Q: Our employer regularly asks us to fill out online surveys through SurveyMonkey, and says they're anonymous. Are they? If we fill them out at our work stations, they're linked to our computers. How is that anonymous?
A: Although online surveys can provide anonymity, they don't always. Since our company regularly administers such surveys for our clients (we use the popular SurveyMonkey platform, too), I asked our team how they -- and your employer -- can guarantee anonymity to individuals responding to such surveys.
"The person who creates the survey makes crucial decisions when developing and administering the survey that totally impact responder privacy," says Marcus Bobbitt, a management consultant here at The Growth Company. "Collection methods determine the confidentiality responders receive."
According to Bobbitt, online survey providers such as SurveyMonkey have "the capacity to protect the identity of the participant by not recording the IP address of the responder or tracking personal identifiers such as email addresses. If the survey URL begins with HTTPS:// those responding can rest assured the communication exchange is sent via SSL encryption, making it difficult to intercept."
Bobbitt acknowledges that "Survey Monkey records the IP address of the responder if the survey is taken on company-owned equipment. This means your company's IT personnel have the ability to trace the response back to the last user."
Bobbitt suggests that you can "protect your confidentiality by accessing a survey on a personal computer or cellphone, provided the survey is administrated by a generic Web link or sent in a group email, and not via an individual email invitation." He adds that because your email address creates a personal identifier that allows your response to be traced, many employers now use third-party vendors to protect against that.
Q: What rights do I have when our receptionist intentionally, repeatedly invades my privacy by opening my personal mail? Because I don't always want my husband to have advance knowledge of some of my purchases, I'm forced to use my work address. Despite the fact that most of these packages have return addresses that should clearly cue the receptionist that they're personal, she opens at least half of them.
At our recent team retreat I brought the receptionist's snooping to everyone's attention. She got red in the face, burst into tears and said, "I can't always tell when it's personal from the return addresses," and then left the room. After the retreat, our boss called me on the carpet for humiliating the receptionist. I suggested a simple solution -- that she put everyone's mail on their desks. He told me, "Her opening the mail saves everyone's time. If you plan to have packages arrive at the office, notify her in advance and give her the name of the organization and its return address." This is unfair. What are my privacy rights if she opens another package?
A: You can best protect your privacy by renting a post office box.
Your boss asks your receptionist to open incoming mail and appropriately came to her defense when you publicly slammed her. The fact that your receptionist doesn't open half of your mail suggests that she's making an effort to respect your privacy. Your boss gave you a viable option -- you can let your receptionist know when you're expecting a package.
You and other employees do have privacy rights against employer or co-worker snooping. No one should look into your purse. But don't expect your workplace to revolve around you. In most organizations, an administrative person opens and distributes all incoming mail, because it comes to the workplace.
My thought: You need to apologize to the receptionist. You accused her of snooping for doing her job. If there's unfairness here, it's yours.
Lynne Curry writes a weekly column on workplace issues. She is author of "Solutions" and "Beating the Workplace Bully" and owner of the management/HR consulting/training firm The Growth Company Inc. Send your questions to her at lynne@thegrowthcompany.com. Follow her on Twitter @lynnecurry10, at www.workplacecoachblog.com or at her new site www.bullywhisperer.com.