hi all,

the software looks great, but i have noticed that it is possible for the admin to make changes that alter the results, such as manual data entry, resetting a participant who has already participated, etc...

at first i thought i could work around the manual data entry by verifying all the answers had a seed, but i don't see a workaround to modifying or deleting data after the fact.

i'm looking for a solution where the data can't be manipulated, so I guess i need to look at other sofware ?

i'm a bit disappointed, in other regards limesurvey seems really cool.

thanks for your advice,

sam

Yes, of course, by definition a superadmin has those permissions.

You can control the permissions of all other admins - manual.limesurvey.org/Manage_users

Thanks for your reply tony.

It doesn't seem possible to make a user who just can't change results after the fact though.
It seems no matter what I do, the results are open to manipulation.

Hi,

Maybe a plugin could remove the unneeded commandas and buttons?
If not, export the responses right after they are submitted?

Thanks!

If you can't trust the superadmin, you'd better not start with the person that has access to the MySQL tables...

gabriel : do you know of such a plugin ?

holch : to be more accurate, I need to guard against accusations of result manipulation, by the superadmin, on the hosted version.

in my understanding, in the hosted version, the superadmin does not have access to the sql tables. she would have to corrupt/bribe somebody running the hosted version.

on the other hand, having an interface where you can directly alter results, including the timestamps, so that it does not appear to even be possible to see if the data has been changed....

Well, in LS assumes that the super admin is the most trustworthy person that is not corrupt or interested in changing results. Of course there is never a 100% guarantee that this is the case.

How about sending a admin notification mail to another email address than that of the super admin (e.g. someone from the ethics commission). In this case you could always compare the data sent on submission of the survey to the control instances, directly on submission of the survey (no real possibility to manipulate for the Super Admin).

So if there are concerns that data has been manipulated, one could bring out the emails and compare data. Or, by default a % of the responses is chosen aleatory and checked anyway, even if there is not suspicion of fraud.

I think this would be probably one of the easiest solutions, but of course this would require some manual control. But the good thing is, this should also work if the manipulation was done on the database level.

On the Limesurvey Pro version usually no plugins can be installed (because you don't have access via SSH or FTP to the server to upload the plugins).

So on the version hosted by Limesurvey GmbH you would have to check with them if they install the plugin (if it exists or one that is custom made for you) for you. My latest info was, that they do not install 3rd party plugins, but this might have changed in the meantime.

Hi Samuel,

I have done that kind of plugins in the past.

Please contact me at gabriel@encuesta.biz so we can review how to make it fit to your needs.

Thanks!