Jane GrayPrincipal Investigator (Social Sciences)Digital Repository of Ireland National University of Ireland Maynooth

Data protection issues for organizations

DRI Presentation

Three challenges:

• Different ethical values and standards across disciplines and data communities

• Changing European environment for data protection, research infrastructures and data repositories

• Limitations on capacity of data repositories to vindicate agreements with depositors and ethical obligations to research participants

Data protection issues for data repositories

DRI Presentation

Challenge for federated infrastructure such as DRI:

• Different understandings of what constitutes personal or sensitive data

• Different expectations about appropriate audiences• Different approaches to meeting conflicting demands of

openness and personal privacy• Will be addressed within policy development cycle of DRI

- we welcome your comments and suggestions!

Different ethical and value standards

DRI Presentation

Impetus towards a unified data protection framework in Europe:• Context of uneven implementation of existing guidelines• Proposed “General Data Protection Regulation” would be

binding and applicable to all member states• Anticipated to take effect in 2016• Ongoing controversy and debate regarding extent to

which derogations for historical, statistical and scientific research will be retained

Changing European environment for data protection

DRI Presentation

Ethical and legal obligations may come into conflict, for example when guarantees of confidentiality and anonymity cannot be met

• Potential for ‘chilling effect’ on research and mistrust of data repositories

• Requirement for repositories to have clear guidelines• Advocacy role for repositories and research

infrastructures?

Vindicating depositor agreements

DRI Presentation

DASISH report on legal and ethical issues

• http://dasish.eu/publications/projectreports/D6.1_final.pdf/

Further reading