IP Deduplication

IP Deduplication helps protect your survey from multiple entries originating from the same network location. By identifying and blocking repeated participation from the same IP address, this feature helps ensure response diversity and reduces the risk of fraudulent behavior.

Key Benefits

Network-Level Protection
Prevents multiple survey attempts from the same IP address.

Supports Response Diversity
Helps ensure each participant represents a unique network environment.

Low Maintenance
Works in the background without requiring manual configuration or updates.

How It Works

When a participant enters your survey, dtect checks their IP address against previous entries. If the same IP address is detected attempting to access the survey more than once, subsequent attempts are flagged and blocked with a Security Terminate status.

This protects your project from repeated submissions that may originate from a single household, office, or fraudulent source.

When to Enable

• Projects where participant uniqueness is a priority

• Studies offering monetary incentives

• Research vulnerable to coordinated response attempts (e.g., shared links on forums)

Best Practices

1. Use With Context
While IP Deduplication provides strong protection, shared IP environments---such as workplaces or schools---may trigger false positives. Enable with an understanding of your target audience.

2. Combine With Device Deduplication
Layer IP and Device Deduplication together for robust control over repeat participation.

3. Monitor Patterns
Use your Progress page to track termination trends and identify regions or suppliers that may require adjusted settings.

Troubleshooting

Seeing Unexpected Terminations?
High termination rates could stem from shared networks or mobile carriers using NAT (Network Address Translation). Review country-level data and consult your Customer Success Manager for region-specific guidance.

Need to Allow Some Overlap?
If your audience includes participants from the same location (e.g., coworkers or students), consider disabling this feature or relaxing other deduplication settings.