Reflecting on the risks and ethical dilemmas of digital research

•We outline the risks within the opportunities of digitally-based research.•Ethics is presented as duty of care.•Institutions, research procedures, and ethics are inter-connected.•Unexpected events can significantly impact researcher wellbeing.

As technology continues to evolve, digital methods are increasingly becoming key components of social and cultural geographers' research toolkits. This paper explores the risky and uncertain dimensions of digital research by reflecting on an adverse ethical event which occurred in research involving young people and online dialogic diaries. Assemblage thinking is used to conceptually frame the data leakage event, the subsequent disruption of confidentiality, and the wide-ranging affects and effects that followed. Three particular issues which are critical for researchers working with digital methodologies to consider are highlighted: the ethical implications of procedural disruption, institutional responses within the neoliberal university, and researcher wellbeing. We conclude by advocating for researchers to continue to push boundaries with digital research but suggest that this needs to be undertaken in an informed way that takes account of the immanent potential for digital disruption.