On the Tension Between Open Data and Data Protection in Research

The push for Open Science practices, including open data, clashes with the need for strict data protection of participant information. This creates a growing crisis in HCI research. Despite its critical role, data protection remains an afterthought in metascience, leaving researchers without clear guidance and dedicated resources, endangering both participant privacy and scientific openness. We illustrate that Meta-HCI is uniquely positioned to address this challenge by investigating how researchers navigate these tensions and developing strategies that align openness with privacy. We propose starting points for solutions such as minimizing data collection and reusing datasets. This is a call to action—without urgent intervention, both the privacy of research data and Open Science are at risk.