*Result*: Society of Family Planning Research Practice Support: Digital and data security for abortion research in a post-Dobbs era-A primer for qualitative researchers.

*Abortion is banned or severely restricted in nearly half of the United States. Research on the impact of these restrictions and abortion care has never been more critical. Yet the surveillance and criminalization of people seeking abortion care, self-managing an abortion, providing abortion care, or helping people access abortion care present significant threats and concerns to them and abortion researchers. This paper reviews foundational concepts in digital and data security, and provides key suggestions, specifically for abortion researchers conducting qualitative research studies. In this article, an expert panel discusses, suggests, and organizes best practices in digital and data privacy and security for qualitative abortion research. We suggest that all abortion researchers develop a digital and data security protocol (DDSP) through threat modeling for each individual research project, but our recommendations focus specifically on issues relevant to qualitative research studies. Components of a DDSP include: (1) determining what minimal data is necessary, (2) describing potential threats, (3) determining a mitigation plan, and (4) assessing efficacy of strategies using test scenarios. Research participants should be informed of potential risks including breach of privacy and confidentiality, and criminalization as well as the DDSP during the research informed consent process. Although this paper focuses on qualitative research, the basic data and digital security principles and tools discussed will be of use to all researchers regardless of the study type (e.g. mixed methods, quantitative, chart reviews, clinical, oral history, etc.).
(Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)*