Video conferencing platforms have become useful tools for researchers conducting remote studies involving human participants. However, these platforms increase the risk of a data breach and have privacy risks which researchers need to be aware of in order to protect research participants and comply with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans – TCPS 2 (2022).

MREB classifies data as either low, medium, or high-risk. For guidance on data storage and security guidance for different risk levels of data, see Research Data Management Risk Matrix. The Key Considerations for Data Privacy, Security, & Compliance resource also provides an overview of important factors when using online services such as privacy policies and data usage, security standards and compliance, and data storage and access control.

In general, video conferencing should mostly be used for low- and medium-risk data. High-risk data should be collected via traditional face-to-face interviews or by a voice calling service, messaging service, or video conferencing service with end-to-end encryption and acceptable policies on the storing of logs of communication metadata. For high-risk data, it is recommended to consul your REB to determine which method/service would be appropriate (and the REB may further consult UTS and the Privacy office).

At McMaster, researchers have access to institutionally supported video conferencing tools, including Microsoft Teams and Zoom. These platforms are recommended for research use due to the availability of local support, integrations with other systems, and alignment with McMaster’s security standards.