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Consent

Whether or not based in the principle of autonomy or the inherent worth of people, the principle of consent is itself often cited as a fundamental value by many ethical codes (BACB, 2014; DHEW, 1978; HHS, 2018; Drachsler & Greller, 2016, etc.). However there may be variations in what counts as consent and what consent allows.

For example, the type of consent defined by the Nuremberg Code "requires that before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonably to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment" (USHM, 2020).

Several codes are more explicit about what counts as informed consent. For example, one code requires that "researchers be transparent about the research and give research subjects the choice not to participate. This includes passive data collection, such as collection of data by observing, measuring, or recording a data subject's actions or behaviour" (IA, 2019). The same code, however, contains provisions that allow data to be collected without consent. If consent is not possible, it states, "Researchers must have legally permissible grounds to collect the data and must remove or obscure any identifying characteristics as soon as operationally possible." There are also stipulations designed to ensure research quality and to ensure that communications about the research are accurate and not misleading (Ibid).

Meanwhile, that same code of ethics can allow the scope of consent to be extended beyond research. It is the IA Code of Standards and Ethics for Marketing Research and Data Analytics (IA, 2019). Consent is required for research purposes, but in addition "such consent can enable non-research activities to utilize research techniques for certain types of customer satisfaction, user, employee and other experience activities." The Nuremberg Code and marketing research may stand at opposite poles of an ethical question, however, they are reflective of a society as a whole that holds consent as sacrosanct on one hand and makes legal End User Licensing Agreements (EULA) on the other hand.

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Examples and Articles

The Epistemology of Consent

"The right way of understanding "affirmative consent" requirements is as a view about what is required, epistemically speaking, before one can justifiably believe that another person has consented."

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