(Un)informed consent in Psychological Research: An empirical study on consent in psychological research and the GDPR

In many instances, psychological research requires the collection and processing of personal data collected directly from research subjects. In principle, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to psychological research which involves the collection and processing of personal data in the European Eco- nomic Area (EEA). Further, the GDPR includes provisions elaborating the types of information which should be offered to research subjects when personal data are collected directly from them. Given the general norm that informed consent should be obtained before psychological research involving the collection of personal data directly from research participants should go ahead, the information which should be provided to subjects according to the GDPR will usually be communicated in the context of an informed consent process. Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that the GDPR’s obligations concerning information provision to research subjects may not always be fulfilled. This paper outlines the results of an empirical investigation into the degree to which these information obligations are fulfilled in the context of psychological research consent procedures to which European data protection law applies. Significant discrepancies between the legal obligations to provide information to research subjects, and the information actually provided, are identified

Data Retention after the Judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Executive Summary This study analyses the Data Retention Directive Judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 8 April 2014 and evaluates its impact on other data retention measures at Member States as well as at EU level

Information Provision for Informed Consent Procedures in Psychological Research Under the General Data Protection Regulation: A Practical Guide

Psychological research often involves the collection and processing of personal data from human research participants. The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies, as a rule, to psychological research conducted on personal data in the European Economic Area (EEA)—and even, in certain cases, to psychological research conducted on personal data outside the EEA. The GDPR elaborates requirements concerning the forms of information that should be communicated to research participants whenever personal data are collected directly from them. There is a general norm that informed consent should be obtained before psychological research involving the collection of personal data directly from research participants is conducted. The information required to be provided under the GDPR is normally communicated in the context of an informed consent procedure. There is reason to believe, however, that the information required by the GDPR may not always be provided. Our aim in this tutorial is thus to provide general practical guidance to psychological researchers allowing them to understand the forms of information that must be provided to research participants under the GDPR in informed consent procedures

“Hello ELSA, how are you?” : Legal and Ethical Challenges in RDM, Current and Future Tasks of ELSA Activities Against the Background of AI and Anonymisation

The proposed contribution will shed light on current and future challenges on legal and ethical questions in research data infrastructures. The authors of the proposal will present the work of NFDI’s section on Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects (hereinafter: ELSA), whose aim is to facilitate cross-disciplinary cooperation between the NFDI consortia in the relevant areas of management and re-use of research data

Phishing-Kampagnen zur Steigerung der Mitarbeiter-Awareness – Analyse aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln – Security, Recht und Faktor Mensch

Phishing-Angriffe sind kein neues Phänomen, aber nach wie vor eine große Gefahr für jede Institution. Um die Resistenz der Angestellten gegen Phishing-Angriffe zu erheben oder zu verbessern, führen zahlreiche Einrichtungen Phishing-Kampagnen durch, bei denen (simulierte) Phishing-Nachrichten an die Angestellten verschickt werden. Der Beitrag geht auf unterschiedliche Ziele und Ausgestaltungsformen von Phishing-Kampagnen ein und betrachtet potentielle Probleme und die Aussagekraft von Phishing-Kampagnen

Pervasive Gaming as a Potential Solution to Traffic Congestion: New Challenges Regarding Ethics, Privacy and Trust

The following paper presents a review of the ethical, privacy and trust aspects relating to pervasive gaming in particular within the domain of traffic congestion. The paper deals explicitly with the challenges involved that fall between the gaps standard ethical practice and scientific research when studies comprise of those in the lab (where collection and use is heavily controlled) and those which take place in the wild where there is the requirement to share data possibly with external parties. Also where the nature of such work is at the borders of the concept of traditional study and a commercial running prototype. Document type: Part of book or chapter of boo

Acute Downregulation but Not Genetic Ablation of Murine MCU Impairs Suppressive Capacity of Regulatory CD4 T Cells

By virtue of mitochondrial control of energy production, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and maintenance of Ca2+ homeostasis, mitochondria play an essential role in modulating T cell function. The mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter (MCU) is the pore-forming unit in the main protein complex mediating mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake. Recently, MCU has been shown to modulate Ca2+ signals at subcellular organellar interfaces, thus fine-tuning NFAT translocation and T cell activation. The mechanisms underlying this modulation and whether MCU has additional T cell subpopulationspecific effects remain elusive. However, mice with germline or tissue-specific ablation of Mcu did not show impaired T cell responses in vitro or in vivo, indicating that ‘chronic’ loss of MCU can be functionally compensated in lymphocytes. The current work aimed to specifically investigate whether and how MCU influences the suppressive potential of regulatory CD4 T cells (Treg). We show that, in contrast to genetic ablation, acute siRNA-mediated downregulation of Mcu in murine Tregs results in a significant reduction both in mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake and in the suppressive capacity of Tregs, while the ratios of Treg subpopulations and the expression of hallmark transcription factors were not affected. These findings suggest that permanent genetic inactivation of MCU may result in compensatory adaptive mechanisms, masking the effects on the suppressive capacity of Tregs

a combined ecological momentary assessment and fMRI study

Regulation of emotions is necessary for successful attainment of short-term and long-term goals. However, over-regulation may also have its costs. In anorexia nervosa (AN), forgoing food intake despite emaciation and endocrine signals that promote eating is an example of “too much” self-control. Here we investigated whether voluntary emotion regulation in AN patients comes with associated disorder-relevant costs. Thirty-five patients with acute AN and thirty-five age-matched healthy controls (HCs) performed an established emotion regulation paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging after an overnight fast. The task required reducing emotions induced by positively valenced pictures via distancing. We calculated a neural regulation score from responses recorded in a reward-related brain region of interest (ventral striatum; VS) by subtracting activation measured on “positive distance” trials from that elicited under the “positive watch” (baseline) condition. Complementing the imaging data, we used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to probe disorder-related rumination and affect six times/day for 2 weeks following the scanning session. The neural regulation score indicating reduced VS activation during emotion regulation was used as a predictor in hierarchical linear models with EMA measures as outcomes. No group differences in neural activity were found for the main contrasts of the task. However, regulation of VS activity was associated with increased body-related rumination and increased negative affect in AN, but not in HC. In line with this finding, correlational analysis with longitudinal BMI measurements revealed a link between greater VS regulation and poorer treatment outcome after 60 and 90 days. Together, these results identify a neural correlate of altered emotion regulation in AN, which seems to be detrimental to psychological well-being and may interfere with recovery