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V - Data, legislation and policy

During the collection, sharing and archiving of research data, researchers irrevocably face ethical considerations and legal obligations. What does copyright law say about research data? How do laws and practices relate to each other? How can you advise researchers and to whom can you forward them if they have questions about the GDPR, consent, anonymisation or DPIA? These kinds of questions are discussed in this chapter.

Learning goals

After studying this chapter:

  • You will be able to state which laws play a role in dealing with research data, and you can indicate what those laws are about;
  • You will understand the broad implications of privacy legislation for the sharing of research data;
  • You will have an overview of different types of data policies;
  • You will have an overview of available data licenses and their use. 


NOTE The guidelines and recommendations in this chapter do not constitute legal advice. In case of doubt, it is important to seek professional legal advice.

Quiz and assignment 

Only available and clickable for students who follow the entire course

After reading the first paragraph, take a look at the case study and put your findings on the forum. At the end of this chapter you will also find a number of quiz questions.