Entries Ownership & Metadata

In Epicollect5, understanding the metadata associated with entries, especially the email field, is important when managing ownership and privacy settings.

1. Metadata for Private Projects

• Private Projects: When a project is set to private, the system collects the email address used by the contributor to authenticate when submitting data, per each entry submitted.

  • This feature provides a layer of accountability and traceability for entries in private projects, allowing project managers to identify who submitted the data.

  • The email metadata is included in entry exports and downloads, enabling project managers to track ownership and verify submissions effectively.

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2. Metadata for Public Projects

• Public Projects: In contrast, for public projects, the email field is not collected or exposed in the metadata.

  • The absence of email information ensures that contributors' privacy is maintained, as public project data are accessible to anyone.

  • This means that entries from public projects cannot be linked to specific users or email addresses.

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3. Transition from Public to Private

• Impact on Metadata During Transition: If a project starts as public and is later switched to private, the email information will not be available for entries submitted while the project was public.

  • This is because, during the public phase, email data was not collected, aligning with the platform's design for public project privacy.

  • Any new entries submitted after the project becomes private will include the email metadata, but older entries will remain without this information.

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Practical Implications

1. Data Ownership and Accountability: For private projects, the inclusion of the email field allows project managers to ensure data integrity and accountability, as they can trace entries back to authenticated contributors.

2. Privacy Considerations: Public projects prioritize user privacy by not collecting personal identifiers like email addresses, making them suitable for use cases where anonymity is preferred.

3. Project Configuration: It is important to carefully plan whether a project should be private or public at its inception. Transitioning a project from public to private may create a gap in metadata consistency, as older entries will lack email data.

More info about metadata