PII Hashing Configuration

areIdentitiesHashed & hashIdentities

These two configuration options work together to control how the Zeotap Android SDK handles Personal Identifiable Information (PII) like email addresses and phone numbers when you call the setUserIdentities function. Correctly configuring these options is crucial for ensuring data is processed according to your intended hashing strategy.

PII

These configuration only affect PIIs sent using setUserIdentities function. Recognised PIIs are cellno, email, loginid. Learn more about PIIs

Options Definitions

• areIdentitiesHashed

  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: false
  • Description: Tells the SDK whether the PII values you are providing in the setUserIdentities call are already hashed. If true, you must use the specific hashed keys (e.g., email_sha256_lowercase).

• hashIdentities

  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: false
  • Description: Tells the SDK whether it should perform client-side hashing (SHA-256) on raw PII values (email, cellno, loginid) provided to setUserIdentities before sending the data to the Zeotap backend.

Default Behavior

If you do not explicitly set areIdentitiesHashed or hashIdentities during SDK initialization:

• areIdentitiesHashed defaults to false.
• hashIdentities defaults to false.

This means by default, the SDK sends raw PII values without any client-side hashing.

Combined usage

areIdentitiesHashed	hashIdentities	Resulting Scenario
false	false	Sending Raw Identifiers (Default)
true	false	Sending Pre-Hashed Identifiers
false	true	SDK Performs Hashing
true	true	Invalid

Scenario 1: Sending Raw Identifiers (Default)

CollectOptions options = CollectOptions.builder(this)
    .credential("YOUR_WRITE_KEY")
    .areIdentitiesHashed(false)   // or omit (default)
    .hashIdentities(false)        // or omit (default)
    .build();

Collect.init(options);

// Later in your code
Map<String, String> identities = new HashMap<>();
identities.put("email", "[email protected]");     // Raw email
identities.put("cellno", "1234567890");           // Raw phone number

Collect.getInstance().setUserIdentities(identities);

Scenario 2: Sending Pre-Hashed Identifiers

CollectOptions options = CollectOptions.builder(this)
    .credential("YOUR_WRITE_KEY")
    .areIdentitiesHashed(true)
    .hashIdentities(false)
    .build();

Collect.init(options);

// Later in your code - using hashed keys
Map<String, String> identities = new HashMap<>();
identities.put("email_sha256_lowercase", "5d41402abc4b2a76b9719d911017c592");  // Pre-hashed email
identities.put("cellno_sha256", "e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb924");           // Pre-hashed phone

Collect.getInstance().setUserIdentities(identities);

Scenario 3: SDK Performs Hashing

CollectOptions options = CollectOptions.builder(this)
    .credential("YOUR_WRITE_KEY")
    .areIdentitiesHashed(false)
    .hashIdentities(true)
    .build();

Collect.init(options);

// Later in your code
Map<String, String> identities = new HashMap<>();
identities.put("email", "[email protected]");     // Raw email - SDK will hash
identities.put("cellno", "1234567890");           // Raw phone - SDK will hash

Collect.getInstance().setUserIdentities(identities);

Recommendation

It is highly recommended to explicitly set both areIdentitiesHashed and hashIdentities in your CollectOptions configuration to clearly document your intended hashing strategy and avoid potential confusion.

Invalid Configuration

Setting both areIdentitiesHashed: true and hashIdentities: true simultaneously is an invalid configuration.

This creates a conflict: the SDK is being told to hash data that is also being declared as already hashed. This can lead to incorrect, double-hashed data.

Do not use this combination.

Hashing Algorithm

When hashIdentities is set to true, the Android SDK uses SHA-256/SHA-1/MD-5 hashing algorithm to hash PII values before transmission.

Related Topics

• setUserIdentities API Reference
• Configuration Overview for all available SDK options