Research without consent

What does it mean to do research?

When something you ask out of curiosity,

Just comes out as creepy?

Is it okay,

To record their data,

Without their consent,

When they’re completely anonymous?

My intention was,

To gain insight,

On a topic I knew little about.

While I was recording data,

I did not realize,

The sin I was committing.

Only after,

I asked several people,

Did I realize,

What I was doing.

What can I do to correct this?

Do I acknowledge my own mistakes?

Should I throw away the data I deceptively recorded?

This is what it mean,

When research is done,

Without consent.