in a localized space, it will raise similar ethical considerations. However, the nature of the online space does raise new ethical issues, including those related to informed consent of human subjects, protections of privacy or anonymity of research subjects, and whether cyber-ethnography might be a form of "electronic eavesdropping." In spite of these differences, the American Anthropological Association has yet to include any specific recommendations regarding cyber-ethnography in its Code of Ethics. Thus, there are significant ethical issues around the use of digital tools, data collection from cyberspace, and whether cyberethnographers respect privacy in cyberspace. That a website is not password-protected against a researcher does not necessarily imply that it is open space where the right to anonymity and privacy dissolve. Thus, Robinson (2011) insists, "if our identities in cyberspace are extensions of our off-line identities, they must be afforded the same ethical consideration as they would be given in the off-line world". Institutional review boards (IRBs) may not be equipped for ethical dilemmas presented by cyber-ethnography. Researchers need to make their intentions clear and define properly what data will be collected. When researchers "lurk" by covertly observing and gathering data, they do not gain participants' knowledge and consent. This conflicts with the traditional ethnographic practice of informed consent, in which participants have the right to learn about the study at hand and make an informed decision on whether or not to participate. Cyber-ethnographers face the challenge of informing participants of their presence and research activities without jeopardizing their ability to collect valid data. Scholars recommend including note in the researcher's posts that identifies their research interest and links to more information. However, this practice is only possible in some online spaces, such as forums, but not in others. Another issue is that the technological innovations and possibility for new research outpace the creation of clear and adapted ethical guidelines. Nonetheless, some guidelines do exist and are regularly updated by the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR). Another ethical constraint and a possible disadvantage to cyber-ethnography is the intricate anonymization of the data. Protecting participant anonymity often conflicts with the preservation of the participants' words. Although, consent might be obtained from participants to collect, use and publish textual data, the simple use of pseudonyms is in most cases not enough to guarantee the anonymity of the data. Indeed, searching for direct quotes in a Google search is often sufficient to identify