Privacy Mode for Address Entries
If you import email addresses for Serial mail dispatch into the address list or collect them using Opt-In for mailing list, you have the choice between 4 data protection modes:
- Personal
In this case, a person identifier (SERIAL) is displayed both in the data record and in the address list, which allows a unique reference between the e-mail address and the data record. - Pseudonymous
Here, the participant is assigned a unique personal identifier, but as a project manager you do not have access to it. SoSci Survey holds the assignment fiduciary (i.e. does not give it out unless the project manager explicitly asks for it), so the project manager cannot make a direct link between email addresses and data records. - Anonymisation upon completion
This mode corresponds to the “Pseudonym” mode – but the assignment of the record to an address entry is deleted when the interview is completed (reaching thelast pagein the questionnaire). In the process, the value of the variableSERIALis also changed to~anonymous. - Anonymous
In this case, the reference between the data record or participation link and the address entry is not saved at all. In this mode, an assignment between address entry and data record is not possible.
The data protection modes come with different advantages and restrictions:
| Functionality | Anonymous | Anonymisation upon completion | Pseudonymous | Personal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participation status in the address list |  |  | | |
| Reminder e-mail to defaulting participants | | | | |
SERIAL or retrieve participant data in the interview using panelData() | | | | |
| Interview at two points in time with Unterbrecherseite (Only one questionnaire/data set) and mailResume() | | | | |
| Allocation of data sets in multi-wave surveys (several data sets) | | | | |
| Address reference can be restored post-hoc (by the server operator) | | (1) | |  |
| Address reference directly visible | | | | |
Note (1): If a server backup was created between the sending of a serial mail and the completion of the questionnaire, a reconstruction of the assignment based on the database backups is possible.