Entity notice. From 1 July 2026, Ethical Brand Ventures, Inc. (“EBV”) became the exclusive commercial partner of Ethical Brand Foundation Limited (“EBF”) and the operator of ethicalbrand.com and related commercial platform services. EBF remains the owner or steward of the eb™ trademark, research methodology, certification framework and public-interest mission. EBV operates the commercial platform under authority from EBF.
1. Purpose
This AI Policy explains how Ethical Brand Ventures, Inc. (“EBV”, “we”, “us” or “our”) uses artificial intelligence, automated tools and rule-based systems on ethicalbrand.com, the eb mobile app and related EBV-operated platform services.
EBV uses AI under its commercial mandate as the exclusive commercial partner of Ethical Brand Foundation Limited (“EBF”). EBF retains oversight of the eb™ methodology, certification framework and public-interest integrity where AI is used to support research or certification workflows.
2. Scope
This Policy applies to:
- visitors;
- App users;
- members;
- account holders;
- Candidates;
- partners;
- support users;
- users of scanning features;
- users of Personal Brand Portfolio features;
- users who submit nominations, endorsements, challenges, reports or evidence; and
- people or organisations affected by AI-assisted Platform outputs.
This Policy should be read with the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Admission Policy.
3. Definitions
For this Policy:
- “AI” means software, models or automated systems that can classify, summarise, generate, rank, predict, recommend, detect, translate, extract, compare, analyse or otherwise process information in a way that may resemble human reasoning, learning or judgement.
- “App” means the eb mobile application and related mobile services operated by EBV.
- “Automated rules” means deterministic software rules that operate according to defined logic, such as rate limits, portfolio limits, rotation rules, duplicate checks, account flags and workflow routing.
- “PBP” means the Personal Brand Portfolio feature that records, organises and displays brands discovered by a user through scanning, manual entry or other App-supported workflows.
- “Persona Idealis” means a planned or future analytics feature intended to compare a user’s stated priorities and tolerance thresholds with actual brand choices.
- “Platform” means ethicalbrand.com, EBV-operated subdomains, the App, account systems, mobile services, APIs, scanning tools, Personal Brand Portfolio services, AI-assisted tools, support channels, directories, partner portals, membership services and related digital services.
- “Scan Data” means information generated when a user scans a barcode, QR code, logo, label, image, product or brand identifier.
4. What we mean by AI
AI includes large language models, classifiers, recommendation systems, image-recognition tools, scan-processing tools, moderation tools, search tools, transcription tools, summarisation tools and related automation.
Not every automated feature is AI. Some features, such as PBP limits, rotation rules and rate limits, may be rule-based and deterministic.
5. How EBV may use AI
EBV may use AI to:
- support brand, product, barcode, QR code, label or logo scanning;
- classify and summarise user submissions;
- assist research teams with open-source intelligence review;
- identify potentially relevant sources;
- support nomination, endorsement, challenge and report workflows;
- moderate community content;
- assist customer support;
- personalise user experience;
- generate internal summaries and research notes;
- assist with translation, search, tagging and categorisation;
- detect fraud, spam, manipulation, abuse or security threats;
- support QVSEE-related analysis, subject to human oversight;
- assist with Candidate and directory workflows;
- support PBP classification and portfolio workflows;
- support Persona Idealis or Choice Gap features if released; and
- improve Platform performance, accessibility and usability.
6. Mobile app AI use cases
EBV may use AI or automated tools in the App to support barcode recognition, QR code interpretation, logo recognition, label analysis, image processing, brand matching, duplicate detection, scan-quality checks, source identification, QVSEE-related analysis, PBP classification, favourite and engagement analytics, portfolio rotation rules, Persona Idealis insights and personalised recommendations.
7. Scan, logo, label and brand matching
AI-assisted scan, logo, label or brand-matching outputs may be wrong, incomplete, delayed or unavailable.
A scan result does not necessarily mean that:
- the correct brand has been identified;
- the correct product has been identified;
- the brand has been admitted to the Program;
- the brand has been certified;
- the brand is licensed to use the eb™ mark;
- EBV or EBF endorses the brand; or
- a QVSEE score is complete or final.
EBV may allow users to report incorrect brand matches, incomplete data, missing brands or inaccurate scores. Material corrections may be reviewed by EBV and, where relevant, referred for methodology-sensitive review.
8. Scoring states and incomplete data
App outputs may show status states such as pending, insufficient data, complete score or similar classifications.
These statuses may be generated or assisted by automated systems. They indicate the state of available information or processing and should not be treated as final ethical conclusions unless expressly stated.
A status may affect App behaviour, including whether a brand can rotate out of a PBP, whether a score is displayed, whether a Candidate is prioritised for research, or whether additional review is required.
9. Automated rules versus AI-assisted decisions
Some App functions, such as PBP limits, Limitless Mode, rotation rules, favourite protection, pending-score protection and rate limits, may be automated without being AI.
These rules may operate deterministically according to published business logic. AI-assisted features and deterministic automation are both subject to appropriate safeguards where they materially affect user experience.
10. Human review and certification safeguards
AI tools may assist research, classification, moderation, scanning, summarisation and support. AI tools do not independently make final certification, licensing, suspension or appeal decisions unless EBV expressly publishes a specific automated-decision process and gives users or Candidates an appropriate review mechanism.
Material certification decisions remain subject to human review and, where appropriate, EBF oversight.
AI-assisted outputs may be used as inputs to human review, but they are not treated as conclusive findings where they materially affect admission, certification, licensing, directory status, appeal outcomes or use of the eb™ mark.
11. Limitations of AI
AI outputs may be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, biased, misleading or based on incomplete source material.
AI outputs are not legal, financial, investment, medical, safety, employment, tax, accounting or professional advice. Users and Candidates should not rely on AI-generated outputs as conclusive findings.
Where an AI output appears wrong, incomplete, unfair or materially misleading, users should report it through the support channel.
12. Data privacy and security
AI-enabled tools may process information submitted through the Platform, including prompts, questions, scans, images, labels, links, documents, support requests, nominations, endorsements, challenges, reports, PBP entries, favourite status, engagement signals and feedback.
Where AI tools process personal information, EBV handles that information in accordance with the Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws.
EBV seeks to apply data minimisation, access controls, confidentiality controls and vendor safeguards when using AI-enabled tools.
Users should not submit sensitive personal information, confidential business information, trade secrets or third-party personal information into AI-enabled tools unless necessary and authorised.
Where sensitive information is required for a certification, support, appeal, compliance or legal process, EBV may apply additional controls.
13. Third-party AI providers
EBV may use third-party AI providers or infrastructure providers to deliver AI-assisted features.
Information submitted to AI-assisted features may be processed by those providers under contractual, technical or organisational safeguards. EBV will seek to limit the information shared with AI providers to what is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.
Third-party providers may operate from jurisdictions outside your country. International transfers are addressed in the Privacy Policy.
14. Transparency
EBV will seek to identify AI-enabled interactions or AI-assisted outputs where doing so is material to user understanding, Candidate rights, certification integrity or legal compliance.
Some AI use may occur behind the scenes, including security, fraud-prevention, search, tagging, workflow routing, moderation triage, analytics or internal summarisation.
Where AI materially supports a visible output, EBV may describe the role of AI in general terms or provide additional explanation where reasonably appropriate.
15. Automated decision-making
EBV does not intend to rely on solely automated decision-making for material certification, licensing, suspension or appeal decisions unless:
- the process is specifically authorised;
- users or Candidates are informed where required;
- appropriate safeguards are applied;
- a review mechanism is available where required; and
- the process is consistent with EBF methodology oversight where relevant.
16. Persona Idealis and Choice Gap
Persona Idealis and Choice Gap features, if released, may use AI-assisted analysis to compare stated preferences with observed brand interactions.
These features are designed for personal insight and discovery, not to judge, rank or penalise users. EBV will seek to provide appropriate explanation, controls and review mechanisms where these insights materially affect user experience.
Persona Idealis and Choice Gap outputs are not moral judgement, professional advice, financial advice, investment advice, employment advice, health advice, safety advice, legal advice or purchasing instructions.
17. Fairness and responsible use
EBV aims to use AI in a manner that supports fairness, transparency, safety, privacy, accountability and the integrity of the eb™ mark.
EBV may review AI-assisted systems for:
- accuracy;
- reliability;
- privacy risk;
- security risk;
- bias;
- fairness;
- explainability;
- data quality;
- misuse risk;
- certification impact; and
- alignment with EBF methodology and public-interest principles.
18. User responsibilities
When using AI-enabled features, you must not:
- submit unlawful, harmful, misleading, defamatory, confidential or infringing material;
- upload personal information about others without authority;
- attempt to manipulate AI outputs;
- attempt to manipulate scans, PBP entries, favourites, recommendations or rotation logic;
- use AI outputs to impersonate others;
- use AI tools to generate abusive, discriminatory, deceptive or unlawful content;
- use AI tools to reverse engineer Platform systems, prompts, models, APIs or research methods;
- rely on AI outputs as professional advice; or
- represent AI outputs as official EBV or EBF determinations unless expressly confirmed.
19. Review, correction and appeal
If a user, member or Candidate believes an AI-assisted output is inaccurate, unfair or materially incomplete, they may request review through EBV’s support channel.
EBV may correct, withdraw, annotate, suppress, escalate or retain the relevant output. Matters affecting certification methodology, admission, licensing, directory status or use of the eb™ mark may be referred to EBF.
20. Research and methodology
AI may support research workflows, but the Methodology is not replaced by AI. AI may help identify, organise, summarise or compare material, but methodology-sensitive conclusions must remain subject to appropriate human review.
Where AI is used to support QVSEE-related analysis or certification-adjacent outputs, EBV will seek to preserve auditability, reviewability and integrity.
21. Model improvement
EBV may use prompts, outputs, feedback, usage patterns and related information to evaluate and improve Platform performance, AI-assisted workflows and user experience, subject to the Privacy Policy and applicable law.
Where third-party AI providers are used, whether information may be used by those providers for training or improvement will depend on the provider terms, technical settings and contractual safeguards in place.
22. Changes to this Policy
EBV may update this Policy as technology, regulation, services and internal controls evolve. Material changes affecting certification methodology, admission, licensing or the eb™ mark may be referred to EBF where appropriate.
23. Contact
For questions or concerns about AI use:
Ethical Brand Ventures, Inc.
Support: https://support.ethicalbrand.com
Email: [email protected]