Designing a Secure and Resilient Distributed Smartphone Participant Data Collection System
Abstract
Real-world health studies require continuous and secure data collection from mobile and wearable devices. We introduce MotionPI, a smartphone-based system designed to collect behavioral and health data through sensors and surveys with minimal interaction from participants. The system integrates passive data collection (such as GPS and wristband motion data) with Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) surveys, which can be triggered randomly or based on physical activity. MotionPI is designed to work under real-life constraints, including limited battery life, weak or intermittent cellular connection, and minimal user supervision. It stores data both locally and on a secure cloud server, with encrypted transmission and storage. It integrates through Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) into wristband devices that store raw data and communicate motion summaries and trigger events. MotionPI demonstrates a practical solution for secure and scalable mobile data collection in cyber-physical health studies.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2510.19938,
title = {Designing a Secure and Resilient Distributed Smartphone Participant Data Collection System},
author = {Foad Namjoo and Neng Wan and Devan Mallory and Yuyi Chang and Nithin Sugavanam and Long Yin Lee and Ning Xiong and Emre Ertin and Jeff M. Phillips},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.19938},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
9 pages, 3 figures. Accepted at EAI SmartSP 2025 Conference (Springer LNICST). This version is the arXiv preprint prepared for open access