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Big Data and the Ethical Implications of Data Privacy in Higher Education Research

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  • Diana Florea

    (Faculty of Letters and Arts, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, 550024 Sibiu, Romania)

  • Silvia Florea

    (UNESCO Chair in Quality Management of Higher Education and Lifelong Learning, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, 550024 Sibiu, Romania)

Abstract

Despite the claimed worth and huge interest regarding the increasing volumes of complex data sets and the rewarding promise to improve research, there is, however, a growing concern regarding data privacy that affects both qualitative and quantitative higher education research. Within the contemporary debates on the impact of Big Data on the nature of higher education research and the effective ways to harmonize Big Data practice with privacy restrictions and regulations, this study sets out to qualitatively examine current issues regarding data privacy, anonymity, informed consent and confidentiality in data-centric higher education research, with a focus on the data collector, data subject and data user. We argue that within current regulations, data protection of research subjects concerns more data collection and disclosure and insufficiently describes use, having procedural implications for both the complex nature of higher education (HE) research and the type of research data being collected. We work our argument through an examination of several factors that call for a reconsideration of data privacy and access to private information in HE research. The conclusions indicate that Big Data-centric HE research is increasingly becoming a mainstream research paradigm which needs to address critical data privacy issues before being widely embraced.

Suggested Citation

  • Diana Florea & Silvia Florea, 2020. "Big Data and the Ethical Implications of Data Privacy in Higher Education Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-11, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:20:p:8744-:d:432563
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Silvia Florea & Cecile Hoareau Mcgrath, 2014. "Governance and Adaptation to Innovative Modes of Higher Education Provision," Management of Sustainable Development, Sciendo, vol. 6(1), pages 1-4, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fatima Rafiq & Mazhar Javed Awan & Awais Yasin & Haitham Nobanee & Azlan Mohd Zain & Saeed Ali Bahaj, 2022. "Privacy Prevention of Big Data Applications: A Systematic Literature Review," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    2. Pedro Malo-Perisé & José Merseguer, 2022. "The “Socialized Architecture”: A Software Engineering Approach for a New Cloud," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Changhee Lee & Yulseong Kim & Youngran Shin, 2021. "Data Usage and the Legal Stability of Transactions for the Commercial Operation of Autonomous Vessels Based on Digital Ownership in Korean Civil Law," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.

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