[Air-L] Inquiry on screen shots

[Amy Mowle]

I had a conversation regarding violating ToS for research purposes with my university’s ethics officer this morning and she made a good point - when users sign up to a social network, they do so assuming their data is protected by the ToS they personally agree too. Violating the ToS May equate to violating the contract of consent between the unknowing subjects of the study and the researcher. 

It’s a tough one, but necessary to consider! One must tread carefully and think ethically if we are to avoid further restrictions on the collection and utilisation of publicly available data. I would err on the side of caution and not use screen grabs without first requesting the consent of the poster. 

Amy

> On 28 Feb 2019, at 5:24 am, Livingstone,S <S.Livingstone at lse.ac.uk> wrote:
> 
> Good advice. And I agree: let’s start with first question- why do you want to show these images and what would be lost if you didn’t? Best, S
> 
>> On 27 Feb 2019, at 17:48, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess at media.uio.no> wrote:
>> 
>> I'll be eager to hear what others think ...
>> the problem with such images is that they are easily identifiable simply as images, no matter how careful you may have been to hide the identifying texts.  And while some here will argue that since the images are (quasi-) publicly available - or are they?  That is, are these drawn from open sites or sites that require a login?  If the latter, is there any guidance from the Terms of Service as to the use of images?
>> 
>> (Probably forbids them - in which case you then get to enter the exciting world of considering violating a ToS for the sake of research ...  This is its own domain of discussion, especially vis-a-vis Facebook and its recent change in the ToS.  Our national ethics board will not give firm guidance either way - i.e., yes, it's o.k / no, it's not o.k.: one of our researchers is waiting to hear from the data security agency what they think of the matter ...  Any updates on how this is faring in the U.S. or elsewhere - i.e., whether or not violating the ToS = violating the law?)
>> 
>> So a first question would be - why do you need to provide the images in your publication?
>> If they are necessary in some form to illustrate your method - o.k., but then consider some additional options.
>> One would be to ask for consent from the person(s) depicted in the image.  Perhaps difficult to do and perhaps not likely to acquire, but it is an option some researchers would pursue.
>> Alternatively, a common technique is to use software to modify the images so that they no longer provide enough data for recognition and identification, but still provide enough of an outline to suggest / illustrate the point(s).
>> I can't give you specific recommendations, but I've seen examples of this any number of times at AoIR and other conferences, so perhaps some members of the list will have specific suggestions.  Depending on what exactly you want to illustrate / demonstrate with the image will determine how far and in what ways you can blur out / modify it.
>> 
>> My 2 cents.  Hope others will have additional wisdom, guidance, and experience to offer.
>> 
>> and good luck!
>> - charles ess
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On 27/02/2019 17:35, evelyne wanjiku via Air-L wrote:
>>> Greetings members,
>>> I am conducting a research on dialogues around revenge pornography on social media platforms, fb, Twitter and telegram I am using a discourse analysis approach.
>>> As part of the analysis, i have picked out several dialogues and screen shot them. My question is would it be ok for me to publish screen shots from the various platforms? I have taken precaution to disguise/hide the names/identities of those commenting.
>>> Has anyone engaged in such? And what would be your advice with publishing screen shots?
>>> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
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>> 
>> -- 
>> Professor in Media Studies
>> Department of Media and Communication
>> University of Oslo
>> <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
>> 
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>> c.m.ess at media.uio.no
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