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According to the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences
guidelines (CIOMS, 2016), the researchers are expected to pay attention to the

followings:

• Providing adequate details mainly in the context of the purpose of the research

and the intended use of data to the participants. This is a short introduction
which is more or less similar to the description present in the information sheet

(eg: aims, methods, benefits, risks, discomforts, voluntary participation,
freedom to withdraw irrespective of the consent given, post-study provisions,

ethical approval, contact details of the investigators and the ethics review

committee). The information sheet is given to the participants in onsite research
while this appears before the consent form and questionnaire/digital app in

online research.

• Obtaining voluntary consent before embarking on the survey/research. This is

done using a standard format after the introduction part. It is essential to obtain
consent for the research, making that step compulsory allowing to proceed only

when the participant agreed.

• Informing the presence of privacy risk and the privacy-security measures to be
followed to protect their data. If personal information and identification details

are collected researcher needs to justify the collection of such information and
elaborate how privacy and confidentiality are maintained especially when the

data sets are shared or published online.

• Notifying the potential limitations on the security measures on privacy-

protection despite the safeguards put in place. The traditional de-identification
techniques (deduction of name, postal address, and other contact details)

notably have limitations and may still expose the individual’s identity. The use

of different online platforms and digital tools or mobile devices/apps have their

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