Dev's Survey Nightmare: IP Addresses Ghost Multiple Votes, Cookies Crumble on Device Switches – Auth or Bust!

A recent course project highlighted the challenges of collecting unique user data without forcing login requirements. The project involved presenting information and collecting user responses through a survey, with the goal of ensuring each user submits only one response. The most straightforward solution, email-based authentication, was deemed excessive for a simple survey website. Alternative methods, such as IP-based identification and cookie tracking, were explored but ultimately proved unreliable due to limitations such as changing IP addresses and browser restrictions. The project's developer discovered that reliably identifying unique users is extremely difficult without a traditional authentication system. The project, hosted on Vercel, demonstrates the complexities of user identification in online surveys. This challenge has significant implications for businesses and researchers relying on online data collection, as it can impact data accuracy and reliability. The project's findings underscore the importance of carefully considering user identification methods in online survey design.