Jakoef Pays Attention at A Meeting

The primary focus of our project has been to work directly with the vendors of The Big Issue to establish a method of obtaining content for their new online vendor profiles. Because this project included learning about the vendors at a deeply personal level, it was important that we planned to be sensitive to the privacy of the vendors. We focused heavily on the vendor’s stories ,so they needed to be  involved in every aspect of our project. We wanted to create a space for them so they would feel comfortable with us, empowered to tell their stories, and proud to be a part of the project. To plan for sensitivity we clearly outlined the motives for our project and the expectations of the vendors during the first meeting. Here is a list of points we considered and explicitly clarified to the vendors to be sensitive to their privacy.

1.      The vendors can leave the project at anytime; it is completely voluntary to participate. They have no commitment to continue the project and they do not need a reason to remove themselves.
2.      The WPI students will not be using any information gathered from them (videos, pictures, written material, etc.) for our own personal and monetary gain.
3.      The vendors will have access to all content (videos, pictures, written material, etc.) that we gather from them and/or they take themselves.
4.      They have complete control of what is used or not used in our project. Nothing will be used in any part of our project (publications, visuals, etc.) without their consent.
5.      We will not provide any personal information, pictures, videos, etc. to the Big Issue without the vendors consent.