Data protection is a very important issue and one that we take very seriously.
The data we are collecting from schools, is the weekly absence data on the number of children off sick for each year group.
At no point are we collecting any personal data on an individual child. We are only collecting aggregated data either at the level of the year group or class. Therefore at no point will we be able to identify any individual student’s data.
We have also considered the issue of deductive disclosure and taken appropriate steps to ensure this isn’t an issue. This relates to the issue of potentially being able to identify individuals from aggregated data where there are small numbers involved (i.e. less than five individuals). In terms of access to the data, the only people that will have access to the raw data at the level of an individual school are Dr Rob and the small team of scientists at UCL, along with two staff at Gallomanor who are registered with the Information Commissioners Office for this type of information.
Data is being collected and stored online on our website. It has been built using the latest version of WordPress and a small selection of bespoke and trusted plug-ins. Data will be held here for the duration of the project and for a period of two years after the project.
In accordance with current UCL Records Management Policy, research data will need to be stored for 20 years after the research has finished. The UCL Records Office provides a service to UCL staff and maintains archived records in a safe and secure off site location. Access to the data is strongly regulated and permissions to access the data are treated case by case.
The project has been scrutinised by UCL’s research ethics committee who consider issues around data collection and storage. This study has been approved by the Committee (Project ID Number 3294/001). If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to email me.
