Data Privacy & Your Data

SurveyMethods handles two kinds of data on your behalf: information about the people you survey (contacts and email recipients) and the answers they submit. This article explains what is collected, how it is used, and the controls you have over it.

What Data Is Collected

Data	Where it comes from	How it’s used
Contact details	You import or add them	Sending invitations and reminders
Survey responses	Respondents’ answers	Reporting and analysis
IP address	Respondent’s browser	Distinguishing responses (unless anonymous)
Email engagement	Sends, opens, opt-outs	Delivery and suppression

You own the contact and response data in your account. It is used to operate the surveys you run, not for any other purpose.

Anonymous Responses

Each collector has an Anonymous responses setting. When turned on, IP addresses are not stored with responses, so answers can’t be traced back to a device. Once a survey has been taken anonymously, the setting locks on to protect respondents already covered by it. See Collecting Anonymous Responses for details.

Opt-Outs & Suppression

Survey invitation emails automatically include an Unsubscribe link. When a recipient uses it, their email address is suppressed for your whole account, and future sends skip that address automatically. You don’t have to manage this by hand. Learn more in Opt-Outs & Unsubscribes.

Controls You Have

Turn on Anonymous responses on a collector to stop collecting IP addresses.
Use IP restrictions on a collector to allow or block specific addresses.
Remove people from your lists at any time in Managing Contacts & Lists.
Delete responses you no longer need — see Deleting & Recovering Responses.

Respondent Trust

Because suppressed addresses are honored account-wide and anonymous responses drop identifying data, you can reassure respondents that their choices are respected. This tends to improve response rates and the honesty of the feedback you collect.

Need help? Browse more articles in the Security & Privacy section.