WEEK 3 JOURNAL ENTRY

PrivacyRights.org is a great resource to access public information as a researcher. Privacy breach researchers can use the resources in PrivacyRights.org in every step of the research process. In the exploration phase of research, researches can develop both their research questions and their understanding of privacy breaches by examining definitions and past data breaches through the website’s past data breaches database and data breach chronology archive. Developing a research question is also reliant on understanding the laws and acts regarding privacy, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act and California Consumer Privacy Act available for reading on the website. In designing and preparing for their own reports, researchers can also visit the “Reports” and “Advocacy” section on the website to get an idea of how other data breach reports are presented. Finally, researchers can use the data brokers database, data breach chronology and reports to conduct archival research regarding privacy breaches. If researchers are interested in conducting their own non-archival investigations and surveys, understanding the laws in the “Law Overview” section is also helpful to ensure the ethical gathering of information.