Research and data protection
News
The fourth European Data Protection Day will take place on 28 January 2010. This year’s theme is data protection in health care, health data on the net and implications for patient rights.
The issue has generated a great deal of interest both in the scientific community and in the general public.
You can find all the information you need about the events surrounding the fourth European Data Protection Day on the website of this year’s host, the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, or on the site of the Virtual Privacy Office.
Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information:
www.datenschutz-berlin.de/content/nachrichten/datenschutznachrichten/4-europaeischer-datenschutztag-am-28-januar-2010
Virtual Privacy Office:
www.datenschutz.de/eu_datenschutztag/
Data protection in research
Individual rights need to be respected whenever personal data is collected for research purposes. Every individual has the right to decide how his or her personal data are used.
Many branches of science study people. Health researchers, for example, collect vast amounts of personal data and use them as the basis of scientific studies such as statistical evaluations. In doing so, researchers are encroaching upon personal rights that are protected by the German constitution (Art. 2 Par. 1 and Art. 1 Par. 1).
Everyone who collects personal data for scientific purposes has a duty to find the best possible balance between protecting individual rights and maintaining the freedom of science, research and teaching. Data protection acts at the federal and state level establish guidelines for this. Institutions also handle the sensitive personal data of the researchers they employ.
Working group of data protection commissioners at non-university research institutions
Data protection commissioners are responsible for raising awareness of data protection among research institutions and their employees, working to ensure adherence to applicable laws and monitoring compliance with those laws. They also provide information on the subject of data protection and advise researchers on how to collect personal data in accordance with regulations. Institutions have a vested interest in respecting the trust of those who participate in their studies and provide personal data, often voluntarily and at no cost, by ensuring that such data are treated with the utmost care.
The Helmholtz Association is committed to promoting data protection in the research community and so it has joined up with the Max Planck Society, the Leibniz Association, the Fraunhofer Society and the German Research Foundation to form a working group of data protection commissioners.
The working group will includes the data protection commissioners of all of the Helmholtz Association’s sixteen research centres.
By bringing together data protection commissioners with backgrounds in law, business, IT and auditing, the working group is well equipped to tackle data protection issues from all angles.
The current head of the working group is Dr. Karen Altermann of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).
The semi-annual meetings of the working group will be an opportunity to share experiences and develop proposals, official statements and recommendations on the subject of data protection. Commissioners will also discuss the practical implications of current developments, new bills and innovative technologies for data protection and scientific work at their research institutions.
Patient rights: The fourth European Data Protection Day
The fourth European Data Protection Day will take place on 28 January 2010. This year’s theme will be data protection in health care, health data on the net and the implications for patient rights. The European Council initiated European Data Protection Day to raise public awareness of data protection in Europe. The Helmholtz Association is working with other research organisations in Germany to actively support and promote data protection in the research community.
Contact of data protection commissioners at research institutions
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
info [at] zv.fraunhofer.de
Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung UFZ
Dr. Karen Altermann
datenschutz [at] ufz.de
Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE)
Ulrich Jürgensen
Ulrich.Juergensen [at] dzne.de
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung
Richard Lomberg
richard.lomberg [at] helmholtz-hzi.de
Forschungszentrum Jülich
David A. Wesner
d.a.wesner [at] fz-juelich.de
Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Dietmar Elspass
d.elspass [at] dkfz-heidelberg.de
GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht
Dr. Rolf-Peter Stößel
rolf-peter.stoessel [at] gkss.de
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie - KIT
Bernhard Kneifel
datenschutzbeauftragter [at] kit.edu
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie
Stefan Hage
hage [at] helmholtz-berlin.de
Helmholtz Zentrum München - Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt
Werner Bergheim
bergheim [at] helmholtz-muenchen.de
Helmholtz Gemeinschaft (Geschäftstelle)
Lisa Besler
lisa.besler [at] helmholtz.de
Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron
Dr. Carsten Porthun
carsten.porthun [at] desy.de
Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin (MDC) Berlin-Buch
Christine Rieffel-Braune
crieffel [at] mdc-berlin.de
Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam- Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum - GFZ
Marko Blau
blau [at] gfz-potsdam.de
Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung
info [at] awi.de
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
contact-dlr [at] dlr.de
Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik
info [at] ipp.mpg.de
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung
info [at] gsi.de
Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
info [at] leibniz-gemeinschaft.de
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Prof. Dr. Rainer W. Gerling
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e.V.
dsb [at] gv.mpg.de
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