Reducing the data a form collects

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A school canteen form needs to know if a student is old enough for a Year 7 offer. Which field is better?

A Year level drop-down: Year 7, Year 8, Year 9

B Full date of birth

2. A sign-up form for a gaming club asks for a phone number, but the club only uses email. What should the designer do?

A Remove the phone number question

B Keep it and hope nobody minds

3. Which age question collects less personal data?

A Type your exact birth date

B Age range drop-down: 11-13, 14-16, 17+

4. A survey about favourite school lunches asks for each student's full name. Is the name needed?

A No, the survey can be anonymous

B Yes, every survey needs a name

5. A form asks for a home address, but the data is only used to see which suburbs students come from. What is a better design?

A Ask for the full street address

B Ask for a suburb from a drop-down list

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1Email (optional)		AA drop-down of ranges that collects a rough age group instead of an exact birth date
2Age: [ 10-12 \| 13-15 \| 16-18 ]		BYear level: [ Year 7 \| Year 8 \| Year 9 ]
3Replace a precise answer with a range so the form collects less detail		CMakes name and address compulsory for a poll that does not need them. The unneeded questions should be removed or made optional.
4Leave out the name field when the form does not need to know who you are		DSurvey: Which lunch do you prefer? (no name box)
5Date of birth: [ 14 / 03 / 2011 ] for a school canteen survey		EAsks for an exact birth date when a simple age range would do. The form collects more than it needs.
6Full name (required), Home address (required) for a quick poll		FA field the user can skip, so the form does not force them to hand over data it does not really need

Definitions

data minimisation

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

<label>Age range</label> <______ name="age"> <option>12-13</option>

<label>Phone (________)</label> <input type="tel" name="phone">

<label>Nickname, not full name</label> <input type="____" name="nick">

<label>Email for your reply</label> <input type="email" ________>

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A form Canteen Survey

B ask favourite_food: dropdown

C ask birth_date: typed

Question 2

A ask full_name: required

B ask favourite_sport: dropdown

C submit

Question 3

A form Newsletter Signup

B ask email: required

C ask suburb: required

Question 4

A ask exact_money: typed

B ask spends_on: dropdown

C submit

Question 5

A form Game Club Signup

B ask username: required

C ask age_range: dropdown

D ask home_address: required

Answer Key

Reducing the data a form collects

Section A: Quick Questions

A — Year level drop-down: Year 7, Year 8, Year 9

A — Remove the phone number question

B — Age range drop-down: 11-13, 14-16, 17+

A — No, the survey can be anonymous

B — Ask for a suburb from a drop-down list

Section B: Match the Pairs

Email (optional) → A field the user can skip, so the form does not force them to hand over data it does not really need

Age: [ 10-12 | 13-15 | 16-18 ] → A drop-down of ranges that collects a rough age group instead of an exact birth date

Replace a precise answer with a range so the form collects less detail → Year level: [ Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 ]

Leave out the name field when the form does not need to know who you are → Survey: Which lunch do you prefer? (no name box)

Date of birth: [ 14 / 03 / 2011 ] for a school canteen survey → Asks for an exact birth date when a simple age range would do. The form collects more than it needs.

Full name (required), Home address (required) for a quick poll → Makes name and address compulsory for a poll that does not need them. The unneeded questions should be removed or made optional.

Section C: Definitions

data minimisation — Collecting only the data a form really needs. Remove extra questions, mark fields optional and use ranges, like an age range instead of a birth date.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

<label>Age range</label>
<select name="age">
<option>12-13</option>

<label>Phone (optional)</label>
<input type="tel" name="phone">

<label>Nickname, not full name</label>
<input type="text" name="nick">

<option>10-11</option>
<option>12-13</option>
<option>14-15</option>

<label>Email for your reply</label>
<input type="email" required>

Section E: Spot the Error

C — A birth date is more precise than the survey needs. Use a drop-down age range like ask age_range: dropdown instead.

A — This poll does not need to know who answered. Asking for a required full name collects extra data, so ask for year level in a drop-down instead.

C — A newsletter only needs an email address. The suburb is not essential, so the field should be marked optional, not required.

A — Typing an exact amount collects more detail than needed. A drop-down range like ask money_range: dropdown collects less data.

D — A game club does not need a home address, and making it required is worse. The question should be removed, so it should be a non-essential question like ask favourite_game: optional.