Confidentiality and Informed Consent
If the data you plan to collect include sensitive or personal information, safeguards must be in place to protect people's privacy and make sure the data is secure. Collecting information about individuals may require you to check with a local Institutional Review Board (IRB) to ensure that human subjects' laws and regulations are appropriately addressed. It may be that participants need to sign a form saying they understand the risks of participating in your evaluation, indicating their "informed consent."
Most evaluations that are done for program improvement and used only internally do not require IRB review. However, there is a fine line between research and evaluation. If you have any concern that your evaluation might need IRB approval, it is best to contact someone at your local IRB to discuss your evaluation plans.
Northwest Center for Public Health Practice (2011). Data collection for program evaluation.
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