How to Create an Anonymous Seal?

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:

• Learn what Anonymity is and why Anonymity is important.
• Use BlockSurvey’s Anonymous Seal, and ensure survey data is anonymous.
• Learn different cautionary methods for respondents to ensure their privacy.

1. What Is Anonymity?

The word Anonymous is derived from the Greek word anonumos (’an’ means without, ‘onuma’ means name). So, Anonymous means ‘without a name’. In other words, anonymous means ‘without revealing personal identity’.

In the context of surveys, "Anonymous" refers to the option to remain unidentified or untraceable while responding to a survey. When a respondent chooses to remain anonymous, their personal information, such as name, email address, or IP address, is not collected. This means that their responses & and their identity are protected. Anonymous surveys are often used to encourage honest and open responses, as respondents feel more comfortable sharing their opinions without fear of repercussions or identification.

New ways are constantly being discovered to protect the anonymity of the survey respondents.

2. Why Is Anonymity Important?

Respondents want to be Anonymous when they take surveys. They don’t want to be retaliated for their honest responses.

Below are a few benefits to making your surveys truly anonymous.

• Builds trust between the survey owner and the respondent.
• Respondents are most likely to provide honest answers.
• Leads to higher response rates.
• Leads to more accurate and reliable data.
• Compliance with ethical and legal standards.
• Reduced number of biased or socially acceptable answers.

It is essential to ensure that respondents’ surveys are Anonymous.

But how does the respondent know their survey is anonymous?

One solution for this problem is an ‘Anonymous Seal.’

Learn more about Anonymous Seal in the next section.

3. Know the Anonymous Seal

3.1. Why Anonymous Seal?

BlockSurvey takes privacy very seriously, wanting to ensure that survey data is safe & anonymous.

The ‘Anonymous Seal’ or ‘Anonymous Badge’ conveys to the respondents that their survey is anonymous.

Here are a few reasons for introducing the Anonymous seal in BlockSurvey.

• Respondents need not stay clueless about the survey’s Anonymity.
• Respondents need not manually verify each question for Anonymity.
• Rest assured, for respondents about Anonymity.

How to use the Anonymous Seal? Read on.

3.2. Identify the Seal

Below is a screenshot showing 'Anonymous Seal'.

The Anonymous Seal is marked with an arrow. This is how an Anonymous Seal appears in a survey. The seal is reminiscent of a Detective.

The next section shows how to enable the Seal.

3.3. Enable the Seal

The Anonymous Seal is displayed only when you enable it in Settings.

Below are the steps to enable the Seal.

• Open the survey builder.
• Go to Settings.
• Select the ‘Make it Anonymous’ tab.
• Turn On the toggle

Hurray! Your Anonymous Seal is ready to be displayed in the survey.

Although you turn on the toggle for Anonymous Seal, it is turned off automatically when certain eligibility requirements are unmet.

There are a few eligibility factors for the Seal to stay unaltered.

You will learn about the eligibility factors in the next section.

4. Eligibility For Anonymous Seal

The 2 eligibility factors for enabling the Anonymous seal are listed below.

1. Avoid PII
2. Avoid URL data

4.1. Avoid PII

PII means Personally Identifiable Information. If your surveys collect PII, then your survey is not anonymous. The Anonymous Seal is automatically turned off when your surveys collect PII.

In BlockSurvey, the question types below are considered to reveal PII.

• Email
• Phone number
• Website
• Country
• Contact Form
• Payment
• Signature

Crypto question types listed below are also considered PII.

• Stacks Network
• Solana Network
• Ethereum Network

When any of the above question types are included in the survey, the builder turns off the Seal.

These question types should be removed to bring the seal once again.

4.2. Avoid URL data

Usually, web servers collect the data passed through URLs for various purposes like Web Analytics, Marketing, Research, and User Experience.

In BlockSurvey, URL data is collected for survey personalization.

However, BlockSurvey does not collect variable data passed through URLs when the Anonymous Seal is enabled. The data collection from the URL is stopped.

This is another essential eligibility factor while setting the Anonymous Seal in BlockSurvey.

5. Caution For Respondents

Although Anonymous Seal informs the respondents about the Anonymous nature of the survey, there are a few cautionary notes for respondents to keep in mind to ensure the same.

• Avoid providing identifiable information.

  Respondents should be cautious about the data they are sharing. Although PII-revealing question types are removed from the survey, respondents should be cautious that they do not enter their names, email addresses, or phone numbers through short Text.

• Understand the scope of anonymity.

  The respondents should carefully read the introductory note to surveys if there is one. They should agree to take the survey only after reading its scope. They should have knowledge of how the data will be shared and used in the future.

• Be careful with open-ended responses.

  In open-ended questions, respondents might inadvertently include personal information. Let respondents frame answers so that their identity remains non-identifiable and completely secure.

• Be mindful of indirect identifiers.

  Although respondents don’t provide directly identifying data, sometimes, responses can be linked back to an individual if combined with other data.

  Respondents should be cautious about sharing detailed information that could indirectly reveal their identity.

• Check your responses before submission.

  Respondents need to review their answers before submitting them to ensure they haven’t included any personal information by mistake.

6. How to verify Anonymous Surveys?

If you are not sure about the Anonymity of Surveys, there are a few ways in which you can verify the same. This applies to any survey platform.

To ensure that a survey is Anonymous, you can take the following steps.

• You can copy the survey link into an in-private browser window. Access the form without signing into your account. If you are able to access without signing in, you can be sure of the survey’s anonymity.
• If the survey is anonymous, it says towards the top or bottom of the form. To reiterate, it can be something like an Anonymous Seal of BlockSurvey. There is no option for the survey maker to remove it when the survey is not anonymous.
• When a survey requires signing an NDA (nondisclosure agreement) or asks for personal information, it raises questions about the level of anonymity. It's important to exercise caution when encountering such surveys and consider the implications of providing personal information.

Test Your Knowledge

Key Takeaways

• Anonymity refers to remaining unidentified while responding to a survey.
• Respondents are more likely to provide honest answers for anonymous surveys.
• The Anonymous Seal signals survey is Anonymous to respondents.

Congratulations! You have completed this lesson.