Data Confidential after tick on "Anyone can view submissions made to this form"

[nat]

Greetings @sreangphaly

I’m not sure what tools you are using to automate the process of pulling data out, but if for example you are automating using Power Query in Excel or using Power BI then you should not need to make your data public - please see this other thread for some links:

Pulling Data from PowerBI

Hi there, a common reason for getting a 404 error is if you’re not authenticated when calling the KoBo API. According to the instructions in the Support pages Pulling Data Into Excel Power Query — KoBoToolbox documentation you need to make your data ‘public’ - however for sure if you are using JSON format (not sure about .xls format) you can definitely leave data as private and just authenticate using the normal Power BI authentication mechanisms. This post links to a very useful UNHCR page wi…

If you are automating using other tools to call the API then again as long as you are authenticated then you will be able to access the information.

I realise that the documentation on the KoBo support site Excel Query page says you need to set to public but I don’t do that as my data is confidential - I just use the 'Edit Permissions" under Data source settings (in Power Query or Power BI) and I input my KoBo username and password in the “Basic” option. Same process as here: Connecting KoboToolbox to Power BI — KoboToolbox documentation

@Kal_Lam suggest updating the documentation on Connecting KoboToolbox to Microsoft Excel — KoboToolbox documentation to clarify that data doesn’t need to be public.

Thanks!