Anonymous Surveys
Enquete.com provides anonymity settings for regular surveys, recurring surveys and training evaluations, and built-in protections for 360° feedback. This guide explains how to configure these options, what information is stored and what survey organisers can see.
Before you begin: anonymity depends on the survey type, distribution method and settings you choose. Removing an email address from a response does not necessarily remove every connection to the respondent. Answers themselves can also contain identifying details.
1. Choose the right anonymity option
| Product | How to enable it | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Regular survey | Enable Anonymous survey in the question builder settings. | No respondent email address is stored with the response. Individual answers remain available. Personal email invitations remain linked to their responses internally. |
| Recurring survey | Select Anonymous or Confidential in the wizard's Privacy step. | Individual response pages and raw exports are blocked. Recurring reports protect small groups. Anonymous removes the stored link between a person and their response; Confidential retains it. |
| 360° feedback | Group protections apply automatically. | Peers, direct reports and external raters are reported in groups. Self-assessment and manager feedback remain recognisable. |
| Trainer Suite | Select Anonymous responses on the training or session, or create a session without attendee email addresses. | The training's shared survey becomes anonymous. Regular anonymous survey rules apply. |
Important: minimum group sizes do not protect every way of accessing results. Standard analytics and summary exports of the survey underlying a recurring survey or 360° assessment do not apply these thresholds. Response integrations also deliver individual answer sets. See Important limitations.
Terms used in this guide
- Response
- One respondent's set of answers.
- Personal invitation
- An email containing a survey link assigned to one recipient.
- Open link
- A shared survey link that is not assigned to an individual recipient. It can also be shared as a QR code.
- Survey owner
- The Enquete.com user who sets up the survey and accesses its results.
- Minimum group size
- The minimum number of responses required before a group's results can be displayed in reports that enforce this threshold.
2. What information is stored?
The following storage protections apply to regular surveys with Anonymous survey enabled, recurring surveys set to Anonymous or Confidential, and every 360° response. They also apply to Trainer Suite when its shared survey is anonymous.
Response information
- The answers, response date and time taken to answer are retained.
- Exact start and completion times are not retained; only the dates are stored.
- The original device fingerprint is replaced with a one-way code specific to the survey and round. This supports duplicate-response prevention without retaining the original fingerprint.
Invitation information
- The system can record that an invited person has responded so that reminders stop.
- Opening, clicking and answering are recorded by date, without the time of day.
- The respondent's IP address and browser are not recorded with the invitation when they answer.
Information that is never stored with a response
IP address, browser, referrer, city and country are not stored with responses in any survey, including surveys that are not anonymous. For a non-anonymous survey answered through a personal email link, the IP address and browser are recorded with the invitation when the person answers.
These protections are not retroactive. They apply when new responses are received. Enabling anonymity does not remove details from earlier responses. Responses collected before these storage protections were introduced retain their original timestamps and device fingerprints.
3. Regular surveys
Enable anonymous responses
- Open your survey in the question builder.
- Open the survey settings.
- Enable Anonymous survey.
- Check the setting before collecting responses.
When Anonymous survey is enabled
- No respondent email address is stored with the response. A fixed placeholder is used where an address would otherwise be stored.
- An address entered to receive a continue-later link is used to send that link and is not saved with the response.
- The respondent list does not display email addresses or allow searching or sorting by them.
- The storage protections apply.
- You can still open individual responses and export their answers to Excel or SPSS.
Personal invitations and open links
If you distribute an anonymous regular survey through an email campaign, the system retains an internal link between the invitation and its response. This supports continuing later and preventing a second response through the same invitation.
This link is not displayed in the survey screens or included in anonymous webhook, Zapier or Make deliveries, but it remains stored. If you need to avoid this stored invitation link, use an open link or a recurring survey set to Anonymous.
No minimum group size applies to regular surveys. Results and individual answer sets can be viewed even when very few people have responded.
When Anonymous survey is disabled
Email addresses obtained through invitations or the continue-later feature can be stored with responses and displayed in the respondent list. Exact start and completion times and device fingerprints are retained. Email campaign records also retain exact opening, clicking and answering times, plus the IP address and browser at answering.
4. Recurring surveys
Choose a privacy level in the recurring survey wizard's Privacy step. The selected level determines what respondents are told about their answers.
| Feature | Anonymous | Confidential | By name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stored link between person and response | No | Yes, to compare answers across rounds | Yes |
| Answers displayed by name | No | No | Yes |
| Storage protections | Yes | Yes | No |
| Minimum group size in recurring reports | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Individual response pages and raw exports | Blocked | Blocked | Available |
Anonymous
Responses are stored without an invitation link or respondent email address. The invitation is marked as answered separately, without recording which response belongs to it. This allows reminders to stop without linking answers to the recipient.
The dashboard shows participation counts rather than the identities of people who answered.
Confidential
Answers are not displayed by name, but Enquete.com retains the link between each person and their response so that answers can be compared across rounds. Describe this option to respondents as confidential.
Protections for Anonymous and Confidential
- Recurring round reports, trends, alerts and their exports hide groups below the minimum group size.
- Written answers appear in random order without respondent names or dates.
- The underlying survey's respondent list, individual response pages and raw Excel or SPSS exports are blocked.
- Once the recurring survey is running, privacy can only become stricter and the minimum group size cannot be reduced.
Reporting limitation: the underlying survey's standard charts, written answers and summary exports remain available without minimum-group-size enforcement.
By name
Responses retain identifying information as in a regular non-anonymous survey. The owner can access individual responses.
Open-link audiences
With Open link (anonymous), there are no personal invitations to connect to responses. Storage protections still depend on the privacy level selected in the wizard.
Sharing round results with respondents
Result sharing is off by default. When enabled, invited recipients receive an email linking to the round's results without needing to sign in.
- The page shows overall question scores, changes since the previous round and the number of respondents.
- It does not show written answers, departmental or other group breakdowns, or who answered.
- Below the minimum group size, the page displays a message that there are too few responses. Automatic sharing skips these rounds.
- Everyone invited receives the email, including people who did not respond.
- The link is the same for everyone in that round, and the page does not record who opened it.
- Anyone with the link can view the page, including someone who receives a forwarded link.
- Turning result sharing off makes the shared pages for all rounds unavailable.
5. 360° feedback
In 360° feedback, protections are built into reporting. However, self-assessment and manager feedback remain recognisable.
| Rater group | How feedback is presented |
|---|---|
| Self-assessment | Recognisable as the employee's own assessment. |
| Manager | Recognisable as the manager's feedback. |
| Peers, direct reports and external raters | Reported in groups rather than by individual rater. |
Group protections
- A group is reported separately only after reaching its minimum response count. Peers and direct reports require at least three.
- Depending on your settings, a group below the threshold is merged with other anonymous groups, hidden while its ratings contribute to the overall score, or excluded.
- Single ratings that could be calculated from the other reported figures are excluded from averages.
- If all anonymous groups together have fewer than three responses, none of their ratings are used.
- HR can see who was invited in anonymous groups, but not which individuals responded.
- HR can remove individual comments before sharing the report.
Stored information and access
Storage protections apply to every 360° response, including self-assessment and manager feedback. Those assessments remain recognisable because of their rater groups.
The underlying survey's respondent list, individual response pages and raw exports are blocked. Its standard analytics and summary exports remain available without minimum-group-size enforcement.
Who receives the report?
HR receives the employee's report. The manager also receives it unless access is set to HR only. The employee receives the report after release. Raters do not receive a report.
6. Trainer Suite
Sessions without attendee email addresses
Share a survey link or QR code with attendees. No personal invitation is created, so no invitation can be linked to a response. Anonymous responses is selected automatically, making the training's survey anonymous.
Sessions with attendee email addresses
Attendees receive personal invitations after the session. These invitations remain linked to responses, as in a regular survey. Select Anonymous responses on the training or session to apply anonymous survey storage protections.
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Enable Anonymous responses on a training | The survey becomes anonymous when linked to the training. |
| Disable Anonymous responses on a training | The survey stops being anonymous unless a session still has Anonymous responses enabled. |
| Enable Anonymous responses on a session | The training's shared survey becomes anonymous. |
| Create a session without attendee emails | Anonymous responses is enabled automatically, making the shared survey anonymous. |
One survey is shared by all sessions of a training. Making one session anonymous changes how new responses are stored for every session using that survey.
The setting reaches the survey shortly after saving. Confirm that Anonymous survey is enabled in the question builder before collecting feedback. Earlier responses retain their previously stored information.
What trainers can see
Trainer Suite dashboards and report cards display totals, averages, response rates and recent responses with their scores, without identifying who submitted them.
This presentation alone does not make the underlying survey anonymous. If anonymity is disabled, its regular respondent list can show invited attendees' email addresses, and exact response times are stored. When anonymity is enabled, individual answer sets remain accessible under regular anonymous survey rules.
7. Webhooks, Zapier and Make
Response integrations deliver individual responses as they arrive, including for anonymous surveys.
| Information | Non-anonymous survey | Anonymous survey |
|---|---|---|
| Survey and response identifiers | Included | Included |
| Answers and response count | Included | Included |
| Start and completion | Exact timestamps | Dates only |
| Time taken to answer | Included | Included |
| Invitation reference | Included when available | Empty |
| Respondent email address | Included when available | Empty |
| Device fingerprint | Included when available | Empty |
Here, anonymous delivery rules apply to regular anonymous surveys, anonymous training surveys, Anonymous or Confidential recurring surveys, and all 360° surveys. Empty fields remain present so existing integrations can continue processing the payload structure.
Delivery timing can reveal information. Even when timestamps are reduced to dates, a receiving system observes when each response arrives. Someone could compare that moment with a person's activity or participation status.
Integrations also receive one person's answers together, including for recurring and 360° surveys whose dedicated reports normally restrict results to groups.
For stronger anonymity, leave response integrations disconnected. If you use them, restrict access to the receiving system and account for timing and individual-answer access when explaining privacy to respondents.
8. AI summaries
AI summaries for recurring surveys and 360° feedback are off by default. Enabling them sends selected report information to an external AI provider.
What is sent?
- Scores and counts available in the relevant report.
- Written answers available in that report.
- For 360° feedback, rater-group scores and eligible written feedback.
What is excluded?
- Group results suppressed by the report's minimum group size.
- Respondent names and email addresses as identity fields.
- The employee's name in 360° feedback; the AI is instructed to use “the employee.”
- 360° comments removed by HR.
- Written feedback from a 360° report containing fewer than three comments.
- Per-person figures from the 360° dashboard; only overall figures are used for its summary.
Open answers are sent as written. Names or identifying details typed into an answer can therefore reach the AI provider, even though respondent identity fields are excluded.
How summaries are presented
Generated text is stored per language and labelled AI summary. For 360° feedback, the AI is instructed not to quote comments verbatim or attribute them to a person or group. These instructions do not guarantee that generated text cannot reveal identifying clues.
Recurring round summaries may include one or two written answers as examples of a theme. The 360° conversation guide is available to HR and the manager, not the employee.
AI features for regular surveys and Trainer Suite are outside the scope of this guide.
9. Important limitations
Answers can identify people
Names, email questions, job titles, unique experiences and writing style can identify a respondent. Anonymity settings do not remove identifying information that respondents enter in their answers. Avoid unnecessary identifying questions and ask respondents to leave recognisable details out of written feedback.
Small groups and detailed breakdowns increase risk
A department, location or job-level filter can make a group easy to recognise. Choose an appropriate minimum group size where available and avoid combinations that isolate individuals. Regular surveys do not enforce minimum group sizes.
Underlying analytics have different protections
The standard charts, written-answer views and summary exports (Word, PowerPoint, CSV and PDF) of the survey underlying a recurring survey or 360° assessment remain available without minimum-group-size enforcement.
Blocking individual response pages and raw Excel or SPSS exports does not extend group thresholds to these other views. Account for this access before promising that small-group information will always be hidden.
Timing can still provide clues
Live response counts, observed completion activity and integration delivery times can help someone infer who answered, even when exact response timestamps are not stored.
Shared result links can be forwarded
Anyone holding a recurring round's shared results link can open it. Share only results suitable for that level of access.
Setting changes affect new responses
Enabling anonymity does not anonymise earlier responses. Disabling it does not restore information omitted from earlier anonymous responses. Running recurring surveys allow only stricter privacy settings.
Server logs are outside this guide's scope
These descriptions concern survey response and invitation records. Mail servers and web servers may maintain separate logs.
10. Frequently asked questions
Can the organiser see my individual answers?
In a regular anonymous survey, the organiser can open your answers together without a displayed respondent email address. This also applies to anonymous training surveys.
Anonymous and Confidential recurring surveys and 360° surveys block individual response pages and raw exports. However, underlying analytics and connected integrations have the limitations described above. Written answers may also contain identifying clues.
What is the difference between anonymous and confidential?
In an Anonymous recurring survey, no link between your identity and response is stored. In a Confidential recurring survey, that link is retained to compare answers across rounds, but answers are not displayed by name.
How can reminders work if a recurring survey is anonymous?
The invitation can be marked as answered separately from the response. The system can stop reminders without storing which answers belong to that recipient.
Is my IP address stored with my answers?
No. IP addresses are not stored with responses in any survey. For a non-anonymous survey answered through a personal email link, the IP address and browser are recorded with the invitation. Separate server logs are outside this guide's scope.
Does a QR code automatically make a survey anonymous?
A shared QR code avoids a personal invitation link, but it does not replace the survey's privacy settings. Answers may still identify you, and storage protections depend on the selected settings.
Is all 360° feedback anonymous?
No. Self-assessment and manager feedback are recognisable. Peers, direct reports and external raters are presented through protected groups. Comments can still contain clues about their authors.
Does receiving a recurring results email reveal that I responded?
No. The results email goes to everyone invited, whether they answered or not.
Can colleagues see written answers on the shared results page?
No. That page shows overall scores, changes from the previous round and response counts. It excludes written answers and group breakdowns, and hides results below the minimum group size.
11. Setup checklist
- Choose the appropriate privacy setting. Enable Anonymous survey for a regular survey, select Anonymous or Confidential for a recurring survey, or enable Anonymous responses in Trainer Suite.
- Review your questions. Remove unnecessary requests for names, email addresses or other identifying details.
- Choose your distribution method. An open link or QR code avoids a personal invitation-to-response link. Personal invitations support reminders and participation tracking, with different linking rules by product.
- Configure group protections where available. Choose a suitable minimum group size and limit detailed breakdowns.
- Review every route to results. Consider underlying analytics, summary exports and response integrations as well as the dedicated reports.
- Decide whether to enable AI summaries. Explain that eligible report information, including written answers, is processed by an external AI provider.
- Explain privacy accurately. Tell respondents who can access results, whether identity links are retained and how written answers are used.
- Verify settings before collecting responses. Anonymity changes do not remove identifying details from previously stored responses.
How to activate an anonymous survey
Enable the Anonymous Survey setting to collect responses without storing the respondent's email address with their answers.
Step 1: Open your survey
Select the survey you want to edit. Its dashboard will open, showing total responses, completed responses, average completion time and other survey analytics.
Step 2: Click Edit.
In the menu bar at the top of the dashboard, click Edit to open the survey builder.
Step 3: Open Settings
Click Settings in the survey builder. The survey settings panel will appear on the right-hand side of the screen.
Step 4: Find Privacy
Scroll to the bottom of the settings panel to find the Privacy section.
Step 5: Enable Anonymous Survey
Switch the Anonymous Survey toggle on to enable anonymous responses. Switch it off to disable this setting.
Step 6: Save Settings
This setting applies to new responses. Enabling it does not remove information already stored with earlier responses. Disabling it does not restore information omitted from responses collected while anonymity was enabled.