Anonymity in Team Survey
What the Anonymize answers setting hides, what stays visible, the 5-person filter threshold, exports, AI and why the setting is locked after launch.
A Team Survey campaign can be run with names or anonymously. The choice is made by the campaign creator with the Anonymize answers switch ("Participants' profile pictures and names are anonymized.") in the Participants step of the wizard. This page explains exactly what that means, for participants and for the people reading the results.
When is the setting chosen?
- It is set in the campaign wizard, step Participants, under Participants settings. It is off by default.
- The Summary step shows it as Anonymise answers: Yes/No.
- The invitation email and the campaign-started email say whether answers are anonymous.
- Once the campaign is running, it can't be changed, in either direction. This guarantees that answers given anonymously never get a name attached afterwards, and vice versa.
- A relaunched campaign copies the setting into the new draft, where you can still change it before launching.
What an anonymized campaign hides
For everyone reading the campaign (creator, persons in charge, co-pilots and admins alike):
| Place | What you see |
|---|---|
| Results and the Answers tab | Respondent 1, Respondent 2... with an anonymous avatar instead of names and pictures. |
| Participants tab | Every row shows Participant with an anonymous avatar. There is no See participant profile, and the search box doesn't search by name. |
| Excel exports | No name, email or organisation columns (such as department or site). Each response only has a number. |
| AI synthesis | Answers are sent to the AI without names (this is also true for non-anonymized campaigns). |
| Emails to persons in charge | There is no email when someone submits, so nobody learns who answered when. |
The names aren't just hidden on screen: they are never sent to the browser or written in the export file.
The 5-person threshold for filters
On the results page you can filter answers by an employee attribute (Category and Type). On an anonymized campaign, if the filter matches fewer than 5 respondents, OpenAleph doesn't show the answers or the chart. Instead you see Too few answers to show and a message saying the filter must cover at least 5 people.
This prevents a filter such as "site = a small office" from revealing one person's answers. How many people matched isn't shown either. Without any filter (All), every answer is shown, whatever the number of respondents.
What stays visible
Anonymity protects the link between a person and their answers. Some things remain visible to the people running the campaign:
- Who is a participant: they chose the participants, and each participant's sheet exists in the list (without a name).
- Completion: the status of each sheet (Not started, In progress, Submitted, Disabled) and the completion charts, including Survey completion - Category on the Overview tab, which counts sheets by attribute. These are counts, not answers.
- Reminders: they can send reminders to everyone who hasn't submitted, without knowing who they are.
- The content of answers: open answers and comments are shown as written. If a participant writes something that identifies them, it will be read as is.
- Their own comments: comments written by persons in charge on an answer are signed with their name.
What the participant sees
- Their own sheet always shows their name as Respondent: only they (and nobody else) see it that way.
- They see whether the campaign is anonymous in the invitation email.
- If a person in charge comments on one of their answers, the participant is notified by email, push and in-app notification.
Non-anonymized campaigns
When Anonymize answers is off, names and pictures appear next to each answer, in the participants list and in exports (with email and organisation fields), and filters can be as narrow as you like. The filters use the member attributes described in People attributes; see also Member data and privacy.
Common questions
Can I turn anonymity on after launch because participants asked for it?
No, the setting is locked once the campaign is running. Delete the campaign (or leave it) and relaunch a new one with Anonymize answers turned on. Participants will have to answer again.
Can an admin see who wrote an anonymous answer?
No. Admins see anonymized campaigns the same way as persons in charge: without names in results, lists or exports.
Why do I see "Too few answers to show" even though many people answered?
Your filter matches fewer than 5 of them. Choose a broader value or All.
Is my survey anonymous?
Check your invitation email: it says whether answers are anonymous. If in doubt, ask the person in charge before answering.
Still stuck?
Our team answers every question. Tell us what you are trying to do and we'll walk you through it. Contact support