Here is a bit more detail provided by our resident expert, Dr Richard Welpton. Please also note our forthcoming training course on September 17/18th for this community on these protocols.
The UK Data Archive has provided safe and secure access to confidential and sensitive microdata for nearly four years now. First, under the Secure Data Service, and since October 2012, through the UK Data Service, we have provided secure remote access to data deemed too confidential for download. known as the Secure Lab, enables iran rcs data bona fide researchers who have completed the necessary steps, to log in to a secure server based at the UK Data Archive at University of Essex, and access data for analysis. Once the researcher’s analyses are completed, the statistical results will be screened by experience staff to ensure no link between the results and the original data can be made: preserving the confidentiality of the data subjects. The results, when declared ‘safe’, are returned to the researcher.
This service builds upon international best practice of secure data access, established throughout the world by initiatives such as the UK Office for National Statistics Virtual Microdata Laboratory, and the NORC Data Enclave at University of Chicago. We operate the facility on five simple protocols.