It's going to happen all over again, says anthropologist Lawrence Palinkas. When he tried to research people affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill for its effects on their health and communities, he promised confidentiality. But then his research was subpoenaed by the courts in the endless legal wrangling that followed the Prince William Sound disaster. The situation is going to recur in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico blowout, Palinkas tells National Public Radio's Shots blog.

"Even raw data became subject to subpoena by courts, including names and addresses of research participants," says Patrinkas, a social anthropologist at the University of Southern California. "Researchers cannot guarantee the confidentiality of the individual providing that data."

It's already beginning in the Gulf. Lawyers are all over the airwaves, soliciting clients who think they deserve compensation from the oil spill damage to their lives and livelihoods.

The issue has big implications - for scientists, for the people affected by the spill and for a society that needs solid research on the health and social impact of these man-made disasters.