Privacy for whom?: a feminist intervention in online research practice

ABSTRACT

As shifts in technology and culture have complicated traditional definitions of privacy, researchers need new approaches to navigating privacy in online contexts. In this article, we argue that the experiences and perceptions of vulnerable groups must form the starting point for online researchers’ ethical decision-making, regardless of whether their research population qualifies as ‘vulnerable.’ This is especially important in spaces where privacy violations put people, particularly marginalized individuals, at risk for online harassment and abuse, among other harms. We seek to intervene in online research practices by putting forth a feminist approach to privacy, drawing on two studies related to online harassment. Specifically, we argue that feminist theory and methodology inform an approach to privacy that (a) starts from the lives of socially and politically vulnerable groups, (b) takes an intersectional approach to analyzing power relations, and (c) draws on a moral imperative of care and responsibility in enacting feminist principles of context, dialogue, and reflexivity throughout the research process. In doing so, we offer questions to prompt critical reflection on privacy concerns in online research.

KEYWORDS:

• Privacy
• online ethics
• feminism
• harassment
• online research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jasmine R. Linabary, Ph.D., is the associate director of research and operations for the Purdue Peace Project, an externally funded initiative at Purdue University dedicated to preventing political violence in West Africa and Central America. Her research focuses on organizing, new media, and social change, with particular interests in feminist and participatory methodologies. Her recent research has centered on issues of safety and inclusive participation in digital and physical spaces [email: [email protected]].

Danielle J. Corple is a doctoral student in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. She studies media and organizational communication, with specific emphases in organizing, ethics, gender, and technology. Her work has explored ethical decision-making in online and offline contexts, women in male-dominated occupations and communities, and the communication practices of survivors of trauma [email: [email protected]].

Notes

1. Although understandings of privacy differ from country to country, this paper draws on the experiences of US-based researchers and thus makes references to privacy policy and precedent in the United States to provide context for our experiences.

2. ‘SWATing’ refers to using an individual’s street address (identified through doxxing) to call in a false bomb threat or police emergency in order to create frightening encounters with law enforcement.