PERSONAL PRIVACY VERSUS PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY - A TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION TO AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

The tension between personal privacy and public accountability produce s one of the major ethical dilemmas facing behavioral health program e valuators and service system researchers. This article discusses the s ource of this tension and introduces a research methodology that allow s program evaluators to fully and equally respect both ethical princip les. This methodology uses contemporary computer and statistical techn ology in conjunction with aggregated, de-identified information derive d from existing databases to provide valid and reliable measures of th e performance of treatment programs while it protects the personal pri vacy of individuals.