Question for all you Admins

[nilez]

I need to set up some form of electronic means to receive messages anonymously for work. It's a safety program called "Any Mouse" and the point is anyone at work can drop written safety concerns at any time into either of two locked collection boxes. It's part of my job to check these boxes daily and appropriately action any valid memos. I am now looking for a way that my Marines can voice their safety concerns anonymously via electronic means. My boss is thinking of some sort of telephone voicemail setup. I'm thinking online forum.

So the question is: Can a forum such as nestreetriders be set up so that a guest can start a thread or comment in a thread anonymously? Does someone have to be a member of the forum in order to post? I imagine there are administrator settings that can be tweaked to allow certain levels of security?

Any advice, comments, suggestions will be helpful. Thanks guys!

[jasnmar]

Use survey monkey. Anyone with a link can fill out the form, but it doesn't require any type of username / password. You should be fine with a free account.

[Stoneman]

...So the question is: Can a forum such as nestreetriders be set up so that a guest can start a thread or comment in a thread anonymously? Does someone have to be a member of the forum in order to post? I imagine there are administrator settings that can be tweaked to allow certain levels of security?

Any advice, comments, suggestions will be helpful. Thanks guys!

You can most likely set-up your forum so that anonymous posts can be made. BUT, I'm not so certain IP addresses would be untracable...

[Frankenstein]

I need to set up some form of electronic means to receive messages anonymously for work. It's a safety program called "Any Mouse" and the point is anyone at work can drop written safety concerns at any time into either of two locked collection boxes. It's part of my job to check these boxes daily and appropriately action any valid memos. I am now looking for a way that my Marines can voice their safety concerns anonymously via electronic means. My boss is thinking of some sort of telephone voicemail setup. I'm thinking online forum.

So the question is: Can a forum such as nestreetriders be set up so that a guest can start a thread or comment in a thread anonymously? Does someone have to be a member of the forum in order to post? I imagine there are administrator settings that can be tweaked to allow certain levels of security?

Any advice, comments, suggestions will be helpful. Thanks guys!

Yep, you can set up most forum software to allow anonymous posting, and probably to not log IP addresses too.

[SRTie4k]

For this particular scenario, forum software is going far above and beyond your needs.

I will second what jasnmar said. Survey software is far more suited towards this particular request.

[aldend123]

As others have pointed out, a forum can do what you need. However, the server would likely log most connections so it would not be truly anonymous to the point that your life could literally depend on the anonymity. But for your purposes, would probably work. There's some logistical problems though : are you prepared to administer a server, update it, meet the Marine's security requirements, and administer a website? If this is your first round with something like this, it will be a decent amount of effort and learning.

[gadget]

Having seen many of these types of initiatives, I would suggest that the simplest implementation is probably the best.

You might want to just keep the boxes and enter any submissions into a DB yourself, so you can track them.

[aldend123]

Another simple solution would be YOURBASE_Safety@marines.mil or something like that. It would auto-forward to members of the safety group. Anyone can email, spam the base with the address. It does not have the anonymity you wanted though. But it does utilize technology a little more than the current paper method.

Does your base have an internal website widely used by all? If so, I'd find out who administers it. Ask them if you can have an "email form". They might already have this for other groups. A website that allows you to fill in boxes and click send. I'm sure you've seen something like this on many websites, usually on a 'contact us' or 'request more information' section. All that does in the background is send it to an email address. But allows the user to hide behind the website.

[NobodySpecific]

Does your base have an internal website widely used by all? If so, I'd find out who administers it. Ask them if you can have an "email form". They might already have this for other groups. A website that allows you to fill in boxes and click send. I'm sure you've seen something like this on many websites, usually on a 'contact us' or 'request more information' section. All that does in the background is send it to an email address. But allows the user to hide behind the website.

I think this idea is the best, as it offers more control over survey monkey (or the like) while allowing for easy retrieval of all of the messages without having to setup and maintain a forum. The website allows you to keep the information secure (which might be important for the military) while knowing that no identifying information is being kept. You could even require a login for the website, as long as none of that information is in any way associated with the message.

[nilez]

Thanks for all the responses. From the sounds of it, a forum would be over kill. I had in mind to have my S-6 (computer nerdery shop) set up and maintain the forum, but it'd probably be an asshole move to put that responsibility on them. I also couldn't guarantee confidentiality, as myself, my immediate boss, my XO, and CO are the only ones who are supposed to see these Anymouse entries. The straight up email won't work either, because I'll be able to see the address of the person sending the message, negating the anonymity part of it. I'll take a deeper look into the survey monkey site, that may be a viable option. As for the widely used base website, we have one, but it requires CAC access (chipped mil ID card), which computers at work are set up for, but I'm looking for something that any Marine can access through home internet without requiring security clearances. I'm also considering a generic commercial email like yahoo or gmail and posting the login and password around the work spaces so any Marine can log into the account under the generic address, that way I can't tell who wrote the message, but this has some drawbacks as well. The overall purpose of this is to have some sort of electronic means for any Marine in the squadron to voice safety concerns without worrying about repercussions by being identified as the sender.

Again thanks for the input. I'll continue exploring some of the options suggested.

[aldend123]

Ironically, you've found a need for things like http://www.hushmail.com/ or Email "drop box" methods like what Petraeus was using. Neither are truly anonymous, and the government generally isn't excited about either of them.

I understand the CAC-wall on the site. But does the base have any sort of public facing non-cac site as well? Most outfits have a much more sparse site that faces the public to describe visiting procedures, address, maybe a map, etc. And while I'd agree that the forum would be a burden to your IT guys, making the email form should be quick and not require much maintainence. Oh, and if you want a civilian term for CAC card, SmartCard is pretty well known.

4Chan? Or I guess it would be MarineChan?