[Air-l] blogging and privacy

[andrea baker]

Interesting comments.  Thanks, Barry for starting this line of thought.
I agree with people who say one-to-one conversation is private, even 
if overheard
in a relatively public venue.  I've had conversations with 
researchers about when to ask for permission.  A conference is not a 
park, for example.  Do we have to say now, "This is off the record", 
as potential sources say to reporters?  Is this a result of the 
blogging world?  How about each of us making a lapel badge which 
says, "Anything I say is for (not for) quotation elsewhere", with the 
exception of statements about my family or my sex life, for example? 
The point raised by Eszter works when you know the people around you, 
which is much less likely in professional settings than person.

Seems that some bloggers may have a looser set of ethics than 
researchers.  Un-attributed words are different from those identified 
with a name too.  I like Charles' point that the ethics committee, of 
which I'm a member, consider ethics of blogging along with internet 
research.

--andrea (andee)