Why BlockSurvey is perfect for sensitive surveys?

If you have landed on this page, chances are high that you are looking to run sensitive surveys.

There are many questions to ask when planning a sensitive survey.

Some of the most important questions are:

• Is my survey anonymous?

• Would my respondents’ data be protected?

• Is there privacy for my respondents?

• Will the platform have access to the data collected?

• Will there be any censorship?

• How will the survey data be protected?

• Would there be a data breach or leaks?

• What are the consequences of a data breach or leaks?

It is important to consider all of these questions when planning a sensitive survey. In addition, it is important to have a plan in place in case of a data breach.

BlockSurvey considered all these questions when we started to create our survey platform. Read on to know how we did.

Is BlockSurvey safe to use?

There are multiple survey platforms out there on the internet. SurveyMonkey, TypeForm, and JotForm are to name some. The billion-dollar question is whether the surveys made on those platforms are truly safe. The harsh truth is these survey tools are not safe.

How does BlockSurvey solve this problem? BlockSurvey is a decentralized survey tool with end-to-end encryption. What that means is that unlike a centralized platform owned by a tech company, BlockSurvey is owned by you. You don’t need an email id to log in. All you need is a secret key to access that platform. This secret key is what drives the security. This is something you alone own and not BlockSurvey or anyone. It is built on top of the Stacks blockchain, which uses Bitcoin for security.

The survey data you collect on the platform is owned by you and only you can unlock your data using your keys. Our developers do not have access to the data, and neither the Blockchain has access to data.

Why are other survey platforms not safe?

TypeForm, a Spanish-based online data collection company specializing in online forms and surveys, suffered a data breach that resulted in the exposure of some of its users’ data.

According to TypeForm, an unauthorized hacker managed to gain access to its servers and downloaded a partial data backup for surveys conducted before May 3, 2018.

The compromised file contains the names, email addresses, and other pieces of data submitted by users through Typeform forms.

SurveyMonkey had a state of intrusive data collection in Australia.

Data leaks and breaches are not stopping in centralized platforms. The centralized platforms always carry a platform risk.

Other survey platforms like SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics use almost the same technology used by TypeForm. This means centralized systems like SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics have the same risk of a data breach as happened to TypeForm. The centralized system is built on human trust rather than code trust. Humans are vulnerable and no operational security can help.

Imagine if you are running a sensitive survey on mental health and how embarrassing would it be if you lose those sensitive data. Imagine the restlessness the respondents would feel on losing their data. Imagine the relationship severed because your respondents trusted and gave you the data.

With centralized systems, you are not in the custody of your data but with decentralized systems like BlockSurvey, you are in the custody of your data.

Surveys on the Blockchain

BlockSurvey is a web3, decentralized application built on BlockChain. This means the data you collect is end-to-end encrypted and privacy-focused.

BlockSurvey uses Stacks Blockchain which enables the ownership of user data.

BlockSurvey, having built on Blockchain is definitely the best fit for sensitive surveys. All survey platforms out there are not built keeping Blockchain technology in mind. BlockSurvey is an exception in that case. It is built on keeping Blockchain technology in mind.

An easy way to conduct sensitive surveys

Surveys made on Mental Health and Sexual Health are usually sensitive in nature. Your target respondents will be reluctant to share the information with you. Your data collection becomes very tough. The gathered information may not be sufficient for you to derive enough insight and act upon it.

People are beginning to adopt BlockSurvey to run their sensitive surveys. The respondents also feel safe when they attend surveys built through our product. Survey response rates and completion rates also increase when you distribute sensitive surveys made on BlockSurvey.

With that said, I want to help you by asking questions in a polite manner. This will take you a long way while conducting surveys with sensitive questions.

How to ask sensitive questions in a polite manner

Sensitive questions are best answered online. You can email the survey to your respondents. Sensitive questions are not answered when respondents are face-to-face with the data collector.

Research your respondent’s profiles and understand them better. Ask questions that match their profile. You got to understand them better to question them better.

Give an introductory note that response data collected will be confidential. Also, provide an explanation about the need for the sensitive survey. You can also run a completely anonymous survey without asking for respondents’ personal details. This will make respondents feel safe about the sensitive survey they are taking.

Make your respondents feel comfortable about the survey. Establish trust with them and ask sensitive questions at the end of the survey. Stay neutral and ask unbiased questions so that your survey motive is not ruined.

What do our clients have to say?

Balasubramanian V, director of new business says, “Block Survey is highly secure, and my respondents feel safe about their data and privacy while entering the details. While there may be a handful of Survey tools that can help me build good Surveys, this is the only tool that keeps security as the key.”

Tobin K, an international business consultant says, “It is the best alternative to TypeForm. More than anything data privacy is what my respondents are happy about as it's built on blockchain. There's no selling of your data, trackers, or ads”

Fumito A, a web developer says, “The best thing is security, based on end-to-end encryption and blockchain technology”

BlockSurvey uses Stacks Blockchain for Decentralized Identity/Account(DID). BlockSurvey uses Stacks API for identity, auth, and storage management. This is the core working system that enables true ownership of the identity and data for you.

BlockSurvey stores survey data in an encrypted format. Moreover, the data is stored in a decentralized manner, which makes it even more secure. Thus the secure and privacy-focused nature of BlockSurvey makes it the best fit to conduct sensitive surveys.