How we check answers come from verified people on their own phones.
We publish how it works: what we check, what we keep and for how long, and what happens when a check fails or someone tries to cheat.
Four verification levels
Tiers tell you how the person answering has been verified. Each card shows what requesters pay per answer.
Tier 0 · Practice
Anyone who signs in. Practice questions are never counted in anyone's results. Earnings from them stay in Pending until you verify your phone.
Tier 1 · Phone verified
One mobile number, verified by a code. Virtual and VoIP numbers are refused. Requesters pay 20 credits per Tier 1 answer.
Tier 2 · ID verified
A government ID and a live face photo. The face photo helps us stop one person making several accounts. About every six months we ask again, sooner if you change how you're paid or we review the account. Unlocks targeting and free text. Requesters pay 42 credits per Tier 2 answer.
Tier 3 · Established
Tier 2 heads with a long record of careful answers and a name-matched payout account. They see questions first. Requesters pay 80 credits per Tier 3 answer.
How we check the phone and app
When a head sends an answer, the 50heads app asks Apple or Google for an integrity check. The check says whether this looks like a genuine phone, whether it has been tampered with, and whether the app is the one we published.
We verify that result with Apple or Google before the answer counts. If the check fails, we reject the answer: it does not reach your results and the head is not paid for it.
Each answer in your results carries a reference showing its device and app check passed. It does not say whose phone it was.
Known-answer questions
A few questions have answers we already know. Heads who get them wrong too often stop seeing paid questions.
Timing and patterns
Answers that come too fast to have been read, or in lockstep with other accounts, are held back and reviewed.
Regular re-checks
Tier 1 heads who earned in a month confirm their phone again with a code. About every six months, Tier 2 and 3 heads photograph their ID and take a live face photo again, sooner if they change how they're paid or we review the account. Missing it three times is reviewed by a person, who may move them down a tier.
What we keep, and for how long
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| ID and face photos | Not kept by us. When the check ends, we ask Stripe, which runs it, to delete them. We keep only the yes or no. |
| Face match for spotting duplicate accounts | Held by the check provider while your account exists; deleted if you withdraw consent or close your account. |
| Phone number | While your account exists. After that, a one-way hashed copy for 12 months. It can be matched against a new sign-up but not read back, so a closed account cannot sign straight back up. |
| Touch and timing signals | 90 days. Summary patterns for up to 24 months. |
| Answers | Never shown with a name. If a head deletes their account, their answers are cut loose from it. |
| Payments, invoices and tax details | Six years after the tax year, because the law says so. |
If we get it wrong
Automated checks make mistakes. Heads can appeal at any time from the app or the web. A person who was not part of the decision decides every appeal, and you get a written reply. We publish how many we receive and uphold each quarter.
Read the transparency noteWhat you see as a requester
On every answer you see the tier and a reference showing its device and app check passed. On every result you see a plain line on how strong the lead is. If we reject an answer after it counted, you are refunded. You never see who answered, and heads never see who asked.
Verification applies to answers from heads. When you share a question with your own audience, the result says Your audience · shared link instead of a tier, and no answer carries a verification reference.