Palform's aim is to do for forms what Proton, Tuta, and others did for emails: make them encrypted, privacy-respecting, and open. And most of all, to be so simple that anyone can use it, without an understanding of the technology.

It's an ambitious project, and I'm well aware that transparency is critical. I've implemented a range of security practices to ensure Palform can deliver on these claims. However, there's also a range of compromises I've had to make to ensure a good balance between usability and security.

This post aims to lay out clearly what Palform protects you against and how, and also what it doesn't protect you against.

I'm Pal, the founder of Palform. It's a free Google Forms alternative that reduces some of the pains and sorrows I'm about to detail in this post. And it doesn't cost anything.

The ICO fee must be paid by all organisations and sole traders who process personal information, unless they are exempt.

Database IDs are one of those things you really don't want to think about. It feels like they should just "work". Why are there different types of IDs?? Why can't I just use an auto-incrementing number? The real world is just so annoying.

In this article, I'll explain why UUIDs look like the cool solution to all our problems (but actually aren't), and demonstrate a simple but powerful system I used at Palform to vastly improve the database experience.

It's a hotly contested topic, and everyone has their own personal opinions! In the end, it boils down to what your use case is, who's filling out the forms, and how many responses you're expecting. Different form builders serve vastly different niches, and it's important to understand the differences.

Go check it out on GitHub! And maybe give me a ⭐ if you feel like it

I strongly believe all software with even the slightest security requirement should be open source. Instead of security through obscurity, keeping the code open will help reduce vulnerabilities. The entire community will be easily able to find mistakes and bugs and get them fixed way faster.

I'm Pal, the founder and developer behind Palform, a more secure and full-featured alternative to Google and Microsoft Forms. The idea started when, earlier this year, I noticed a problem with how I collect data when working on projects.