Today is Privacy Day!

Almost 20 years ago some colleagues and I edited a book with the inviting title, Computer Assisted Information Collection. Experts on a wide variety of computer-assisted methods contributed the chapters and I was tasked with writing the last chapter, a look into the future of technology and survey research. At the risk of tooting my own horn, I did a decent job of imagining the data rich world that we still believe is our future and worried what it would mean for surveys. My colleagues, all good friends, argued that while all those personal data might exist out there in cyberspace, public privacy concerns and supporting legislation would restrict our access to them.

Over the last five years I have had roughly that same argument on and off with numerous colleagues in MR, mostly taking the side of my friends back in the 1990s. I think it is now clear to all of us that Facebook did not redefine privacy, and ongoing public concerns about the use of personal data collected online and evolving regulatory frameworks will have a major impact on what we can and cannot do in market, opinion, and social research.

I am reminded of this because today is Privacy Day, at least in Europe. Its purpose is to alert consumers to the risks they face and to educate them about how to control the disclosure and use of their personal data. I think this is a good thing for us as researchers and here is why.

Cooperation is the elephant in the room every time we talk about what might be possible as technology becomes increasingly intertwined with the activities of our daily lives. Research requests are one-on-one conversations with potential participants and a key element of those conversations must include assurances about how their personal data will be used and protected. That conversation is easier when both parties share a common understanding about the risks and the steps that must be taken to mitigate them. The more the public understands about responsible data protection practices, the better off we all are.

Of course, this also depends on researchers understanding and meeting their responsibilities, both in terms of longstanding ethical principles and current legislative frameworks. In this researchers also require some education.

Today ESOMAR has done its part by releasing a Data Protection Checklist that sets out the key principles that form the foundation of data protection laws worldwide. It is a very practical document developed by a small group of experts from around the world. It is a ‘must read’ for all of us. Doing the right thing is more important now than ever before.