User Identity and Consent User identity is the "red thread" that connects individual interactions into a cohesive journey. By consistently identifying users across sessions and devices, Froomle can discover deep patterns in behavior, leading to higher-relevance recommendations and more accurate performance insights. The Identity Duo Froomle uses two primary identifiers to maintain this thread while remaining privacy-safe. device_id (The Browser/App): Represents a specific installation or browser (e.g., a cookie ID or instance ID). It provides continuity across sessions even when a user is anonymous. user_id (The Person): Permanently identifies a known, logged-in user (e.g., a hashed account ID). This allows Froomle to recognize the same person across different devices. Every event sent to Froomle should contain at least a device_id. If the user is logged in, the user_id should also be provided, along with the device_id. User ID Device ID Effect Yes Yes Everything that was recorded for this user’s login, as well as everything registered under the device will be used as history to inform the user’s recommendations. No Yes Everything that was recorded on this device will be used as history to inform the user’s recommendation. If a user previously browsed your website on other devices, this will not be taken into account as no user_id was passed. No No No recommendations can be made. It should never happen that a single device_id is associated with multiple user_ids (within the same environment). Never send personally identifiable information (PII) such as email addresses or plain names in these fields. Always use opaque, hashed, or uuid-style strings. The Identity Lifecycle A typical user journey on Froomle follows a three-stage lifecycle: Anonymous: A new visitor arrives. You provide a device_id. Froomle keeps track of their interaction history to provide real-time relevance, without building a permanent secondary profile. This lasts until the device_id expires. Stitched: The user logs in. You now provide both the device_id and the user_id. Froomle automatically stitches the previous anonymous history of that device to the known user profile. Known: The user returns on a different device (e.g., switching from web to app). By providing the same user_id, Froomle instantly recognizes them and serves personalized content based on their full history. Consent and Privacy Froomle is designed to be privacy-first. You control how data is collected based on your users' consent status. Handling "No Consent" For users who explicitly opt-out of tracking or cookies: * Recommendation Requests: Send requests with device_id: "no-consent". Froomle will return high-quality recommendations based on global trends (e.g., "Trending Now") without storing any history for that specific request. * Tracking Events: Do not send tracking events for users without consent. GDPR and Deletion (RTBF) When a user exercises their "Right to be Forgotten," you can use the Users API to permanently delete their identity and all associated behavioral history from the Froomle platform. See the Users API Reference for the identity deletion operation. Special Cases Server-side only: If your users cannot browse without logging in, you may use the same value for both user_id and device_id. Robot Filtering: Froomle automatically detects and excludes most bot traffic from model training to ensure your analytics remain clean. Related Topics Tracking events Recommendation requests