1. Disseminate access not data
ESRC Research Methods Festival 2018

2. Data release Once data are released control is effectively lost
Therefore
Released data must either be
anonymised beyond risk or
the data provider must undertake a costly auditing regime to ensure the on-going security of the setti

3. Disseminate access not data
Straightforward solution to protecting sensitive data – keep control of it!
Increasing international interest in opportunities offered by safe settings
Thomas and Walport (2008) recommended that to preserve data confidentiality “‘safe havens’ should be developed as an environment for population-based research and statistical analysis’.

4. UK Infrastructure
ADRN and UK Data Service – services to support the dissemination of data
Free to data providers and researchers
Metadata, discovery and value add
HMRC, NHS and ONS data labs
Department specific labs
Farr, Jill Dando Institute, Cancer Research UK, Health Foundation and others

5. Current UK position Strengths Weaknesses World leading infrastructure
NSFC RCUK event | 18/07/2017 | Tanvi Desai
Current UK position
Strengths
World leading infrastructure
Highly qualified researchers and analysts
World leading data privacy experts
Pioneering expertise in data support
Weaknesses
Over reliance on on-site access
Government unwillingness to share
Lack of understanding of challenges among funders/government
No national standard
NOT ENOUGH DATA

6. National standards No national standard means
individual assurance of each safe setting
more difficult, expensive for data providers to trust
providers may not have confidence in own decisions
The right national standards would
Promote trust
Reduce assurance costs
Enable data sharing across secure networks
ENABLE UK TO MAINTAIN WORLD LEADING POSITION IN EVIDENCE BASED RESEARCH

7. NSFC RCUK event | 18/07/2017 | Tanvi Desai
Digital Economy Act
Provides an explicit legal gateway to enable sharing of data for research
UKSA to develop and oversee national standards for
Safe settings
Safe people
Safe projects
Safe outputs

8. Conclusion
Without a secure data access infrastructure that is trusted by government departments the UK is starting to fall behind other countries in our ability to carry out evidence based research for policy development and assessment
The DEA offers the opportunity for a national standard to be developed that is trusted by data providers, researchers and the public
An effective national infrastructure of safe settings will enable the UK to carry out sophisticated research in the public interest while simultaneously protecting data subjects to a very high standard

9. Thank you