From Survey Monkey is one of the leading survey platforms in the world, you have probably encountered one of their surveys in your personal or professional life. Naturally, people feel more comfortable giving honest answers if they know the survey is safe from prying eyes.
You probably want to know if your answer can be traced back to you before you lay it all out in a survey. Read on to find out if SurveyMonkey surveys are truly anonymous.
Are SurveyMonkey surveys anonymous?
Let’s get to the point: not all SurveyMonkey surveys are anonymous.
SurveyMonkey as a platform cannot influence the anonymity of a survey. Only creators who set up surveys can choose whether to collect anonymous responses or track their respondents. SurveyMonkey only provides creators with the tools necessary to configure their surveys to their needs.
Survey creators may collect your personal information in two ways.
- By explicitly requesting your personal data as part of the survey
- By using survey collectors to automatically track and collect certain information
Personal data does not necessarily have to be your first and last name. They may include other information that can help the survey creator understand the demographics of their respondents. However, these questions can also reveal your identity, depending on the number of respondents and the specificity of the answers. These demographic questions generally ask about the details listed below.
- Age
- Gender
- Education level
- Employment Status
- Civil status
- Income
Some non-anonymous surveys will not ask for your information directly, but will collect other data that can be traced back to you. For example, although an IP address does not directly reveal your identity, it may indicate your geographic location. Let’s take a look at what identity-revealing details a SurveyMonkey survey can collect.
What information does SurveyMonkey collect?
SurveyMonkey provides several collectors to survey creators. Collectors are survey distribution methods that affect the survey-taking experience and determine what respondent information is tracked and recorded. The survey creator can return anonymous responses for any collector except Facebook Messenger.
IP adress
By default, most SurveyMonkey collectors track the respondent’s IP address unless the creator opts out. IP tracking is done through the web link you click to complete the survey.
Email address
If you received the survey via an email invitation, the creator will likely be able to see whether you completed it or not. When the anonymity filter is disabled, the creator can see exactly which email address has performed one of the following actions.
- Completed the survey
- Partially completed the survey.
- He didn’t answer the questions.
- You chose not to receive surveys
While the creator cannot see your exact answers, the completion status can sometimes be enough to reveal your identity, especially if there are a limited number of respondents.
Facebook Display Name
If the survey is sent and registered through Facebook Messenger, the creator can see the first and last name associated with their Facebook account. Unless you use a pseudonym or use a fictitious account, your survey responses will lead directly to your identity.
Microsoft Teams display name
Unless otherwise instructed by the survey creator, Microsoft Teams will record the first and last name of each interviewer. As a result, the creator will be able to see her identifying information.
How to tell if a SurveyMonkey survey is anonymous
A SurveyMonkey survey must contain a privacy statement that informs you about the anonymity of the survey and how your personally identifiable information will be handled. If there is a privacy policy attached, SurveyMonkey recommends that you read it carefully and contact the survey creator if you have any additional questions.
Unfortunately, if no privacy note is displayed, the only way to know if the survey is truly anonymous is to ask the creator directly. All creators must comply with SurveyMonkey guidelines. Terms of use and must disclose whether a survey is anonymous or not. Say you suspect that a survey creator might be lying about the anonymity of the survey or trying to collect sensitive personal information, such as credit card numbers. In that case, you should immediately email SurveyMonkey and refrain from completing the survey in question.
Install an extension to block email trackers, such as ugly emailcan help you immediately determine if a survey sent via an email invitation is being tracked.
If you can’t get a definitive answer about anonymity from a survey, avoid completing questions intended to determine who you are. Work-related surveys may ask you about your department or boss, so be aware of what information you are willing to post.
Don’t play with anonymity
Although a SurveyMonkey survey will not ask you for your first and last name directly, your identifying information may still be revealed through various metadata. Since anonymity cannot be guaranteed when completing a SurveyMonkey survey, it would be best not to disclose any information that you would not like to be associated with you.
