BLOGGERS AND PRIVACY

The IPKat has heard from Karen McCullagh, a PhD student at the University of Manchester who, as part of her research, is conducting an online survey about bloggers’ attitudes to privacy. The survey forms part of research with is sponsored by the ESRC and the Information Commissioner for the UK.

The survey is anonymous and asks questions in 4 main areas:

1. Blog content
What kind of content do bloggers publish?
Do bloggers seek permission to post photo’s of others or information about other’s lives.

2. Privacy and Identity management
Do bloggers identify themselves on their blogs?
Do bloggers identify others on their blogs?
Is identification dependent on content? (i.e. do bloggers refrain from revealing people's identities when writing about sensitive matters?)

3. Audience and control features
Do authors limit who has access to their blog posts?
Do bloggers know their readers are?

4. Privacy attitudes and expectations – legal implications
What information do people consider to be private?
What types of information do people consider to be sensitive?
Are some types of information too personal/private to publish on a blog?
Are authors getting in trouble—legally or personally—because of materials published on their blogs?

If you’re a blogger, you can participate in Karen’s important research by following this link.