A method is described comprising: associating a plurality of data object types with a plurality of data object identification (ID) codes within a first database on a data service and within a second database on a wireless device; querying the second database on the wireless device to determine whether an associated object ID code exists for a first data object type; transmitting the object ID code from the wireless device to the service if the associated object ID code exists, responsive to the first data object type being employed by an application on the device; and transmitting a string representing the first data object type from the wireless device if no associated object ID code exists for the first data object type.