Sharing Research Information

Creating an information sharing procedure is a simple and efficient method to ensure research information is shared in a secure and appropriate manner. Additionally, such procedures may benefit researchers when submitting a research ethics application. The procedure should guide researchers and/or collaborators on how, where, and when to share research information. It may include: 

• Who is responsible for the data; 
• Sharing approval process; 
• What tool to use to share data; 
• In which format data can be shared; 
• What information cannot be included in sharing; 
• Any privacy and security requirements; 
• Who can access the shared information;  
• How to remove shared information access; 
• A process for information miss-sharing (or reference to incident management procedure where applicable); 
• Agreement(s) relating to information retention after the research project;

It is often easy to forget who was provided access to a research dataset, and whether or not their access is still required. As a good practice, it is recommended to keep a log of who has access to research information and why. Review this log periodically to remove access when it is no longer required. 

By default, email is not encrypted. Using email to share research information could result in it being exposed to a malicious actor. UBC offers secure alternative options such as Microsoft Teams and OneDrive to easily share information inside and outside the institution. Visit our OneDrive and Teams for Research page for more information. 

Per UBC Information Security Standard U3 (ISS-U3), sharing platforms such as DropBox and Google Drive should not be used to share research information, as they are not UBC approved tools.   

The university offers secure alternative options such as Microsoft Teams and OneDrive to easily share information inside and outside the institution. Visit our OneDrive and Teams for Research page for more information. 

To maximize the security of sensitive information elements, it is recommended to use file level encryption using tools like Veracrypt and Cryptomator for active data, or to encrypted .zip archives in other cases.