What survey panels know about you — and what to share

Contact email, age band or date of birth, gender, postal or ZIP area, household size and income band, employment status, and category-level behavior such as which supermarkets you use.

Device and connection data for fraud screening is also normal: IP address, browser fingerprint, and timing behavior within surveys. Buyers refuse to pay for fraudulent completes, so this is the price of the industry functioning.

National identity numbers, full bank credentials, document scans or selfies at registration, and precise continuous location. None of these are needed for consumer research.

Health conditions and political views are sensitive categories under most privacy laws and require explicit, specific consent — a general 'I agree to the terms' does not cover them.

Find the section headed sharing or disclosure. 'We share anonymised, aggregated results with clients' is research. 'We share your information with our marketing partners' followed by a long list is lead generation.

Also check retention: a defined period such as 24 months after last activity is a good sign; 'as long as necessary' with no period is a placeholder.

Most privacy regimes give you access, correction and deletion rights. Email the contact in the privacy policy, state the right you are exercising, and name the law if you are in a covered jurisdiction. Response windows are commonly 30 days.

Deletion ends outstanding balances at most panels, so cash out first.

A dedicated email alias per panel makes resale visible instantly — you will know exactly who leaked. A password manager stops one panel breach becoming five account takeovers. Neither takes more than ten minutes to set up.