A data permit is a fixed-term authorisation granted by a public authority to use individual-level personal data for a specific purpose, for example, for research, compiling statistics or carrying out official duties.
Once a data permit is granted, the dataset is delivered to the processor in a pseudonymised format. This means that identifying information has been replaced with codes, so individuals cannot be directly identified. The data may only be processed in a secure processing environment with no direct internet access.
Data permits are particularly important in registry-based research, where data originally collected in social and healthcare client or patient registers is used for secondary purposes.
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