"SurveyMonkey's privacy practices present a high-risk profile (score 68/100 equivalent to Netflix/Spotify tier) driven by extensive sensitive data collection from financial records and call recordings, broad third-party sharing with data brokers and marketing vendors, mandatory AI processing of survey responses without opt-out, and critically, extensive administrative control over employee data without individual consent. The combination of indefinite data retention, cross-device behavioral tracking, and automated sentiment analysis creates ongoing privacy exposure that exceeds typical enterprise software standards."
surveymonkey Privacy Concerns & Scorecard
Enterprise administrators have unilateral control over employee data including ability to change passwords, suspend accounts, modify survey responses, and delete data without individual employee consent or notification
Extensive collection of sensitive personal data including financial information (credit card numbers, bank account information), biometric data (call recordings), location data, device identifiers, and third-party profile enrichment from data brokers
Data shared with extensive network of third parties including data brokers (LinkedIn, ZoomInfo), marketing vendors, advertising partners, and AI vendors without clear user control or granular consent options
Indefinite retention of creator account data while account is active, with residual backups retained for 90 days post-deletion, and vague retention standards for other user types
Multi-method cross-platform tracking using first-party and third-party cookies, web beacons, page tags, and mobile identifiers for behavioral targeting and audience matching
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Data Collection & Tracking
Personal Information Collected
Account creation, authentication, communication, user profiling, and marketing audience enrichment
Payment processing and billing
Customer service, quality assurance, and machine learning model training
Trend analysis, personalization, content filtering, and targeted advertising
Service delivery, analytics, fraud detection, cross-device tracking, and device fingerprinting
Analytics, service improvement, personalization, and targeted advertising
Survey delivery and analytics; machine learning model training for sentiment analysis
Referral tracking, team collaboration, and survey distribution
Account authentication, user profiling, data enrichment, and service integration
Cross-Platform Tracking
SurveyMonkey tracks you across websites and devices using first-party and third-party cookies, web beacons, page tags, and mobile device identifiers (UUID, MAC address) to recognize you across browsers and devices for targeted advertising. Your email address is hashed and shared with marketing vendors for audience matching, and your online behavior is tracked to infer your identity across services.
Tracking Methods:
First-Party and Third-Party Cookies
Cookies placed on your browser to track your behavior on SurveyMonkey properties and across partner websites for analytics, personalization, and targeted advertising.
Web Beacons (Page Tags)
Invisible tracking pixels embedded in emails and web pages that track email opens, link clicks, and page visits to measure campaign performance and user engagement.
Device Identifiers & Fingerprinting
Mobile device identifiers (UUID), MAC addresses, device type, OS version, and browser information combined to create a unique device fingerprint for cross-device and cross-platform tracking.
Mobile Tracking Tags
Mobile-specific tracking identifiers used to recognize users across mobile apps and websites for behavioral targeting and advertising campaign measurement.
Hashed Email Matching
Email address converted to a hash and matched with marketing vendor databases to identify you across websites for targeted and personalized advertising.
AI & Data Training
surveymonkey uses your content to train AI
Below is what's used and how (if at all) you can object.
What Content Is Used
Survey Response Data
Open-text survey responses are automatically processed through machine learning for sentiment analysis and pattern recognition. De-identified data is used to train ML models, though re-identification risks are not addressed. Processing cannot be disabled for GetFeedback Digital and GetFeedback Direct users.
Call Recordings
Recordings of customer support, sales, and success calls are used for machine learning model training and quality assurance purposes.
Customer Support Communications
Customer support chat transcripts and interactions are used for machine learning model training to improve support systems and automation.
How to Object
No opt-out available
This service does not currently provide a public way to opt out of AI training.
Why We Analyzed surveymonkey
TrueTerms automatically audits privacy policies and data practices using advanced machine learning to keep you informed and protected. This scorecard is based on the latest available public terms of service and privacy policies as of 2026.