As the online world is slowly but surely being embraced by researchers as a credible, useful and potentially rich source of insight, now is a good time for a proper debate on the issues of ethics in using passive use of data for market research purposes.
In recent years, attitudes towards privacy have changed. We have become a nation of 'passive observers', keen to peer into the world of just about anyone we like. Be it via the many fly on the wall documentaries that litter our screens, our increasingly invasive press or directly through twitter, facebook, myspace and blogs. These days, it has become acceptable to have in-depth insight into what was once the private domain of other people.
The permission to do this is partly given by the growing trend for people to want to have their say. Whether this is motivated by self promotion, self expression, connection, information sharing or for personal recognition, the rise of the average joe getting involved in 'public' speaking has created a sense that it is OK to listen because people want to be heard. Isn't this exactly what we all love about the Internet? It facilitates a sharing culture. Whether we want to be just one of the crowd or the one taking centre stage, we all get to be involved in whatever way we choose.
The recent change in Facebook privacy policy really rings the change (or so they say), in consumer attitudes towards public vs. private data. Now the default is for all information to be publicly available and users have to opt to make it private, sending a signal out that privacy in the online world is kind of an old school concern, something we've progressed away from, not something that concerns the 'typical' facebook user. http://blog.mynetx.net/2294/zuckerberg-users-attitude-toward-privacy-has-changed
One view is that of the 'Walled Garden'. If the site requires some form of registration and asks you to be a member, then the information there isn't intended to be public. Therefore researchers shouldn't lurk unannounced in these environments and should seek informed consent to 'listen in'.
Ray Poytner writes a very comprehensive review of current guidelines that researchers should be working to, and again, he stands by the walled garden approach. http://thefutureplace.typepad.com/the_future_place/2010/01/what-are-the-ethical-guidelines-for-blog-and-buzz-mining.html
My own view? I'm still forming it.
There are broad standards that we can take from the traditional market research about protection of the identity, anonymising data, care in providing raw data to clients (especially for the internet where the real identity of a person could be very easily re-found).
But can we say that the ethics of ethnography could apply to online insight mining? Is it really the same thing - observing you in your home vs. observing you online? Would it ever be possible to really get informed consent without affecting the quality of the learning, especially if you're asking over the net? How would you practically go about getting informed consent - approach every member, from the site moderator or would it be enough to simply announce in your profile that you are a market researcher?
I think that this is an area that has to be viewed by a case by case basis, until the industry has amassed enough examples to be able to credibly draw up definitive guidelines. The nature of the information you are looking for, the types of site/ content you are reviewing and critically, how the users might feel about their information being used in this way all need to be considered carefully.
From a consumer perspective, understanding how a beer brand's viral campaign has been received by reviewing comments in relation to the content could feel very different lurking on a sexual health forum to mine for insights about Erectile Dsyfunction with a ghost and silent profile. But is that OK of the providers of the content haven't put any privacy measures in place?
The debate is hotting up. Especially with regard to use of the data by HR departments (a worrying study conducted by Microsoft reveals some startling facts about how the content in our personal online profiles can affect hiring decision-making http://www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/96179773-76fc-407f-b945-ae828f872ba7
This might start to have more significant implications for how people feel about the use of their data on the internet ...I'll be watching this space.
I'd love to hear any views on this issue. Please get in touch
