Yes. All prospective participants are encouraged to review the consent form before deciding whether to participate in the study. The study consent form linked below provides an overview of the project, what participation entails, as well as additional information about how your confidentiality will be protected. 

[View the Consent Form] 

Protecting participants’ privacy is a priority in this study. All data will be anonymized so that it cannot be traced back to you, even by the research team. We have made every effort to ensure that any data collected through surveys and interviews will be stored locally (not online). Where data must be stored online in cloud systems, only secure Canadian networks will be used. Identifying information such as names and specific addresses will not be included in analyses or reports. 

For geographic data, we are interested in understanding broader spatial patterns and relationships (such as distances between participants and service providers, how geographically concentrated or dispersed social and sexual networks are, etc.).  

When maps or geographic examples are presented, all locations will be anonymized using geo-masking. Geo-masking is a technique which moves locations in a way that prevents specific addresses or landmarks from being identified while preserving the spatial relationships (e.g. distance) between them. Various geo-masking techniques may be used to ensure participant confidentiality is protected. You can read more on geo-masking here.

Additionally, data will often be presented in aggregated form (meaning individual, raw data points will be grouped together and summarized to provide a high-level overview).  

Interviews will only be audio recorded. These interviews will be stored securely and accessed only by authorized team members of the research team for the purposes of transcription and analysis. Afterwards, the recordings will be deleted in compliance with this study’s data management and retention procedures. Video will not be recorded, and you will not be required to turn on your camera during virtual interviews. 

Yes. We recognize that various factors impact who participants feel most comfortable speaking with. When scheduling an interview, you will have the opportunity to indicate which member of the research team you would prefer to have your interview with. You can click here to read more about our team. While interviews are ultimately subject to you and the interviewer’s availability, we will do our best to accommodate your preferences.  

Once interviews are completed and we confirm that participants’ have received payment, we destroy any identifying information collected through the intake survey.