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Lost in Reality - The Case for Virtual Safe Settings
Rahman, Mustafizur; Jirotka, Marina; Dutton, William (Oxford University)
Despite monumental advances in secure data transmission, even over public networks, it remains common practice for many organisations to share data with their colleagues and researchers situated at remote locations by transporting them via physical storage media. Furthermore, sensitive data reside on laptops that are allowed to leave the confines of secure office buildings. Recent news headlines have been awashed with stories of sensitive data being lost in transition as discs were sent from one office location to another and laptops being lost or stolen. The tension between respecting confidentiality and providing research access to sensitive data has been an on-going challenge for data custodians in the advancement of social science. Upholding near absolute standards to protect privacy reduces the scientific value of the data, whilst breaches in confidentiality may lead to adverse consequences including financial and legal sanctions against not only the agency, but also against individuals. Numerous agencies have been exploring various avenues to provide secure access to sensitive data via other means that are more conducive to the researcher, whilst maintaining the complex ethical framework that dictate confidentiality policies. This paper investigates some of the current initiatives of safe settings that allow researchers access to such data, both quantitative and qualitative. These initiatives are examined in the context of collaborative research where data will be interrogated by researchers remotely from geographically dispersed locations. The paper also explores many of the common misconceptions surrounding barriers to data sharing, sensitivity of research data, basic legal obligations and realistic approaches to virtual safe settings for balancing security risks and the facilitation of advanced research in the social science community.
