About data protection
USDAS does everything possible to provide open and easy access to data, while at the same time protecting the confidentiality of research participants and the rights of the data depositors. Strategies for dealing with confidentiality depend upon the nature of the research but are essentially informed by a researcher’s ethical and legal obligations. Also, we are protecting the copyright in research datasets.
In order to protect personal, confidential and sensitive personal data we are using various techniques including data anonymisation, access eligibility criteria and end-user contract.
Personal data
Personal data are data which relate to a living individual who can be identified from those data or from those data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller and includes any expression of opinion about the individual and any indication of the intentions of the data controller.
Confidential data
Confidential data are data given in confidence or data agreed to be kept confidential, i.e. secret, between two parties, which are not in the public domain such as information on business, income, health, medical details, and political opinion.
Sensitive personal data