Can we hide the participants' device ID?

Support
1

Hi, I plan to use Ethica to collect the data and the PI doesn’t want the device ID data concerning it is identifiable data.

Can we disable the device ID function?

Thank you

2

Hi @paaukuntee

Device ID is a random identifier that is assigned to uniquely identify a given device. The number is changed when the phone is reset to factory defaults or the OS of the phone is updated.

Ethica (and many other apps) use this number to detect a given device used by the user. Unfortunately we cannot remove it from our system.

Hope it helps,
Mohammad

1 Like
3

Thank you very much.

4

Hi, again, Mohammad,
Thank you very much for your previous response. Also, I have another concern about the device ID.

As you stated that the device ID will be changed if the participants reset their phones, I have another question about that.

Does resetting the device when the participant is still in the study affect the survey data in the system?

Thank you
Prasert

5

To be clear, by “reset” I did not mean “restarting” or “turning on and off” the phone. I meant resetting to factory defaults. This happens very rarely, but when a participant resets his phone to factory defaults, the Device ID changes, and Ethica thinks the participant uses a new phone with a new ID.

Hope it clarifies,
Mohammad

1 Like
6

It means that when the participants in a longitudinal study reset their phones to the factory defaults in the middle of the study, only the device ID will be changed, but the user number and data previously entered by the participants will not be changed.
Am I correct?

7

That’s exactly correct.

1 Like
8

Thank you very much
Prasert