DDM Documentation¶

DDM (Data Donation Module) is an open-source web-application that researchers can use to set up data donation projects and collect data donations for academic research.

It is developed and maintained by the Data Donation Lab at the University of Zurich.

Key Features¶

Easy data donation configuration

Researchers can configure the data donation collection (incl. validation and extraction), access collected data, and monitor on-going data collections through a graphical user interface.

Project configurations can also easily be shared through the integrated export-import functionality.
Supports many platforms

Collect data donations from all platforms that provide a text-based data export, including:
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Instagram
- ChatGPT
Integrated survey tool

DDM includes a built-in, modern survey tool supporting the most used survey functionality.

Furthermore, DDM can also easily be connected to your survey projects hosted on other platforms (Qualtrics, Unipark, SoSci Survey, etc.).
Privacy by design

DDM puts participant privacy first

Local Processing: Data is extracted in the participant's browser and only submitted after explicit consent

Encryption: All donated data is encrypted before storage

Enhanced Encryption: Activate enhanced encryption for an additional layer of security (e.g., if you're dealing with health data)

Overview of a data donation collection using DDM¶

A data donation collection using DDM consists - from a participant's perspective - of the following steps:

1) Briefing page

First, the participant is presented with a briefing page. On this page, researchers describe their project, and provide a study briefing.

2) Data donation

Next, the participant is presented with a webpage through which they can donate their data. This page is divided into three steps: (A) instructions, (B) data upload, and (C) data review and consent.

The participation flow in this step looks as follows:

The participant reads the instructions and downloads the relevant file onto their device.
The participant uploads their data into DDM.
The uploaded data is filtered and transformed according to the rules defined by the researcher (e.g., only certain fields are extracted). This happens locally on the participant's device.
The participant is presented with the extracted data which they will be donating to the researchers.
The participant reviews the extracted data and decides whether to donate their data (i.e., submit their data to the researcher's server).

Steps 2 to 4 are all client-based and executed in the participant's browser. No personal data is submitted until step 5.

3) Follow-up questionnaire (optional) After the data donation, the participant fills out the survey the researcher has configured in DDM. Questions defined in this questionnaire can be configured to include data points from the donated data – either to enrich the donated data or to provide participants with insights into their personal data.

This step is skipped if no questionnaire is defined in DDM.

4) End / debriefing page Lastly, the participant sees the debriefing page. From here, researchers can optionally redirect participants to another website or web application (e.g., an external survey tool).

Design philosophy¶

The application is intended to be hosted at an institutional level (e.g., a university, a university division, or a research conglomerate) and be used by multiple research projects as it provides the possibility to host multiple independent data donation projects simultaneously. Nevertheless, it is also possible to use it for single projects.

For researchers, DDM is designed to be as easy to use as possible. Everything can be configured through a graphical user interface without requiring in-depth programming knowledge.

Documentation structure¶

This documentation consists of three parts, each targeted at one specific user group:

Documentation for Researchers: for researchers who use DDM to set up their data donation projects on an existing application server. It demonstrates how to create and configure a new data donation project.
Documentation for Administrators: for server administrators/ dev ops who want to set up a server to host DDM.
Documentation for Developers: for developers who want to contribute to the development of DDM, or who want to fork and extend DDM on their own.