The ManyWebcams/ManyBabies2 testing software will record webcam data of the participants and transmit it to the server that is hosting the experiment. As this is sensitive data, we have developed a system in which we are able to restrict the access to these recordings to specific labs.

This guide will cover the necessary steps you need to take to encrypt participant data when testing your participants using the LMU Server. We will use a self-developed tool called "ManyKeys".

How ManyKeys works

1. Participating labs each choose a username and password and use the manykeys.py script to derive a public keystring, which contains the username and a key used for asymmetrical encryption.
2. The experiments software gets supplied the keystring via parameters in the link. It uses the key to encrypt the data on the participant's device before transmitting it to our data storage. At any point in time, LMU is unable to view the contents of the data.
3. After data collection concludes, we use the usernames to identify labs and sends them their encrypted data.
4. The participating labs receive their data and can use the manykeys.py script along with their username and password to decrypt the data. Only then are the contents of the data viewable and can be used for further processing.

Installation of ManyKeys

At the current time, the installation and usage of ManyKeys happens through the command line. If you know how to open a terminal on your machine, change directories and copy-paste commands, you know everything you need in order use this tool! All of the following commands will need to be run in the terminal of your machine (”Powershell” on Windows, “Terminal” on Mac, whatever you use for Linux).

Getting the code

If you have git installed, you can clone the repository by running the following command in your terminal:

git clone <https://github.com/adriansteffan/manykeys.git>

Otherwise, you can head to ‣ and click Code > DownloadZIP, unpack the downloaded archive and enter the directory in your terminal.