Confidentiality and Data Handling
Employee surveys only work when employees feel safe to provide honest feedback. Confidentiality is therefore central to the integrity of the survey process.
How anonymity is protected
| Protection | What it means |
|---|---|
| Aggregate reporting | Results are reported as group patterns, not as identifiable individual responses. |
| Minimum sample size rules | Small groups are not shown separately where doing so could increase identification risk. |
| Role-based access | Portal users only see results for organisational areas they are authorised to access. |
| Careful handling of comments | Open-text comments should be reviewed and reported in a way that avoids unnecessary identification risk. |
| Third-party administration | Independent survey management helps strengthen employee trust in the process. |
Data handling principles
Council users should:
- use survey data only for the purposes communicated to employees;
- not attempt to identify individual respondents;
- avoid combining filters in ways that create very small groups;
- handle comments carefully, especially where a comment may identify a person, incident or small team;
- apply the same confidentiality principles in reports, workshops and leadership discussions;
- explain clearly how results will be used and how confidentiality is protected.
When to seek advice
Seek advice from our team before publishing or presenting results where:
- a group result is based on a small number of responses;
- comments may identify a person, incident or very small team;
- multiple demographic filters create a narrow respondent group;
- there is uncertainty about whether a result should be shared.