True Random Number Service

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Third-Party Draw Service – Description

RANDOM.ORG is a true random number service that generates randomness via atmospheric noise. This page describes the Third-Party Draw Service, which allows you to use RANDOM.ORG to hold independently certified random drawings for professional purposes.

The Third-Party Draw Service works as follows:

  1. You receive a login and password for the service.
  2. When you want to hold a drawing, you log in to the service and upload a text file containing entrant identifiers. There must be one identifier for each entrant. If you want the same entrant to have multiple chances, the identifier for that entrant can occur multiple times. In either case, each identifier must be on a separate line. You can also paste the identifiers into a web form if you prefer.
  3. The service validates the entrant list to ensure there are no blank lines and also warns you about duplicate identifiers. If the list passes validation, you get the chance to review it one final time to ensure that you are happy with it.
  4. The service selects one or more winning entrants randomly. The selection is done using true randomness generated via atmospheric noise as documented on the RANDOM.ORG web site. The numbers from the service have been analysed extensively and have passed the most stringent industry tests for randomness. In this fashion, RANDOM.ORG guarantees that (a) it is impossible for anyone to influence the drawing; (b) it is impossible for anyone to predict who will win; and (c) each entrant identifier you provide has exactly the same chance of winning. In other words, the drawing will be performed in accordance with the highest technical and ethical standards.
  5. A permanent record is placed on the RANDOM.ORG site, documenting the drawing. The record includes your company name as owner of the drawing, the exact time (UTC) at which the drawing was held, the identifiers of all entrants, and of course the winning entrants. Once the drawing has been completed, the permanent record cannot be modified or deleted. This record will persist on the RANDOM.ORG site for at least five years.

When you hold a drawing, you can choose to make the permanent record private, public or entrant-accessible. Private drawings are only visible to someone who holds the username and password associated with the owner account. This is useful if you expect your drawing to be audited but do not necessarily want everybody to be able to view the details. Public drawings have records where the full details are visible to anyone who visits the RANDOM.ORG web site. This is useful if you want anyone to be able to verify that the drawing was conducted as you promised, but you need to be aware that the entrant identifiers will be displayed publicly and that there may be privacy concerns. Entrant-accessible drawings have records in which the full details of entrants and winners are only visible to the owner, but where entrants who know their identifiers can query the record to see if they were entered and whether they were picked as winners.

For the purposes of holding drawings, the Third-Party Draw Service has a number of important advantages over the other RANDOM.ORG services (e.g., the Sequence Generator). Most importantly, the presence of the records allows a business holding random drawings to easily refute any accusations of tampering and also allows the drawings to be audited by an external auditor at any stage. While the Sequence Generator is fine for small-scale giveaways with little or no monetary value, or where there is considerable trust between the parties, the Third-Party Draw Service is by far the best choice for professional use of random drawings.

A subscription to the Third-Party Draw Service can also include the following:

For further details about the Third-Party Draw Service, please see the Guide to Random Drawings.

Please keep in mind the Terms and Conditions for this service.

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