 Research ethics boards themselves are increasingly challenged with the unique ethical dimensions of internet-based research protocols. In a 2008 survey of U.S. IRBs, less than half of the ethical review boards identified internet-based research was “an area of concern or importance” at that time, and only 6% had guidelines or checklists in place for reviewing internet-based research protocols (Buchanan &amp; Ess 2009). By 2015, 93% of IRBs surveyed acknowledged that are ethical issues unique to research using “online data”, yet only 55% said they felt their IRBs are well versed in the technical aspects of online data collection, and only 57% agreed that their IRB has the expertise to stay abreast of changes in online technology. IRBs are now further challenged with the growth of big data research (see  §4.5 below),  which increasingly relies on large datasets of personal information generated via social media, digital devices, or other means often hidden from users. A 2019 study of IRBs revealed only 25% felt prepared to evaluate protocols relying on big data, and only 6% had tools sufficient for considering this emerging area of internet research (Zimmer &amp; Chapman 2020). Further, after being presented various hypothetical research scenarios utilizing big data and asked how their IRB would likely review such a protocol, numerous viewpoints different strongly in many cases. Consider the following scenario: