Using Employees' Private Email Addresses in GAIS

Most often participants are invited to a GAIS survey via email, as this is by far the most effective way to distribute invitations to employees. In the vast majority of companies, a company domain is used, to which employees have work email addresses linked.

Alternatives to Work Emails

If you don't use work emails, the natural question is: what do you do then? If you have a Premium subscription, a good solution could be to use our code or kiosk functions. Otherwise, the common solution is often to use employees' private email addresses.

Note When Using Private Emails

If you choose to invite employees via their private email, there are a few important points you need to consider.

1. Employee Expectations and GDPR Legal Basis

If you have employees' private emails in your systems, it might be tempting to quickly export them into a data file. However, you need to consider the legal basis and the purpose for which you hold these email addresses.

For example, if employees were informed that you only use these email addresses to send out pay slips, it would not comply with GDPR if you then start using the addresses for many other purposes (e.g., GAIS surveys). So, ensure you have the right to send work-related information via email to your employees and that your employees are aware of and agree to this.

2. Blocks, Spam Rules, Incorrect Email Addresses, and Full Inboxes

When you use private email addresses, you're sending emails to addresses you don't control. This can mean that several of your employees won't receive these emails for various reasons, such as:

• The employee has set up email rules for that address, for instance, blocking, rejecting, or deleting emails from unknown senders.

• You've registered an incorrect address—for example, due to a typo or because the employee has changed their email address and no longer has access to the old one.

• The employee's private email inbox is full (yes, this happens more often than you think).

• There are also several instances where email providers temporarily block sender domains or IP addresses if many emails are sent to their domain within a short period (e.g., Gmail, Hotmail, Live, etc.).

3. Security and Deletion

Unlike email addresses managed by the company, you don't have direct control over aspects like security, access, and similar factors when dealing with employees' private email addresses. This can lead to an increased risk of external parties gaining access to and/or responding to an employee's GAIS surveys via their private inbox.

Similarly, you'll find it difficult to delete or revoke invitations/links that were mistakenly sent to an employee.