Frequently Asked Questions

  • General

    • How is BlockSurvey different from SurveyMonkey, TypeForm & Google Forms?

      BlockSurvey enables digital rights for users. This means account or identity ownership and data ownership remain with the user, not the platform provider. With BlockSurvey, all your data is encrypted end-to-end, and you hold the keys. This prevents data breaches, leaks, harvesting, and trust issues. We strongly believe all your ideas and insights gathered through data collection are valuable and need protection. BlockSurvey enables that with a modern privacy-focused design system using decentralized technology and end-to-end encryption.

    • What are the benefits of using BlockSurvey?

      • Share Answers, Not Identity. Go Anonymous while answering.
      • End of End Encryption of Data.Your data is safe and secure.Only you can unlock it to read it.
      • Modern Design System to make the survey design and taking enjoyable.
      • Advanced Analytics which helps you to gather insights in zero time.

    • What is the difference between surveys, polls & forms? Can I create them with BlockSurvey?

      A survey is a form with questions specifically designed to gather information about people's experiences, preferences, wants, and needs. Surveys can be long, so a poll is a survey with just one question—a simple survey. And a form could be anything—a survey, a poll, an order form, a quiz, an RSVP sheet, or anything else where you need to gather data. Today, using BlockSurvey you can create any of them to your choice.

    • Do I need to know coding?

      No, you don't have to. BlockSurvey is a no-code tool. All forms can be created without requiring any coding knowledge.

    • Is there any student, non-profit or other discounted pricing available?

      Yes. We offer discounted and special pricing for students, independent researchers and not for profit organizations. Please write a request to [email protected].

    • Do you store any data about my usage or run analytics?

      No, we take data privacy very seriously. There are no trackers, cookies or fingerprinting done. And we store no application or user data.

    • Can you describe your data security and privacy practices?

      BlockSurvey by design enables the digital rights for the users. By this, the users are in control of their data and not anyone else. You have your keys and only your key can unlock the data.

    • Does BlockSurvey work on both web and mobile?

      Yes. BlockSurvey is a Web App and works fine on any modern browsers and it is device agnostic.

    • Is BlockSurvey open source?

      BlockSurvey is not currently open source, because it is in the early stages of development. With the current team, we are developing and forming initial ideas and shaping up. The aim is to make it accessible on the road when we need community help to create it.

    • Does BlockSurvey store the data on chain?

      No, BlockSurvey does not store the data on chain. It is stored on the cloud server and is encrypted end-to-end.

    • Contact Us

      Write to us at [email protected] for any feedback, feature requests and queries.

  • Billing

    • What is your refund policy?

      We want you to be completely satisfied with our product. If you're not, you can cancel your plan within the first 30 days and request a full refund. Simply write to us at [email protected], and we'll issue your refund promptly.

    • What happens to my collected data if I cancel my plan?

      Your data remains secure and accessible even after you cancel your plan. You'll be able to view and download all the responses you've collected up until your cancellation. However, new data collection will cease until you renew your subscription.

    • What happens to ongoing data collection if I cancel my plan?

      If you cancel your plan, all existing forms and surveys will be paused. However, you can reactivate them at any time by renewing your subscription, and your data collection can then continue seamlessly from where you left off.

    • What happens if my payments fail during my recurring subscription?

      If there's a failure with your recurring subscription payment, we'll send an email notification to your billing account. This gives you the chance to either update your payment information or retry the transaction. Rest assured, your data collection will continue uninterrupted until multiple payment attempts have been unsuccessful over the 7 days. Post that, the data collection will be paused.

    • What happens after I collect 10 responses in the free plan?

      Once you've collected 10 responses on the free plan, data collection will be paused. However, you can still view and download all the data you've collected up until that point. To continue data collection, you can easily upgrade to a paid plan.

    • Do you offer discounts for students or non-profits?

      Absolutely! We're committed to supporting non-profits and students who may have limited funding. If you're in need of a discount, please write to us at [email protected] to request a coupon code. That said, BlockSurvey thrives on the support of members like you. We greatly appreciate it if you can afford the pricing and choose to support us.

    • How can I migrate my data to a team space if I upgrade from a standard plan to a team plan?

      If you decide to upgrade to a team plan, migrating your data to a team space is easy. Simply use our 'migrate to teamspace' feature, and your data will be moved securely to your new team space.

    • How can I change my billing details?

      Changing your billing details is straightforward. All you need to do is follow the provided link to our secure Stripe portal from billing, where you can update your billing information safely and conveniently.

    • Do I need to be a paid user to use BlockSurvey?

      No, you can use the free plan to get a feel for the entire product. It includes three forms/surveys. There is no need for a credit card. When you're satisfied with the product, upgrade to a paid plan.

    • I already have an account, how do I upgrade?

      Head over to accounts & billing page, choose the plan that is right for you.

    • Can I cancel at any time?

      Yes. There is a cancel subscription option on your accounts & billing page. You will still have access to BlockSurvey's features till your billing cycle ends, after that you will be downgraded.

    • Is pricing based on monthly or annual plans? Can I choose?

      Yes, we have both the monthly and yearly plans. You'll be able to choose from them.

    • What’s your cancellation policy?

      Our contracts are monthly or annual and are therefore pre-paid for a month or 12 months. If you choose to cancel in-between the billing period, you will not be billed for the next period or cycle.

    • Do you offer any Guarantee or Refunds?

      We offer 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee! If we did not help you - simply cancel your account at any time before 30 days after payment. 100% refund no questions asked.

    • What forms of payment are possible?

      BlockSurvey has integrated with Stripe for payments and it is self serving for personal plans. We also support by raising invoices for enterprises and business plans.

    • I still have some questions, how to contact you?

      Please mail us for any questions at [email protected]. We provide support 12x5 and are really fast in replying by emails.

  • Team

    • If I remove a member from the team, can the member still see results? How are they prevented access?

      No. Every save and fetch operation with respect to teams is validated against multiple checks including the user's presence in the team and the user's role. Hence a removed member wont have access to the results even with its link.

    • How are results encrypted as a team? Can BlockSurvey see results?

      Results are encrypted using the team's public key identity which is generated using TweetNaCl.js, a cryptographic library. It is generated on the team's creation in the team owner's machine. It is encrypted using each team member's Stacks public key and stored on the server. Hence BlockSurvey can see neither the keys nor the results.

    • How does the decryption of results take place?

      The encrypted results are fetched by the team member's machine along with the encrypted team private key. The member's Stacks DID private key is used to decrypt the team private key and this team private key is used to decrypt the results.

    • How is real-time collaboration taking place?

      We use CRDT for team collaboration. Yjs is the CRDT implementation we use here.

    • Where is the data stored? How is it different from personal workspace?

      Data is stored in Firebase, a centralized storage platform. The data in personal workspace in BlockSurvey is stored in GAIA, a decentralized storage provided on Stacks blockchain.

    • Why go for centralized storage? Is it safe?

      Data Security is the primary goal of BlockSurvey. GAIA has provision only for reading data from other users' storage, not for writing. Hence, in a team environment, where collaboration is the key, centralization with end-to-end encryption serves as a valid tradeoff. Since the data is end-to-end encrypted, it can only be accessed by the members of the team.

    • What happens if I lose my secret key? Can I get access to my team back?

      The team secret key is encrypted and stored centrally, so it cannot be lost. However, if the Stacks identity is lost, it is not possible to recover it. In that case, you can use another account and ask a member of the team to invite you back.

    • Should the team members be paid members to join the team?

      No. Only the Team owner has to be a paid member. Others can join the team without being paid members.

    • How to change Owner if owner chooses to leave?

      Currently, changing owners is not possible. Write to [email protected] if needed.

  • Sign up and Sign in

    • What's a Secret Key?

      A Secret Key is a password. It's used to create your account and encrypt/decrypt your data. It's generated when you sign up. Nobody but you will have your Secret Key, to make sure that only you can decrypt your data and see the content inside.

    • Where should I save my Secret Key?

      Save your Secret Key in a place where only you can find it. For example:
      • A password manager such as Bitwarden.
      • Your notes app, protected with a password.
      • Written down and kept somewhere safe.

      Don't save it anywhere where others can find it, or on a website, you do not trust. Anybody with your Secret Key will have access to your data.

    • Why don't I have a password?

      Your Secret Key is your password. It's needed to be multiple words for the encryption mechanism and it's needed to be long enough to prevent brute force attacks.

    • What if I lose my Secret Key?

      If you lose your Secret Key, it will be lost forever. Only you know your Secret Key, which means that no one can help you recover it.

    • When will I need my Secret Key?

      You'll need your Secret Key to prove it's you when you sign in on a new device such as a new phone or laptop.

    • Can I change or reset my Secret Key?

      Your Secret Key cannot be changed or reset. As your Secret Key is used to encrypt your data, each file individually, if you change your Secret Key, every file needs to be decrypted with your old Secret Key and encrypted again with your new Secret Key.

  • Email and Third-Party Social Authentication

    • How to sign up using email?

      Once you provide your email address, we will send an email with an OTP and a Magic link to your provided mail. You can either provide the OTP or click on the magic link to verify your email address.

    • Which all third-party social auth do you provide for signing up with BlockSurvey?

      We offer a couple of third-party social login options that allow you to sign up quickly with BlockSurvey. Some of them are Google, Apple, Github, and Facebook. More social logins will be coming soon.

    • Can I create multiple accounts with the same email address using email or third-party social auth sign-up methods?

      You cannot create more than one account with the same email address.

    • Is there any expiry time for OTP and Magic Link?

      Both OTP and Magic link will expire after 15 minutes. You need to trigger a new mail for generating a new OTP and Magic link.

    • Do I need to set password for sign up with email?

      Password is not needed. We will generate a secret key which will be used for creating your account and for encrypting/decrypting your data.

    • Will we get a secret key if we sign up using third-party social authentication?

      We do provide every account with a unique secret key that will be required to log in to the BlockSurvey account using different devices.

    • Can I use the same secret key for signing in without providing email?

      No, if a secret key is generated while signing up using an email address, then same email sign in method have to be used for using BlockSurvey.

    • How many days will my session last for sign up with mail or third-party social authentication?

      It will last for 100 days after which you will have to sign in again using the same method with which you created your account in BlockSurvey.

    • Is it possible to change my email address once I have signed up?

      Email address cannot be changed once an account is created with BlockSurvey.

    • I don't see my OTP or Magic Link in my email box?

      Please check if the email has a typo. If no, please check your spam box once. If still you cannot locate, write to [email protected]

  • Magic Recovery Code

    • What is Magic Recovery Code?

      Magic Recovery Code is a recovery code that can be used to recover your BlockSurvey Secret Key if you lose it and sign in back to your BlockSurvey account.

    • How safe is it to use the Magic Recovery Code?

      We generate Magic Recovery Code using a cryptographic key derivation function named PBKDF2(Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2) to reduce vulnerabilities of brute-force attacks.

    • How does this Magic Recovery Code help me to restore my account and secret key?

      Using the generated Magic Recovery Code, we encrypt your Secret key using AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption technology and we store this encrypted secret key in our database. It will be safe and only you will be able to decrypt the secret key to sign in back to your account. Not even BlockSurvey will be able to recover your account. The Magic Recovery Code will only be sent to your email address and downloaded locally on your system.

    • Where can I get my Magic Recovery Code?

      While creating a new account with BlockSurvey, if the 'Need magic recovery code?' box is checked, we will send this Magic Recovery Code to your email address and also download it locally so that you can keep it somewhere safe.

    • Can I use Magic Recovery Code to recover my BlockSurvey Wallet and Hiro/Xverse Wallet account?

      Unfortunately, we are currently only able to offer account recovery via email or third-party social authentication.

    • Will I be able to regenerate the Magic Recovery Code?

      Yes, you can regenerate your magic recovery code if you wish to. You need to navigate to your dashboard and click on your profile settings to view your secret key. Here you will find an option to generate a new Magic Recovery Code.

    • Upon regenerating the Magic Recovery Code, can I use the old one to retrieve my secret key?

      No, the previous recovery code becomes invalid. Use the most recent code to sign in in the future.

    • What if I lose my Magic Recovery Code?

      Once lost it’s lost forever, so save it somewhere you won’t forget. BlockSurvey cannot restore your account for you.

  • Understanding and Using AI Tokens

    • What is a token?

      A token is a digital asset used within our platform to access various AI services. Think of it as a 'ticket' that allows you to use our AI features. These tokens can be acquired through various means such as subscribing to a plan, making a purchase.

    • How does the token system work?

      The number of tokens you consume corresponds to the AI services you utilize, and the complexity of these services. For instance, creating a survey with a set of 10 questions, predicting question types, and generating question options requires 2,354 tokens approximately. Essentially, one token is counted as one word, taking into account both the input prompt and output results.

    • How many tokens will be credited for the free plan?

      With the free plan, you'll receive 10,000 tokens.

    • What if my token limit is over during the free plan?

      If you exhaust your free token limit, you will be unable to use the AI services until you subscribe to a plan.

    • What is the token limit for my subscription plan?

      The token limit for your subscription plan depends on the specific plan you've subscribed to. Each plan comes with a predetermined number of tokens that are replenished as per subscription period. The details of each plan are available on our Pricing page.

    • What if my token limit is over during an active subscription?

      If you exhaust your token limit during an active subscription, you can opt to purchase additional tokens for continued access to our services. Alternatively, you can wait until your token limit is refreshed at the beginning of your next billing cycle.

    • Can I purchase more tokens?

      Yes, you can purchase additional tokens at any time. The option to buy tokens is available in Billing Add-on.

    • What happens to my purchased tokens if my subscription is over?

      Purchased tokens are added to your account and can be used even if your subscription is over. They provide a way to continue using our services without interruption.

    • What happens to my purchased tokens on the next billing cycle?

      Purchased tokens do not expire and will carry over to the next billing cycle. They will be used only after you've exhausted the tokens that come with your monthly subscription plan. This means you can save these purchased tokens for times when you need extra resources beyond your subscription allocation.

    • Where can I check my token balance?

      You can check your current token balance from Billing Add-on. It will display both your total token balance and the number of tokens you have left.

  • BlockSurvey AI

    • Is there training done on my data? Does AI learn from data?

      No, BlockSurvey’s AI systems do not train on your data, and the AI does not learn from or retain any user inputs. All AI-powered features are designed to operate in a stateless and non-learning mode. Your data is processed in real-time to generate responses but is not stored, logged, or reused for training or model improvement. This ensures your data remains private and is not incorporated into any AI training pipeline, whether internally or by third-party providers.

    • How is personal information handled with AI? Is it being sent to AI during data analysis?

      We implement automated filters to detect and remove Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Protected Health Information (PHI) before any data is sent for AI processing.In cases where AI is used for data analysis, we utilize a custom machine learning model hosted securely on our own servers. This ensures that data is processed in a controlled, private environment, without being transmitted to external third-party AI providers. Additionally, we do not store or log any data processed through AI, and all processing is done in-memory for added security.

    • What's the accuracy of AI in data analysis? Are there any bias?

      AI accuracy is task-dependent and varies by use case. We use AI models that are carefully tested and optimized for structured data analysis and insight generation. AI models that are carefully tested and optimized for structured data analysis and insight generation. These models perform well in identifying patterns, summarizing responses, and generating actionable insights.

      However, like any system built on historical data, AI models may carry inherent biases. We actively monitor outputs and choose providers and models that implement bias mitigation strategies to minimize risks and promote fairness.

    • How is AI being audited?

      We conduct regular internal audits of AI-related features to ensure responsible and compliant use. These audits include reviewing output quality, validating security protocols, and ensuring all usage aligns with privacy regulations such as GDPR, SOC2, and ISO 27001. We are committed to ethical AI practices and transparency in all data processing activities.

    • What's your AI privacy policy?

      You can find our full AI privacy policy here : https://blocksurvey.io/ai-policy

      Our AI privacy practices are guided by the following principles:

      • We do not use your data to train AI models.
      • No personally identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI) is processed as input to AI.
      • Data used in AI features is filtered, anonymized where applicable, and processed in-memory.
      • We use custom models hosted on our own servers to ensure no third-party data exposure.
      • No logging or data retention occurs during AI processing.

    • Which AI third parties do you use? Do you send data outside?

      For AI-based features, particularly data analysis—we use custom machine learning models hosted entirely on our servers. This means no data is sent to external AI providers for processing.

      In limited cases, such as AI-assisted question generation, we may integrate with third-party providers like OpenAI. However, in these instances:

      • No Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Protected Health Information (PHI) is shared.
      • We apply automated data filtering and minimization techniques before any data is transmitted.
      • All communication is done over secure, encrypted channels.

    • Is there anonymization of data being done in AI before processing?

      Yes, BlockSurvey performs anonymization and data minimization before any data is processed by AI.

      We have automated filtering mechanisms in place to identify and remove any personally identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI) from the input data. This ensures that only non-sensitive, anonymized content is used during AI processing. Additionally, our AI models are hosted on self-managed servers, and data is processed in-memory without logging or storage, adding an extra layer of protection. These safeguards are designed to uphold our commitment to privacy, confidentiality, and regulatory compliance.

    • What happens to my survey data with AI analysis?

      We take data security and privacy seriously. Your data is encrypted and stored securely. Our AI model processes only the question title and not the data to generate insights, and then it's anonymized and stored securely. It is never shared with third parties.

    • How is my survey data used?

      Your data is only used to generate insights for your surveys. We don't use it for training models or any other purpose.

    • Do you share my data with partners or affiliates?

      No, we don't share your data with anyone. It remains confidential and accessible only to you.

    • How is your AI Data Analysis different from others?

      Our AI Data Analysis is specifically fine-tuned for survey data analysis, using a survey knowledge base to provide more accurate insights. Other generic large language models are general purpose and may not be as precise for survey-related analysis. BlockSurvey is building small language models focused on the survey domain.

    • Can your AI survey analysis be influenced by the data it's trained on?

      Yes, like any AI model, our analysis can be influenced by the data it's trained on. However, we take steps to mitigate this by using diverse, high-quality datasets and regularly updating our models to reflect new information. As we build further, we also have processes to detect and correct any potential biases.

    • How accurate is your AI-powered survey analysis?

      Our AI-powered analysis is highly accurate, with an accuracy rate of 80%. We achieve this through advanced reinforced learning on large datasets, and expert validation. However, like any AI model, ours is not perfect, and we continually work to improve its accuracy.

Have a question that we haven't covered?

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