Which of the following methods could be considered a “best practice” in terms of informing respondents how their answers to an on-line survey about personal information will be protected?
- The investigator uses the informed consent process to explain how respondent data will be transmitted from the website to his encrypted database without ever recording respondents’ ?IP addresses, but explains that on the internet confidentiality cannot be absolutely guaranteed.
- The investigator uses the informed consent process to explain her institution’s method for guaranteeing absolute confidentiality of research data.
- Respondents are informed that a research assistant will download all the research data to a password-protected computer located in a research team member’s office. The data will then be uploaded to a secure cloud-based server.
- Respondents are informed that investigators will try to keep their participation confidential; however, confidentiality cannot be assured.
The first option can be considered a “best practice” in terms of informing respondents how their answers will be protected:
“The investigator uses the informed consent process to explain how respondent data will be transmitted from the website to his encrypted database without ever recording respondents’ IP addresses, but explains that on the internet confidentiality cannot be absolutely guaranteed.”