Invitation to participate in my research project regarding personal data protection

[spop]

Dear fellow colleagues,

I would like to invite you to take part in my research project regarding personal data protection. This project is part of my dissertation concluding an MBA in Cyber Security.

Here is the link to access the questionnaire: http://bit.ly/2Sp4Cs4Rp

The questionnaire has been designed to be anonymous. This is an opinion poll with no right or wrong answers. Your answers should reflect your personal view on each matter.

There a fair bit of information and consent provided before getting to the questionnaire page. This is required as it needs to comply with data protection regulation.

I would appreciate if you can spend a few minutes and help me by completing and submitting the questionnaire.

Thanks in advance for your participation,

Sorin

[rslade]

Right.  This is about "Personal Data Protection."  You tagged it that way.  So, taking control of my own, personal data here:

Who are you?  Yes, I know you said you were an MBA student.  Anybody can say that.  (And, speaking as an ancient data security curmudgeon, let me note: MBA?  In Cyber Security?  Really?)  It's common, in these situations, to give just a bit more detail.  What school.  What program.  Who it your thesis advisor.  That type of thing.  (Which you do give on your landing page, but might have been mentioned here.)

And then:

---

@spop wrote:

Here is the link to access the questionnaire: http://bit.ly/2Sp4Cs4Rp

---

Really?  You give us just the shortened link?  And link it to just the shortened link?  OK, so when I tried it out (in my "safed" browser) it goes to Google Docs.  So do tons of phishing scams.

And, on your landing page, your Q&A says:

"Are there any risks of taking part?
"No risk arises from filling in this questionnaire"

Gee, thanks.  That's really assuring.

But, anyway, I'm willing to give it a go.  Except that, when I get to your "Informed Consent Form," it asks:

"1. I confirm that I have read and understood the participant information sheet for the above study and I have had the opportunity to ask questions."

Sorry.  I've read the participant information sheet, but I haven't had any chance to ask questions.

[CraginS]

When presented with shortened URLs, a handy service is 

www.getlinkinfo.com/

The report for Sorin's links i here:

Link Information Title Participant Information Sheet Description (none) URL http://bit.ly/2Sp4Cs4Rp  more info Safe Effective URL https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8CmyM3Zxc9zTjAyc-XhZhBnbPPrjFWI-1B2mKFrv4EnS7lg/viewform?...  more info Safe Redirections

1. http://bit.ly/2Sp4Cs4Rp  more info Safe
2. https://goo.gl/forms/mmReYEqdpf8e8Ae63  more info Safe
3. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8CmyM3Zxc9zTjAyc-XhZhBnbPPrjFWI-1B2mKFrv4EnS7lg/viewform?...  more info Safe

External Links View (3 safe, 0 unsafe) Safe Browsing This site is malware-free and safe to visit. Advisory provided by Google

[CraginS]

OK, now I have had a chance to read the initial landing age for the survey. I can see that Mr Sorin Pop at Coventry University in the UK  is completing this research for the Law and Business School at Coventry. It appears to have had the approval of the university's ethics committee. Having recently faced the parallel approval process in the USA, I note a few shortcomings in the information sheet relative ti the requirements of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) in the USA. However, all appears to be in order, given i am not up on UK requirements.

All that said, I will complete the survey, and recommend others do, also. I know from recent experience how very difficult it is to obtain enough submissions for an online anonymous survey to allow for reasonable statistical validity of the results. 

Finally, I applaud an MBA program that offers cybersecurity as one of the available focus areas, supplementing the more traditional areas of finance, logistics, marketing, etc.  We really, really need more folks on the business side of the companies who understand the nature of cybersecurity in the business.

D, Cragin Shelton, DSc

[spop]

Hi Cragin,

Thank you for your support.

As a CISSP I'm bound to the (ISC)2's code of conduct therefore I would not post unsafe links.

The Google Forms has been chosen because it's safe and it does not collect any personal information from the participants, being true to the statement provided on the information page. The short link is being used to count the number of clicks, just to have an idea of the success rate in this community.

Thanks again,

Sorin