Privacy Policy

Last updated: 9 September 2026

This policy explains what personal information Early Signal Research collects, how we use it, and the rights you have over it. We keep it plain and we collect as little as we can.

Who we are

Early Signal Research (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a consumer-research service operated by a sole trader based in the United Kingdom. For the purposes of UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), we are the “controller” of the personal data described in this policy.

You can reach us at info@earlysignalresearch.com for any privacy question or request.

The information we collect

From you, our client. When you generate a study plan or place an order, we collect the brand or product name you enter, the decision you describe, the target-audience description you provide, the creative files you upload (images of ads, packaging or concepts), and your email address. When you pay, your card details are entered directly with our payment provider (Stripe) — we never see or store your full card number.

From research participants. Studies are run with real UK consumers recruited through Prolific. Participants answer survey questions about your creatives (for example how likely they would be to buy, what they think a product is for, and open-text comments). We receive these responses identified only by a Prolific participant ID — we do not collect participants’ names or contact details. Prolific recruits participants and obtains their consent to take part in research.

Technical information. Our hosting provider keeps basic server logs (such as IP address and timestamps) needed to run and secure the site. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics, a privacy-friendly, cookieless service that gives us aggregate visitor statistics (such as page views and referrers) without cookies and without tracking individuals across sites. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

Cookies

Our own site does not set analytics, advertising or tracking cookies. Our analytics provider (Cloudflare Web Analytics) is cookieless. Only strictly necessary technology needed to operate the site is used. If you make a payment, Stripe may set cookies on its own checkout pages to process the payment securely and prevent fraud; that is governed by Stripe’s privacy policy.

How we use your information, and our legal basis

• To provide the study you ask for — designing the plan, recruiting consumers, running the survey and producing your readout. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you.
• To process your payment and prevent fraud. Legal basis: performance of our contract, and our legitimate interests in secure payments.
• To communicate with you about your study and send your results. Legal basis: performance of our contract.
• To run and improve the service. Legal basis: our legitimate interests in operating and improving a reliable service, balanced against your rights.

AI processing

We use artificial-intelligence tools (provided by Anthropic) to help read the creatives you upload and to help analyse consumer responses. Our AI provider does not use data submitted through its API to train its models. AI outputs are reviewed as part of producing your readout.

The service providers we share data with

We use a small number of trusted providers who process data on our behalf, only as needed to run the service:

• Stripe — payment processing.
• Prolific — recruiting and paying UK research participants.
• Cloudinary — secure hosting of the creative images you upload.
• Render — hosting our application and website.
• Anthropic — AI processing, as described above.
• Google Fonts — serving the site’s fonts (this loads font files from Google).

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it for advertising.

International transfers

Some of our providers are based outside the UK (for example in the United States). Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on appropriate safeguards recognised under UK data protection law, such as the UK’s International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum, or a country the UK considers to provide adequate protection.

How long we keep it

We keep the information related to a study for as long as we need it to deliver the service and for a reasonable period afterwards (normally up to 12 months after your readout is delivered), then we delete or anonymise it. You can ask us to delete your data sooner — see your rights below. We keep basic records of transactions for as long as the law requires (for example for tax purposes).

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to receive a copy in a portable format. To exercise any of these, email info@earlysignalresearch.com and we will respond within the time the law allows.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, you can complain to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk. We would appreciate the chance to put things right first.

Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including using reputable providers and limiting access to what is needed. No online service can be completely secure, but we work to keep your data safe.

Children

Our service is for businesses and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18, and research participants are adults.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the “last updated” date at the top, and significant changes will be highlighted where appropriate.

Contact us

For any question about this policy or your personal data, email info@earlysignalresearch.com.