What is a unique identifier in ROOK?
The unique identifier is a string that accepts numbers, UUIDs (version 4), or any identifier that you already use to uniquely identify your users.
Length ranges from 1 to 50 characters.
Valid characters are:
Alphanumeric ("Aa-Zz", "0-9").
UUIDs ("Aa-Zz", "0-9") + ("-").
However, it is important to note that under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), which is a U.S. law that regulates the protection of individuals' health data, you should not use names or emails to create the unique identifiers for users, as these are considered personally identifiable information (PII) and could violate users' privacy. In this case, it is recommended to use UUIDs (version 4), which are randomly generated alphanumeric identifiers that ensure data anonymization.
What is the user's unique identifier used for?
The unique identifier for users serves two main purposes:
To distinguish between users
ROOK uses the unique identifier to ensure that no one person has more than one user/account, which could lead to duplication or inconsistency of data. Thus, each user has a unique and non-transferable account on the ROOK platform that is linked to their unique identifier.
Linking data
ROOK uses the unique identifier to link an individual's data to an individual user so that their ROOKScore can be calculated more reliably. ROOKScore is an indicator that summarizes a user's health status based on three pillars of health. It is constantly updated with data provided by the user through the client application or from other sources such as wearable devices, electronic health records, etc. To properly integrate this data, a unique identifier for users is required, which acts as a key that unlocks the door to each user's information.