Anonymous Research Studies
The Trinity College Research DPO has prepared this guidance document to help researchers conducting surveys or questionnaires which are anonymous. This means that no data protection rights apply to the project. Therefore, there should be no reference to data protection law anywhere in the information leaflet.
Always ensure that the survey tool is configured to not collect IP addresses and location data – see hyperlinks on enabling anonymous survey responses for SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics.
Finally, be careful with free text boxes and put in a note of caution to not disclose any information which could identify an individual.
Once participants have read the participant information leaflet, advise them to proceed to complete the survey. Also advise them that once submitted the survey cannot be withdrawn. For any questionnaire or survey, a simple tick box – yes to proceed is sufficient. No consent is required.