Anonymous poll maker · Free · Honest feedback

Collect honest votes without collecting names.

Pulseware polls are anonymous by default. We do not store voter names, emails, or raw IP addresses — only a one-way IP hash for abuse detection. The voter sees a clear "this poll is anonymous" notice before they cast their vote.

Create an anonymous poll Yes / no polls

Anonymous by default · One-way IP hashing · Voter-facing privacy notice

Build a poll in 30 seconds

Type a question, share a link. No sign-up needed to start.

What anonymous mode actually does.

Five privacy mechanics, each individually configurable. They combine to give you provable anonymity rather than a checkbox.

Three duplicate-prevention modes.

Anonymous does not mean "no idea who voted twice". You pick the strictness based on how high the stakes are.

  • 1.
    Cookie (default). One vote per browser. Easy to bypass with a private window, but enough friction to keep casual ballot-stuffing in check.
  • 2.
    Cookie + IP hash. One vote per browser AND per IP hash. Substantially harder to bypass; appropriate for opinion polls and pulse surveys.
  • 3.
    Verified (P3). One vote per invited contact via magic-link or SMS verification. For elections, association votes, and certified results. Ships in the P3 Secure Vote release.

The two ways anonymous polls accidentally identify voters.

1. Small groups with demographic questions. Asking team + role + tenure on a 6-person team is effectively a name field. Drop demographic combinations on small populations, and survey across the whole organisation instead.

2. Identifying details in open-text answers. Voters sometimes write "as the only person managing the Bristol account, I think…". Add a clear note before open-text fields asking voters not to include identifying details unless they want to be identified. The Pulseware runner ships this note by default on anonymous polls.

Keep exploring Pulseware

A few more ways to use the survey maker, each one designed for a different moment.

Common questions

Specifically about how Pulseware keeps polls anonymous and how to prove it.

What does "anonymous" actually mean on a Pulseware poll?
No name, email, or identifying fields are collected unless you explicitly add them. The IP address is hashed one-way at submission time (we never persist the raw IP). The user-agent string can be stripped in the poll settings. The exported CSV contains zero identifying columns when anonymous mode is on.
How do you stop someone voting twice if you can not identify them?
Three modes: "cookie" (default — one vote per browser, easy to bypass but lowest friction), "cookie + IP hash" (much harder to bypass) and "verified" (P3 — invitation-only with one-time tokens). You choose the level per poll, balancing friction against vote integrity.
Can I prove a poll was anonymous to my team?
Yes. The poll settings page shows "Anonymous mode: on" to every voter. The CSV export contains no names, no emails, no raw IPs when anonymous mode is enabled. Share the export with anyone who needs to verify.
Could a small team still be identifiable from the answer combinations alone?
Yes, and that is the most common privacy mistake on anonymous polls. Avoid demographic combinations (age + role + team) for groups under 8 people. The Pulseware builder flags combinations that look identifiable so you can drop a question before publishing.
Can I let voters identify themselves voluntarily?
Yes — add an optional lead-capture step after the vote. Mark every field as optional and use clear consent text. Many anonymous engagement polls end with "May we contact you about this answer?" with a tickbox.
How is anonymous different from a public link?
Different concepts. A public link means anyone with the URL can vote. Anonymous mode means we do not collect identifying data about who voted. You can combine them or use either independently.

How this page was created

This page was written and reviewed by the Pulseware product team alongside the master P0 polls plan. Privacy mechanics described here reflect the Pulseware Polls implementation in P0.

Last reviewed:

Anonymous by design, not by checkbox.

Free, AU-built, privacy-clean. Share the CSV with whoever needs to verify.

Create an anonymous poll Yes / no polls