Survey Privacy

Protecting Your Privacy In Our Community Needs Assessment

Your answers to the survey are confidential and anonymous. Because we take privacy seriously, we have taken additional steps to protect respondents and collect data securely. Read on for additional information on how we’ve ensured survey answers remain private.

What is Public Data?

In Minnesota, most data collected by government agencies (like MNQT) is considered public data, meaning it can be accessed by others upon request. However, certain types of data – like private or confidential information – are protected by law and cannot be shared publicly.

How We’re Protecting Your Information

To ensure your survey responses remain private and secure, we are working with Minnesota Management Analysis and Development (MAD), which is a state agency that specializes in research and has additional data privacy requirements mandated by state law.

Why Partnering with MAD Provides Additional Privacy Protections

MAD is a division of Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) that provides research and evaluation services for state agencies. Unlike most state agencies, MAD has additional legal protections under Minn. Stat. 13.62 that allow them to handle data with extra security measures:

Exemption from Public Data Requests – Under Minnesota law, most state agency data is public, but data collected and analyzed by MAD is not subject to public records requests in the same way. This means individual survey responses remain protected and cannot be accessed by the general public, unless and until MAD shares data with other state agencies (more on this below).
Confidential Research Protections – MAD follows strict protocols that allow certain data to be classified as non-public or confidential, ensuring that individual responses are never disclosed – even in summary reports.
Removal of Potentially Identifiable Information – Before MAD shares survey data with our agency or any other entity, they will remove any potentially identifiable information from responses. For example, if someone names their employer in an open-ended question, MAD will remove the employer’s name before providing the data file to us.

How MNQT Designed the Survey to Reduce Privacy Risks

In addition to partnering with MAD, MNQT has carefully developed the survey questions with privacy in mind. Certain demographic questions—such as age, city of residence, ethnicity, race, and gender—can increase the risk of reverse identification, where a person’s responses could be used to determine their identity. To minimize this risk while still gathering meaningful data, we have made the following key decisions:

Limited Demographic Data Collection - We have selected a specific set of demographic questions that lower the risk of reverse identification while still providing useful data.
No Collection of Ethnicity or Zip Code Data - The risk of reverse identification is particularly high for racial or religious minorities in Greater Minnesota if detailed demographic data were collected. To protect participants' privacy and safety, we have chosen not to ask for ethnicity, zip code, or religious affiliation information.
Regional Data with Extra Privacy Measures - Based on feedback from community organizations, we are including a general regional question about where respondents live. However:
- MAD will analyze regional data and provide an overview to our agency.
- MNQT will only receive data indicating whether respondents live in the 7-county Twin Cities metro area or Greater Minnesota—we will not have access to more detailed regional breakdowns at the individual level.
- This ensures that regional data remains protected and cannot be linked to specific individuals.

Our top priority in designing this survey is the safety and privacy of LGBTQIA2S+ Minnesotans who trust us with their experiences. While these measures are necessary for protection, we acknowledge that the categories in the demographic questions may not fully reflect the rich diversity of identities and experiences within the community. We understand that this limitation may leave some feeling that their holistic identity is not fully represented.

Despite these challenges, we want to reaffirm our recognition of the broad spectrum of identities, ethnicities, and experiences within Minnesota’s LGBTQIA2S+ community. Our approach is always evolving, and we remain committed to improving inclusivity in future surveys while prioritizing the safety and privacy of all participants.