[Air-L] a question about privacy protection and copyright in Internet research

[Elizabeth Buchanan]

Hey, all,

I'm late in adding a couple of points about this discussion. From a US-human subjects perspectives (talking more regulatory), I disagree with Jeremy's hard line "if you are dealing with texts, you are not dealing with research subjects." I disagree with it from  disciplinary and philosophical perspectives, but, that would take us down the road of another discussion. 

But--from a US regulatory perspective,(f) Human subject means a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research obtains

(1) Data through intervention or interaction with the individual, or
(2) Identifiable private information.

So, I would argue that to patently reject "texts" as subjects is a risky choice and not a line that holds a lot of ethical weight; disciplinary specificity is very important for this discussion--these decisions are not, should no,t be based on only one set of criteria; with online research, as we know, there are community (or venue) norms, ethics, practices; disciplinary norms, ethics, practices; extant research ethics guidelines at the federal/country/commission level; and, increasingly, third party (eg, Facebook, etc etc) norms, "ethics", practices. All of those must be considered in making these decisions about research practices. 

Regarding the issue of public v private (which I agree with Michael is a fluid and moving dichotomy), again, from a regulatory perspective, there are boundaries:

From  101 (b)(2) and 101(b)(4) in the CFR 45: 

Regarding online observation and exemptions for existing data, the issue of researcher "entry requirements" and "threshold of access" is significant. The OHRP standard is "what is readily ascertainable." If there are costs, restrictions, or other measures that prevent data from being "readily ascertainable, "the exemption does not apply and the data should be considered private. (This comes from a report in draft form, written with a colleague from the Office for Human Research Protections here in the US.If you are looking for more regulatory guidance, I can share this report).

Recently, I gave a few talks with the lawyer who advises OHRP, and while they have issued no formal guidance on Internet research in particular, some interpretations have been presented. I can share our powerpoints on Internetresearchethics.org for those interested.


Best regards,

e.


Elizabeth A. Buchanan, Ph.D.
Endowed Chair in Ethics
Director, Center for Applied Ethics
University of Wisconsin-Stout
PO Box 790
Menomonie, Wisconsin, 54751-0790

buchanane at uwstout.edu


Principal Investigator, 
Internet Research Ethics Commons
internetresearchethics.org
(NSF Project # 0924604)

elizabeth at internetresearchethics.org