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Anonymization and Privacy Management in Social Science Data Archives: The Slovenian Case

Bezjak, Sonja

Publisher
Zenodo
DOI
10.5281/zenodo.17279205
Repository
zenodo.org
Language
en

Abstract

The preservation and sharing of social science data is well established, with domain-specific data archives operating and evolving since the 1970s. Today, 23 Member States and 11 partners are associated with the Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA). Slovenia has been a member of CESSDA since 1997, with the Social Science Data Archives at the University of Ljubljana (ADP) serving as the service provider. ADP provides selection and permanent curation of quality data from the Slovenian research landscape and provides access to these data for target communities. Research involving sensitive data, such as special categories of personal data, is particularly challenging and labour-intensive. During the acquisition process, ADP determines whether the research meets the requirements of the GDPR and national legislation and assesses the potential usability of the data. In doing so, it follows the principle: “open as much as possible, closed as much as necessary.” This presentation describes the process by which ADP takes over material from researchers, verifies compliance with legal requirements, assesses the risk of disclosure of research participants, and applies safeguards such as anonymisation and restricted access to data (e.g. safe room environment). During this process, ADP assesses the quality of the material received, considering methodology, sampling, integrity of the material, and its potential for reuse by different audiences. Dilemmas and solutions are illustrated by two international research projects involving sensitive personal data. The social science data archives associated with CESSDA play an important role in implementing the principles of Open Science, particularly the FAIR principles. Their special value for the social sciences lies in ensuring the continuous development of infrastructure and services tailored to target users, and in building high-quality datasets for future research.

Full text

Anonymization and privacy management in social science data archives: the Slovenian case Session 6H: 8-Embracing Open Science: Methodological and Epistemological Challenges in Research Infrastructures for the Social Sciences 1/2 23rd September 2025 Sonja Bezjak, Slovenian Social Science Data Archives THE RC33 11th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODOLOGY Content 1. CESSDA: international context 2. Slovenian Social Science Data Archives Data processing and archiving procedures Quality assessment and classification of curation Risk assessment for the disclosure of personal data 3. Cases: the MiCREATE and DEAGENCY projects 4. Conclusions and recommendations 2 Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives “CESSDA …brings together social science data archives across Europe, with the aim of promoting the results of social science research and supporting national and international research and cooperation.“ (https://www.cessda.eu/About) CESSDA Tools: aiming to make data FAIR ELSST Thesaurus, Vocabulary Service, European Question Bank… 3 https://www.cessda.eu/About/Consortium In Europe, national social science data archives began to emerge in the 1970s. Social science data findable in data catalogues 4 -Metadata of more than 34.000 data collections held by SPs - Metadata in English and/or local languages - Quanti and Quali-data, Mixed-modes data - Crossectional, Longitudinal - New, recent & historical data https://datacatalogue.cessda.eu/ Trainings for Data Management Planning 5 Online guide for social scientists helping them to publish their data and make them FAIR CESSDA Training Team (2017 -2022). CESSDA Data Management Expert Guide. Bergen, Norway: CESSDA ERIC. Retrieved from https://dmeg.cessda.eu/ Slovenian Social Science Data Archives •Established: 1997 •📌Role: National data center for social sciences •🔒Trustworthy repository: Core Trust Seal certificate (since 2018) •🌐Membership: CESSDA ERIC Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives •🤝Collaboration: National and international projects •🔗Website: www.adp.fdv.uni-lj.si 6 https://www.adp.fdv.uni-lj.si/ Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana ADP for Arhiv družboslovnih podatkov ADP‘s mission The mission of ADP is to ensure long-term services for the acquisition, preservation, and access to high-quality research data. ADP preserves data relevant to social science analyses, with a focus on issues related to Slovenian society or significant for it, regardless of geographical boundaries. (https://www.adp.fdv.uni-lj.si/en/mission/) 7 Open Archival Information System Data Publication in ADP In Slovenian ADP catalogue there are around 800 data publications. … „publication in a data repository with fully documented data, which are provided with bibliographic information and a persistent identifier and are subject to quality control.“ (Glossary of Open Science in Slovenian, Slovar odprte znanosti). 8 „As open as possible as closed as necessary“ principle  Different regimes of access: 1. Access without registration 2. Access with registration (Public Use Files) 3. Limited Access - Scientific Use Files - Secure Use Files Data processing and archiving procedures in ADP 9 1. Pre-submission meeting –Review legal basis, data cleaning, documentation. 2. Metadata, Data and Documentation upload to DataVerse –Initial review by data archivist. 3. Detailed quality & eligibility check –Data archivist + acquisition manager. CESSDA Training Team (2025). CESSDA Data Archiving Guide version 4.5. Bergen, Norway: CESSDA ERIC. Project Features & Data Sensitivity 16 DEAGENCY (2023–2028) •Ongoing ERC project in Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovakia, Hungary •Led by University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts •Focus: role of the dead in the lives of the living •Methods: interviews, videos, photos, diaries •Strong identity protection needed due to personal and sensitive nature of data https://erc-deagency.eu/ Project Features & Data Sensitivity 17 DEAGENCY (2023–2028) •ADP consulted during proposal writing, •Planned protection measures & archiving in line with open science •Consultations during research data life-cycle •Challenge: data repositories in selected countries do not provide service for sensitive data •Decision taken: all research data to be archived at ADP •Additional activity: external experts invited to assess qualitative data in different languages Conclusions and Recommendations ●Early data management planning –Involve data experts in project proposal or early planning phase for alignment of objectives, ethics, and open access. ●Domain specific repositories –choose domain specific repositories, usually they provide expert support or can help you to find right solutions ●Expert risk assessment –search for help at the ethics committee, DPOs, domain specific repositories, essential for vulnerable groups or complex methods (e.g., ethnography). 18 Thank you University of Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences Kardeljeva ploščad 5 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia 19 www.adp.fdv.uni-lj.si sonja.bezja[email protected] Arhiv.Druzboslovnih.Podatkov @ArhivPodatkov