Acceptable Use Policy

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This Acceptable Use Policy (this "Policy") describes permitted and prohibited uses of Amazon Mechanical Turk ("MTurk"). The examples described in this Policy are not exhaustive. We may modify this Policy at any time by posting a revised version on the MTurk website. If you violate this Policy or authorize or help others to do so, we may suspend or terminate your MTurk account.

In addition, if we believe or suspect that any transaction or activity violates this Policy or is otherwise a misuse of MTurk, we may take other corrective action that we deem appropriate, including blocking the transaction, withholding funds, restricting use of MTurk, or removing, disabling access to, or modifying any content or resource that violates this Policy.

Please use the "Report this HIT" link or Contact Us page to report any violation of this Policy.

What Worker scripts and automation tools are permitted?

We are generally OK with you using scripts and automation tools to help you search and preview Human Intelligence Tasks ("HITs") more efficiently on the MTurk website, as long as those scripts and automation tools (1) do not serve as a substitute for your human judgment to complete work, (2) do not extract and store data from the MTurk website, and (3) do not disrupt or impair the operation of the website or the integrity of the marketplace (e.g., scripts and automation tools that call MTurk continuously and at high frequency aren’t OK). As a result, we’ll have to make tough calls from time to time when we notice unusual account activity resulting from a particular script or automation tool. Please remember that you are responsible for any script or automation tool that you use with MTurk, and your use of a script or automation tool is at your own risk.

Why are bots, scripts, or other automated HIT-answering tools a problem?

MTurk is a marketplace for completing tasks by exercising human judgment. If the HIT is completed by a bot, script, or other automated method, then it’s not human intelligence. We take this seriously, so if we determine that you are using bots, scripts, or other automated methods to complete HITs, we may suspend or terminate your account, and your rewards balance may be forfeited.

Are there restrictions or prohibited uses of Amazon Mechanical Turk?

You may not use, or encourage others to use, MTurk for any illegal, harmful, fraudulent, infringing, or objectionable activities. Here are some examples of prohibited activities:

  • Collecting personally identifiable information (e.g., don’t ask Workers for their email address or phone number), or otherwise attempting to derive any personally identifiable information about Workers
  • Using the MTurk website to try to generate "referred" site visits or click-through traffic
  • Disrupting, manipulating, or degrading the operation of any website, product, or service
  • Phishing, spamming, or pharming
  • Unsolicited contacting of users or third parties, or other abusive behavior
  • Advertising or marketing activities, including HITs requiring registration at another website or group, or building profiles of MTurk Workers for any purpose other than to track performance of specific Workers completing your HITs (e.g., you may not collect demographic information from MTurkWorkers for profiling, marketing, or other purposes)
  • HITs intended to promote a site, service or opinion (e.g., don't ask Workers to write fake news or reviews)
  • Infringing or misappropriating the rights of others, including HITs that require violating the terms of any website, product, or service, or failing to adequately disclose to Workers what data you collect from them and how you will use it
  • Posting or transmitting any content that is illegal, fraudulent or otherwise objectionable, including content that constitutes child pornography, relates to bestiality, or depicts non-consensual sex acts
  • Disrupting, manipulating, or impairing the operation of the MTurk website (e.g., don’t try to "game" search results for HITs, or knowingly publish HITs that Workers will be required to return after accepting them)
  • Scraping data or content from the MTurk website (except in connection with permitted Worker scripts and automation tools, see FAQ above)
  • Creating a security risk for MTurk, any MTurk user, or any third party, including posting HITs that require downloading software that contains harmful content (e.g., spyware, keyloggers, rootkits, or similar malware)
  • Using bots, scripts, or other automated methods to complete HITs
  • Performing or requesting HITs through venues other than the MTurk website unless permitted via MTurk templates or applications that we may make available to you
  • Performing your own HITs in the marketplace (however, it's ok to perform a small portion of your own HITs for testing purposes)
  • Posting HITs on behalf of third parties without our prior written consent
  • Posting a HIT that may contain adult content without using the Adult Content Qualification
  • Posting HITs that contain personal information of third parties

Can I create a HIT that may contain adult content?

Yes, if you comply with the following requirements. If your HIT may contain adult content (e.g., nudity), that content must be legal and you must inform the Worker by taking the following steps:

  1. Include the following phrase in your HIT title: "(WARNING: This HIT may contain adult content. Worker discretion is advised.)"
  2. Require that Workers have the Adult Content Qualification in order to work on your HIT. This qualification requires Workers to agree to work on HITs that may contain adult content. You can set this requirement during the Design step on the Requester website or via the developer tools. For additional details, check out our developer documentation here.
  3. Require that Workers have the Adult Content Qualification in order to preview the HIT by checking the "Required for Preview" box in the Design step on the Requester website or via the developer tools. For additional details, check out our developer documentation here.

Can I create a HIT that may contain personal information of third parties?

No. As a public crowd marketplace, MTurk is not designed to be a platform for sharing or publishing workloads containing personal information. It is your responsibility to determine whether your HIT content contains any personal information.

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