Data Collector v1.0

Quick link: Data Collector FAQ and Troubleshooting

Feature description

The Data Collector process can be used to obtain data related to the device initiating the customer transaction. This process is transparent to the customer and sub second. The data collected is used in conjunction with the RIS data.

The following sequence describes the Data Collector process:

1. Customer browses to merchant order form page containing Data Collector code
2. Customer browser automatically requests redirect on the Data Collector element
3. Customer browser is redirected to Kount servers
4. Kount collects device attributes
5. Kount directs customer browser to display static image hosted by merchant

Requirements

1. Port 443 must be available to post and receive data from Kount.
2. Merchant adds code to their checkout process.
   • HTML iframe:
     • The iframe should be placed on the order form page where the payment method or credit card information is requested, usually near the bottom of the page.
     • Server side code:
       • The server side code consists of a logo.htm and logo.gif server side executable scripts.
       • The path to the server side code must be a fully qualified path.
     • Code to create a unique session identifier:
       • When the form page is accessed, a session identifier must be created and stored to be used as the session identifier in the subsequent RIS post from the merchant to Kount. This identifier must be unique for at least 30 days and must be unique for every transaction submitted by each unique customer. If a single session ID were to be used on multiple transactions, those transactions would link together and erroneously affect the persona information and score.
3. Merchant supplies static image URL to Kount.
   • The static image can be an image that is currently being displayed on the page or Kount can provide an image if desired.
   • If the path or image requires change by the merchant subsequent to moving into production, Kount must be notified of the new path or filename to avoid possible failure.

Sample code

The following .NET code example demonstrates how to code for the data collector. Additional details can be found in the Data Collector FAQ and Troubleshooting page.

⚠️ All of the code presented here is for example purposes only. Any production implementation performed by the customer should follow all internal code quality standards of the customer’s organization including security review.

<!-- 
  HTML iframe example
  Requirements – The iframe has a minimum width=1 and height=1
-->
 
<iframe width=1 height=1 frameborder=0 scrolling=no src='https://MERCHANT_URL/logo.htm?m=merchantId&s=sessionId'>
    <img width=1 height=1 src='https://MERCHANT_URL/logo.gif?m=merchantId&s=sessionId'>
</iframe>

Add the following to the appSettings section of the Web.config file:

<appSettings>
    <add key="DC.Url" value="https://beta.kaptcha.com" />
</appSettings>

\\ logo.aspx 
 
public void Page_Load (object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
    Response.Redirect(string.Format("{0}/logo.htm?m={1}&s={2}",
    ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["DC.Url"], Request["m"], Request["s"]));
}

\\ logo_gif.aspx

public void Page_Load (object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
    Response.Redirect(string.Format("{0}/logo.htm?m={1}&s={2}",
    ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["DC.Url"], Request["m"], Request["s"]));
}

Phone-to-Web order submissions

When a merchant submits phone orders via the same web page interface as a customer, the data regarding the merchant’s device is being sent to Kount, not the customer’s device data. This will cause order linking to occur and in time will elevate the score of all orders associated with the persona.

⚠️ Linking will also occur if the browser session ID is used as the transaction session ID and multiple orders are submitted from within the same browser session without closing the browser. To avoid this type of linking, the browser session ID could be incremented appending the UNIX timestamp, choose a different methodology for creating the session ID, or agents must close the browser between orders to ensure a new session has been created.

There are two different methods for receiving phone orders.

1. If the customer service agents navigate to a separate order entry page that does not collect iframe data: Call Center/Phone Orders will be posted as a Mode=P; hard code the IP address specifically to 10.0.0.1 and provide the phone number within the ANID field (if no phone number is available, pass 0123456789 hard coded).
2. If the customer service agents navigate to the same page as the customer (iframe data is collected): don't perform the redirect to the Kount Data Collector service, just post Call Center Orders as a Mode=Q; hard code the IP address specifically to 10.0.0.1.

In any of the above circumstances, if the email address is not provided to the agents, the agents will need to input [email protected] as the email address in order to prevent linking.