Data Protection

Research data are governed by the data protection regulations, especially in cases of a research projects that raise, store and handle data that is worth protecting. For example, video footage, sound recordings, photo material or interviews that show people and record information on them are in the range of data protection.

A random survey with a paper questionaire on the streets is unproblematic, as normally an attribution of the answers to a specific person is impossible. If you are performing the survey via video-interview, an attribution by the footage or voice is possible and the survey is governed by data-protection-law.

Before beginning with a research project, the worthiness of protection of the data should be considered. Inform on data protection can be found on the website "Integrated Information- and Data Protection Management" . If you are collecting data that falls under data protection regulation, a method description and risk analysis needs to be prepared and checked with the responsible data protection representative.

Until the May 24 2018, the Hamburg data protection act (HmbDSG) is effective for the research projects at the Universität Hamburg in addition to the special-law legal norms with data protection reference. From May 25 2018, the European General Data Protection Regulation (EU DSGVO) is immediately effective.

You can find further information and support here: