arrangements where required. We may also disclose information when legally required or necessary to protect rights and security. We never sell personal data.
6. Cookies and analytics
The site uses functional cookies or local storage for functions such as accounts and remembering certain preferences. Google Analytics 4, when configured, can use cookies and identifiers to measure page visits and events. Microsoft Clarity is loaded for site interaction analytics. These tools can receive device and usage information. We do not intend to send names, email addresses, WhatsApp numbers, or raw project media as panel analytics event parameters. You can restrict or clear cookies through your browser; this may affect some features. HRG is evaluating consent tooling for visitors from jurisdictions that require prior consent for analytics cookies. Contact us to opt out in the interim.
7. How long we keep information
- Research participant records: seven years, unless a specific legal requirement or project notice calls for a different period.
- Panel signup profile: until you request deletion or until three years of inactivity, whichever happens first, subject to records we must retain for legal, accounting, or dispute purposes. Inactivity means no project acceptance and no signup update for three years.
- Face, voice, and photo project submissions: the period stated in that project's consent and brief. The model-training limit described above still applies.
- Financial records: seven years.
- Google Analytics 4 user-level and event-level data: HRG's stated retention period is 14 months. Google's standard aggregated reports may follow different retention rules.
Other correspondence and security records are retained only as needed for their purpose and any applicable legal obligation. When a retention period ends, we delete or de-identify information where reasonably possible.
8. Your choices and requests
You can decline a project invitation, stop receiving panel invitations, or request access, correction, or deletion of your information by writing to admin@hoperesearchgroup.com. We may need to verify your identity before acting and may have to retain limited records for legal or accounting reasons. We will explain any limit that applies to your request. You may raise a concern with the relevant data protection authority, including Jamaica's Office of the Information Commissioner where applicable.
Deletion requests are processed manually at present. HRG is developing tooling to streamline this. For a panel signup deletion request, an administrator removes the signup record, subject to any legal or accounting retention requirement, and confirms completion by email.
Our research practices are informed by the ICC/ESOMAR International Code on Market, Opinion and Social Research and Data Analytics and Jamaica's Data Protection Act, 2020. The Code is an ethical standard, not a substitute for applicable law.
If EU or EEA data protection law applies
Where the GDPR applies to a particular activity, you may have rights to access, rectification, erasure, restriction, data portability, objection, and withdrawal of consent, as applicable. You may complain to a competent supervisory authority. The purpose and legal basis for a specific research project will be given in its project notice. These rights and legal bases are subject to the conditions and exceptions in the GDPR; the existence of this section does not mean every HRG activity falls within its territorial scope.
If California privacy law applies
Where the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended, applies to an HRG entity and your information, you may have rights to know, access, correct, or delete personal information, and to opt out of any covered sale or sharing or limit certain uses of sensitive information. We never sell personal data. We will not discriminate against you for exercising a right granted by applicable law. Send requests to the contact address above. Whether analytics activity qualifies as "sharing" under California law depends on its configuration and use; this must be assessed before this draft is approved. See the California Attorney General's CCPA guidance.
9. Changes and contact
If this policy changes, we will update the date on this page. Where a material change affects an existing project consent, we will provide the additional notice or obtain further permission required before the new use. For general and data protection inquiries, contact admin@hoperesearchgroup.com.