InitAI

initai · recording standards

Recording standards.

What the review looks for, what gets a recording flagged, and the short list to check before each one. Read it once; check the list every time.

The rules

These are the app's rules as its help pages and the programs that use it state them, plus ours for workplaces. Where the app's own rules differ, follow the app. The most common reasons for a flag: a badly placed camera, a dark room, hands out of frame, the wrong task, long pauses or idling, and phone use.

  1. 01

    The phone on your forehead, the camera tipped down to your hands.

    A head mount is required for every recording. A phone on the chest, in the hand or propped up somewhere is not accepted, and holding or adjusting the phone during the clip gets it flagged.

  2. 02

    Your hands in the frame, with the full palm and all the fingers in view whenever you handle something.

    If the floor or your feet fill more of the frame than your hands, the phone is tipped too far down; the wall or the ceiling, too far up. Re-seat the mount and check the preview.

  3. 03

    Enough light to see your fingers clearly in the preview, even by day.

    Lights on, face the light. A bright window behind you puts your hands in shadow; a dim corner or dusk reads as too dark.

  4. 04

    Sideways, the picture the right way up.

    Put the phone in place before you start the task: turn it sideways, picture the right way up.

  5. 05

    A clear lens.

    Hair, clothing or the strap must not cover the camera.

  6. 06

    The task you chose, for a real reason, at a natural pace, with real engagement.

    Setting a task up is fine if you do it the way you normally would. Moving slowly or robotically for the camera gets flagged; sweeping a clean floor or folding folded clothes is going through the motions, which counts as fraud.

  7. 07

    Real work, no long pauses.

    Long pauses or idling get a recording flagged. So does picking up your phone to text or scroll before you stop.

  8. 08

    You alone doing the work, only your hands in the shot.

    People passing in the background are fine. Anyone who is more than a passer-by must have agreed first; never record children. A partner, friend or family member doing the task with you is not fine: the recording has to be you alone doing the work.

  9. 09

    Nothing private in the frame.

    Keep ID cards, bank cards, mail, invoices and any screen with personal data out of view. A recording that captures private information is not accepted even when the task itself was fine.

Also

  • Vary it. The same task in the same place in the same order, over and over, gives very little, and after a point it gets flagged as inauthentic. Spread your recordings across tasks, rooms and situations.
  • At a workplace, record where the task really happens and with permission from whoever is responsible for the premises. When a workplace task needs a particular place, its description names it after "Must:".
  • Every upload must be a new, first-person recording made in the app: re-uploading an old clip, a clip from another device, or the same recording twice gets flagged and can lead to a hold.
  • Never accepted, anywhere: a task done sitting, a repeated motion with no progression, and driving or operating a vehicle.
  • A recording needs at least 1 minute and can run to 30; the app stops at 30, so start a new one if you are not done.

What the review decides

  • Every uploaded recording is reviewed, usually within 24 to 72 hours. In the app it shows as Pending review until then, and after that as Accepted or Flagged.
  • Accepted minutes reach your points page here once we bring the results in, every few days. Flagged minutes earn no points.
  • Reviewers do not send an explanation per recording, so the list below is what to check before each one.
  • A warning means a pattern was seen across several recordings, often low variety, even when each one passed. Repeated warnings for the same reason lead to a hold, then to the account being disabled.
  • Fraud is anything that is not a real first-person recording of you doing the task, for example: filming a screen or a replay, another person doing the work, going through the motions with no purpose, sitting still, a black screen. Fraud earns no points, and confirmed fraud can disable the account, sometimes with no warning first.
  • To appeal a hold or a ban, write to the address under "What the states mean" on your Points page, with the email on your account and a short note on the recordings in question. We pass it on for a second review; there is no promised timeline or outcome.

Before you press record

  1. 1Mount on, phone at the forehead, tipped down: the preview shows your fingers clearly.
  2. 2Lights on, lens clear, phone sideways.
  3. 3The task you chose, where it really happens, with permission at work.
  4. 4Nothing private in view; nobody else doing the work.
  5. 5Standing, hands in the frame, a natural pace, no long pauses, no phone until you stop.

How it works