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Running Projects Running Groups Books and Reading ListPassive app tracking reveals hidden gems
Passive app tracking records a participant's smartphone usage. It can be used to track how they use apps or sites, or to acquire wider data sets depending on the research requirement. We frequently recruit participants for studies which involve smartphone usage being monitored in this way.
In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and with data privacy in the spotlight due to GDPR, consumers are more engaged with what happens to their personal data and who accesses it than ever before.
As participants gain a greater understanding of the value of their personal data, it is increasingly important to reassure and appropriately remunerate them for insights collected in this way.
Self-reported behaviour is, of course, far less accurate than data collected via passive app tracking in real time. This hidden data can be invaluable to brands. Passive app tracking is a technique which will continue to be used and definitely adds value to a study when used alongside qualitative research techniques that provide a fuller picture of the participants online behaviour. It is essential, though, that as a research community we engage with what this means for participants.
Rachael Penny
Associate Director, Criteria Fieldwork Ltd
This article was first published in InBrief magazine, October 2018
Copyright © Association for Qualitative Research, 2018
About the author

Rachael Penny
Rachael joined the project management team at Criteria Fieldwork in 2007. She is experienced at managing the recruitment of participants for qualitative market research across a wide range of methodologies and sectors. These include social, consumer, financial and b2b.
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Rachael Penny
Articles by this author
October 2018
Passive app tracking reveals hidden gems
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