When a user licence has been granted for a project, the datasets are delivered either to be used in the remote access environment or released to the researcher's organisation. The mode of use is specified in the licence to use the dataset.
The researcher must take care that the datasets are protected throughout the research process.
Ensuring the data protection of research datasets is a precondition for Statistics Finland to release datasets collected for statistical purposes for research use and for microsimulation. The Act obliges to ensure that data are appropriately protected. Some of the datasets contain very sensitive data.
Statistics Finland is responsible for the data protection of datasets prior to their release for research use.
The researcher must ensure data protection during the research use of their datasets and their storage according to the user licence as well as at the publication stage. When the validity of a user licence is ending, the researcher must make sure that the released dataset and copies and intermediate files formed from it are destroyed. This must take place by the expiry of the user licence.
The researcher is responsible for the implementation of data protection in the research outputs published.
Do not show, reveal or release a unit-level dataset to a person that does not have a licence to use the datasets.
Make sure that the published research outputs do not contain unit-level data and that it is not possible to reveal information concerning an individual person or enterprise from the outputs.
Research datasets granted for remote access use are used via a secure remote access connection in Statistics Finland's FIONA remote access system.
The datasets are processed in FIONA as pseudonymised, which means that unique identifiers for the dataset are protected with pseudo identifiers.
In the remote access system researchers have their own project-specific storage space to retain the research datasets, analysis results and codes according to the user licence. Research outputs and other materials may be exported from the system only through the output checking process. Read the instructions concerning FIONA output checking and data protection carefully.
Statistics Finland may release certain unit-level data with personal identifiers directly to researchers for use in their own organisation or another remote access system than in FIONA. These include data on a person's age, sex, education, occupation and socio-economic group as well as data on cause of death. In addition, some interview-based survey datasets may be released for use elsewhere than in FIONA.
If the dataset is used in Findata's remote access system Kapseli, the datasets are exported direct from Statistics Finland to Kapseli.
When releasing a dataset with identifiers to researchers, the researcher must ensure, in accordance with the obligation of secrecy, that the dataset is not revealed or released to a party that does not have a licence to use the dataset.
The researcher must also ensure that no such outputs (e.g. tables, graphs or statistical models) are produced from the released dataset, which would disclose data concerning an individual person.
The researcher is responsible for the implementation of data protection in the research output published.
It is not permitted to contact the person concerned or their relatives on the basis of data released with identification data.
Long projects often undergo changes. There may be changes in the dataset users, an extension to the user license may be needed, or the dataset may need to be expanded. Any changes always require a corresponding amendment to the user license.