Data Privacy
Survey Protocols In Place to Protect Your Data
We have put the following IT, HARC, FAIR and Legal-approved processes in place to maintain data privacy and protect the anonymity and confidentiality of our data sources, including inputs into the LBNL Culture Survey:
Only the Lab's Culture Data Scientist will have access to data with individual identifiers, and will strip them of identifiers (using a random code with a key) as soon as possible.
The code key that can re-identify survey respondents will be kept in a separate folder from the rest of the data in case of any (unlikely) security breaches
The data will be kept in private, password protected folders on Google drive. They will not be downloaded to an individual computer.
A possible external consultant at the University of Exeter will have access to the raw data as well, but without the individual identifiers. They will be under a data usage agreement to not attempt to re-identify data
Any data transfer to the University of Exeter will be through their secure system
The data will be maintained for use over time
All data will only be reported according to the FAIR office Data Governance guidelines. Results will be shown by groups that are large enough to avoid re-identifying individuals. This includes aggregating similar quotes from open-ended responses. which includes no groups smaller than five.
Transparency & Consent Form
The form below is found on the first page of the LBNL Culture Survey. All survey respondents must agree and click through before starting the survey. This form explicitly outlines how we will maintain data privacy and use aggregate results; it obtains consent from employees to use their survey data. No employee is required to take this survey but our strong commitment is to implement enough safeguards that will inspire many people to take the survey.
Ethics & Confidentiality
We are in the process of receiving Human and Animal Regulatory Committee (HARC) approval for this survey. Doing so ensures that it has been reviewed by an institutional review board (IRB) focused on ethics of research. Our project will likely be ‘exempt’, meaning, extremely low-risk. We have also had our questions checked by the FAIR office and EH&S. We have also discussed our plans with Legal. We also will provide referrals to EAP, HARC and the FAIR office for employees to report on topics not appropriate for this survey. We will also include a note that we are mandated reporters and follow UCOP’s abusive conduct policy.
Please contact the HARC office if you have any questions, comments or concerns about your protections as participants in this research project and in data collection efforts:
Human and Regulatory Committee (HARC) Contact:
Kelsey Miller
ksmiller@lbl.gov
510-486-6005
For questions, complaints or feedback on the survey:
Learning & Culture Contact:
Adi Greif, Culture Data Scientist
Adi.G@lbl.gov
650-387-7843
To report an experience of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and/or bullying:
FAIR Office Contact:
510-486-7635