ETHICS IN INTERNET RESEARCH © LOUIS COHEN, LAWRENCE MANION, KEITH MORRISON

STRUCTURE OF THE CHAPTER What is Internet research? What are key ethical issues in Internet research? Informed consent Public and private matters Confidentiality and anonymity Ethical codes for Internet research

INTERNET RESEARCH British Psychological Society, 2013 ‘Any research involving the remote acquisition of data from or about human participants using the Internet and its associated technologies’.

INTERNET RESEARCH Association of Internet Researchers, 2012 That which uses the Internet to collect data using an online tool, e.g. through online interviews, surveys, archiving or automated means of data scraping; Studies how people use and access the Internet, e.g. through collecting and observing activities or participating on social network sites, listservs, websites, blogs, games, virtual worlds or other online environments or contexts; That which utilizes or engages in data processing, analysis or storage of datasets, databanks and/or repositories available via the Internet. That which studies software, code and Internet technologies. That which examines the design or structures of systems, interfaces, pages and elements. That which employs visual and textual analysis, semiotic analysis, content analysis or other methods of analysis to study the web and/or Internet-facilitated images, writings and media forms. That which studies large-scale production, use and regulation of the Internet by governments, industries, corporations and military forces.

THREE TYPES OF INTERNET RESEARCHER BEHAVIOUR Active Researcher is a participant, e.g. in an online community Passive The researcher is non‑participant, e.g. studying data and sites on the Internet Online traditional E.g. surveys

KEY ETHICAL ISSUES IN INTERNET RESEARCH Informed consent: How to give information and gain consent Public and private matters: What constitutes ‘public’ and ‘private’? Expectations of privacy Confidentiality, anonymity and non-traceabilty: No longer possible to guarantee complete confidentiality, anonymity, and non-traceability It is important to ensure that permissions, where required, have been given for data to be used.

CHALLENGES IN ETHICAL ELECTRONIC RESEARCH Difficulty in confirming authenticity of online participants. Difficulty in confidentiality and privacy in emails. Online participants may distort their real situation. It can take a long time to establish trust online.

INFORMED CONSENT The researcher may not know who the actual person is who is answering, say, an online survey, and whether the details that they enter are honest and correct. How can informed consent be gained from someone who is unseen and when there are no checks on whether the participant has understood the implications? Does one need consent from minors or their parents in online research? Can participants subsequently have their data withdrawn if they wish to withdraw from the research? How can the researcher trace which participants have given which data online? How easy, possible or realistic is it to obtain informed consent, and, if so, from whom (participants, parents, gatekeepers, etc.)? How do we know that informed consent has really been given when, and for how long (e.g. in archived data), for what (use and, release of data) and on whose behalf?

A TAXONOMY OF PRIVACY (SOLOVE, 2006) Information collection surveillance; interrogation (probing for information) Information processing aggregation (combining data about a person); identification; insecurity (improper access and information leaks); secondary use (information collected for one purpose being used without consent for another purpose); exclusion (failure to inform the person that data on them held by others and failure to involve the person in the use of such data) Information dissemination breach of confidentiality; disclosure (of information that affects how others judge a person’s character), exposure (of, for example, bodily functions, nudity, grief); increased accessibility; blackmail (threat to disclose information); appropriation (use of a person’s identity to serve the purposes or interests of another person); distortion (spreading false or misleading information about a person) Invasion intrusion (into a person’s solitude or tranquility); decisional interference (governmental incursion into a person’s decision on private matters).

ETHICAL CODES FOR INTERNET RESEARCH Principles: Respect for the autonomy and dignity of persons (covering the public/private distinction, confidentiality and anonymity, copyright, valid consent, withdrawal and debriefing); Scientific value (including levels of control); Social responsibility (including disrupting social structures); Maximising benefits and minimizing harm.

GUIDELINES FOR ETHICS ONLINE Do not assume that emails are secure. Ensure that nobody is harmed by the research. Enable participants to correspond in private if they wish. Indicate the steps taken to ensure privacy. Check where the communication comes from. Determine the most suitable online method of requesting and receiving informed consent. The greater the acknowledged publicity of the venue, the less obligation there may be to protect individual privacy, confidentialityand rights to informed consent.

GUIDELINES FOR ETHICS ONLINE The greater the vulnerability of the researcher to the participant, the greater the obligation of the researcher to protect the participant. Indicate clearly how material will be used, whether or how it will be attributed, and whether data will be used verbatim, aggregated or summarized. Work within the framework of legal obligations of data protection and privacy laws. Indicate who has access to the communication, and whether it is private. Consider the possible outcomes to individuals if private data are made public.