 Research ethics concerns around individual privacy is often expressed in terms of the level of linkability of data to individuals, and the potential harms from disclosure of information As Internet research has grown in complexity and computational sophistication, ethics concerns have focused on current and future uses of data, and the potential downstream harms that could occur. Protecting research participants’ privacy and confidentiality is typically achieved through a combination of research tactics and practices, including engaging in data collection under controlled or anonymous environments, the scrubbing of data to remove personally identifiable information (PII), or the use of access restrictions and related data security methods. And, the specificity and characteristics of the data will often dictate if there are regulatory considerations, in addition to the methodological considerations around privacy and confidentiality. For example, personally identifiable information (PII) typically demands the most stringent protections. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), for example, defines PII as: