Internal Confidentiality: When Confidentiality Assurances Fail Relational Informants

Abstract

This research note explores a limit in the principle of confidentiality, demonstrating how informants' connected relationships can lead to impaired or diminished autonomy. Insiders may recognize what other insiders have said to a researcher in a private interview. Internal confidentiality is distinct from external confidentiality, which assures protection against identification by those who were not subjects of the research.