Recruitment marketplaces such as Prolific help connect researchers to qualified participants who can complete tasks or surveys, and provide easy mechanisms for rewarding this work via financial incentives. Researchers seeking to use this cloud-based crowdsourcing platform should be aware that, to date, Prolific has not agreed to UW’s standard vendor terms nor signed a data privacy agreement with the UW. 

As a result, the UW Privacy Office and UW Procurement have major concerns about Prolific’s terms of service and use of data.  While use of the platform is permitted in within the College of Engineering in departments whose chair has provided approval, each researcher must weigh the concerns, understand the risks, and agree to specific terms that help mitigate risks before using it. 

Read the full CoE Prolific Use Policy here.

Don't see your department listed below? Each chair needs to accept the risks related to the CoE Prolific Policy before any researchers in your department may use it. Have them send their approval or contact Eng-Research@uw.edu for more information.