Ensuring anonymity in Nettskjema

Choose No to the collection of personal information

To choose No to the collection personal info, go to the form's settings tab and under the heading The form:

Choose No here so that the participant's name and username are not saved with their responses.

Do not ask questions that can identify the participant

Be careful with the wording of the questions, it should not be possible to link the participant to their response.

Checklist for anonymization

The measures described above ensure that there is no connection in Nettskjema between the respondent and their response. However, in order to ensure full anonymity, we recommend that both participants and the person responsible for the form consider the following points: 

• Do not register personally identifiable information in anonymous forms: Full anonymity means it should be impossible to link responses to individuals. Anonymous forms should therefore not contain questions that can directly or indirectly lead to an individual¡¯s identity, such as phone numbers, employee IDs, social security numbers, street addresses, email addresses, or usernames. 
• Recommended number of invited participants: The more that are invited to respond to the form, the more difficult it will be for the person reviewing responses to link the participants to their responses. Less than ten invitees are not recommended if anonymity is important. 
• The participant should not disclose the time of their response: If the form administrator knows the time, it is possible for them to find the response based on administrative information in the databases. 
• Use neutral language when responding: Dialect, slang, and choice of words can weaken anonymity. 
• Use closed questions: Closed questions with predefined answer options ensure comparable responses, simplicity, and neutral language. 
• NB: It is the form editor who is responsible for the form that will be listed as responsible for the form to participants. 

Related content

• Is there a requirement to report to NSD for anonymous surveys in Nettskjema? (in Norwegian)