US court rules to protect respondent identities

US-- A court has decided not to reveal information that could have been used to identify survey respondents, after intervention from research industry associations AAPOR and Casro.

The case in an Oklahoma district court involves surveys conducted by state authorities as part of an environmental impact study on the activities of Tyson Foods, which produces frozen poultry products.

Tyson had sought to have respondent identities revealed to the court so they could be used as part of a critique of the state's study, but the court ruled that the information was confidential and could not be disclosed.

The court stated: “Defendants have failed to persuade the court that such [confidential information] is sufficiently relevant and necessary to their case to outweigh the harm of undermining public interest in insuring the ability of surveys to elicit accurate information from respondents.”

Casro's general counsel Duane Berlin said: “This Federal Court decision is an important victory for AAPOR, Casro and the entire research industry.”

The associations said they have successfully filed briefs in support of research respondent confidentiality in about a dozen cases over the years.

Author: Robert Bain