Ethics

How we handle your data, your words, and your right to walk away — in plain language.

Where we're starting from

LESE Lab is independent and non-accredited. We don't have an institutional review board, and we can't pretend otherwise. What we can do is hold ourselves to the spirit of the WMA Declaration of Helsinki where it applies to what we do, be honest about where it doesn't, and write this page the way we'd want one written for us.

The research we run is conversational: interviews, observation, and interpretation. The risks are low. No medical procedures, no deception, no hidden recordings. The main thing you're trusting us with is your words and your time.

What we commit to

Informed consent

Before you take part in a study, we tell you what it's about, what we'll ask, how long it'll take, how we'll use what you share, and what we won't do. Consent is collected through a short survey — deliberately low-friction, because the risks involved are low. No consent, no data.

The right to withdraw

You can stop an interview at any time, ask us to delete a recording afterwards, or pull your data before it's published — no reason needed. Email us and we'll confirm deletion in writing.

Data minimization

We only collect what the research question actually needs. No background analytics, no tracking, no "just in case" metadata. This site itself runs without analytics or trackers for the same reason.

Anonymization before publishing

Names, employers, product names, and identifying project details are removed or changed before anything goes into a paper, a talk, or a quote. The goal is that nothing we publish can be traced back to a specific person without their agreement.

Where your data lives

Recordings and transcripts are kept on access-controlled storage, readable only by the researchers working on the study. Where possible we run LLMs locally — for example, for audio transcription — so interview material never leaves our machines.

We don't use third-party transcription services that retain data. We may also use hosted LLM-based tools as an analytical aid — for example, to help surface themes across a set of transcripts — but only under terms where the tool doesn't train on or retain the material beyond serving the request. We don't paste interview material into free consumer chatbots or any tool whose terms allow training on user content.

By default, raw recordings and transcripts are deleted within twelve months of a study's completion; individual studies may state a shorter window in their consent form.

What we publish, and how

Where we can, we publish in open-access venues and under open licenses, so the work is readable without a paywall. We don't sell participant data, and we don't license interview material for use in training commercial AI models. Our research exists to be read and thought about, not to be resold.

What we can't offer

We're not a university. We have no IRB, and we can't offer the legal protections that come with one. What we can offer is transparency, a written consent process, and a direct line to the people doing the research. If that's not enough for your situation, we understand — and we'd rather you decline than feel pressured.

Questions or concerns

Ethics questions go directly to us, not to a form or a ticket queue. Write to hello@leselab.org and either Sarah or Leif will answer.