Online Safety & Safeguarding

By participating in this study, both parties are in agreement to uphold the confidentially of the data and the safety of participants for the duration of the study. Below are rules and regulations that we must adhere to, ensuring the safety of our participants, researchers, and the community.

Introduction

The purpose of this online safety policy is to ensure well-being of our participants as well as our researchers that may be involved in the current study.

Online safety and safeguarding is an important matter worth emphasizing as internet access/usage is widespread across the globe and age-ranges. As the internet proves to be a useful tool in many settings, its convenience comes with potential risks and dangers.

Online safety refers to the precautionary and measures that a person takes to ensure their own safety and the protection of sensitive personal information when accessing and using the internet. Safeguarding on the other hand, refers to the preventative actions that can be taken to decrease a person’s susceptibility in encountering harm or abuse on the internet.

The entirety of this study will occur online via ZOOM. Thus, it is crucial that all parties adhere to online safety guidelines to ensure the best possible experience.

The researchers that are involved in the study must strictly adhere to the approved ethical guidelines that has approved by the York University Ethics Review Board.

Confidentiality

The research team will respect the privacy and confidentiality of participant data. Under no circumstances shall the research team be asking any questions or information that has not received pre-approval guidance by the York University Ethics Review Board. All personal information will be kept confidential and stored either on a password encrypted cloud folder regulated by the University or in a secured locked cabinet, in which no unauthorised personnel will be able to access.

The contents of any communication (e.g., email) that the research team has with participants (e.g., parents) will be kept confidential. The research team will only be communication with participants by the pre-approved email address that has built-in safety measures. All email communications from the research team will be using our childmemorystudy@yorku.ca email. Participants should exercise caution when receiving an email relating to the study that is not coming from the aforementioned email address.

Data Privacy

Privacy refers to an individual’s right to be free from intrusion or interference by others. It is a fundamental right in a free and democratic society. The ethical duty of confidentiality refers to the obligation of an individual or organization to safeguard entrusted information.

Security refers to measures used to protect information. It includes physical, administrative and technical safeguards. For a fuller description of researcher obligations surrounding confidentiality, privacy and data security issues, please consult the Data Security Guidelines for Research Involving Human Participants.

To ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data collected from our participants, both the pre-study session and child testing session will be recorded for later analysis. Prior to starting the ZOOM recording, the research team will ensure that appropriate level of consent which you have provided when initially consenting to the study should be followed. The research team will also rename your ZOOM name window to your designated participant number to add an extra layer of protection.

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Communication

The research team will only be communicating with the participants by pre-approved secure online platforms. Communication outside the preapproved platforms is strictly prohibited.

Researchers’ interactions with participants (i.e., parents or child) must only be within the scope of the research questions. Any unauthorized or inappropriate interactions (e.g., sharing irrelevant content, accessing inappropriate content, sharing personal information) is strictly prohibited.

The research team will only communicate any study-related information to the guardian of the participant. No communication shall occur beyond the conclusion of participating in the study.

Online Safety Measures

The research team must strictly adhere to the use of secure online safety platforms. All platforms used by the research team (e.g., ZOOM, OneDrive) follow the York University Information Technology Guideline.

The researcher will ensure that appropriate measures are taken whilst conducting the online session via ZOOM to ensure that no breaches of confidentiality of the session (e.g., password protected meeting) occurs.

Device Security

The researchers will ensure that they are using the most up-to-date software to ensure the highest level of protection.

Reporting & Response

Any breach or deviation from protocol from the pre-approved guidelines from the York University Ethics Review Board will be promptly reported to the appropriate authority.

If the research team encounters inappropriate language or behavior, the participant will be asked to refrain from doing so during the session, if the behavior persists, the session will be terminated and be reported to the appropriate authority immediately.

If any display of inappropriate, graphic or sexual images occurs whilst the session is going on, the researcher will immediately terminate the session and report the behavior to the appropriate authority.

Training & Awareness

All research members involved in the study are trained to ensure online safety measures are followed. All research members have also received the applicable background checks to ensure the safety of all participants.

The research team will ensure that they are conducting the ZOOM sessions in a controlled room with limited distractions to ensure that no display of inappropriate images or documents are able to be viewed by participants.

The research team will ensure to use age-appropriate language that is not offensive or discriminatory.

The research team must strictly adhere to the Ethical Code of Conduct when interacting with any participant throughout the duration of participation.

Parent/Guardian Information

The parent/guardian shall be responsible for:

The wellbeing of the child throughout the duration of the study.
Ensuring that the environment that the child is being tested in is appropriate.

Please refer to our Links & Resources page for more information.