2020/07/18 by James Scheibner, Scheibner, James, Anna Jobin +3
Computer Science · Social Sciences · #Computers and Society (cs.CY) #Ethics and Social Impacts of AI #FOS: Computer and information sciences #K.4.1 #Mobile Crowdsensing and Crowdsourcing #Privacy-Preserving Technologies in Data
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2007.09416
openalex publication_date 2020/07/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Our chapter presents a scoping review of published scientific studies or case\nstudies of scientific studies that utilise both citizen scientists and Internet\nof Things devices. Specifically, we selected studies where the authors had\nincluded at least a short discussion of the ethical issues encountered during\nthe research process. Having conducted a search of five databases (IEEE Xplore,\nScopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and PubMed), we identified 631 potential\nresults. Following abstract and title screening, and then full text eligibility\nassessment, we identified 34 published articles that matched our criteria. We\nthen analysed the full text for these articles inductively and deductively,\ncoding ethical issues into three main categories. These categories were\nautonomy and data privacy, data quality, and intellectual property. We also\nanalysed the full text of these articles to see what strategies researchers\ntook to resolve these ethical issues, as well as any legal implications raised.\nFollowing this analysis, our discussion provides recommendations for\nresearchers who wish to integrate citizen scientists and Internet of Things\ndevices into their research. First, all citizen science projects should\nintegrate a data privacy protocol to protect the confidentiality of\nparticipants. Secondly, scientific researchers should consider any potential\nissues of data quality, including whether compromises might be required, before\nestablishing a project. Finally, all intellectual property issues should be\nclarified both at the start of the project and during its lifecycle.\nResearchers should also consider any ethical issues that might flow from the\nuse of commercially available Internet of Things devices for research.\n