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Data Protection: Collaboration & Research Data Management in Digitally Supported Research

AG Zorn Stoltenhoff

Systematisation of data protection and research ethics requirements for collaborative software in the educational and social sciences (SaFe@digitalScience)

Against the backdrop of an increase in digitally supported empirical research in the course of the digital transformation and on the occasion of the new Federal Data Protection Act to concretise the EU GDPR, an increased need for practical knowledge about data protection, personal rights, research ethics and data management has been observed among academics. Few universities, however, offer software solutions that enable DSGVO-compliant collaborations between researchers and adequate research data management. Especially in the field of empirical educational research, where large amounts of data are collected and processed from vulnerable individuals and groups, the lack of appropriate software is an unsolved problem.

Due to the use of proprietary, data protection problematic applications such as Google Drive, Microsoft Teams or WhatsApp, data protection violations often occur in research without the scientists being aware of them. There is also hardly any knowledge and routinely rolled out software for research collaborations between researchers (communication, project planning, text production, proposal writing, etc.), so that the researchers’ legitimate interest in privacy and (research) data protection can hardly be routinely taken into account. The planned project aims to gain insights into which software applications are suitable for collaborative work and research data management. At the same time, competences in the area of research data management and data protection are to be imparted, awareness of data protection and its relevance to research ethics is to be raised, and the results are to be made available in the form of publications and handouts with examples of best practice.

Project goals

Presentation and communication of the requirements for accessible collaborative research that complies with data protection, publication of handouts for relevant groups: university data protection officers, IT departments, researchers, university management. The
handouts are edited in a contemporary way (website with information + materials for download), conception of a research proposal.

Realisation

The goals will be realised by an interdisciplinary working group that will meet three times during the project period (2022) to conduct research and discussions, participate in workshops and lectures with experts from the fields of data protection law, data security, research data management and digital collaboration, and prepare publications and conference papers. To this end, it cooperates with various actors at national and international level.

Antragsteller:in

Prof. Dr. Isabel Zorn
Technische Hochschule Köln

Dr. Ann-Kathrin Stoltenhoff
Europa-Universität Flensburg