I wonder of the legality ...

[Crmag9977]

Wonder if it’s somehow Illegal to be a platform for surveys , offer people ‘points ‘ ( which equal money ) to do surveys ....get a cut for what people take , but don’t pay them . It’d seem to violate disposition laws if the person offered wasn’t compensated 

[schludermann]

Perhaps in Texas, we could press an issue if enough of us make a point. I'd include a screen shot of the notice. However, SP has throttled the ability of forum members to post more than a few MegaBytes in total. I wonder if this throttling is a Canadian thing? So, Y'all will have to just go to a Texas Bar and start combing the interior for this legal notice.

[Bal]

On 10/7/2021 at 4:59 PM, Crmag9977 said:

Wonder if it’s somehow Illegal to be a platform for surveys , offer people ‘points ‘ ( which equal money ) to do surveys ....get a cut for what people take , but don’t pay them . It’d seem to violate disposition laws if the person offered wasn’t compensated 

Absolutely. I think these survey companies are complete charlatans.

Only today, I have had two surveys not pay me for completing them. They use the excuse that they don't get paid if we don't get paid, what a load of nonsense that is.

They also say that they don't use the data if we get screened out after completing the survey, another lie. 

If I think how many times a day I get scammed after completing a survey, combine that with everyone else, they are getting so much data for free, it is illegal and wrong in my opinion that people waste their time and energy and then get nothing.

Something should be done about it.

[kador]

We need to get someone working inside to be a whistleblower, documenting the times the company used data even after respondents were screened out, then it's a class action lawsuit.

[schludermann]

18 hours ago, Bal said:

.

They also say that they don't use the data if we get screened out after completing the survey, another lie.

I think this this is Bull, because they never put in writing.  Like the Terms and Conditions or Privacy Policy documents.  What they do say,profusely is how free they are to use any information provided by "members", out side of identifiable information. It's been my expereince that if an activity is not specifically excluded by contract, terms or satute, they can do what ever they want. I've challenged several survey panels on this and they never produce anything to counter my assertion.

[schludermann]

16 hours ago, kador said:

We need to get someone working inside to be a whistleblower, documenting the times the company used data even after respondents were screened out, then it's a class action lawsuit.

Well keep you emails, take screen shots and become familiar with class-action lawsuit web sites.  Though, there may not be as many opportunities for class-actions, because there TOS agreements we click "yes" to do surveys is chocked full of arbitration clauses.

[dawn_b_adams]

Yeah, it would sure be nice to be able to file a class action lawsuit. But there are so many crappy survey sites, which one would you pick? They all suck in the end. They are “the house” and the house always wins. We are the gamblers continually pulling the slots and hoping against hope that we get a few pennies. 

I could sign up as a crossing guard, work 5-10 hours a week, and make significantly more money. They are paying crossing guards in my area $15.00/hour. I almost would rather do that than sit around repeatedly getting screwed over by survey sites. 

And the only reason I don’t donate plasma is I’ve actually tried four times now, and they cannot find any good veins in my arms. Yeah, my plasma would be going to greedy bio pharmaceutical companies, but I can relate to that more than these damn greedy survey sites. 

[NFriday]

You would have to find a lawyer that would be willing to take the case.  I know there is no way I would be able to support myself just doing surveys and market research projects.  I do surveys to earn Amazon cards to be able to afford stuff I could not afford otherwise.  Right now I am going to use some of my Amazon money to buy myself a new printer.  My old one bit the dust a few months ago.  I am also going to buy a supplement that I have been taking that is not cheap.  If somebody is that desperate for money, they can make $15 an hour working at Whole Foods, and I think close to that much working for Safeway.  They can also work for the post office, or they can drive a school bus.  Schools are desperate to hire drivers right now, and they pay at least $15 an hour.  A lot of drivers have quit because they do not want to be vaccinated.  You can also get a job at a restaurant.

I don't think I can donate plasma because I think there is an age limit.  All of the plasma centers in Chicago are in sketchy neighborhoods anyway.  There is a group I can join at my public library in Evanston right outside of Chicago, where I can make $25 to participate in a panel.  I think there are ten different time slots to choose from.  They just want to know what programs people want the library to fund with their limited funds.  They only have $88 per resident to spend, whereas neighboring communities have over twice as much of a budget for their library.  .

[NFriday]

If anybody wants to donate plasma, the best place to do it is in a college town such as Madison.  There are a lot of college students that do it, and you are not dealing with sketchy neighborhoods.  I would also be worried about COVID rates in the sketchy neighborhoods.

[schludermann]

On 10/10/2021 at 1:02 PM, dawn_b_adams said:

Yeah, it would sure be nice to be able to file a class action lawsuit.

There are plenty of online class action sites and some even want to hear you suggestions.  I belong to several and participate in two (TopClassAction  ClassActionºcom), there's probably many more if you're into muck raking:)

You would be surprised how many you qualify for just by being a regular schmo. I qualify for a couple of dozen a year.  Most settlements are under ten dollars, but some are hundreds, and some times you get product or coupons. It depends on how many individuals join the class action before the settlement window closes. Payment can be by check, Paypal, Amazon code, prepaid master card, blood, arm, leg and so forth. It depends on the court, settlement administrator, vampires and zombies. Since it can take a long time for the case to process through the courts,  I like to treat class actions like finding money on the sidewalk, a little bit you didn't plan for and better than bird droppings.  I suggest using a separate email account to participate and track the filings. Check the sites at least every couple of weeks.

[NFriday]

I just looked at top class action and class action.com, and there were no class action law suits I would be eligible for.  I did sign up a year ago for a class action lawsuit at Facebook, but I never heard any more about it.  I think I also signed up for one with Blue Cross, and I also never heard about that one.

[desbest]

It depends what country the website is based in. There are certain crimes which the police ignore if they happen on an international level, such as trolling and cyberbullying. Also financial companies like banks, payment processors, card networks, trading standards and fraud databases, they are much less likely to investigate scam survey companies because the user did not spend any of their own money on them. If the survey company asked you to spend your money on their website, they'd treat it more seriously. The police do not have the time, money, staff and resources to investigate all crimes. I can't speak about your country but in the UK only a third of crimes end up investigated.

[NFriday]

I got $395 from a class action suit regarding Facebook biometric information last May, and I just got an additional $30 from the same lawsuit.  Only residents in Illinois that have had a Facebook account since at least 2011 were eligible to sign up for it.  Only one million people signed on to the lawsuit, and that is why they were able to pay out so much.  I am still waiting on a lawsuit for Blue Cross that has been dragging on forever.

[episemion]

3 hours ago, NFriday said:

I got $395 from a class action suit regarding Facebook biometric information last May, and I just got an additional $30 from the same lawsuit.  Only residents in Illinois that have had a Facebook account since at least 2011 were eligible to sign up for it.  Only one million people signed on to the lawsuit, and that is why they were able to pay out so much.  I am still waiting on a lawsuit for Blue Cross that has been dragging on forever.

Still waiting on the Facebook Class Action one regarding data collection via a Like button on non FB sites. Not going to be a lot , but it will be something. 

Knew about the one you were in , but was unable to participate as I am in NY. 

[babs69]

I’m not sure about the law, but they definitely sell our data to other companies. Also, a lot of the surveys ask for info that is profitable to sell, like first and last name, address and email. Usually I refuse and immediately get kicked. I will give my email if they want it to sign me up to be on a forum like communispace.