Data Analysis - an overview

As a citizen scientists that is engaged with data analysis there are a few legal and ethical obligations you should be aware of. 

The first set of obligations concerns protection of the data sets you will be helping with. You should try to keep them safe and follow the instructions of the organization on handling the datasets.  Any attempts to bypass security measure or access or change data you have not been entitled to do by the data owner (in most cases the organization) is not an appropriate behavior.

If corruption of the data, malware or other unauthorized activity of a third party becomes known to you, as a citizen scientist, you should report it without delay. It is advisable that the report is done in writing. Still, we should note that following the instructions of the organization to mitigate the effects of third parties actions on the datasets is not considered obligatory, especially if the actions required to be taken by the volunteer are complicated or time consuming.

The second set of obligations concerns  disclosure of the analysis results. If the results are public or not will need to be made clear by the organization that runs the citizen scientist project. In case of public results, when disclosing them, you are obliged to make the appropriate reference to the organization. Should it be made clear by the organization that the results must not be published by volunteers it is your ethical obligation to keep the results confidential. However, it is worth noting that the mention obligation would carry little weight in enforcement.

You also have the right to create your own data processing method and run the datasets through it. However, the results of the use of the own method, from legal perspective may be different. The main considerations are ownership of the data (public or private), innovative method of analysis and purpose of the newly created datasets (commercial use or not). In case you would like to go outside of your role as a volunteer in a scientific project and engage in more professional/commercial capacity it would be advisable to contact the project and be forthwith with your intentions.  As usual it would be best to engage in written communication. 

Lastly, when analyzing data as a citizen scientist you should consider any ethical issues with the analyzed data. If you suspect that the datasets contain illegal information or may be used to further crime it is your obligation to report that to the authorities. Still, it would be advisable to share your concerns with the organization first and wait appropriate time to receive their reply.

_{Photo Attribution: Ruca Souza from Pexels}