Privacy Issues in Internet Surveys

Surveys administered over the Internet have been plagued by low response rates and at times have provoked respondent rebellions against researchers who stand accused of broadcasting noxious unwanted e-mail or “spam.” This article examines the issue from the perspective of social science research on privacy in an effort to understand the unique privacy context of Internet-based survey research. Online surveyors commit multiple violations of physical, informational, and psychological privacy that can be more intense than those found in conventional survey methods. Internet surveys also invade the interactional privacy of online communities, a form of privacy invasion seldom encountered with traditional survey methods. The article concludes with recommendations for improving response rates to online surveys using accepted privacy protection practices already found on the Internet as well as emerging Internet technologies.