Terms of Use

PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE OR THE MATERIALS.

Last Updated: November 30th, 2020

Welcome to incrowdanswers.com, a website owned and operated by InCrowd, Inc., 480 Pleasant Street, Suite B100, Watertown, MA 02472, USA (“InCrowd”). In addition to incrowdanswers.com, InCrowd also operates incrowdnow.com (“Sites”). The Sites and their contents are designed to comply with U.S. laws and regulations. This is a binding agreement (“Agreement”) between InCrowd and you (“You” or “Your”). This Agreement governs Your use of the Sites including, without limitation, all content such as text, images, blogs, online communities, software, surveys, web applications, web pages, mobile applications, and other information, services, materials, and all information made available to You or by You through the Sites by InCrowd and/or third parties (collectively, the “Materials”).

By accessing or using the Sites, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions described herein and all terms incorporated by reference. If you do not accept these Terms of Use, please do not register or use the Sites or Materials.

For the purpose of entering into this Agreement, you represent that you are of legal age to form a binding contract. If you are using the Sites or Materials on behalf of any entity, you represent and warrant that you are authorized to accept this Agreement on such entity’s behalf and that such entity agrees to indemnify you and InCrowd for violations of this Agreement.

Through the Sites, InCrowd provides surveys that can be taken via electronic notification methods including but not limited to email and SMS.

InCrowd may modify these Terms of Use at any time without liability, by posting the new version on the Sites. Your use of the Sites and/or Materials after any such modification means that you accept that you will comply with the modified Terms of Use. We will notify you of any material changes to this Policy by posting a notice on the homepage of the Site for a reasonable period after such changes are made, and by changing the “Last Updated” date at the top of this Policy. We encourage you to check this page periodically for any changes.

1) USER AGREEMENT

A. CONDITIONS AND TERMS OF USE

The use of Materials, including but not limited to answering survey questions (“Questions”), is constrained as follows:

• You attest to providing accurate and complete representation of self as related to any request from InCrowd for input regarding Materials or Questions;
• If a healthcare professional, be properly accredited, licensed or otherwise credentialed in the area of expertise for which your input is sought;
• Your usage of the Sites is not prohibited by law.

And to the extent you are a Crowd Member (as that term is defined below):

• In good standing;
• Located within the United States.

B. INCROWD PANEL

Registering with InCrowd Answers makes you a part of the InCrowd Panel (“Crowd” or “Crowd Member”), a Health Care Provider (“HCP”) survey panel owned and maintained by InCrowd. As a Crowd Member, you will have access to the below services as well as eligibility to receive invitations to participate in market research surveys in the event such opportunities arise. Participation in the Crowd is free and may generate honoraria and incentives. As a Crowd Member, InCrowd (or its service providers or affiliates on InCrowd’s behalf) may contact you multiple times via any and all contact information that you provide.

Your status as a Crowd Member is personal to you and is not transferable to any other person. InCrowd has the right to refuse membership in the Crowd to any individual, and participation in the Sites may be revoked at any time without notice.

Membership may be revoked for any of the following:

• You breach any of the Terms of Use (including any terms found in the Privacy Policy and/or any honoraria specific Terms and Conditions);
• You misuse your membership in the Crowd or use it for any improper purpose;
• Any activities on your account or your participant responses to surveys are subject to investigation in regards to data integrity, reliability or validity;
• InCrowds’s right to process and use any information necessary to run the Crowd is legally withdrawn, by law or otherwise;
• Your good standing as a physician, registered nurse or other qualifying professional designation is revoked, suspended, or otherwise deemed invalid

When completing your profile, You will be asked to provide information such as your name, email address, postal address, phone number, age, gender (“Personal Information”), and details regarding your experience as a healthcare professional. If You are based in the United States and if applicable, You may be asked to provide your medical license number and/or NPI number; this information will be used to verify your status as an actively licensed, practicing healthcare professional.

The personal information and data You provide during registration will also be used to confirm your identity via third-party validation providers such as MedProID and IDology. If our system detects any inconsistencies in the data you provide, You may be asked a series of knowledge-based authentication questions to address potential cases of identity theft and fraud.

As a Crowd Member, you will have an active username and password to incrowdanswers.com. It is your responsibility to ensure your login credentials (email and password) are kept confidential. InCrowd will not be liable for any unauthorized use of your account, which includes unauthorized use of your email address and password. For security purposes, we may periodically require you to update your password. InCrowd maintains a Password Policy that follows industry best practices, which may be updated from time to time. You will not be permitted to use a password that violates our Password Policy and to the extent InCrowd’s Password Policy changes over time, you may be required to change your password in addition to our periodic change requirements.

C. PERSONAL PROFILE

Once a registered participant in the Crowd, You may provide additional information in Your personal profile describing your credentials, professional experiences, academic background, biography, and the like. Your personal profile will not be available for viewing by other registered participants. Providing additional information in Your personal profile beyond what is required at registration is entirely optional and can be altered or removed by You at any time.

If you no longer wish to be a member of the Crowd, you may request to be removed from the Crowd at any time. However, upon the termination of your participation with the Crowd, you forfeit any right to any honoraria or incentives not yet reimbursed to you.

After registering as a Crowd Member, You can request your personal details to be removed from the Crowd and to have your participation in the Crowd terminated by:

• Deactivating your InCrowd account in your Account Settings;
• Opt-out of membership by emailing a request to support@incrowdnow.com with the words ‘Remove Me’ in the subject line AND referencing the email address with which you registered with the Panel

Failure to follow the stated procedure correctly may result in a delay in the removal of your information from the InCrowd databases. Your removal request will be addressed through commercially reasonable efforts. However, there may be a gap of up to 1 month between when your request to be removed is received and the final cessation of receipt of any further Materials from InCrowd.

While you will have the option to configure your communication preferences for SMS & email, please note that opting out of communications will not deactivate your InCrowd account.

By submitting your information to InCrowd, You hereby certify all assertions made under this Section and agree that You authorize InCrowd to confirm the veracity of such information.

InCrowd represents that it shall:

• Process that Personal Information in a manner consistent with Your consent, or as otherwise permitted by law;
• Ensure that it has in place appropriate technical and organizational measures (“Measures”) to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of Personal Information and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, Personal Information, that such Measures are appropriate to the harm that might result from the unauthorized or unlawful processing or accidental loss, destruction or damage and the nature of the data to be protected, and that such Measures are deployed with commercially reasonable efforts. The Measures may include, where appropriate, pseudonymizing and encrypting Personal Information, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, availability, and resilience of systems and services, ensuring that availability of and access to Personal Information can be restored in a timely manner after an incident, and regularly assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of the technical and organizational measures adopted by InCrowd);
• Ensure that all personnel who have access to and/or process Personal Data are obliged to keep the Personal Information confidential; and
• Only transfer Personal Data maintained or processed in the European Union outside of the European Union with Your consent and where:
• Appropriate safeguards are used in relation to the transfer;
• The data subject has enforceable rights and effective legal remedies;
• InCrowd provides an adequate level of protection to any Personal Information that is transferred; and
• InCrowd complies with reasonable instructions notified to it in advance by You with respect to the processing of the Personal Information
• Notify you without undue delay on becoming aware of a Personal Information breach;
• At your direction, delete or return Personal Data and copies thereof to you on termination of the Agreement unless otherwise permitted by applicable law; and
• Maintain complete and accurate records and information to demonstrate its compliance with this clause.

D. PANEL USER SUBMISSION

General: Unless otherwise agreed in writing prior to Your submission, any material, information, or other communication You transmit or post to the Sites will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary (“Communications”). InCrowd will have no obligations with respect to the Communications.

You are prohibited from posting or transmitting to or from the Sites any unlawful, infringing, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, or other material that would violate any law, rule, or regulation. Any attempt to obtain unauthorized access or to exceed authorized access to the Sites shall be considered a trespass and computer fraud and abuse, punishable under applicable state and federal laws. InCrowd hereby notifies You that any or all communications with the Sites can and will be monitored, captured, recorded, and transmitted to the authorities as deemed necessary by InCrowd in its sole discretion and without further notice. You are reminded that InCrowd does not collect personal health information about individuals. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy rule, which took effect on April 14, 2003, allows for the use of de-identified health information so long as identifiers have been “stripped” and a key is not disclosed that would allow the information to be re-identified. InCrowd does not possess a key to re-identify patient data.

E. MEDICAL DISCLAIMERS

The Materials available through the Sites are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for the professional judgment of a health care professional in diagnosing and treating patients. InCrowd and Crowd Members are not permitted to advise, diagnose, or otherwise treat users of the Sites. Neither the content nor any other service offered by or through the Sites is intended to be for medical diagnosis or treatment. Persons accessing this information assume full responsibility for the use of the information and agree that InCrowd is not responsible or liable for any claim, loss, or damage arising from the use of the information. InCrowd does not recommend or endorse any specific drugs, tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, “off-label” drug uses, or other information that may be mentioned on the Sites. Reliance upon the Materials obtained or used at or through the Sites is solely at Your own risk.

F. REPRESENTATION

As a member of the Crowd, You are liable for the accuracy of the information that You provide to us, including, but not limited to, Your personal and professional representation. You hereby certify that You are not a paid consultant or do not have any other financial interests in the information you provide to the Sites including, but not limited to, the promotion of “off-label” drug uses, the disclosure of confidential clinical trial or other proprietary information. We cannot and do not assume any responsibility for your use or misuse of patient information. We reserve the right to amend or delete any material (along with the right to revoke any membership or restrict access to InCrowd) that, in our sole discretion, violates the above. In addition to the above, you also represent that you will maintain confidentiality in Confidential Information as that term is defined below.

G. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SITES

By registering with InCrowd, You agree to receive invitations to participate in surveys. You will have the ability to opt-in to receiving these invitations via email and/or SMS communication. At any point, You can opt-in or opt-out of the email and/or SMS communications by logging into your account or by contacting support@incrowdnow.com, but doing so will not close your account.

In addition, You can send messages to our member support staff via chat functionality available on our Site, as well as by phone. We respect the time and privacy of our members and do not want to inundate You with unnecessary messages. The volume of survey invitations You receive will vary depending on what is available at any given time. You may be eligible to participate in multiple surveys in a week – which would lead to more frequent communication – other times, we may not have a survey for You for several months, and depending on your profile, potentially several years.

Occasionally we will reach out to You by email for engagement purposes. These communications can include newsletters, updates on Your membership, news regarding InCrowd features or information about InCrowd sponsored giveaways. All messaging is optional and can be configured in your Crowd Portal with the exception of mandatory communications which are required to maintain the safety, security and usability of your account.

To discontinue mandatory communications please contact support@incrowdnow.com and request that your account be closed.

H. REWARDS PROGRAM

Upon successful registration on the Sites, You will periodically receive survey invitations through email or SMS messages to your phone. You will earn rewards for each completed survey; rewards will be added to your InCrowd account, usually within 24 to 48 hours after survey completion. Rewards may be redeemed through your InCrowd account once your rewards balance reaches twenty-five dollars, unredeemed rewards may expire after one year and may expire without notification.

If your account has been inactive for 1 year or more, you may no longer be eligible to redeem your Rewards at the sole discretion of InCrowd.

You can manage and track your earnings, payments, and payment information using your InCrowd account.

To access your account, please log in to InCrowdanswers.com.

I. DATA RETENTION – FOR EU MEMBERS ONLY

InCrowd represents that it retains data assets which include Personal Data of E.U. Data Subjects per the following guidelines:

• Survey Data and materials pertinent to the research execution will be retained for the term of the associated contract executed with the commissioning client plus five (5) years.
• Member Profile Data will be retained for the term of Membership plus two (2) years.
• Reward Payment Data will be retained for five (5) years.
• Adverse Event Report Data will be retained for the term of the associated contract executed with the commissioning client.

2. GENERAL DISCLAIMERS

These Materials are provided “as is” without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including warranties of merchantability, non-infringement of intellectual property, or fitness for any particular purpose or warranties arising by course of dealing or custom or trade. In no event shall InCrowd, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and their respective members, directors, officers, employees, stockholders and agents be liable to you or any other entity for any and all damages including, but not limited to, direct, compensatory, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary or punitive damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of profits, business interruption, loss of information and loss of business opportunities) arising out of or relating to (1) the use or inability to use the Materials, (2) reliance on the content and Materials, (3) errors, inaccuracies, omissions, defects, untimeliness, security breaches, (4) information communicated through chat rooms or message boards, (5) the satisfaction of any government regulation requiring disclosure of information on prescription or “off-label” drug products with regard to the information contained within the Sites, or (6) any failure to perform by InCrowd or InCrowd’s content providers. The foregoing shall apply regardless of whether InCrowd has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

InCrowd also makes no representations or warranties that your access to and use of the Sites, Materials, or third-party sites (1) will be uninterrupted or error-free, (2) is free of viruses, unauthorized code, or other harmful components, (3) is secure, or (4) will meet your satisfaction. You are responsible for taking all precautions you believe necessary or advisable to protect you against any claim, damage, loss, or hazard that may arise by virtue of your use of the Sites.

Because some jurisdictions may not permit each of these disclaimers and limitations, the above limitation may not apply to You. InCrowd and its subsidiaries, affiliates and their respective members, directors, officers, employees, stockholders, and agents further do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these Materials. InCrowd may make changes to these Materials, or to the services and/or products described therein, at any time without notice. InCrowd makes no commitment to update the Materials. Any description of Materials is not a representation that any such Materials are available for sale or distribution in Your location.

A. INDEMNITY

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold InCrowd, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and their respective members, directors, officers, employees, stockholders, and agents harmless against any losses, expenses, costs or damages (including InCrowd’s reasonable attorneys’ fees, expert fees’ and other reasonable costs of litigation) arising from, incurred as a result of, or in any manner related to (1) Your breach of this Agreement, (2) Your unauthorized or unlawful use of the Sites, and/or the Materials, and (3) the unauthorized or unlawful use of the Sites by/and/or any other person using Your ID.

The Sites are not a substitute for professional medical advice and provides only general medical information. Please consult a medical professional to discuss specifics related to your health and for a more in-depth review of any particular health issues you encounter.

B. PROHIBITED USES

As a supplier of content to the InCrowd Sites or Materials, You are required to comply with all applicable laws and regulations relating to the content, questions, or services. You represent and warrant that you will not use the Site or Materials to:

• Store, transmit, copy, download or disseminate any sensitive or confidential information that you may have access to in the course of research activities with InCrowd or it’s Clients;
• Store, transmit, publish or disseminate any obscene, hateful, child pornography, racist, or any other illicit, contrary to public Policy or otherwise objectionable content;
• Store, transmit, publish or disseminate any content that promotes or relates to information about illegal activities or causes personal harm or injury against any individual or group (including defamation, insults, abuse, etc.);
• Infringe the copyright, trademark, trade secret or any other intellectual property rights of a third party or violate the privacy, publicity or other personal rights of a third party;
• Misrepresent your identity or represent yourself as another entity; or
• Intentionally post any content, which disparages or otherwise damage the goodwill, image or reputation of InCrowd or any third party.

You acknowledge and agree that any attempted or actual violation of any of the foregoing will constitute a material breach of this Agreement. In such an event, InCrowd may pursue any and all applicable legal and equitable remedies against you, including, without limitation, immediately terminating this Agreement, removing your Survey and Content, deactivating your account and notify any unlawful conduct to the appropriate authorities, individuals or persons.

3. TAXES

You are responsible for declaring any taxes, if due, to your local financial authorities as a result of honoraria or incentives that you receive as further set forth below. InCrowd will not be liable for any taxes or for providing any assistance on tax matters. For Crowd Members in the United States, InCrowd may issue a 1099 federal or equivalent tax form in the event you receive honoraria or incentives requiring the reporting of income. Details on any honoraria or incentives paid to you can be found on your personal pages.

In the event any payment due under this Agreement is subject to or becomes subject to any tax or other deduction payable by You, such tax or deduction shall be paid by You so that the payments by InCrowd shall be in full and free of all liability for such tax or other deductions. You agree to pay and bear the expense of local, state and/or federal government licenses, sales and use, foreign withholding tax, property and ad valorem taxes, which may be imposed or assessed with respect to payments made by InCrowd to You under this Agreement. In the case where You have or will have been paid in an amount greater than $600 in a single fiscal year, InCrowd reserves the right to request and receive a Tax ID No. or other information from You prior to making any subsequent payments.

4. SECURITY

This Site is intended by InCrowd to require a valid, working email address and password to access and use the Materials and other features on the Site. Certain other Materials or functionalities on the Site may require additional access codes. You are solely responsible for (1) maintaining the strict confidentiality of the email address, passwords and codes (collectively, “I.D. (s)”) assigned to you, (2) not allowing another person to use your I.D.s to access the Site, (3) any damages or losses that may be incurred or suffered as a result of You or Your failure to maintain the strict confidentiality of Your ID, and (4) promptly informing InCrowd in writing of any need to deactivate an I.D. due to potential or actual security concerns. InCrowd is not liable for any harm related to the theft of Your ID, Your disclosure of Your ID, or Your authorization to allow another person or entity to access and use the Site using Your ID. You agree to immediately notify InCrowd in writing of any unauthorized use of Your ID.

5) DATA SAFETY

You understand and agree that any data downloaded or obtained through the Site is done at your own discretion and risk and that you are solely responsible for any damage done to computers or systems, including the loss of data resulting from the download of such data. Due to the intrinsic nature and risks inherent with the use of the Internet, You acknowledge that You and Your content are not protected against the risks of misappropriation and/or piracy by a third party, for which InCrowd shall, in no event, have any liability to You or any third party. Accordingly, You are responsible for taking all appropriate steps to protect such data and content, where applicable.

6) LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

In no event shall InCrowd be liable for any indirect, direct, special, consequential, or exemplary damages arising from this Agreement, the services, or the inability to use the services. Except for payment obligations, neither party shall have any liability for any failure or delay resulting from any condition beyond the reasonable control of such party, including but not limited to governmental action or acts of terrorism, earthquake or other acts of God, labor conditions, and power failures.

7) MISCELLANEOUS

The relationship between you and InCrowd is one of the independent contractors, and not of agent, partner, employee, or joint venture. This Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. Any modifications to this Agreement must be made in writing executed by both parties. The failure to require performance of any provision shall not affect a party’s right to require performance at any time thereafter, nor shall a waiver of any breach or default of this Agreement constitute a waiver of any subsequent breach or default or a waiver of the provision itself. If any provision herein is held unenforceable, then such provision will be modified to reflect the parties’ intention, and the remaining provisions of this Agreement will remain in full force and effect. In connection with any litigation arising out of this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover all costs incurred including, but not limited to, its reasonable attorneys’ fees at all trial and appellate levels and post-judgment proceedings.

8) ENTIRE AGREEMENT

This Agreement, including the Privacy Policy, and any other InCrowd policy which is incorporated herein by this reference, contains the entire Agreement between You and InCrowd relating to the subject matter hereof and supersedes any other oral or written communications relating thereto. This Agreement may not be amended or supplemented by any purchase order or similar form originated by You relating to the subject matter hereof, or statements of any of InCrowd’s employees. InCrowd reserves the right to make changes to this Agreement at any time without advance notice. InCrowd agrees to post all amended forms of this Agreement on the Sites, and such amended forms shall be effective immediately upon its posting. It is at all times Your responsibility to read the most current form of this Agreement before using the Sites to ensure that You agree to the terms and conditions of any amendments made to this Agreement. You agree that these standards for notice of amendments to this Agreement are reasonable.

9) REPORTING ADVERSE EVENTS

By use of our Sites, You acknowledge and agree that InCrowd may be required by applicable laws and regulations to follow-up with You if You mention an Adverse Event during your participation in a specific survey engagement. We are committed to supporting our clients and the pharmaceutical manufacturers who sponsor such research engagements in responding to requests for follow-up on Adverse Events within the timeframe required by the federal, state, and foreign laws and regulations which govern such matters. By participating in our Crowd, You agree to be contacted via phone and/or email outreach by members of our team to follow-up for additional details regarding the Adverse Events referred to by You within a survey engagement. You do have the right to refuse to provide additional details regarding the Adverse Event, including any Personal Information associated with You; however, a refusal does not override the requirement for us to report on the Adverse Event mention to our clients and the pharmaceutical manufacturers who have sponsored the research engagement. In case of your refusal, none of your Personal Information will be released as part of the reporting process.

10) PROFESSIONAL PAYMENT DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS

You acknowledge and agree that InCrowd may be required by applicable law and regulation to disclose the existence of rewards redeemed, the terms of this redemption including financial terms, and the subject matter associated with each payment (e.g., the U.S. Sunshine Act, and state and foreign equivalents). Please note that unredeemed rewards may expire after one year and without notice.

Our reward program is administered in accordance with federal, state and foreign laws, including Section 6002 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as the “Physician Payments Sunshine Act”), the ABPI Code of Practice in the United Kingdom, and Loi Bertrand and the Loi Anti-Cadeaux in France. Under these regulations, certain payments may be subject to reporting to the respective bodies, who will make the details available for public viewing on its Website. To learn more, please contact us at privacy@incrowdnow.com.

11) PRIVACY

InCrowd respects your right to the privacy of your personal information. Please review our Privacy Policy for details on the manner in which we collect, use, disclose, and otherwise manage your personal information.

12) CONFIDENTIALITY

InCrowd defines “Confidential Information” as including but not limited to all content created and used in the course of market research activities conducted through your participation in the Sites and/or market research activities managed by InCrowd. The content and Materials represented in InCrowd’s market research activities on the Sites include but are not limited to marketing and business strategies and plans, therapeutic information, technology information and non-public business, data, trade secrets, any written content that is marked as sensitive or confidential and any other data, comprising of oral and visual information, which sensibly should be known to be sensitive or confidential.

The above-stated confidentiality responsibility do not bind to data which you or us, as a legatee of such data from other party, can prove and document: (i) known to it before the receipt or was lawfully in its possession of such data; (ii) has become general knowledge via no fault of the legatee; (iii) is gotten by the recipient lawfully from a third party without breaching any of the confidentiality responsibility; (iv) is autonomously developed by the recipient employees who do not have access to such an information; or (v) is needed to be a divulged pursuant to a court order, law or regulation (though only to the minimal extent needed to abide by such order or regulation, and if allowed by appropriate law, giving the recipient a prior notice).

13) LEGAL AND SITE COMPLIANCE

InCrowd reserves the right to disclose your information in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) our rights or property, other visitors, our community members, or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities. We also reserve the right to disclose your information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it.

14) QUESTIONS

If you have any questions or comments regarding these Terms of Use, please contact us at privacy@incrowdnow.com via phone at +1-617-934-1600 ext. 6 or via postal mail at InCrowd, Attn: Compliance Department, 480 Pleasant Street, Suite B100, Watertown, MA 02472 USA.