[Air-l] ethics - aol data

[Michael Zimmer]

There were some discussions on the list when this occurred, viewable  
via the archives:
http://listserv.aoir.org/pipermail/air-l-aoir.org/2006-August/ 
thread.html#10374

-mz

On Aug 28, 2006, at 9:05 PM, Beth Kolko wrote:

> Actually, AOL did expose their customers. The New York Times  
> managed to track a specific AOL user based on her history of search  
> queries (since all searches were tied to the same "anonymous"  
> userid). The NYT ran a front page story about their interview with  
> her. So much for anonymous browsing.
>
> A few people are no longer employed at AOL as a result. But that  
> doesn't solve the problem of how non-anonymous most of our  
> technology usage is. And yes, I am assuming that lack of anonymity  
> is a problem. That's a much longer discussion, though.
>
> Best,
> Beth
>
>
> Aoir - ListServe <aoir at tcfir.org> wrote: Charles,
>
> Having not seen the information release by AOL, I can only  
> speculate in
> generalities.
>
> Behavioral research has always faced this issue. The rule is fairly  
> simple.
> If the data reveals the identity of the subjects and exposes their  
> privacy
> or subjects them to some harm real or imagined then disclosure is  
> unethical.
>
> If their identity is masked and the data is void of information  
> that could
> reveal their identity by reasonable guessing, then the data and the  
> analysis
> is open for publication.
>
> Science is about openness, where possible. It is about allowing  
> inference to
> be drawn from raw data. It is about conclusions from that data being
> challenged. If AOL did not expose their customers, then in my book  
> the data
> should be used.
>
> I once did a study on time perception in manic phase, bi-polars with
> complete personal work-ups and reported all the data (nothing  
> personal). On
> the other hand, I gave IQ tests to an entire elementary school and  
> reported
> only trends and no scores. I felt it was possible for the teachers  
> to make
> educated guesses.
>
> This underscores a need to discuss and debate all the issues and  
> vocabulary
> of Internet Studies. We are a field in the making with fairly  
> divergent
> points of view. If we don't know how to illuminate these issues  
> then our
> more traditional colleagues will discount us.
>
> Reid Cornwell
>
>
>
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