6 Digital Ethics: What to ask yourself before clicking “Publish”

We know that an internship can be very exciting and you want to share it with the world! Feel free to follow and @ us on Instagram or Facebook or use #ilovelhsi. You can also post about your experience on LinkedIn. Be aware that you must exercise caution when posting on any social media (including your personal accounts even if they’re set to private) or your ePortfolio.

Talk to your supervisor(s) about what is/isn’t appropriate to share and check with them before posting anything that may be sensitive or if you aren’t sure whether something you are publishing violates any of the following principles. They can tell you how much of their work they want to be public and help you understand how to be professional in your personal digital spaces.

Privacy of individuals, whether it’s colleagues or research participants.

• • Consider HIPAA and other privacy standards relevant to your work.
  • Never post data sets or patient information. NEVER.
  • Photos are ok if there is no sensitive information in the background, if you are wearing any necessary protective equipment (where applicable), and you have permission from other people in the photo. If you aren’t sure, ask.
  • Consider sensitive information and protecting vulnerable populations or protected records. This can include being mindful of patient or community member images you’re sharing, raw data protected by HIPAA, giving real names when sharing stories, etc.

Privacy of research data, including whether or not you can share summaries or results.​

• • Research is very competitive and health information is sensitive. Posting about or sharing information on your work can put your supervisor’s research and grants in danger, as other areas working on the same research can beat you to a solution. Violation of health information protection laws are a serious matter. When in doubt, leave it out.
  • If you do write about the content of your work, write in simple terms, like “we’re studying the effect of genes on growth” instead of “we’re studying the effect of (specific gene) on regulation of (biological process).” The simple version is better for public communication in two ways: first, it’s more understandable to those with a non-science background and second, it doesn’t share exactly what your site is doing and so you can’t easily be scooped by a competitor.

Copyright and citations matter in more than just research papers. Any borrowed information needs proper attribution.​

• • Cite information properly. This includes photos, videos, and other information taken from the internet. Give credit and link back to the original source when using anything borrowed.
  • Follow general citation guidelines and talk to your supervisor about citation specifics for their field.

Accessibility of content for a wide range of readers.

• • Are you using the tips and features of Google Sites that help your ePortfolio be enjoyed by people with a range of abilities?
  • Do you have closed captioning available on videos? Is text easy to read on the website background you’ve chosen?
  • Can a screen reader clearly navigate your page? Do your photos have alt text (written description of the photo) for screen readers and to show up when the photos aren’t loading?
  • Could your content be understood by people from a wide range of backgrounds?

ePortfolio Guidelines

Focus your reflections more on what you’re learning about yourself and work. Safe topics include things like how you learned that it’s important to write everything down and follow directions, the value of teamwork and how your role is important to the team, and your general understanding of what your site does. We will also include ethical considerations and tech how-to guides in each month’s reflection assignment to help you!

If you violate these rules, there may be consequences from your supervisor, up to and including ending the internship immediately. We will leave that up to their discretion but Brandi will back up the supervisor on whatever they decide to do in this case. This is their work and the safety of patients and study participants, please respect that.

Further reading: For more information, check out “Creating an Inclusive and Ethical Portfolio: Ethics and Universal Design” by Lynn Meade in the book Building a Professional Portfolio from University of Arkansas.