Data Protection and Retention of Research Data
The Data Protection Act, 1998 laid out 8 principles of Data Protection:
- Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully.
- Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.
- Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.
- Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
- Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes. (Note: There is a specific and limited exemption from the requirements of the DPA for research data in that the research data may be retained indefinitely.)
- Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this Act.
- Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
- Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.
Storage of Research Data
Researchers must determine the retention requirements for their research data and records on a project by project basis, or at least for clearly defined categories of projects, taking account of:
- The legal and regulatory framework for particular types of research;
- The terms and conditions imposed by external research sponsors;
- The commercial, political or ethical sensitivity of particular types of research, or any research for particular external sponsors.
Research data is inclusive of, but not limited to, all primary data sources, completed questionnaires, consent forms, audio and video recordings.
All non-anonymised personal data must be kept securely eg in a locked filing cabinet with restricted access or on a password protected computer.
As a general guide LJMU REC recommends that the following storage periods for all source data are maintained as a minimum.
|
Research Type |
Storage Period |
|
Undergraduate / Taught masters dissertations |
1 month following conferment of the relevant award |
|
MPhil / MRes dissertations |
1 month following conferment of the relevant award |
|
Doctoral level research (PhD, Prof Doc etc) |
5 years after completion |
|
Post-doctoral, staff research |
5 years after completion |
