BlueConic automatically generates several read-only profile properties for every tenant. These system-created properties store key metadata about each profile—such as when it was created or last modified—and cannot be manually edited. Understanding these properties helps you interpret profile data accurately and manage merges effectively.

Read-only properties ensure consistent data integrity across your tenant. They prevent accidental overwrites or conflicting updates when profiles merge or sync with other systems.

Important: These properties follow non-editable merge rules to ensure that no unexpected profile changes occur when a merge strategy is applied.

Types of read-only properties

Creation date: The date when the profile was created. (Data type is “Date time.”)
Last visited date: The date when the person last visited your website. (Data type is “Date time.”)
Domain group: The domain group that the profile belongs to. (Data type is “Text.”)
Last modified date: The date when the profile last had a change. (Data type is “Date time.”)
System has property: A list of all the properties that the profile has values for. (Data type is “Text.”)

Note: The Sample ID property is also system-created but not read-only. It’s calculated whenever two profiles merge. You can edit its settings, but it is not part of any merge strategy.

Before you begin

Ensure you have the appropriate role and permissions for profiles .
System-created properties are automatically added to all tenants and cannot be deleted or modified.
To learn more about all out-of-the-box profile properties BlueConic collects, review the following article.

Note about pre-2024 tenants:
If your tenant had a property with the same ID as a system-created one before January 2024:

The property was automatically updated to read-only.
It now uses the system-defined data type and settings.
It is marked “Created by BlueConic” on the property page.
Your property name and labels remain editable.
Property values were not affected.

Manage Read-only Properties

View Read-only Properties

Via the BlueConic navigation, select More > Properties.
To view all system-created properties, select filters.
Under Created by, check BlueConic.
Read-only properties will appear in grey text in the list.
Click any property name to open its details page.
The metadata section displays “Created by BlueConic”, identifying it as system-created.

Edit read-only properties

You cannot modify read-only property settings; however, there are specific fields that can be edited for organizational purposes.

On the property page, you can edit:

Property name (at the top of the page)
Favorite
Labels
Description

All other fields under Settings and Expert settings are grayed out and uneditable, except Hide from UI.

Out-of-the-box configurations

Each read-only property is configured slightly differently, but all share these specific settings:

Available for segmentation: Yes
Is unique identifier: No
Data sensitivity: Non-PII
Permission level: Level 1
Merge strategy: System defined

Each read-only property has an ID that is hardcoded and separate from the editable property name; the system reads this ID to identify the data type for that property. The IDs for the five properties are listed below in italics:

Creation date: creationdate
Last visited date: lastvisit
Domain group: domaingroup
Last modified date: lastmodifieddate
System has property: system_has_property

Segmentation

Under Expert settings, you can configure one setting at the bottom: Hide from UI.
When Hide from UI is enabled:
- The read-only property can still be used for creating segments from server-side plugins.
- However, it cannot be used from the Segments page.
This setting differs from Available for segmentation, which:
- Is automatically enabled.
- Makes the property available for creating segments in general.

How system-defined merge rules work

Read-only properties follow special, non-editable merge rules that differ from normal profile merge strategies. These ensure stable results and prevent data conflicts.

Platform-defined rules: The merge strategy for these properties is determined by BlueConic and cannot be edited.
Leading profile selection: When profiles merge, BlueConic automatically identifies one leading profile. All other profiles merge into this profile one at a time, property by property.
Resulting profile: After merging, only one profile remains—the resulting profile—which retains the leading profile’s read-only values.
Property value retention:
- For Creation date, Last visited date, and Last modified date, the leading profile’s values are always kept.
- These dates never change, regardless of values in other profiles.
Merge prerequisites: The Domain group must match across all merging profiles. If it differs, the merge does not occur.
Excluded from merge: The System has property and Sample ID properties are not merged because they are not stored in the database. They are recalculated when profiles are retrieved from the database.

Merge examples

The following scenario illustrates how merging works with read-only profile properties. You want to merge all three profiles so that Albert has only one unified profile. The visitor named Albert Apple has three separate profiles from visiting your website using three devices:

Desktop computer
Mobile phone
Laptop

How the merge proceeds

Domain group check: BlueConic first verifies that the Domain group property is identical across all three profiles. If the values match, the merge continues.
Leading profile selection: The system designates the desktop computer (A) profile as the leading profile. All other profiles (B and C) will merge into this one sequentially.
First merge (B into A):
- Read-only properties retain the A profile’s values.
- All other properties merge based on their individual property merge strategies.
- After the merge, profile B is deleted.
Second merge (C into A):
- Read-only properties again retain the A profile’s values.
- The C profile is then deleted after the merge completes.
Result: The remaining resulting profile keeps the A profile’s values for all read-only properties and merged data from B and C based on each property’s strategy.

Profiles for Albert Apple	Creation Date	Last Visited Date	Last Modified Date
Desktop computer (A)	November 1, 2023	December 1, 2023	January 2, 2024
Laptop (B)	April 15, 2023	June 15, 2023	August 3, 2023
Mobile phone (C)	July 26, 2022	September 9, 2022	October 17, 2022
Resulting profile after merge	November 1, 2023	December 1, 2023	January 2, 2024