What Data Do We Collect?
AWARE has a number of sensors that it monitors and can collect data from passively. Not all sensors are accessible for both iOS and Android phones. We list those sensors below, including what we are currently collecting and any appropriate details:
| Sensor Label | Description | iOS Available | Android Available | Do We Collect? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accelerometer | Measures the acceleration applied to the sensor built-in into the device including gravity | TRUE | TRUE | No | High sample rate can quickly blow up disk space |
| Applications | Captures every time the user changes from an application and keeps track of what is running in the background | FALSE | TRUE | No | |
| AWARE | Internal; checks the status of all the active addons and sensors at 5-minute intervals | TRUE | TRUE | No | |
| Barometer | Measures the ambient air pressure | TRUE | TRUE | No | |
| Battery | Monitors battery information and monitors power related events | TRUE | TRUE | No | |
| Bluetooth | Monitors devices connected to bluetooth | TRUE | TRUE | No | iOS & Android differ in deployment and security requirements, but outputs are simple and do not disclose usage information |
| Communication | Monitors phone calls and text messages, logging only events, not content (non-identifying) | TRUE | TRUE | No | iOS only captures call events |
| ESM | Experience Sampling Method (ESM) questionnaires | TRUE | TRUE | Yes | iOS and Android are deployed in separate plugins and stored in separate tables (iOS: “esm”, Android: “esms”) |
| Gravity | Measures the force of gravity applied to the sensor | TRUE | TRUE | No | When a device is at rest, the gravity sensor should measure equally as the accelerometer. |
| Gyroscope | Measures the rotation of the device around each axis | TRUE | TRUE | No | |
| Installations | Logs devices’ application installations, removal and updates | TRUE | TRUE | No | Used to leverage other sensors (e.g. routine checking if X is installed) |
| Light | Measures the ambient light | FALSE | TRUE | No | |
| Linear Accelerometer | Measures the acceleration applied to the sensor built-in into the device, excluding gravity | TRUE | TRUE | No | Similar to accelerometer |
| Locations | Provides the best location estimate for the users’ current location, automatically, using GPS or network | TRUE | TRUE | No | |
| Magnetometer | Measures the geomagnetic field strength around the device | TRUE | TRUE | No | |
| MQTT | MQTT is an OASIS standard messaging protocol for the Internet of Things | TRUE | TRUE | No | Used for broadcasting messages/configs amongst devices |
| Network | Records network connections (mobile or WIFI) | TRUE | TRUE | No | “Network_traffic” table unmonitored |
| Processor | Measures the mobile phone’s processor load | TRUE | TRUE | No | |
| Proximity | Measures the distance to an object in front of the mobile device | TRUE | TRUE | No | iOS capturing may be incorrectly represented |
| Rotation | Measures the orientation of the device as a combination of an angle and an axis | TRUE | TRUE | No | Can be used for a wide range of motion-related tasks, such as detecting gestures, monitoring angular change, and monitoring relative orientation changes |
| Screen | Monitors the screen statuses, such as turning on and off, locked and unlocked | TRUE | TRUE | No | |
| Telephony | Provides information on the mobile phone capabilities of the device | TRUE | TRUE | No | Mostly mobile data configuration and communication with cell towers |
| Wifi | Scans known Access Points around the phone | TRUE | TRUE | No | Mostly device ID information |