[Air-L] avatar research ethics

[Gordon Carlson]

A common method for protecting individuals is obscuring their identity via
pseudonyms etc.  Isn't this sort of the function an avatar plays?  Assuming
you do not divulge the real world identity, isn't anonymizing or otherwise
protecting avatars sort of redundant?

I am all for leaning on the side of caution, but either avatars are already
pseudonyms for people or the avatars aren't real and should not be covered
by IRB.  I can't see a case for them actually being human, though I am very
much up for hearing one...

Thoughts?

-Gordon Carlson
-PhD student, UIC

On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 6:04 PM, Steve Jones <sjones at uic.edu> wrote:

> If I may ask: Why? Is it because the avatars somehow "represent"
> humans (or vice versa)? Can we be sure that the "harms" we may
> identify in the case of human subjects are ones that could also harm
> avatars? Might there be avatar-specific "harms" to which we should
> attend? What was behind the Review Board's decision? And how does it
> define "online identity?"
>
> Sj
>
> On Mar 7, 2008, at 3:22 PM, Marj Kibby wrote:
>
> > Dr Marjorie Kibby,
> > Senior Lecturer in Communication & Culture
> > Faculty of Education and Arts
> > The University of Newcastle,  Callaghan NSW 2308 Australia
> > Marj.Kibby at newcastle.edu.au
> > +61 2 49216604
> >>>> Jeremy Hunsinger <jhuns at vt.edu> 03/08/08 4:26 AM >>>
> > The question was.... "When I take pictures of any random person using
> > a building in sl, am I doing human subjects research?'
> >
> >
> > Our Review Board guidelines say that online identities must be
> > afforded the same protection from harm as real world identities.
> > They would see avatars as human subjects.
> >
> >
> > Marj
> >
> >
> >
> >
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-- 
Gordon Carlson
C: 541-990-1155