[Web4lib] "anonymous" online form

[Michael McCulley]

I'd suggest an out-of-the-box solution.. propose back to them a plan for a
"confidential" submission. Your information will be collected, and stored as
secure as we can make it. It will not be used in any other way, except as
part of this submission, etc. The legal team can help you with the language.

You gain legtimate access to the submitter, or with their permission. You'd
ask in the form if officials could contact them confidentially for further
information.
You gain avoidance of hiding or not revealing the nature of "anonymous"
submissions on the Internet/Web.
You gain an avenue of trust between you and the submitter. I think more
people understand the "confidentiality" nature of some activities than
"anonymous." It relates to whistlebowers, sources of news people, and so on.

Some people will be discouraged from this type of posting, but even the
"anonymous" posting you were asked to work on could not really be seen as
anonymous. To suggest or say otherwise to the potential users would be
disingenuous at best, and deceptive at worst. 

On confidentiality, there should be in place good, written, vetted policies
and procedures to ensure this is protected.

Hope this helps...

Best,
DrWeb

-- 
P. Michael McCulley aka DrWeb
mailto:drweb at san.rr.com
San Diego, CA 
http://drweb.typepad.com/

Quote of the Moment:
 'Sometimes I wake up grumpy; Other times I let her sleep'
Friday, August 04, 2006 6:26:44 PM 
 
>-----Original Message-----
>From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org 
>[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Hankinson, Andrew
>Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 7:30 AM
>To: web4lib at webjunction.org
>Subject: RE: [Web4lib] "anonymous" online form
>
> In addition to legal advice and disclaimers, you may also 
>look into hosting it on a secure server.  While the IP address 
>may be traceable, the content of the "anonymous post" would be 
>encrypted so that even the systems folks couldn't read it.
[rest and original posting snipped here]