Anonymizing in digitalized fieldwork: An art-based blurring approach

Abstract

The ongoing refinement of internet technology is compelling anthropologists to reconceptualize data acquisition within the digital realm. Conducting ethnography on sensitive topics that involve imagery necessitates the development of innovative anonymization and pseudo‐anonymization methods. This article focuses on two pivotal facets of digital space ethnography: (1) devising strategies to mitigate harm towards participant members of vulnerable communities and (2) ensuring adherence to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) while preserving the privacy of incidental parties on social media platforms. This article demonstrates how artistic blurring is one anonymization technique that may be applied ethically in the digital ethnographic examination of sensitive issues in Norway.