Introduction

Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) within the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) is responsible for producing and disseminating a range of Official Statistics and Accredited Official Statistics relating to the Department’s travel, transport and planning functions. Statistics and research published by ASRB are available on the DfI website.

Background

ASRB staff are statisticians within NISRA and work in compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The Code sets out the standards that producers of official statistics are expected to meet to ensure their work serves the public good, as required under Section 10 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. The Code is based on the three core principles of:

Trustworthiness;
Quality; and
Value.

Under the principle of Trustworthiness, Standard 4 of the Code states:

Producers must manage data and statistics safely and securely and be open about how data will be used and protected so that the public can be confident about providing their own information for official statistics.

Data Governance and Confidentiality

This Data Governance and Confidentiality Statement sets out the arrangements that we have put in place to ensure the confidentiality of data that we hold. It outlines our data management approach as per Standard 4.1 of the Code.

Be ethical in how you collect, access, use and share data to serve the public good and be transparent about your approach in a published data management policy.

As standard practice we will ensure that all information is kept secure and ensure that information released does not reveal the identity of an individual or organisation or any private information relating to them taking into account information that might be available from other sources. Where DfI is not the owner of the data used to produce its official statistics, it has been agreed with the owners/providers that these cannot be forwarded to third parties without their prior agreement.

Some of the data analysed and published by statisticians within ASRB are collected centrally by NISRA. The NISRA Privacy Notice explains how NISRA will manage personal data collected and processed for statistics and research purposes.

As a branch within DfI, ASRB is committed to building trust and confidence in our ability to process personal information; DfI’s Privacy Notice is available on the DfI website. DfI also has its own information security management systems that are subject to regular internal audit.

ASRB keep and handle data safely and securely by considering the factors below.

Physical Security

All staff working in the organisation and all visitors to its sites require a pass to access the premises. There is no public access to any part of the organisation where confidential statistical data may be held.

Technical Security

Databases are held on a network drive only accessible to the relevant members of ASRB staff (as determined by staff responsibility and work areas) or within the Department’s secure record management system, again with restricted access. Personal or sensitive data are not removed from the network without the relevant Head of Branch approval.

Organisational Security

Information Asset Owners within ASRB oversee and manage systems to protect and maintain data held by us, with the support of Information Technology professionals and relevant statistical staff who work with the data.

Disclosure Control Methods

Information held on our finalised databases is anonymised, where required, and is sourced from other providers each of whom apply their own disclosure procedures. For information that is not already in the public domain/available directly from the data provider, we will not release sensitive personal information relating to fewer than either 4 or 5 individuals (dependent on dataset) where that information may lead to identification of those individuals. In such cases an * will be inserted in the relevant cell in the table with a note to indicate that this relates to fewer than the stipulated number of cases.

We will liaise with each of our data providers to ensure that we are fully aware of their specific disclosure policies and are immediately notified of any changes to these.

ASRB protects the confidentiality of individual and business information in the following ways:

Staff Training

All ASRB staff have received training relating to their obligations under the Data Protection Act, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Information Security through e-learning training modules and they are required to repeat/refresh this training every few years. Statisticians have also been made aware of the contents of the National Statistician’s Guidance ‘Confidentiality of Official Statistics’.

Surveys

Respondents to surveys and censuses carried out by, or on behalf of, ASRB will be informed how their confidentiality will be protected. NISRA explains their rights and how their information will be used and protected when collected for statistical purposes. Respondents can also view the NISRA and DfI privacy notices online. Appropriate disclosure control methods will be applied in survey outputs where necessary, and the approach used will be clearly outlined in the statistical report.

Requests for Information

All requests for information will be dealt with in a timely manner. All requests will be treated fairly and without prejudice, taking into account the public interest, the Data Protection Act, GDPR and Freedom of Information Act. Guidance on the Freedom of Information Act can be found on the DfI website. While requests under FOI are treated on a case-by-case basis, the presumption is that requests for individual statistical records will be rejected. The legislation contains exemptions and processes that protect confidential information.

Requests for Micro-data

In the event of individual data owned by DfI being requested, it would first be anonymised and be dependent on the third party signing a confidentiality agreement stipulating the conditions of use. With respect to those non-departmental datasets which ASRB holds, the agreement of data owners would first be sought and release would be governed by any confidentiality agreement which the owning organisation may have in place.

Contact Details

For further information contact Regina McGeown or Martin Devlin
Principal Statisticians ASRB ASRB@nisra.gov.uk

ASRB Data Governance and Confidentiality Statement