Reasons for restricting access
Although data can often be shared openly, sometimes access needs to be restricted. This means that your data is only shared with interested parties under well-defined conditions. In line with the FAIR-principles, restricted access data should be made 'as open as possible and as closed as necessary'.
hat are reasons to restrict access to your data?
Sometimes it is necessary to restrict access to datasets. The reasons can be legal, e.g., privacy, respecting third party licences, or practical, e.g., related to size and costs. You are encouraged to think carefully about potential reasons for restrictions, how you can make these data available for reuse and under which conditions (license or terms of use). These considerations need to be taken into account when creating your Research Data Management Plan (RDMP), and when creating an Informed Consent form.
Size and costs
Size and costs
Practical reasons for restricted access to research data can be related to the size of the dataset and the costs for data publication. Most data repositories have a maximum size for data publication. Datasets larger than 50 GB may come with additional conditions or costs, or may not be supported at all. For DataverseNL the limit is 100 GB.
Privacy and data protection
Privacy and data protection
Privacy is a recognized universal human right. Protecting the privacy of research participants is a legal reason for restricted access to data. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the legal instrument that establishes rules for organizations to comply with privacy rights.
Confidential data
Confidential data
Some research data, besides personal data, may be confidential and too sensitive to share openly. Some types of confidential data are easy to spot such as, financial data, contracts, or strategic plans in the making. Confidential data could also refer to data which reveals private information about a company or could threaten national security (e.g., nuclear research). Indirectly, for example, information on domestic energy usage could be used to determine occupancy patterns in participants' homes and therefore be confidential.
As every project is unique, please reflect on the sensitivity of your data and material and whether it needs an additional level of protection. If you have questions about this, please contact the DCC.
Third party licenses
Third party licenses
If you use data from other sources (e.g., existing datasets or databases, data from social media) read the license or ‘terms of use’ at the source carefully and comply with it.
Embargo
Placing an embargo on your data
If you need to make your data public but still have files that can only be disclosed after a certain amount of time, you can place an embargo on these data files. The embargo ensures that the PI who created a dataset has time to publish their research without worrying about competition. This functionality is available in some repositories like DataverseNL.
If one or more of the reasons above apply, access to your data has to be restricted. Your dataset could be deposited in the UG default data repository DataverseNL, with an access restriction. However, if your data is highly sensitive, then DataverseNL is not the preferred option. In that case, you are encouraged to archive the research data at the Y: drive or RDMS.