How to authenticate survey respondents

Some surveys should be available only to approved employees, students, customers or research participants. Respondent Authentication adds an access check before people reach the questions in your online questionnaire builder.

This video introduces authentication by Code, SMS and Email and explains the control available for each method.

What You Will Learn About Access Control

• Require respondents to enter an approved code.
• Verify a mobile number through a one-time password.
• Restrict access to approved email addresses or patterns.
• Upload additional code or mobile lists.
• Decide whether credentials can be used once or repeatedly.
• Choose whether authentication information appears in the results.

Authentication controls access. It does not automatically make collected responses anonymous. The identity setting should be chosen according to the purpose and confidentiality of the project.

Where Respondent Authentication Matters

Limit an Internal Survey to Approved Employees

An organisation may need to ensure that only current staff participate in an internal assessment or engagement study. Within an employee survey solution, personnel codes or approved company email addresses can control access while the survey owner decides whether the identifier remains visible in the results.

Manage a Predefined Research Sample

An academic study may have a fixed participant list and require each invitation to be used once. With academic research surveys, approved codes or contact details can restrict entry to the intended sample rather than anyone who receives the public link.

After watching, identify which verified information you already hold for participants: a code, mobile number or email address. Use that answer to select the most suitable authentication method before configuring the survey.