ABSTRACT
The new chair of the Plumpton university research ethics committee stood confidently before the assembled academics from the faculty of arts. His task was to tell his colleagues about the new regulations for research ethics and he was confident that he had covered all eventualities. A couple of jokes, a power point and some discussion on the underlying values should do the trick, before getting on to the next committee. Then suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he noticed that members of the audience were looking concerned. Colleagues were beginning to mutter to each other in a much more animated way than he was used to in student lectures. Within two more sentences the muttered words were becoming audible and there was a palpable feeling of panic sweeping the room. One senior lecturer raised his hand, uttering a half strangled ‘Hang on!’ He continued, ‘If what you are saying about the data protection act is true then most of my students and researchers are breaking the law … and a lot of my colleagues too’. The muttering finally burst into a cacophony of competing stories and problems. The staff wanted to know exactly what they had to do, and they wanted this in writing before the end of the day. The chair did not make it on time for his next committee.
