What is confidential data?#
Confidential, proprietary, sensitive, private, restricted… data.
Obvious examples#
Data in the Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDCs)
Medical data (e.g. electronic health records)
Transcripts from interviews on sensitive topics (e.g. sexual harassment, drug usage)
Less obvious?#
Data from private companies (e.g. Facebook, Google, Amazon)
Copyrighted data!
Data from a data use agreement you signed EIGHT (8) years ago, even if you forgot about it
Is it confidential?#
Having to do any of the following does not, by itself, tell you that data are not confidential:
You had to register.
You had to pay to get access.
You can access it from your university office without any problem