Whose data is it anyway?
The last year has shown new developments and concerns around data privacy on social media platforms and the issue of user consent including the creation of the European Union’s General Data Protection Act (GDPR) and the Cambridge Analytica Scandal. These recent developments have sparked renewed debates on ethical social research that considers user expectations and concerns around their data uses. This trend is mirrored in this year’s theme “Privacy and Trust” at the 10th International Conference on Social Media & Society in Toronto, Canada, from 19th to 21st July 2019. In its programme, the conference included 4 multi-paper sessions specifically dedicated to privacy and trust, with several more (including the digital methods workshops) addressing ethics and privacy in academic research.
As part of the theme, my colleague Dr. Paul Reilly from the University of Sheffield’s iSchool presented our work in progress under the running title “Whose data is it anyway? Doing ethical social media research in the age of datafication” . The paper explores the responsibilities of scholars to social media users who themselves have been the subject of extensive mass surveillance by online platforms. As part of the paper, we draw on key guidelines for internet research since the early 2000s towards critiquing the two most commonly proposed solutions to these issues: informed consent and de-identification. We use data from Eurobarometer and the Pew Internet and American Life project to explore the increase in digital resignation amongst social media users, as well as their expectations towards academic uses of their data. Dr. Reilly’s presentation concluded with following propositions to internet scholars: the principle that all research of online platforms be considered human participant research and that all ethical stances be produced on a case-by-case basis. We argue that researchers have an obligation to turn these data subjects into ‘knowing publics’ by making their methods for collecting and analysing data more transparency. They should also engage unaware participants, especially those from whom consent has not been obtained, throughout each stage of the project lifecycle.
While this research is still in progress, for scholars in the area of social media communications these recommendations may be beneficial, particularly considering the sensitive nature of the topic in the renewed climate change denial of the last few years. As a politically polarizing topic, climate change narratives have been subject to party politics and the related party agendas. As such, climate change is particularly politically sensitive and an area in which researchers will need to consider carefully the ethical implications of data use. In that regard, we hope that our preliminary recommendations hold value for the application of ethical research on social media debates of climate change.
Suay M. Ozkula is a University Teacher and Post-doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield.
