CREATE & MANAGE DATA
CONSENT & ETHICS
ETHICAL / LEGAL / DEFINITIONS
Research data may contain personal, confidential or sensitive data. It is important to know how these are defined.
Personal data
Personal data are data which relate to a living individual who can be identified from those data or from those data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller and includes any expression of opinion about the individual and any indication of the intentions of the data controller. This includes any other person in respect of the individual (Data Protection Act 1998).
Confidential data
Confidential data are data given in confidence or data agreed to be kept confidential, i.e. secret, between two parties, that are not in the public domain such as information on business, income, health, medical details, and political opinion.
Sensitive personal data
Sensitive personal data are defined in the Data Protection Act 1998 as data on a person's race, ethnic origin, political opinion, religious or similar beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health or condition, sexual life, commission or alleged commission of an offence, proceedings for an offence (alleged to have been) committed, disposal of such proceedings or the sentence of any court in such proceedings.