Built to keep your records safe
Field data is usually collected once, in a place that costs money and time to reach again, and sometimes it cannot be collected twice at all: archaeological excavation destroys what it records, and an ecological survey before a fire captures a unique moment. Fieldmark® protects that data in four ways: the datastore retains every version of every record, sync puts a copy on every device, the hosted service is backed up and independently tested, and export runs whenever you ask for it.
Every edit is kept
The datastore keeps a full version history. Editing a record writes a new revision and leaves the previous one in place, so nothing is overwritten, and each revision records the person who made it and the time it was made. A record’s History tab displays that trail: every revision, who created it, when, and which fields changed against the revision before it.
Deleting a record adds a further revision marked as deleted rather than removing anything, retaining the earlier revisions and allowing their later inspection. This is a per-record history rather than a system-wide audit log.
What happens to a deleted record
A deletion is a revision like any other. It copies the values from the revision before it and becomes the record’s current version, marked deleted. The record leaves the record list, and opening it directly shows its saved contents under a notice that it has been deleted and cannot be edited.
A copy on every device
Activating a notebook downloads it to the device together with the records already collected, so each device set to two-way sync holds a copy of every other device’s records and sends its own to the server for the others. A notebook active on six devices exists in seven places: on the server and on each device.
Every device’s copy includes all records, regardless of which role a user holds. A device may therefore hold records its user cannot open. Limiting the download to the records a user may read is in development.
Sync Mode is set per notebook on each device, on the notebook’s Settings tab in the app, and the four settings are Upload and download, Upload only, Download only, and Sync off (local device only).
Attachment sync is configured separately and is off by default, since photographs consume a lot of storage and mobile data. Switching it on pulls other people’s photographs onto the device; leaving it off keeps a phone from filling up and avoids unexpected data charges. Attachments are always uploaded to the server either way.
Data on a device that cannot sync is not lost. From the app’s settings, a single file holding every notebook and record on the device can be shared or saved (works best on phones and tablets, since not every device and browser combination supports the download). Beyond that, Fieldmark provides a raw database interface, a developer’s tool for inspecting what the device holds and downloading its contents, so a record can be recovered if all else fails.
On the server
The hosted service is backed up regularly, and we can provide the current schedule if a security review needs it. Encryption in transit, signed access tokens, and independent penetration testing are set out on security.
Yours to take
Export runs whenever you ask for it, in open formats, and a closed notebook stays exportable. Formats and options are on Your data how you need it.
See also
- Works offline for activation, sync, and what happens when two people edit the same record offline.
- Shared on your terms for who may see, edit, and export, and for signing in.
- FAIR from the field for metadata at three levels, identifiers, and the RO-Crate file in the export.
- Security for hosting, monitoring, signing in, and reporting a security problem.