Expectations and responsibilities

Through the Research Agreement and Data Preparation Agreement, the Researcher agrees to all conditions of use set by the public body or bodies that retain stewardship of the data, which may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Data are to be used only for the research questions approved by the Data Steward in the Research Agreement.
• Data will be retained for a limited time, normally set at an initial three years, with the possibility of extension with approval of the public bodies.
• Any requested changes to the research question(s), Researcher(s) or time frames are submitted to Population Data BC (PopData)  for review by the public bodies.
• Research Ethics Board approval certificates must remain current throughout this data retention period.
• Data are to be accessed only by named staff who have signed pledges of confidentiality, and who have undertaken privacy training provided by PopData
• All research outputs (including journal articles, slide decks for public presentations, and reports) must be submitted for review by public bodies prior to public disclosure, the public bodies commit to review within 45 calendar days. Researchers are eligible to proceed with public disclosure if there is no response within the given time frame.
• PopData will publish basic project information on its website. This basic information may include: Applicant and PI name, project number and title, institution of affiliation, funding agency, research objectives, approved data sets, research outputs (publications) and project approval timelines. It will NOT include methodology without direct consent. The Researcher will be asked to in PopData’s data documentation efforts by contributing data analysis concepts and related code fragments, which will also be made available to the public bodies.
• The Researcher will provide timely payment of the specified cost-recovery charges for data preparation and corresponding data services.

PopData will undertake the following broad responsibilities:

• Adhere to the PopData Privacy Impact Assessment
• Adhere to all requirements of all bilateral Information Sharing Agreements
• Support the research community by supporting access to linkable data in a privacy sensitive manner
• Provide access to approved Research Extracts as authorized
• Provide timely service to the research community
• Collaborate with participating Data Stewards and public bodies, as required

If PopData learns of or suspects non-compliance with a Research Agreement, PopData will immediately notify all relevant public bodies that are responsible for the response. Examples of possible responses may include any or all of the following, plus other remedies available under the terms of Research Agreements or under law, at the discretion of the public bodies:

• Immediate termination of access to the Secure Research Environment (SRE)
• Suspension and/or revocation of data access approval
• Denial of any further access to PopData’s data holdings or other data holdings of the public body
• Reporting of non-compliance to the Researcher’s home institution
• Reporting of non-compliance to the Research Ethics Board (REB) that provided approval for the project
• Reporting of non-compliance to all agencies that provided funding for the project
• Reporting of non-compliance to any organizations who have published findings from the study

The role of the data providers in relation to PopData, will be to

• Maintain stewardship and control of the data
• Provide data to PopData as outlined in the relevant Information Sharing Agreements
• Commit to timely review of Data Access Requests
• Communicate and discuss the development of policies, guidelines, or processes for access to data, through the Data Stewards Working Group
• Ensure PopData’s policies, processes and practices support the needs of the public body