Data Collection BASICS
How AI data collection works: specifications, consent and privacy, and what makes a submission accepted.
Counts towards Data Collection Foundations certification: 8 courses required.
Self-Paced · Always Open
Free
Optional certificate:
Overview
Start your Data Collection journey.
AI companies pay people all over the world to record the videos, speech and photographs that teach machines what everyday life looks and sounds like.
This free course shows you how that industry actually works: who runs the projects, how contributors are selected and paid, what is withheld before the money arrives, and how to become the kind of contributor coordinators call first.
It covers how the money moves, including the tax and withholding knowledge most contributors acquire the expensive way; devices, eligibility and what a real project application asks; reading a specification and why approved work, not effort, earns; consent, privacy and the PII sweep; professional practice from quotas to quality scores; and a closing unit where you judge submissions yourself: the reviewer's eye that stops rejections before they happen. One realistic project, Project Meridian, a household video collection for robotics, runs through the course from recruitment to payment. Interactive exercises mark themselves with written feedback. Around 1.5 to 3 hours, self-paced, and free to start with no payment details required.
The first course of the Data Collection Foundations certification programme. Add its optional verifiable certificate, available for a small fee, and Data Collection Basics counts as one of the eight courses that earn Certified Data Collector.
What You Get
What's included in your training
Structured Learning Modules
Learn at your own pace through structured modules on the DeeLab Academy learning platform.
Self-Paced Schedule
No fixed schedule. Start when you want, finish at your own pace.
Knowledge Checks
Worked examples and per-unit practice quizzes with instant feedback, plus a final knowledge assessment on the e-learning platform (80% to pass).
Optional Certificate
Optional verifiable certificate available for a small fee after you pass the final assessment.
Outline
What you'll learn
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How AI Data Collection Works
What collection projects are, who runs them, and how contributors get paid.
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Projects, Eligibility and Getting Selected
How screening, device checks, and identity verification work, and how scams differ.
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Reading and Following the Specification
What specifications require and why approved work, not effort, earns payment.
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Consent, Privacy and Safety
What consent forms grant, who may appear in recordings, and what PII means.
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Working Professionally: Quotas, Reporting and Getting Paid
How issue reports, quality scores, and integrity rules shape a contributor's standing.
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Judging Submissions: Acceptable or Not?
How quality review decides, and how self-review protects an acceptance rate.
Counts toward the Data Collection Foundations (DCF) certification programme.
How it works
From enrolling to certified
1
Learn at your own pace
Start the moment you enrol and work through the material in your own time. There is no cohort to wait for and no fixed schedule to keep up with.
2
Pass the assessment
The course ends with a graded assessment you take when you are ready. The result is what counts, not how long you took.
3
Add the certificate if you want it
Passing is free. The certificate is optional and paid, and once bought it carries a public verification page anyone can check.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about this course.
It's designed for absolute beginners. No AI knowledge, no technical background, and no special equipment are required for the course itself. Device requirements for real projects are taught, not enforced. It also suits Data Annotation Basics graduates who want the collection side of the industry.
No course can promise that, and anyone who does is a red flag (you will learn why). What it gives you is the working knowledge that decides earnings on real projects: reading specifications, consent and privacy discipline, professional habits, and self-review. Trained contributors keep more of their recorded hours approved, and approved hours are what projects pay for.
Not for this course. Some real video projects require recent phones (for example iPhone 12 or newer) because clients need uniform camera quality. The course explains why, and how to check your own device. Speech, photo, research, and text collection projects accept a much wider range of devices.
Most learners finish in 1.5 to 3 hours, self-paced. Each of the six units has reading, an interactive scenario exercise, and a practice quiz with instant feedback. The final knowledge assessment is 20 questions with an 80% pass mark. You can retake it as many times as you need, with 24 hours between attempts, and your highest score counts.
The course is completely free, and your completion is recorded automatically. A verifiable certificate of completion is an optional extra you can purchase after passing the final assessment, and it is never required to access any content.
You have three months to complete the course, counted from the day you sign up. Within that window it is entirely self-paced and always open; your progress is saved automatically and you can return whenever suits you.