Deleting Sensitive Data from CAPI Interviewing PCs

We have designed SSI Web CAPI to make it very difficult to lose important data. Prior to any step in which data might be deleted, we warn the interviewer that important data are about to be deleted. Even if the interviewer chooses to perform an operation within the SSI Web CAPI interface that deletes data, we still save a copy of vital data files within a sub-directory of the /Archive folder within the SSI Web CAPI installation. This keeps interviewers from accidentally deleting critical data. However, this also makes it more difficult to clean sensitive data completely from a PC at the end of a project (e.g. prior to returning rental PCs).

Even if you uninstall the SSI Web CAPI program, data files created during project administration are still maintained on the hard drive.

To completely delete study data from an interviewing PC (running under SSI Web CAPI):

1. From the SSI Web CAPI menu, highlight the study to be deleted on the list of Available Studies. Click Delete Study button. This deletes the data for the project from the project folder. However, for safety precautions, we place critical data files in a sub-folder of the /Archive directory as a result of this deletion step.

2. Browse to the ..\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Sawtooth Software, Inc\SSI Web CAPI Module\Archive directory. You may find sub-folders within that directory with the study name, plus a time-stamp reflecting the exact time and date the data were archived. Delete any of these folders containing sensitive data.

3. Empty the Recycle Bin. (Even though you deleted the folders in Step 2, Windows retains these in the Recycle Bin until you empty it.)