Data Protection

Anonymised vs pseudonymised data

The legal distinction between anonymised and pseudonymised data is its categorisation as personal data. Anonymised data falls out of the scope of UK GDPR. You cannot identify a participant from an anonymised data set, but you can from a pseudonymised data set. The most common example of a pseudonymised data set is where the researcher has a set of transcripts labelled 001, 002, 003 and so on, but also holds a spreadsheet which tells them that transcript 001 is from the interview with John/Jane Doe (for example).

Aston expects that best practice regarding data security and storage still be followed for anonymised data, to ensure at the very least protection against loss of your data and adherence to institutional policies on IT security. Box is the default storage system for all anonymised research data.

Anonymity vs confidentiality

Linked to the guidance above, you can protect the anonymity of participants by ensuring you do not share any personal data/information about them. Personal data/information is what should remain confidential. The following sentence appears frequently in ethics applications and is problematic:

“I will keep all data I collect confidential.” – Should you wish to publish your research, you cannot keep the research data confidential!

The participant information sheet and consent forms are crucial documents for explaining to your participants what data you will collect from them and how you intend to use it. Please be aware that you should not tell your participants you can guarantee their anonymity if you are collecting any personal data/information from them.

What is personal data?

Personal data is information relating to persons who can be identified, or are identifiable, form the information in question, or who can be indirectly identified from that information in combination with other information. This is why pseudonymised data is considered personal data – you can re-identify participants from a pseudonymised dataset. Once the “key” or linked document is deleted, you lose this ability, and the data becomes anonymised.

Personal data may also include special categories of personal data or criminal conviction and offences data. You may only use (process) special category data in limited circumstances as special category data is considered to be more sensitive.

If you are not collecting personal data, the information sheet and consent form should not contain clauses starting with “we will keep your personal data in accordance…”.

For further guidance please visit the University mandatory data protection training and the Information Commissioner’s Office guidance.

Data minimisation

A fundamental principle of the UK GDPR is that you must only use (process) personal data that is necessary and relevant for your research, and that you do not collect more data than you need (nor hold it for longer than you need). Applicants must justify their reasons for collecting personal data and must be clear about the desired timeline for storing that data. This must also be clearly explained to participants in the participant facing documents.