Participate

Your data can make a difference.

Take part in meaningful research through the Australian Internet Observatory’s secure platform.

Sharing your data for research

Digital platforms shape how we communicate, find information, and view the world. This includes a variety of businesses that range from:

social media like Facebook and TikTok
digital streaming like Netflix and Spotify
AI-powered chat interfaces like ChatGPT
and services like Uber, Doordash, and AirBnB, amongst others.

By sharing your data and participating in research, you can help Australian researchers study these platforms. Your contribution helps us better understand how algorithms work, which kinds of advertisements target Australians, and how social media affects our society.

The benefits of data donation extend to both researchers and participants. By participating in data donation research, you can also learn more about your digital footprint.

About data donation

Digital data donation helps researchers understand how people actually live, communicate, and make meaning in a digital world. By choosing to share data such as data downloads packages or information collected through apps or browser tools, individuals enable studies of everyday online activities like searching, streaming, and using social media that are challenging to collect with traditional research methods.

Data donation involves a few simple, voluntary steps. The AIO facilitates two kinds of data donation: data download packages and screen capture for mobile or browser observed data packages.

Learn more about each kind.

Protecting your data

AIO manages your data under strict ethics rules and guidelines

We know that social media data is highly personal, and protecting it should be the AIO’s and researchers’ highest priority. We operate within ethical frameworks and ensure that our researchers have Human Research Ethics Committee approvals from their institutions before commencing their projects.

Key principles include minimising the data that we collect, participant consent, research ethics, Australian-hosted infrastructure, the right to withdraw from a study and privacy protection.

Find out more about sharing your data