48 Safeguard Your Data
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Lesson 2 of 18
Security of your data involves physical, technical, and administrative safeguards.
The TCPS 2 (CIHR et al., 2022) gives the following examples of safeguards:
- “Physical safeguards include the use of locked filing cabinets, and the location of computers containing research data away from public areas” (p. 58).
- “Administrative safeguards include the development and enforcement of organizational rules about who has access to personal information about participants” (p. 58).
- “Technical safeguards include use of computer passwords, firewalls, anti-virus software, encryption and other measures that protect data from unauthorized access, loss or modification” (p. 58).
Your plan for data storage needs to address not only technical safeguards but should also consider any nondigital data and the physical locations of hardware for storage of any digital data. You also need to comply with any administrative safeguards and guidance provided by your institution and any research partners or collaborators.
In planning appropriate data storage, you need to consider the sensitivity of your data and whether or not it requires particular safeguards because of that sensitivity.
Module 2 addressed sensitive data, particularly in the context of human participant data and personally identifiable information.
The concepts discussed there are important and you need to consider them as you decide upon a plan for data storage and backup that encompasses both risk of data loss and risk of data security in the event of a data breach.
The remainder of this module discusses physical, administrative, and technical considerations for safeguarding your data.
