Do recently passed laws (e.g., the Patriot Act) concerned with “national security” have any impact on my research project?
Recent federal (and state) laws may compromise the presumed confidentiality of your data. Therefore, it is important to include a phrase such as “to the extent allowed by law” in all consent forms in the section concerned with confidentiality for subjects. For instance, in your Consent Form, you ought to include a phrase such as this: “Information obtained during the course of the study will remain confidential, to the extent allowed by law.
