Data Management Guidelines chapter on anonymisation and personal data updated

Recent changes to data protection legislation emphasise the role of careful consideration in research data management in terms of how personal data of research participants are processed. Research data containing identifiers have to be processed for reuse so that research participants or third persons are no longer identifiable in the data. Anonymisation is an important part of data management not only for data sharing but also for using excerpts of data in publications.

The updated chapter “Anonymisation and Personal Data” in FSD’s Data Management Guidelines now provides more practical guidance on processing identifiable information in research data. The text gives concise instructions on factors that should be taken into consideration in anonymisation planning, examples of anonymisation decisions, and a template for formulating an anonymisation plan. Moreover, the guidelines contain new information about data minimisation and practical tips for anonymising quantitative and qualitative datasets. We have added concrete examples and bulleted lists to make the chapter more easily readable.

The Data Management Guidelines is an online handbook created by FSD. It provides concrete guidance on the management of digital research data during the whole lifecycle of the data.