A researcher leaves a research file in her car while she attends a concert and her car is stolen. The file contains charts of aggregated numerical data from a research study with human subjects, but no other documents. The consent form said that no identifying information would be retained, and the researcher adhered to that component. Which of the following statements best characterizes what occurred?

-There was neither a violation of privacy nor a breach of confidentiality

-The subjects' privacy has been violated.

-Confidentiality of the data has been breached

-There was both a violation of privacy and a breach of confidentiality.

A). There was neither a violation of privacy nor a breach of confidentiality.

Explanation:

As per the question, option A displays the statement which most appropriately describes the situation. It correctly describes that 'there was neither a violation of the right to privacy and nor a breach of confidentiality'. 'Right to privacy' is violated when an individual's personal information gets scrutinized in public which is not the case here as the 'information that was stolen was a numerical data and no personal information.' This also reflects that there has not been any kind of 'violation of confidentiality' as the information stolen did not contain any confidential information but rather a general research data. Thus, option A is the correct answer.