Data Ethics Policy

The policy applies to those within the UK Statistics Authority (the Authority) working with data for the purposes of research and/or producing statistics, as well as to researchers accessing data under the Statistics and Registration Services Act 2007 and Digital Economy Act 2017. Research using data relating to Authority staff or corporate activities does not fall under the scope of this policy and will be considered by the People Data Ethics Committee.

When undertaking projects involving data for the purposes of research and/or producing statistics, we must consider not just what we could do, but also what we should do to ensure that we use data in ethically appropriate ways that serve the public good.

As with legal and data protection considerations, there must be an “Ethics by Design” approach undertaken by all data users. This means that ethics is considered at the research design phase and should be regularly reviewed as the project develops. Doing this helps to mitigate ethical risk, such as potential harm to the public, researchers and data subjects. It also helps to maintain public acceptability around the production of research and statistics.

Ethics must be considered when undertaking or facilitating research and producing statistics because:

• considering ethics aids in identifying risks and implementing mitigations, which gives assurance to the public, data subjects, researchers and data owners that their data are processed ethically

• in terms of supporting legal compliance, ethics must be considered when accessing data under the Digital Economy Act 2017, and when ensuring that the processing of personal data is fair and transparent in line with principles found within Data Protection Legislation

• consideration of ethics is consistent with professional best practice for those in analytical professions, both nationally and internationally

• consideration of ethics helps to maintain the Office for National Statistics's (ONS's) reputation as a trusted user of data and producer of official statistics that serve the public good

This policy sets out the requirements for data users to ensure that the access, processing, use and storage of personal information, as defined both under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and Data Protection Legislation, for research and statistical purposes is ethically appropriate.

When undertaking projects involving data for the purpose of research and/or producing statistics, data users should demonstrate compliance with the UK Statistics Authority's ethical principles. In order to ensure compliance, those carrying out any project of this kind should complete the ethics self-assessment tool and/or consult with the National Statistician's Data Ethics Advisory Committee. The Centre for Applied Data Ethics (CADE) supports data users with the provision of ethical advice and access to these services.

To properly consider the ethics of the use of data for research and statistical purposes, a set of ethical principles and an ethics self-assessment tool have been developed. Engagement with the Centre for Applied Data Ethics (CADE) and use of the tools available must be maintained throughout a project's lifecycle to help data users identify the ethical implications of any changes to a research project or data use.

Guidance and expert user support is available to help data users with the ethics review process and mitigate any ethical risks that are identified within their project. Projects or research that are considered the most ethically risky are taken to the National Statistician's Data Ethics Advisory Committee (NSDEC) so that they can benefit from independent ethics advice and scrutiny.

NSDEC was established to advise the National Statistician that the access, use and sharing of public data, for research and statistical purposes, is ethical and for the public good. The Committee will consider project and policy proposals from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Government Statistical Service (GSS), and the wider research community, which make use of innovative and novel data. NSDEC meets quarterly to discuss these proposals and other cross-cutting ethical issues. The Committee also consider proposals via correspondence between these quarterly meetings.

It is important that researchers or project leads engage with the CADE during their research design phases, so that if escalation to NSDEC is required at any point, this does not impact on project deadlines.

For further advice and support, please contact Data.Ethics@Statistics.gov.uk.

The UK Statistics Authority Centre for Applied Data Ethics is:

• responsible for providing oversight of the ethics self-assessment tool and providing further ethical advice and guidance to researchers

• accountable to the Head of Legal and Data Services

Researchers and statistical producers in the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Government Statistical Service (GSS) and Government Analysis Function (GAF) are:

• responsible for engaging with the Data Ethics team during research design phases, using the ethics self-assessment tool to consider the ethics of work, and liaising with the Data Ethics team to mitigate any ethical risks

• accountable to business area leads

The National Statistician's Data Ethics Advisory Committee is:

• responsible for providing ethical advice and scrutiny to the National Statistician in response to escalated research proposals from the UK Statistics Authority and the wider research community

• accountable to the National Statistician