Viva Pulse privacy and data protection
Protections for responders
Due to the potential sensitivity about how the individual employee’s feedback could be used, a minimum threshold for recipients must be met for the author to send a pulse, and a minimum number of responses is required to be able to review the team’s feedback results once the feedback collection period ends. Pulse administrators can update these threshold values based on their organizational needs.
Additionally, Viva Pulse leverages research-backed surveys developed by People Scientists with a focus on maximizing the effectiveness of the responses and protecting the feedback providers. Results are also only displayed to the author after the Pulse has closed, and authors won't see employee names or any other identifiers unless the employees choose to include such information in their write-in response.
Only administrators and privileged users with elevated permissions may be able to identify employees and their responses in certain circumstances.
Protections for people managers and team leads
Viva Pulse provides authors the option to share reports once their Pulse closes. If results are shared, only the aggregate information is viewable by those with whom the results are shared. Authors can choose to share the open text responses with their team members when the reports are shared. Results may also be shared through connected experiences that their organization may have set up.
Additional information
The following resources help answer key questions about how Microsoft protects employee privacy and supports compliance with local regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).