New prevention tasks

Since we process human data with the help of computers, appropriate data handling and data protection are challenges. Which data of test persons are stored how and where? How long and for what purpose may these data be used? When will the data be deleted? These are the questions that concern us. Threats can be divided into before, during and after data collection: Prior to data collection, a possible risk is insufficient information of the test persons and lack of consent regarding the handling of the collected data. If there is insufficient information, for example, test persons cannot give informed consent. Thus there is a violation of ethical guidelines, as formulated in the Declaration of Helsinki or in handbooks of linguistic and psychological associations. During the collection of data, for example, there is danger if there is no opportunity to stop and end the recording without disadvantage. If data collected via the Internet could be subject to security vulnerabilities, these are potential problems. After the collection of data, risks may arise if the data is not anonymous, if this has been assured. If the data is insufficiently protected, the data is not sufficiently anonymous or protected, this could mean a violation of the protection assured in the declarations of consent, depending on the declaration of consent, and a violation of the Data Protection Act. Such violations would damage the confidence of test persons and have longer-term negative effects on the feasibility of experiments and studies. For example, decreasing willingness to participate or problems in obtaining the consent of data protection officers for data processing.

• Pia Knoeferle an der TU Berlin