A case study of the Secure Anonymous Information Linkage (SAIL) Gateway: a privacy-protecting remote access system for health-related research and evaluation.
With the current expansion of data linkage research, the challenge is to find the balance between preserving the privacy of person-level data whilst making these data accessible for use to their full potential. We describe a privacy-protecting safe haven and secure remote access system, referred to as the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Gateway. The Gateway provides data users with a familiar Windows interface and their usual toolsets to access approved anonymously-linked datasets for research and evaluation. We outline the principles and operating model of the Gateway, the features provided to users within the secure environment, and how we are approaching the challenges of making data safely accessible to increasing numbers of research users. The Gateway represents a powerful analytical environment and has been designed to be scalable and adaptable to meet the needs of the rapidly growing data linkage community.
College of Medicine, ILS2, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK. Electronic address: k.h.jones@swansea.ac.uk.
Kerina H
KH
Jones
College of Medicine, ILS2, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK.
David V
DV
Ford
College of Medicine, ILS2, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK.
Chris
C
Jones
College of Medicine, ILS2, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK.
Rohan
R
Dsilva
College of Medicine, ILS2, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK.
Simon
S
Thompson
College of Medicine, ILS2, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK.
Caroline J
CJ
Brooks
College of Medicine, ILS2, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK.
Martin L
ML
Heaven
College of Medicine, ILS2, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK.
Daniel S
DS
Thayer
College of Medicine, ILS2, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK.
Cynthia L
CL
McNerney
College of Medicine, ILS2, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK.
Ronan A
RA
Lyons
D016494:Computer Security; D018907:Privacy; D012106:Research
Data linkage; Privacy-protection; Remote access system; e-Records research