Write feedback that can't be traced back
The tool is half the risk. The other half is what you type. A short guide to answering honestly without handing over your name.
Is that survey actually anonymous?
Most workplace surveys say anonymous and mean confidential. The difference is whether anyone can look, not whether they promise not to. Here's what to look for in the invitation you got, and a note to send HR if it's still unclear.
What to look for
Hold this up against the invitation. Nothing to fill in.
The link
Good sign: Everyone got the same link, or it says your personal link is swapped for an anonymous ballot.
Watch out: A link only you got, or a work login, and nothing saying how it's kept apart from your answer.
Reminders
Good sign: Reminders go to everyone, whether they've answered or not.
Watch out: “We haven't heard from you yet.” The tool knows who has answered.
Who you are
Good sign: Nothing asks for your name, email or employee number.
Watch out: Fields for your name, email, employee number or badge ID.
About you
Good sign: Broad options, with “prefer not to say”.
Worth asking: Team, location, tenure and manager together, which can narrow you down to a handful of people.
Group size
Good sign: A stated minimum before anyone sees results, like “groups of 5 or more”.
Worth asking: No number anywhere. A manager of three can read their team's results.
Who can read it
Good sign: In writing: nobody, HR included, can open answers one by one.
Worth asking: “Confidential”. That's a promise not to look, not a lock.
Comment boxes
Good sign: Choices only, or a comment box with a reminder not to name people or events.
Worth asking: Comment boxes. What you write can give you away even when the tool doesn't.
Where you answer
Good sign: It opens on your own phone.
Worth asking: It only works on a work laptop or the office network.
Example checklist
Every InviziPoll survey shows a checklist like this
It sits on the ballot before the first question, worked out from that survey's own settings, so you don't have to. Anything worth checking is flagged, not hidden.
This example is an ordinary survey with a comment box, on the settings every new survey starts with. If a survey's settings weaken any of it, its list says so.
How this poll protects you
9 protections
- Nobody sees anything until 10 people answerProtected
After that, answers come through in groups of at least 3, never one at a time.
- Everyone got the same linkProtected
Nothing in your link says who you are.
- Reminders can't tell who answeredProtected
Everyone gets the same reminder, whether they've answered or not.
- No question asks who you areProtected
None of the questions asks for your name, email, ID or anything like them.
- No questions put you in a groupProtected
Nothing asks about your team, location or anything similar.
- You can send topics instead of your wordsProtected
On written questions you can send just the topics, so nobody reads how you write.
- You'll see the results tooProtected
Results are shared back on this poll's results page once leadership publishes them.
- Nothing records who you are or when you answeredProtected
Answers are opened in shuffled groups, so there's no order to trace back to you.
- No live count of answersProtected
Nobody can watch a counter tick up to work out when you answered.
Still not sure? Go through it question by questionEight yes-or-no questions, a verdict, and a note to send HR. Your answers stay in this tab.
Answer any of the questions above and the verdict appears here. Nothing you pick leaves this page.
Ask before you answer
Three questions that settle it
Written answers from HR beat any guess you can make from the invitation. This note asks for exactly that, without naming any tool. Send it as is or edit it first.
Hi, Before I fill in the survey, could you confirm three things in writing? 1. Can anyone at the company or the vendor see which person submitted which response? A unique link or a login usually means yes. 2. What is the minimum number of responses before a result is shown, including when results are filtered by team, location, or manager? 3. Who can read the free-text answers one at a time, rather than as a summary? I'd rather know than guess. Thanks.
Running the survey? Check it before you send it.
Next
Whatever the verdict, three things help
Get it in writing
Three questions HR can answer in a minute if the survey is what it says it is. The checker above ends with a note ready to send.
See what a passing tool looks like
Encrypted in your browser, stored as ciphertext, results withheld below a stated group size. The architecture, in plain language.
Recommend us
Wish your company's survey worked like this?
Tell us where you work and we'll reach out to whoever runs it. They'll never know who, when or how many. We don't ask for your name or email, so there's nothing about you for us to give away.
Only if all three are true
- Your company has 100 or more employees.
- It's based in the US.
- You're not on a tiny team where a suggestion like this could only be yours.
If your company is smaller than that, please don't submit. It could point back to you.
The email they'll get, word for word
Subject: A suggestion for your next employee survey
Hi,
Someone who says they work at {your company} told us they'd trust your next survey more if it ran on something like InviziPoll.
That's all we know. We don't know who they are, and we never will: we didn't ask for a name or an email, and we didn't keep one.
InviziPoll encrypts every answer on the employee's own device before it's sent, so we can't read any of them, and results only show once enough people have answered that nobody stands out.
If it's useful, there's a two-minute overview at invizipoll.com/trust/anonymity. If not, no reply needed and we won't keep writing.
The InviziPoll team
What it never says
- Your name, or anything about you
- When you told us
- Your team or department
- How many people asked
We send these in weekly batches, at least a week after you tell us, and we write to a company once, with at most one follow-up. Ever.
Questions
Can my employer see who answered an anonymous survey?
Often, yes. Most survey tools send each person a unique link or ask for a login, and store the answer next to that identity. A few swap that link for an anonymous ballot in your browser so the link proves you were invited but cannot be matched to your answer; a tool that does this should say so on the page. The word anonymous on the invitation is a promise not to look, not a guarantee that nobody can. Reminder emails sent only to people who have not responded are the clearest sign the tool knows who has answered.
Is it safe to write comments in the free-text box?
Only if you write them carefully. Free text identifies people by its content: a meeting only you attended, a phrase you use, a date that fits one person. A survey can be technically anonymous and still give you away through what you typed. Some surveys let you send just the topics you pick instead, so your words are never sent. Our stay-anonymous guide covers what to leave out.
What should I ask HR before I fill it in?
Three things, in writing: whether anyone at the company or the vendor can see which person submitted which response; the minimum number of responses before a result is shown, including when results are filtered by team or manager; and who can read free-text answers one at a time. The checker on this page has a ready-made note you can send.
Does this checker record my answers?
No. The answers stay in your browser tab and are gone when you close it. The page uses cookieless page-view counting like the rest of the site, and nothing you pick is sent with it.
What does an anonymous survey look like when it is done properly?
Responses are encrypted in your browser before they leave it, the server stores only ciphertext, results are only shown once a minimum number of people have answered, that minimum is stated before you start, and reminders go to everyone because the tool has no list of who has answered. A personal link is fine only when it is traded for a ballot the server signs blind, so it can never be matched to an answer. That is how InviziPoll is built, and it is also a fair standard to hold any tool to.
Want your company to use something that passes?
Send them the checker. If they'd rather see the tool that was built to pass it, InviziPoll encrypts every answer in your browser and never stores a readable one.